When I first got on-line this morning headlines were still saying the debate was questionable and just a couple minutes ago I saw that it will go on. Well it’s a damn good thing. And honestly everyone knows that this had nothing to do with McCain wanting to save the country and everything to do with him trying to save his slipping campaign.
I think everyone knows there’s a good chance this debate will have a lot of questions about the economy and he’s scared to talk about it. Obama is much more versed on the subject and has had a plan to hopefully turn it around since the beginning of his run for the White House. McCain has no idea what he’s going to do and he didn’t want to go toe to toe with someone who did.
I think he was still hoping that he’d be able to get the debate cancelled. And I wouldn’t be surprised if he was behind that lame stunt the GOP pulled last night. The bailout was very close to being worked out and then suddenly they decide they want a new plan and they aren’t going to negotiate on it. Seriously that just seems desperate. Like if a plan goes through then he has to debate but, if they are still working on it he can continue to try and get out of it.
Lets be real here folks unless he is actually in the room working on the plan he isn’t needed there until the vote. If there’s people holding out and making a stink he has a phone and can call them to discuss it. McCain was hoping Obama would cave but, he didn’t and he was right not to.
Not that I really cared if Bush spoke the other night but, he did in an attempt to calm the nation and say we will get this back on track. Did he do that affectively? I don’t know. And at this time we do need to see the people who could be our next leader talking about what they think should be done and what could be done to continue fixing things down the road. If you can’t step up to the plate now, how can we count on you to do it when you are running the country?
So the debate at this moment will go on. Mainly because Obama didn’t back down and pretty much forced McCain’s hand. I’ll be watching with great interest and it’ll be interesting to see comments from people afterwards.
Through the course of this election season we have heard a lot about if Barack Obama is ready to lead or not. This question seems rather stupid. It’s not like he just up and decided to run for President one day having never been in office before. The man knows politics.
Sure maybe he hasn’t been in the Senate for decades and doesn’t have a ton of foreign policy experience. But, he has been in the Senate. The last two Presidents were Governors and then moved to the White House. How much more experience could the have had. And I for one say that President Bush clearly was not and still isn’t capable of leading.
Hillary has seen things from the view of the First Lady and from the view a Senator. Is she ready to lead? Answer is, possibly. John McCain has been in the military and the Senate, is he ready to lead? Answer is, possibly. Barak Obama has been a state Senator and a federal Senator, is he ready to lead? Answer is, possibly.
The truth of the argument is that you don’t know if someone is ready to lead until they do it. Just because he served in the military doesn’t mean that McCain can lead this country. Now I’m not knocking his service. It’s a great thing to serve your country. I just don’t know that, that is an absolute in judging readiness to lead.
Leading isn’t always about whose been around longest or has the most experience in something. It’s about who can work with others and get others to follow them. Perhaps there was a time when that was McCain back when he really was a maverick. Today though at this point in time it’s Obama who is that person. I think people in federal and state governments are ready to work with him to better this country. And I think he’s the candidate who is most likely to listen to other people to come up with solutions. That is what is important and that is what makes him ready to lead.
Tonight was the night everyone had been waiting for. The night Hillary Clinton the former presidential candidacy hopeful would speak. The night she could help or hurt the party. The night she could make it about her and her historic run or about Barack Obama and his historic run that still continues. I think a lot of people thought she would make it about her. Well, they thought wrong.
Tonight Hillary Clinton was everything those of us who believe in her, know her to be. Tonight she was not Hillary Clinton presidential hopeful, she was not Hillary Clinton the sore loser, she was not Hillary Clinton the spiteful bitch. She was, Hillary Clinton the former first lady who knows what it takes to win. She was, Hillary Clinton the Senator who knows what she and the party have fought for. She was, Hillary Clinton the woman who inspired so many women to get out and vote. She was Hillary Clinton the one person who could sway her supporters back to Barack Obama. She was Hillary Clinton the Democrat.
I’ve made no secret of my support for Hillary during the primaries. I was pulling for her state after state and supporting her decision to not throw in the towel when she was only down a couple hundred delegates. And tonight she proved to be everything I supported. I’ve known from the beginning that if she lost she would rally behind our nominee and the party. I had no fears on that. And tonight she made it very clear why we must elect Barack Obama.
I think one of the most important parts of her speech was reminding people what it was she has fought for and what she would fight for had she become President. And then reminding people that those things are what all Democrats want for this country and that the only hope of getting them is with a Democrat in the White House. Sure he’s going to need help from the Congress and the Senate but, I don’t think that will be an issue in the first few years.
Tonight Hillary made it clear to all her supporters that you need to support Obama. Maybe you can’t get out and support him as visibly and vocally as you did Hillary. That is okay because when he needs your support most is 2 months from now when you mark your ballot. That is when he and this country need your support.
She was right to ask if oursupport was only for her or if it was for change? If it was for our future, our childrens future, if it was for our health, or was it just for a woman President. As for me it was and is about the future. It is about hope and change. I wanted Hillary because as I’ve said before I am a woman and I want a woman president. I’ve always believed either of them would to a great job as President.
So now it is time for all other Hillary supporters to join with me, join with Hillary, join with those who already support Barack Obama, and show that you want change. Say you will give your vote to the Obama/Biden ticket because you want your children to have the hopes and dreams you had as a child and the belief that those hopes and dreams can come true.
There is a truly great family in American politics and that is the Kennedy’s. In one way or another they have influenced the course of this country for decades. Unfortunately we can only look back and wonder how great things could have been had John and Robert not been assassinated.
I just finished watching Senator Kennedy give his speech at the Democratic Convention and the inspiration and idealism of that family still lives. When a Kennedy speaks I think everyone listens. Even Caroline Kennedy was inspiring in the way only her family can be. If only this country could find their way back to the idealism of the days of John Kennedy.
At 30 the Kennedy I have always known is Edward but, I know my history and I’ve seen some of John’s speaches and I’ve always wondered when we would have another John. Honestly I believed someday it would be John Jr. That someday he would give and realize his destiny and enter the political arena in earnest. My hopes and some of my dreams were crushed the day his plane went down.
When Obama gave that speech in 2004 I felt the inspiration and hope I thought would never happen in politics again. I have only felt flashes of that during his campaign and it is my great hope that, that feeling will come through Thursday night when he accepts his nomination. I am inspired by the change he can bring. I hope he can live up to it and can see it through. History is not kind to the true change bringers in the world.
I will throw my support behind him and try to encourage any undecided person I know to vote for him. If anyone who is undecided out there that is older and knows the power of change that has always come with the Kennedy’s I hope they will listen to Senator Kennedy and vote for Obama.
It’s important to note that even with the loss of John and Bobby we still owe a great debt of gratitude to them for this moment in history. All three brothers were instrumental in the civil rights movement. Without them and their bravery and their support back then we probably wouldn’t be witnessing this now. This moment in history could be years if not decades off if not for the Kennedy’s support back then.
I know they are not solely responsible for that change. But, they were people of power who were willing to stand up and fight for what they felt was right. They stood up and fought for an equality that people were willing to kill to stop. They lent their power and voices to an equality they knew was right and would make this country stronger. And they and everyone they fought with for that equality are being rewarded and proven right. Now it is up to the next generation of Kennedy’s to take that torch and support the next great battle for equality in this country. It is time for them to stand along side those being denied equality and lend their power and voices to the fight. It is time for us all to take the inspiration and get loud and fight for everything we have been promised as Americans.
Everyone always likes to focus on what the Presidential nominees say they will do in office. It’s great to know what the candidates hope to achieve. Of course then they get in office and they don’t achieve those things fast enough or at all and everyone starts calling them liars. They get accused of saying whatever they needed to say to get elected. What people like to ignore is that they can’t do it alone.
Yes the President can influence policy. He or She can let it be known the things they would like to see changed or fixed. Things like health care, immigartion reform, social security, education reform, and so on. Again the thing is they can’t do it alone.
The Predisent can’t just say I want this change or this much money for something and that’s that. They need Congress and the Senate to help them. The bills and budgets that achieve the goals they set forth. In short they need Congressmen/Congresswomen and Senators that have similar goals so they can achieve the things they set forth during their campaigns.
Unfortunately sometimes those Congress-people and Senators are more concerned with re-election than the well being of the country and its citizens. They may think (or even know) that something will really help but, they know that their constituents don’t know all the facts and won’t like them voting for a certain bill. So instead of voting for something that will ultimately be good they vote against it to help keep their job. This is a shame.
So when you go to the polls this November to vote for a new President remember to pay just as much attention (if not more) to the other people you try to send to Washington. Whoever the next President is will need people with similar goals to bring about any real change. We need people who are serious about working together to help the country.
Change is never achieved by just one person.
