Decision ‘08 » 2008

Archive for October, 2008

Thursday, October 30th, 2008

A Glimmer Of Hope In The Last Redoubt

I’ve made no bones about it - I expect a big Obama victory on Tuesday, and the most recent polling only confirms that view. But I am increasingly hopeful about holding the Democrats below 60 in the Senate, not least because the nearly-always-reliable Michale Barone says so:
There are five…races in which no candidate leads by […]

7 Comments » - Posted in Elephants, Donkeys, 2008 Polls by Mark

Wednesday, October 29th, 2008

I Didn’t Watch The Obama Infomercial…

…(my God, I can barely sit through a debate), but Calvin Woodward, writing for the AP, checks the facts and comes away less than impressed:
Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama was less than upfront in his half-hour commercial Wednesday night about the costs of his programs and the crushing budget pressures he would face in office.
Obama’s […]

8 Comments » - Posted in Barack Obama, 2008 News by Mark

Tuesday, October 28th, 2008

Reality Vs. Keeping Your Chin Up

I know McCain is still running a race here, and his pollster wants to make his candidate happy, but contrast this:
John McCain’s campaign has seen “significant” progress in internal polling in the last week, Republican pollster Bill McInturff said Tuesday, with notable strides among rural voters and soft Democrats.
McInturff, the campaign’s chief pollster, made a […]

3 Comments » - Posted in Barack Obama, John McCain, 2008 Polls by Mark

Tuesday, October 28th, 2008

All Right, I Know, I Know…

….the election is merely days away. But I’ve got to get a Sinatra post in. Listening to the underrated My Way
album from 1969 (the album is underrated, not the song), I was struck once again by the desolation of the lyrics of the beautiful “If You Go Away”, an English translation by Rod McKuen […]

No Comments » - Posted in The Great Sinatra by Mark

Tuesday, October 28th, 2008

Life In The Cocoon

Well, this can only be summed up under the rubric of ‘pathetic’. Right Wing News surveyed 240 right-of-center blogs (I never get asked to participate in these surveys, for some reason) about the election. 76 answered. We find that 53% believe John McCain will win the election (okay, not too out of line - a […]

19 Comments » - Posted in Barack Obama, Weekly Jackasses, 2008 Polls by Mark

Monday, October 27th, 2008

Predictions, And A Farewell

If you read conservative blogs and magazines regularly, you already know that Dean Barnett passed away today at the too-young age of 41. A sad day…I mentioned his work often, though not of late, and read him even more than I linked to him. RIP…
Now, we stand a week away from the election that formed […]

4 Comments » - Posted in Barack Obama, In Praise Of, John McCain, Election 2008 by Mark

Sunday, October 26th, 2008

Who Says The New York Times Is In The Tank For Obama? Bob Kerrey, That’s Who

The former Democratic senator from Nebraska warms my heart for calling out the hypocrisy of the New York Times, with respect to Barack Obama and public financing:
Bob Kerrey thinks The New York Times is in the tank for Obama — not that he minds.
The former Democratic senator from Nebraska was here at the Condé Nast […]

6 Comments » - Posted in Barack Obama, NY Times/Media Watch, John McCain, Election 2008 by Mark

Sunday, October 26th, 2008

President Obama Doesn’t Scare Me…

…in and of himself. He’s far to the left, politically, he’s an economic ‘progressive’ (bad news, indeed). and he’s got ideas for a tax rebate plan that will pay millions of Americans who don’t even pay income tax rebates on their payroll taxes, which is a great-sounding idea until you realize he plans to do […]

11 Comments » - Posted in Barack Obama, Donkeys, John McCain, Election 2008 by Mark

Saturday, October 25th, 2008

The Stage Is Set…

…though Texas nearly blew it. The #1 Longhorns held on, though, to beat #6 Oklahoma State 28-24. Current #8 Texas Tech (yay, Red Raiders!) absolutely whipped #23 Kansas 63-21 and will almost surely go up a spot or two.
Bottom line: a big one in Lubbock next week, in prime time on ABC…

No Comments » - Posted in Celebrities / Pop Culture / Sports by Mark

Thursday, October 23rd, 2008

Campaign Shocker! Times Endorses Democrat!

For the two people in the world who might had any doubt, rest assured: the New York Times has not, repeat, NOT endorsed the Republican candidate.
I know, I know…you probably had to sit down after reading that. Let’s take a peek:
…The United States is battered and drifting after eight years of President Bush’s failed leadership. […]

16 Comments » - Posted in Barack Obama, POTUS, NY Times/Media Watch, 2008 News by Mark

Wednesday, October 22nd, 2008

It’s An Outlier, No Doubt…

…and other polling shows Obama with leads up to double digits, but Republicans looking for any hope in a hopeless climate can cling to the new AP poll, showing Obama up by a statistically insignificant one-point among likely voters.
But the GOP, under the heavy odds stacked against it in the current cycle, has turned the […]

5 Comments » - Posted in Barack Obama, John McCain, 2008 Polls by Mark

Tuesday, October 21st, 2008

Whither W.?

So, what’s a movie buff like me to do with a movie like Oliver Stone’s W.? Part of me hates to put money in Stone’s pockets, but he IS a very talented filmmaker, despite his VAST liberties with the truth, most notably in JFK, but also in Nixon. He’s also responsible for perhaps the worst […]

12 Comments » - Posted in POTUS, Celebrities / Pop Culture / Sports by Mark

Monday, October 20th, 2008

Despite My Ultimately Empty Threats…

…I did vote today, and I didn’t leave the presidential box blank. Turnout in my polling location was not that heavy - there were far more people there for the primaries.
As we head into the home stretch, there’s simply not much good cheer I can spread for Republicans (Democrats are feasting on a wide variety […]

16 Comments » - Posted in Barack Obama, John McCain, 2008 Polls by Mark

Sunday, October 19th, 2008

‘Tis The Season…

…for endorsements galore. Many major papers now have made their presidential preferences known, and like much else in this election, the tide is turning against McCain. One paper that I have a lot of respect for is the Washington Post. It leans left, perhaps, but not blatantly, nor is it so partisan that it is […]

14 Comments » - Posted in Barack Obama, Colin Powell, John McCain, 2008 News by Mark

Thursday, October 16th, 2008

Barack America, Meet Senator Government

Mickey Kaus also caught the oh-so-apt not-really-faux-pas of John McCain last night…more from the Master:
1) McCain did himself some good in this zero-sum game because in the first half of the debate he seemed sunny, yet had Obama on the defensive; 2) But not enough good; 3) Specifically, McCain failed to drive home the risk […]

5 Comments » - Posted in Barack Obama, John McCain, Election 2008 by Mark

Wednesday, October 15th, 2008

Third Time Debating’s A Charm?

McCain had better hope so…just opening a thread for now, in case anyone wants to comment…more later…
UPDATE 8:06 p.m.: Didn’t take long for disappointment to creep in…McCain keeps flogging the mortgage principal renegotiation and slams the market again…and Obama appeals to protectionism by slamming tax breaks for ‘companies that ship jobs overseas’ (i.e., that make […]

1 Comment » - Posted in Domestic Affairs, Barack Obama, John McCain, 2008 News by Mark

Tuesday, October 14th, 2008

What Has Doomed The McCain Campaign? The Wrong Strategy

Sigh…there are apparently a number of conservatives, both prominent and rank-and-file, who think that Americans right now are riveted by accusations of associations with anti-American radicals in Barack Obama’s past. Maybe this is so, and I’ve slipped off into some Bizarro alternate universe - but in the world that I’m living in, people are […]

16 Comments » - Posted in Domestic Affairs, Barack Obama, John McCain, 2008 Polls, Election 2008 by Mark

Monday, October 13th, 2008

Almost Everyone Is Breathing A Big Sigh Of Relief…

…after a dramatic 11%, nearly 1,000 point rise in the Dow (and similar gains in the broader markets). The credit crisis has not been solved overnight, of course, and the bear market may be only taking a breather (plus profit taking will almost surely result in a decline tomorrow). Still, it’s nice to put a […]

4 Comments » - Posted in Domestic Affairs by Mark

Sunday, October 12th, 2008

The Most Irrational Reaction To The Current Financial Panic…

…is to suddenly believe that the federal government, some $10 trillion in debt, is somehow doing us a favor by digging us into a bigger hole of debt. I have become quite vocal that government is making the current crisis far, far worse than it needs to be by bumbling around in a panic, […]

19 Comments » - Posted in Domestic Affairs, POTUS, Elephants by Mark

Saturday, October 11th, 2008

Two Quick College Football Points

1. As OU loses yet another big game (way to go Longhorns!), I have to ask: is Bob Stoops the beneficiary of being consistently overrated?…
2. Has there ever been a bigger meltdown than that suffered by the once-mighty Michigan Wolverines? Perhaps Notre Dame, but they were the big losers when the conferences […]