12 posts tagged “presidential campaign”

The McFreeds share some Election Day video...

Barack and Michelle Obama vote with their daughters Malia Ann and Natasha in Chicago. The first African-American on the presidential ballot has voted. Good news is that Madelyn Dunham - Obama's grandmother who passes away yesterday - was lucky enough to cast an absentee ballot for her grandson before she left us. Hawaii said her ballot was received properly and is legal for processing. So she got to vote for grandson after all!

Joe and Jill Biden vote with his 90-year old mother Jean in Delaware. How proud his mother must be!

The McFreeds present the latest craziness from Saturday Night Live...

We saw this sketch and were really impressed. This is the good humored John McCain we loved in 2000 who seems to have disappeared over the last few years. His wife Cindy stops by late in the sketch for a hysterical moment as a jewelry model. A classic in the making... Tina Fey rocks as usual!

Sean reveals the political races he will be following November 4th...

These are the political races I will be keeping a list and checking it forty times on Election Day 2008!

President

Barack Obama

The following states are on my tracking list for the race between Barack Obama and John McCain:

John McCain

Florida  Ohio

Virginia

Indiana  Missouri

North Carolina

North Dakota

U.S. Senate

The U.S. Senate races I will be checking in on all night are:

Alaska: Sen. Ted Stevens (R) vs. Mark Begich (D) - Stevens was recently convicted on seven counts of making false statements during a federal investigation.

Georgia: Sen. Saxby Chambliss vs. James Martin (D) - Chambliss defeated former Sen. Max Cleland in 2004 by saying the triple amputee was un-patriotic. Cleland lost his legs and one arm in Vietnam.

Kentucky: Sen. Mitch McConnell vs. Bruce Lunsford (D) - McConnell is Senate Minority Leader.

Louisiana: Sen. Mary Landrieu (D) vs. John Kennedy (R) - Kennedy is unrelated to the Massachusetts Kennedys. Landrieu's re-election is in doubt because of the mass relocation of New Orleans Democrats from the state because of Hurricane Katrina. Her father was mayor of New Orleans and her brother Mitch is currently LA's lieutenant governor.

Minnesota: Sen. Norm Coleman (R) vs. Al Franken (D) vs. Dean Barkley (I) - Franken is former SNL cast member and writer.

Mississippi: Sen. Roger Wicker (R) vs. Ronnie Musgrove (D) - Candidates were roommates when in state legislature. Election is to fill the remaining 4 years of a term begun by retired Senator Trent Lott. Wicker was appointed in 2007. 

North Carolina: Sen. Elizabeth Dole (R) vs. Kay Hagen (D) - Dole is wife of former Sen. Robert Dole (R-Kansas). Dole recently ran add claiming Kagen was supportive of a PAC sympathetic to aethism and alluded that Kagen did not believe in God.

Oregon: Sen. Gordon Smith (R) vs. Jeff Merkley (D) - Smith is a moderate Republican who has run adds showing his agreement with many of Obama's political proposals. He has supported ending the War in Iraq and domsetic partnership benefits for federal government employees. Smith is also the second cousin of two other candidates running for Senate - Mark Udall (D) in Colorado and Tom Udall (D) in New Mexico.

Festive Election Day Hat

U.S. House of Representatives Races

The House races I will be watching are:

Colorado 4th District: Rep. Marilyn Musgrove (R) vs. Betsy Markey (D) - Musgrove continually introduces the Marriage Amendment.

Connecticut 4th District: Rep. Christopher Shays (R) vs. James Himes (D) - Shays is the last Republican Rep. in New England.

Georgia 13th District: Rep. David Scott (D) vs. Deborah Honeycutt (R) - Honeycutt has raised a good amount of money in her challenge in a mainly Democratic district. She is an African-American woman who Scott accuses of hiding her party affiliation on fliers distributed by surrogates. Rematch from 2006 where Scott trounced her by 38%. She is within 5% in polling.

Idaho 1st District: Rep. Bill Sali (R) vs. Walt Minnick (D) - A heavily Republican District with an unpopular incumbent.

Maryland 1st District: Andy Harris (R) vs. Frank Kratovil (D) - Open Seat, Harris defeated current Rep Wayne Gilchrist's attempt at reelection. Gilchrist has endorsed Kratovil. This is Maryland's only Republican seat.  

Minnesota 3rd District: Ashwin Madia (D) vs. Erik Paulson (R) - Open Seat, Madia is an Indian-American Iraq Veteran.

Minnesota 6th District: Rep. Michele Bachmann (R) vs. Elwyn Tinklenberg (D) - We donated money to Tinklenberg. Bachmann is infamous for her Hardball appearance where she called for the media to investigate Congress for those who were un-American as well as alluding to Obama being un-American by association.

North Carolina 8th District: Rep Robin Hayes (R) vs. Larry Kissel (D) - Rematch where Hayes won by 329 votes.

Nebraska 2nd District: Rep Lee Terry (R) vs. Jim Esch (D) - District (Omaha area) win for Democrat might mean the electoral vote for District might go to Barack Obama. Nebraska awards electoral votes to presidential candidate winning populare vote in each congressional district. Overall popular vote wins 2 electoral votes representing Senators. Nebraska has 5 electoral votes.  

Ohio 15th District: Mary Jo Kilroy (D) vs. Steve Stivers (R) - Open Seat

Virgina 2nd District: Rep. Thelma Drake (R) vs. Glenn Nye (D) - Mom's home district.

Virginia 5th District: Rep. Virgil Goode (R) vs. Tom Perriello (D) - Goode criticized Rep Keith Ellison, who is Muslim, in 2004 for using the Quran during his swearing in ceremony. Goode is now dealing with a controversy of having one of his offices being a fax contact for a gay-themed film. The 5th District is not known for its tolerence. Perriello also has raised a good amount of funds and is making a serious challenge.  

Governors

The governors races I will be watching are:

North Carolina: Pat McCrory (R) vs. Bev Perdue (D) - Open Seat, Perdue would be first woman Governor of NC.

Washington: Gov. Chris Gregoire (D) vs. Dino Rossi (R) - Rematch of race in 2004 that had Gregoire winning by 133 votes. 

Ballot Box

Ballot Measures

Arkansas Initiative 1: Ban on Same-Sex Couples Adopting Children

Arizona Proposition 102: State Constitution Amendment Ban on Same-Sex Marriage - Traditional Marriage is between a man and a woman only, no ban on civil unions or domestic partnerships.

California Proposition 8: State Constitution Amendment Ban on Same-Sex Marriage - Traditional Marriage is between a man and a woman only, no ban on civil unions or domestic partnerships. Reverses state Supreme Court ruling allowing same-Sex marriage and potentially threatens the dissolution of existing same-sex marriages.

Florida Amendment 2: State Constitution Amendment Ban on Same-Sex Marriage -  Traditional Marriage is between a man and a woman only, ban on civil unions or domestic partnerships.  Must receive 60% of popular vote to pass.  

Sean asks...

One of the analysts last night made an important observation: What is John McCain for?  These days it seems that all John McCain and Sarah Palin ever talk about these days is why Barack Obama and Joe Biden bad for America while not talking about what they - McCain and Palin - are going to do for America.  There is a lot of talk about "fight," staying the course in Iraq, and not raising your taxes.  There is no talk by McCain/Palin about hope and a "call to arms" to Americans to employ self-sacrifice and do their part in "fixing" what is wrong with America. All McCain talks about lately is what is the definition of rich, who attended what party/board meeting/fund-raiser with Obama 5 years ago, and who someone says sounds like a socialist. Obama is not the perfect candidate on the negatives of campaigning, but at least there is a huge amount of hope and pride in what he see our nation becoming rather than a celebration of what we were and why the other guy sucks. Some will say that this is the mainstream media's fault, but in the end isn't it really McCain's for not getting his message out in the first place even when he is interviewed?

I approve this message.

Sean comments...

Am I anti-American? I am really concerned if I am.

U.S. Representative Michele Bachmann (R-Minnesota) was on Hardball with Chris Matthews and had the following conversation which Stefan and I saw live:

America was founded on the core idea that the people should have a voice in how they were governed and that the minority's voice should not be silenced or punished in the effort to govern.  Rep. Bachmann violates her own definition of what basically amounts to an accusation of treason by challenging the rights to speech, association, and due process through a label used only by those who use fear, hate, and violence (social, physical, or economic) as tools in advancing their ideals.  This does not mean that William Ayers or Rev. Jeremiah Wright are correct in either their actions, beliefs, or words. However, they too are as guilty as Rep. Bachmann in pursuing their tactics to divide and demonize. Neither sides actions are anti-American because it is not treasonous to voice opinion. It is only treasonous if their tools are utilized to advance the cause of another nation at the detriment to our own. 

To question or nation's choices is patriotic not detrimental. It is right to speak out and say America is wrong. Our own Constitution reflects those edits so that all Americans can be treated equally and heard regardless of race, creed, gender, political party, or national origin.  What is wrong is threatening that right to a voice as well as the right to listen to others' voices with a label that is a pure declaration of treason. And what else is wrong is voicing an opinion with the tools of fear, hate, and violence with the ambition only to cause discord and division. Neither is treasonous in criminal law, but disrespectful to fellow citizens and ignorant of our own American values.

The right and left embodied by the actions, beliefs, and words of Rep. Bachmann, Mr. Ayers, and Rev. Wright ignore the truth about American exceptionalism. It is not about claims America is better than all the other nations nor is it about how America is worse than other nations. American exceptionalism is about how we treat each other and celebrate the idea that debate, dialogue, and discussion unencumbered by intolerence and ignorance of difference can lead to great things.  It only by disrespecting difference and not advancing progress through mutual understanding are we all guilty of treason and not the other way around.    

Update Oct 20, 2008: Apparrantly many people saw or heard about Rep. Bachmann's remarks and not only have flooded her office with angry calls but donated $640,000 in just 48 hours to her general election day opponent Democrat Elwyn Tinklenberg. Pollster.com currently has Bachmann leading Tinklenberg by 10% but she has not broken the 50% barrier yet. The Democratic Party just pledged $1 million to Tinklenberg for media in reaction to this as well.

Here is a link to an article about the reaction to Bachmann's speech in terms of her own election battle. In the interest of equal time here is a link to her rebuttal. And her district seems to be running ahead of the rest of the country on foreclosures (link).

Wouldn't it be nice to drop even $10 in Mr Tinklenberg's coffers to defeat someone who seems to value partisanship over compromise in the Congress?

The McFreeds present...

The third debate between the presidential candidates Barack Obama and John McCain introduced us all to Joe "The Plumber" Wurzelbacher. Below is the actual interchange between Obama and Joe. Listen and make your own judgements.

Here is a follow up interview with Joe "The Plumber" that captures his personal impressions of the debate and who he will vote for based on what he has heard so far. Again, make your own judgements.

Sean is all a titter...

This interview by CNN's Campbell Brown of John McCain Presidential Campaign Spokesman Tucker Bounds was an excellent one where the interviewer didn't let the answer given get away as acceptable. The McCain campign is apparrantly complaining about this interview now.  The best part is at minute 2:10 where Brown asks about what decisions Governor Sarah Palin made as head of the Alaskan National Guard. Sounds to me that the McCain campaign needs to be better prepared with this answer. This focuses on the facts rather than the tabloid and I applaud Brown on this line of questioning. To show what she is made of I think have Brown interview Palin would be a big gamble the campaign should take since she is a tough questioner.

Sean provides some perspective...

During my years in the political game (I was a paid Democratic political organizer in the field for 4 years and grassroots organizer for 5 years prior to that), I have learned to never underestimate opponents. This week, John McCain shocked the political establishment by selecting Alaska Governor Sarah Palin as his running mate in the 2008 presidential election. So far criticism of her - without anyone truly knowing anything about her - has been that she is not qualified and lacks experience to be ultimately the President if something happens to McCain. Now I share these concerns with all of you and because of the social choices both McCain and she have linked themselves too The McFreeds will not be pulling the lever for McCain-Palin. However, despite the rhetoric I think Palin will impress us as a fresh face. I warn you all not to put her in a corner. She might not be the Dan Quayle many are putting her out to be.

This woman has run on the idea of "perspective" being her guide. Sure her state is small but its issues are just as great as our own. She has first hand knowledge of what it is to be a woman, a mother, a small business owner, a town mayor, a state commissioner, and a governor. She has the heart of a reformer more than McCain ever did. Anyone remember Wisconsin Senator William Proxmire?  Now she isn't as focused as Proxmire was, but she is one to stand up and point at corruption and attempt to kill it with daylight. She did this in Juneau on many occasions already. Yet she works across the aisle on issues of economic necessity as well. That drive is seen as naive in the Washington world as well as the world of other states for that matter. But she has put it in practice and won on it. Her track record indicates that she is not afraid of defeating Don Quixote's windmill. And that spirit shouldn't be so easily dismissed.

Here are a few clips that show me that Palin may surprise us with not only depth but of approachability. Enjoy!

Recent interview with Maria Bartiromo on CNBC's Closing Bell With Maria Bartiromo concerning energy policy. This shows how this woman thinks as well as showing some maverick nature on how the status quo isn't working. (LONGER INTERVIEW SEGMENT [10 mins] and Transcript):

Here is Governor Palin on being Vice-President and where if she was picked (the interview is from August 25) she would want to be. But listen to her method of talking about her perspective as a mother and an Alaskan in terms of energy independence and the Iraq War.

This clip of Palin on CNBC's Larry Kudlow show really shows her ability to carry a long interview and really answer things well. The sound and mouth movements are off on this but it is well worth your listen to cut through the noise and listen to her before the announcement for an extended period of time.

Finally, here is a clip to show Palin's sense of humor. She is really quick on the stump and someone willing to have jokes made at her expense. Remember with John McCain did Saturday Night Live?  I can really see how he picked her. Funny thing is that the name of this HYSTERICAL clip from Craig Ferguson's CBS late night show and his label of her is what I used to call Stefan when we first started dating! I even sent him this clip in July because I was looking at Craig Ferguson clips on YouTube after seeing him on the PBS 4th of July coverage with the Boston Pops! Ironic! [3:13 mins]

My point in this blog post in the end is do not let the media define a person in 30 second clips. Read up and watch clips of a person via the Internet or other traditional sources so you can either make a decision or strengthen your position on the 2008 Presidential race. This is not a time to just go immediately partisan. Each of the four people in this race believe in America and we shouldn't cheapen that with rhetoric. Let the issues decide and then pull your own lever. Perspective is important.

And in that interest, here is a link to a Washington Post article about Governor Palin and her husband Todd Palin concerning the investigation surrounding her involvement with the dismissal of former Alaska Public Safety Commissioner Walt Monegan.  She claims his dismissal was due to his lack of action on issues related to the department. Others claim otherwise. This issue involves Monegan's reluctance to fire Palin's former brother-in-law Mike Wooten from his state trooper job. Wooten was suspended from his position independent of the allegations the Palin family provided. Monegan's successor resigned several weeks after being appointed because of previously unknown sexual harrassment charges that were pending against him. This article does a great job of getting the facts straight so you can make your own judgements.  Here is an article from KTVA in Anchorage on the probe by the state legislature and on the dismissal itself for a little local flavor.

The McFreeds would like to share the following...

This is an excerpt from the New York Times interview from the June 13, 2008 issue.

Q: President Bush believes that gay couples should not be permitted to adopt children. Do you agree with that?

Mr. McCain: I think that we’ve proven that both parents are important in the success of a family so, no I don’t believe in gay adoption.

Q: Even if the alternative is the kid staying in an orphanage, or not having parents.

Mr. McCain: I encourage adoption and I encourage the opportunities for people to adopt children I encourage the process being less complicated so they can adopt as quickly as possible. And Cindy and I are proud of being adoptive parents.

Q: But your concern would be that the couple should a traditional couple

Mr. McCain: Yes.

The McFreeds share the following letter from Barack Obama with you...

Barack Obama

Dear Friends,

Thank you for the opportunity to welcome everyone to the Alice B. Toklas LGBT Democratic Club's Pride Breakfast and to congratulate you on continuing a legacy of success, stretching back thirty-six years.  As one of the oldest and most influential LGBT organizations in the country, you have continually rallied to support Democratic candidates and causes, and have fought tirelessly to secure equal rights and opportunities for LGBT Americans in California and throughout the country.  

As the Democratic nominee for President, I am proud to join with and support the LGBT community in an effort to set our nation on a course that recognizes LGBT Americans with full equality under the law. That is why I support extending fully equal rights and benefits to same-sex couples under both state and federal law.  That is why I support repealing the Defense of Marriage Act and the "Don't Ask Don't Tell" policy, and the passage of fully inclusive laws to protect LGBT Americans from hate crimes and employment discrimination. And that is why I oppose the divisive and discriminatory efforts to amend the California Constitution, and similar efforts to amend the U.S. Constitution or those of other states.

For too long, issues of LGBT rights have been exploited by those seeking to divide us. It's time to move beyond polarization and live up to our founding promise of equality by treating all our citizens with dignity and respect. This is no less than a core issue about who we are as Democrats and as Americans.

Finally, I want to congratulate all of you who have shown your love for each other by getting married these last few weeks. My thanks again to the Alice B. Toklas LGBT Democratic Club for allowing me to be a part of today's celebration.  I look forward to working with you in the coming months and years, and I wish you all continued success. 

Sincerely,  
Barack Obama