The Ad Age President Who ‘Killed Election Day’
Barack Obama’s presidential victory last Tuesday was a triumph of clever advertising, slick marketing, and subversion of the way elections were run in America for over 200 years.
I’m not saying that. Fawning advertisers, marketers, and writers at Advertising Age are.
On October 17, two and a half weeks before the election, Ad Age named the Obama campaign its 2008 Marketer of the Year, beating out the likes of Apple, Zappos, and other household names that sell real products and services to consumers.
As to the marketing techniques, Ira Teiniwitz noted that Team Obama is getting plentiful plaudits, largely justified:
The genius of Obama’s team, led by Mr. Plouffe and senior adviser David Axelrod, and ad group GMMB, headed by Jim Margolis, was its recognition that brand integration has transcended mere marketing to become a blend of technology, targeting, staffing, outreach, and fundraising.
But there’s no indication that anyone at Ad Age is even aware that one of Team Obama’s vaunted “technology strategies” involved deliberately disabling its card-processing Automated Verification System, more than likely enabling millions of dollars, if not tens of millions, in untraceable credit card and prepaid card contributions, much of it apparently from foreign sources, to pour into the campaign.
The flacks have also declared that Team Obama’s goal of “rebranding” the USA is already a mission accomplished. At least one less-than-objective observer is feeding the fanfare:
“Overnight it has become fashionable to be an American again, and the whole world is looking at us once again as this beacon of hope,” said Michael Kempner, CEO of Interpublic’s MWW. Mr. Kempner is a member of the Obama National Finance Committee and was once deputy finance chair of the DNC.
“The election and nomination process is the brand relaunch of the year,” said David Brain, CEO of Edelman Europe, Middle East, and Africa. “Brand USA. It’s just fantastic.”
Apparently, no one at Ad Age thought to ask how it was that, during the era of the much-maligned Bush “brand,” countries like France, Germany, Canada, and others moved rightward. Also left out of the evaluation were the feelings of the liberated in Iraq and Afghanistan. Additionally, there was no discussion of the potential brand impact, if you will, of the nearly instant post-election belligerence and faux pleasantness, respectively, of Russia’s Medvedev and Iran’s Ahmadinejad, whose congratulatory letter to Obama said that “Teheran welcomes basic and fair changes in U.S. policies and conducts.”
You’re right. Early voting is a step in the direction of turning elections into plebiscites, in which a sitting president who either has the tools to control the media (as in the case of some other countries) or is good at manipulating it (as in our case) can control both the timing of the vote and the tone at the time of the vote.
Of course it falls short of that, but approaches it to an uncomfortable extent.
Frankly Tom,I give a hairy rat’s ass if it was by anti-democratic, surreptitious, disingenuous, meretricious, Goebbellian methods that shamelessly exploited the abject ignorance, fears, infantile emotions, laziness and credulousness of a large part of the population.
That’s the price of Hope and Change.
MCCAIN’S TARNISHED HONOR
John McCain has damaged his own reputation for no apparent reason:
http://greensrealworld.blogspot.com/2008/11/mccains-tarnished-honor.html
Don’t give Obama more credit for slickness than he deserves. He got to run against a mealy-mouthed old man who couldn’t contrast his own socialist tendencies from Obama’s obvious leanings. The sell job, was done as much by a fawning media, intent on seeing our first African-American President, and writing more race relations drivel, which really sells.
“The election and nomination process is the brand relaunch of the year.”
I’ve got this great bottle of socialism I wanna sell you. Tell you what- since you’re a first time buyer….for a limited time only- I’m gonna give you TWO…count’em TWO bottles for the price of one. AND…AND..there’s more!
If you’re one of our lucky callers in the next 30 minutes…I’ll give you a signed autographed copy of William Ayers 4 books sold bestseller ‘Prairie Fire’. Folks, that’s a retail value over 25 cents!
Call now!
I am more concerned about candidates who amass 3 to 1 money advantage and then try to hypnotize the electorate. I wonder if Obama would have won if he had the same money as McCain or slightly more. Shouldn’t candidates win over the electorate with their vision and ideas rather than slick marketing?
Also, no one is seriously asking the question how Obama raised so much money so quickly. Even Michael Moore did not make so much money from the Looney left with his documentaries. At least those provided a good laugh for some and serious introspection for others.
So does turning off the security features on your donation page lead to mass fraud? One has to wonder why Obama spent so many days on his World tour. PR or Fundraising?
Craig…
I think you’ve stumbled onto the next great economic stimulus package. Throw in a tube of Mighty Putty and we’ve got a deal.
I wonder what you would say if the shoe were on the other foot? Where is your belief in the free market system? You mean to say that you want the GOVERNMENT to interefer and limit the money that a candidate can raise? Obama played by the rules and won. Just practice saying “Mr President” when you refer to Mr Obama as he will be your President for at least the next eight years
Robert likes to threat, he probably thinks he will be hired as an obamatron squadron to beat up the ones who doesn’t obey.
I guess the only thing that zerobama has is being feared through intimidation, because with zero capacity, zero dignity and zero personality, he cannot hope for anything else.
however it’s true what they say, people usually vote for the candidate that being equally stupid as them, doesn’t belittle them
that’s robert hurley. A retarded stroking another retarded.
Madison Ave image plus Chicago politics equalled victory. McCain said he would rather lose an election than lose a war I hope he doesn’t lose both. He did double Bush approval rating in the election give the old f@?rt some credit.
Robert-
Do you plan on amending the Constitution, or is Obama just not going leave?
Just practice saying “Mr President” when you refer to Mr Obama as he will be your President for at least the next eight years
never, “not my” president – a real fraud brought on us by a media that failed to investigate his past, political leanings, etc.
he’ll last 4 years at best, his promises undeliverable
Craig:
Did you get that from his infomercial? I didn’t watch it….I already new I didn’t want to buy the crap!
Robert Hurley, Robert Hurley….OMG!! Your man lied to you. During the primaries he said he would abide by campaign finance laws. Then he DIDN’T!!! I bet he’s lied to you about other things as well…you remind me of a woman who’s husband is a cheater and abuser, she keeps making excuses for him and standing by her man no matter what everyone is telling her. You have my pity. One day your ignorance might kill you but unfortunatly for the rest of us, it might kill us too!
So sorry your ad agency didn’t make any money. Sour grapes you communist mothafesto. So, you hate it that the old ways gave way to the new huh? You troglodite. Your an antedeluvian fool. I’m a successful lawyer who makes well over 250k a year. I voted on the first day of early voting for O’Bama and I would have loved to do it twice. You’re more anti-American than Sarah Palin you creep.
If you voted for Obama, do you have any idea what you’ve did?
You put liars and cheaters, not to mention the most ardent Socialists in charge of the most freedom-loving and freedom-defending country in the history of the world.
To you, (in regard to Acorn’s voter fraud and untraceable foreign credit card money) the extremes equals the means, which is about as Communistic as you can get.
You’ve disgraced your families, yourselves and your country.
You’ve joined Bill Ayers in stomping on the flag. You’ve joined Barack Obama in dancing on the slaughtered bodies of the unborn to the tune of more than a million a year. You’ve joined the forces of darkness and evil.
Ultimately, you’ll be judged not by anyone here at PJM.
But by God.
You just can’t get over the fact that a majority of Americans voted for Obama there is nothing you can do to change it.
Rachel P – There you go again with that direct line to God. “Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. 11 The Pharisee, standing by himself, prayed [1] thus: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. 12 I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I get.’ 13 But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner!’ 14 I tell you, this man went down to his house justified, rather than the other. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.”
9. Robert Hurley:
at least the next eight years? what rules are you talking about? at least? planning on changing something?
also, to paraphrase julia roberts he’s not my prisident, just another lying politician, the fundraising thing was a lie, he didn’t change his mind he set the old honest guy up, and the old guy took the bait. obama (notice the lower case) knew about his fundraising credit card scheme and he snowballed the old man with his cash. and considering all that money he won by a narrow margin, or rather, he bought his job with a large one.
Robert Hurley: Great quote from the Bible. “For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.” I don’t think our President elect is the second man.
No, there is nothing I can do to change the fact that he was elected and there is nothing I can do to change the fact that he did it by lying. I know for a fact though, that if I had voted for him I would want him to be accountable for everything. Heck, I didn’t vote for him and I want him to be accountable. Just imagine, if he could have legal proof to dissaprove all of the allegations made against him then the people who voted for him could really make us that didn’t vote for him eat crow. So, why don’t you and the others that voted for him email him and tell him to make us all look like fools by coming clean?
People that are not for OBAMA really need to get a life where in the hell have you all been for the past 8 years? Bush was the worst president in history he does not care about anyone oe anything any smart human being can see that when gas skyrocketed to over $4.00 a galloon and when he basically turned both cheeks to the crisis in New Orleans and lets dont start with our soldiers in Iraq. But of course if all of you SO CALLED CHRISTIANS AND REPUBLICANS ARE RICH AND NEVER HAD TO EXERIENCE ANY HARSHIPS THEN YOU HAVE NO IDEA WHERE I AM COMING FROM. but please believe in everyone’s life some rainfall will happen. We needed a change a positive cahange for this country and econpomy and we got that blessing on Movember 4th, 2008
I am very happy that Obama will be our new president. Everyone seems to forget – the Bush administration are the ones that have caused the mess we are in. It takes a much smarter man than Mr. Bush to get our country out of this mess. Just give this man a chance – he can certinaly do no worse than President Bush, and it is my opinion that our new president is going to turn this country around. Would you rather have a giddy, hair in the eyes, flirty, woman that acts like a teenager, running this country? Not me. And on the subject of lies – how about the illegal war that President Bush started based on a pack of lies and half truths told to the American people. So stop bashing Obama and stand behind him. He deserves a chance and he will be our best president yet.
I have never seen so many sore losers since 1st grade. If these comments are reflective of what the Republicans have to offer, it’s obvious why the GOP is in such a mess. They completely turn the majority of Americans off.
Please stop whining and put your “Country First” and support OUR NEW PRESIDENT like the rest of the country and the world. And if you are so unhappy, there’s other countries out there. Your unpatriotic spirit won’t be missed.
OKC and Judy:
The mortgage fall was directly tied to Bill Clinton and his ” National Homeownership Strategy: Partners in the American Dream”
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB119794091743935595.html
And as for the WMD–he was acting on advice from the CIA and the Secretary of State. Powell might have a role in the Obama White House.
“CIA chief George Tenet gave a classified briefing to congressmen on this and other charges in September 2002, a few weeks before Congress voted to endorse war with Iraq.
Secretary of State Colin Powell also informed a closed hearing of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee two days later of the Iraq attempt to secure the key ingredient for a nuclear weapon. The revelation sent shock waves through Capitol Hill and helped squelch resistance to going to war.” -James Bouvard
And what is Obama’s stand on the war…well, we don’t really know because he’s changed his mind about being against it, being for it, etc, etc…
http://elections.foxnews.com/2008/03/19/obamas-opposition-to-iraq-war-once-firm-sometimes-has-wavered/
And OKC: I have been poor, I refused handouts from the government and worked my butt off to get to where I am today…I’m living the real “American Dream”. If I didn’t have to work for what I have I wouldn’t appreciate it.
okc, you need to get a life, spare us your pathetic life.
You succeeded in getting your (not) hard earned government welfare cheque.
Your limited mental capacity however don’t let you understand that the money for your welfare cheque are taken away from small businesses. Those small business during hard financial times could be forced to close down, go bankrupt or lay off employees.
I am aware however that you cannot be bothered because probably you’ve been on the dole most of your life.
And Judy, the financial mess was caused by Clinton.
“Would you rather have a giddy, hair in the eyes, flirty, woman that acts like a teenager, running this country? ”
We actually have, it’s called Obama
“I have never seen so many sore losers since 1st grade. ”
strange denise, if you had looked at 2000 and 2004 elections you would have had a clear example. I am aware that in 2000 you weren’t even born tho.
“Please stop whining and put your “Country First” and support OUR NEW PRESIDENT like the rest of the country and the world. ”
Excuse me, can you ask your parents when they supported Bush in the past 8 years? (still because you weren’t born in 2000 and were only 3 in 2004).
And please, don’t let delusion kill you when you find out how little obama has to do (or not do) to have the “world” turn against him as usual.
Has it ever crossed your brain (whatever is that thing between your ears) that Chavez, Castro and Iran Thug are praising obummer because they think he’s one of them?
Denise: seems that I saw more, many more, sore losers in 2000 and 2004! I am not a republican, but am a rabid anti-democrat as in Democratic Party. I wish for a viable 3rd party, with enough clout to by pass the electoral college and throw all future presidential elections into the House of Representatives.
Until that day arrives, I will continue to vote Republican.
i cannot believe how awful these republicans are. they should all go another planet or solar system. they are mostly ignorant red necks that know nothing about democracy or freedom. they claim christianity but suuport welfare for big coorporations but not needy individuals. 47 million americans who voted for mccain make me sick to the bones. good riddance to all republicans. go to hell to your father the devil. amen. thank god for obama my most beloved president since kennedy
24. denise1: Add to the discussion or go play on your MySpace!
To post 18. A majority of Americans did not vote for Obama. If you thought about it you would see how ridiulous that statement is. This is a country of what, three or four hundred million people?. I don’t think 65 million is a majority of Americans. If fact, 65 million is not even a majority of eligible voters. There are somewhere over two hundred millon elegible voters in this country. The only truth to your statement is that a majority of those who voted, voted Obama. It still remains a fact that Obama got elected but not voted for by a majority of Americans. You seem haughty in your assumption that he will be voted in again before he even gets inagurated for his first term. I have to damper your enthusiasm,if Obama doesn’t govern wisely watch how many of those one hundred million who didn’t vote this time do vote time. I believe the number by which Obama beat Mccain is in direct proportion to the number of newly registered voters. Maybe the Republicans will get a head start on registering new voters. I seem to recall when George Bush was touted as the saviour of the free world and enjoyed an 80 per cent approval rating. My how time changes things and remeber time doesn’t play favorites. Don’t rub it in just yet.
24. denise1,
You’re right denise1. We should all act a little bit more like the Democrats did after the 2004 election. They were mature, gracious, and helped unite the country during a time of war. Never once did I see “He’s not my president,” or “Bush Fush” bumpersticker. What the liberals did was put petty partisanship behind them, and transform it into solidarity and support for a war time president.
In other words, f*** you and, f*** Obama.
oh i cant wait for obama to screw up. Of course when he and the democrat majority congress does manage to deepen the crisis they started the media will somehow link it back to Bush and the republican minority in congress. Oh but i guess you obama lovers didnt know that congress has power too? Never heard of checks and balances huh? Maybe you should do some research before blaming all your problems on Bush. If you will remeber the fall of fannie and Freddie started this downward spiral. And who forced them to give loans to the people who couldnt ever pay them back? Thats right, your hero Bill Clinton, a democrat. So stop blaming others for the problems your party started
meant to say ‘buck fush’
My comments are awaiting moderation. I apologize for the spelling errors. I think though my point is well taken.
radwan, you cannot believe how awful republicans are but you are here.
that says much more about yourself than it says about republicans.
what happened? you’re too stupid to post at the daily kos?
We only have one president at a time. It is quite convenient to forget the past 8 years and what it has cost our country. Where were the anti-Obama people when Bush’ ratings were in the dump.
This is not a time for bashing the winner or the defeated of the campaign. Everyone deserves an opportunity at their new position. Racist, partisan banter will only serve to cause a greater divide in this country. The last time I checked everyone that ran for the office was a politician. All were elected officials and they all lie, mislead, fabricate, manipulate the truth and the media.
Obama did not buy the campaign. Bush and the Republican party gave it to him. (FYI – I am a 20+ yrs Republican) Since there was an increased amount of voter fraud, the truth will never be known regarding the true percentage President Obaba defeated McCain.
Follow McCain’s example of a gracious concession speech. Let’s build America together and save American’s homes, jobs and rebuild the economy.
Number 16 reply:
For an attorney, it’s obvious you didn’t learn ENGLISH!
It should read
You’re an …
NOT Your an ……
The money Obama raised came from millions of individuals like me who were so tired of what Bush and the Republican Party were doing to America. I’m not rich but I felt that most Americans were getting poorer while Bush, Cheney, Rove and big businesses that supported them were getting super rich. I was also very tired of the racial division, the lies about why we went to war etc. etc. etcetera. I gladly donated to Obama’s campaign each month and know many others who did also. Obama won for many reasons. He is extremely intelligent and ran the smartest campaign. He motivated millions who wanted change to put their money where their mouth was. Those who did not want him to win are saying that they think that America is doing well under the Bush Administration. Please take your blinders off. Even if your candidate didn’t win, you should grow up and hope that a President can improve the lives of everyone. To wish him failure is tantamount to wishing bad things for America. I thought President Bush was the dumbest, most negative President in my lifetime but I always wanted him to be a successful President because I knew what it would mean to Americans. We finally have a President (elect) that will dig us out of the huge hole that the Republican Party has dug for us. It will take years to undo the damage, but President Obama will go down in history as a Great President.
this debate will go on until the end of time. i support obama 1000%. he gives a voice to all americans your problem with him is not his policies or plans it is the color of his skin. in this capitalistic society that republicans support it is only the rich get richer and the poor get poorer. there is now a chance to level the playing field and it strikes fear absolute and total in the hearts of you cowards who are racist and immoral pigs!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Clintonhad this country in great shape. Didn’t take long for Bush to ruin it all. And I agree with Ms. Progressive – Obama will go down inhistory as a great President, perhaps the greatest. If he is so bad, as some of you seem to think, it’s darn funny the majority of the people voted for him, including first time voters. The majority rules, so get over it.
“I’m not rich but I felt that most Americans were getting poorer while Bush, Cheney, Rove and big businesses that supported them were getting super rich.”
And Obummer didn’t get rich in Chicago?
And when his wife saw her paycheck multiply by 3 when he, as a senator, started to favour the hospital where she worked, is not “getting super rich” thanks to political favours?
Ms progressive, do you think just by voting obummer, your paycheck is going to double just for the sake that you have voted him? and it’s going to double at the expense of who exactly?
Are you aware that big corporations can send jobs overseas and even hide money, so where will obummer take the money to deliver it to you?
Do you think he’s able to multiply paper money like jesus did with food? and turn water into wine also?
Please spell how delusional you are, after calling republicans lunatic, that would be a little strechy
Ms. Attitude
Colin Powell was also given poor intelligence information from the CIA– you merely added his name because he ultimately supported Barack Obama and I’m sure you’re upset by that.
Yes, Clinton’s ” National Homeownership Strategy: Partners in the American Dream” may have started this ball rolling (and I might add during a time when the nation had a HUGE surplus and could take a hit, unlike now), the Bush administration has had 8 years to do something about it. They did nothing because it was one more thing for them to profit off of and believe me, the list of profits for his “base” is astronomical.
When Bush won a second term, I asked myself how our country could be so unaware, so misinformed, so blind. I was deeply disappointed and worried, but I like millions of others, weathered the horrible storm and accepted our loss. I urge you all to accept the loss and understand that this is a time for redemption and everyone should be happy for the opportunity and the hope!
I agree with Ms Progressive, President-Elect Obama won because millions gave as much as they could afford to do what needed to be done to give us hope for a better America.
tracy s, again I ask, why you are here?
In your distorted and warped mind we are worthless human beings, therefore, WHY YOU ARE HERE?
The debate will surely go on till the end of time, but we rather have it with intelligent people, therefore, take your toys, the obama-inflated-doll, and go to play in your sand-box.
Wow, this is sad. Are you really trying to call Obama a liar because he changed his mind. Heck I’d change my mind too if it wasn’t fair. I find it funny how people on the losing side of an argument (or race) deem a person a liar just because they change their mind about something. The system isn’t fair Obama saw that and audibled. Just give the man what he deserves. He won the election. Ross Perot spent plenty of money on his campaign and he didn’t win, so give it up! I respect you Patriot you’re one of the redeemers of the Republican party. Because right now, viewing these comments and the Repubs I know, the bigotry, ignorance and selfishness prevails. Go Obama!!!!
well observer, what can we do?
Even Sarah palin changed her mind about the bridge to nowhere (that your Biden voted anyway) and you vomited any kind of insult on her.
Since you democrats always said to have the monopoly of truth, honesty, ability, manner and solutions, we are humbly learning tolerance from you.
Sarah Palin is a liar for changing minds on bridge to nowhere? Obummer is too.
Easy.
Boy ol’ boy what a mess. It hurts me to my heart to hear all of the negativity that has come about from change. By change being the only constant, you would think that we would be used to it in our lives by now. I know we are better than this.
For at least 46 years I have witnessed the minorities get the worst treatment in terms of anything from the past history. During the election some racist whites started screaming and shooting at blacks or Obama supporters. The n word even starting flowing out of some mouths. Have we learned nothing from the past. Injustice will always be rectified because we as a people as human beings will not let it go unnoticed. We need to prove to ourselves that we are better than this. The majority elected him so lets live with that and help him help us… Try to heal yourself, move on and then do whatever it takes to heal this country so we can fix this and have a better life for all american’s.
Thats what the American Flag and America the Free means to me. What does she mean to you?
i think people just fear the position hes in and truely fear socialism orianted things. listen being a little bit for social programs and seeing that socialism DOES have uses in various ways.
education is the biggest one, as the countries strength in the future will be dependent on how many are top educated and if you open the doors for higher educatation for more, to fill the the gap left from those who retire..to rid the probly of a poor persons child will be poor and raise the middle class.
capitalism has its uses to. to allow freedom to not have goverment, hard-working for your money morals.
but i believe things should be balenced, and i dont take obama as a fool. he knows the problems he faces are more important now that the world is watching everything he does. and he wont make a stupid move. he wont be careless and watch as the economy is literally collapsing around him. and the economy sadly is his test. if he fails to bring things back to order. he WILL not be able to let it go, this time around forgiveness is dried up in amarica
I saw this in another blog, don’t remember which or I would give credit.
IF you have ever driven on a road which was built, maintained, patrolled for safety using public monies…. YOU may be a socialist.
IF you helped your elderly parents sign up for Medicare so you would not have to pay for all the healthcare they need… YOU may be a socialist.
IF you have ever eaten ANYTHING you did not grow yourself, anything which was grown with any governmental program to help the producer, shipped over any public roadway, inspected for your safety at any point…. YOU may be a socialist.
There are lots more. The game is growing, and it ends with this:
If you have been anything but a hermit in a loincloth, you may be a socialist. If you define socialism as any form of taking tax money from people to provide people with the services and infrastructure, you are lying to yourself about how ruggedly independent you are. You are dependent on the society and the society takes care of many needs.
I have got to say, I wonder whether or not these comments were made by adults. I would assume so, given you need to be eighteen to vote.
To give my opinion, I am very sorry that Senator McCain didn’t win the election. As a black democrat, I found him more trustworthy and capable than Obama. Senator Biden (VP elect) is a man who scares me in his warped catastrophic views and goals, and Obama himself looks pretty and has amazing speech writers, but no guts and no follow-through. I admit, in the beginning I was excited for CHANGE CHANGE CHANGE!! But even throughout the campaign, Obama showed nothing different or better than what we have all gone through in the past eight years. He seemed incapable of providing specific guidelines to HELP our country. If he is really going to give it a shot at President, I believe
OBAMA HAS TO CHANGE!!!!!
Perhaps he can take a few pointers from McCain. At least he has a head on his shoulders and the capability to lead and reform.
And Tracy (39): If your only defense of Obama is that he is black and we don’t like it, think again. I see black in the mirror, but can’t imagine Obama in the White House. IT has nothing to do with his colour, and I think he would be ashamed that you call his opposers “racist and immoral pigs”. Focus on the skills, and on the issues, and you might even find yourself thinking “ooops”.
Boo,hoo,hoo. You bunch of conspiratorial crybabies
Ms. Attitude,
Your claim that this economic mess started with Bill Clinton may not be totally off the mark, but it is off the mark. The problems we are facing today started with Richard Nixon, and were escalated in 1999 with a bill initiated by strongly promoted by Phil Gramm, a bill which basically removed all the restraints on financial institutions put into place after the Great Depression. To the sorrow of many of us, Bill Clinton did sign that bill after it was passed by a majority Republican Congress.
But let us go back a little in time. Do you remember the savings and loan scandal? If you do, you also remember that was during Bush Sr.’s reign. Now we are in trouble due to the Sub-prime lending mess, which occurred when? Oh, wait, during Bush Jr.’s reign.
Can you see a pattern here? Some of us do.
memo to the obamatrolls that are pestering this thread: by electing an incompetent, unexperienced, corrupted, unpatriotic BLACK person as president, USA has officially declared that racism is over.
No white politicians could be elected with such background (or lack of), not even taken into consideration as candidate.
I see your constant call for racism as pretty pointless. However, please give me a call when in some african state, with a white minority they will elect a white president. Just to see who the real racist is.
Rachel P.
We are conservatives in exile. But we have hope. God is still in control. Nothing will or can happen without Him allowing it. Don’t waste time or energy commenting to people like Robert H., they are brainwashed by the religion of radical liberal socialism and will totally ignore the truth of the evil they propagate.
Hang in there, Hold to the truth!!
It is quite amazing to see all of your comments about the last 2 presidents and the newly elected one. Is there any one of you who think that you could even do a tenth of a job running the country? I don’t think so. I think that you should give Obama the fair chance that he deserves just like the 8 years that we had to give to Bush that he did NOT deserve.
As for the Republicans commenting here. Do you really think that the Republicans that have been running the Country into the ground and have all of the foreign countries hating us even care what you think. Unless you have the super high bank accounts and can donate millions to them they don’t care about you. You are only a vote for them on election day and that is the only day they really want to hear from you.
It does not matter about voting anyway, it always seems that whomever has the most money to buy the election is the one who wins. Besides there is always one more BUSH to run if you don’t like the way Obama does his job. Maybe you can push for Barbara to get Jeb ready as she did for George W. That should please alot of you who think that the only one who can run the country is a Republican.
toddb I agree with you totally.
CRAP! CRAP! I just gave ratings to a piece of crap. If this was in print it still wouldn’t be worth wiping my ass with it. CRAP!
“Apparently no one at Ad Age thought to ask how it was that, during the era of the much-maligned Bush’brand,’ countries like France, Germany, Canada, and others moved rightward. Also left out of the evaluation were the feelings of the liberated in Iraq and Afghanistan.”
Where is the evidence that France, Germany, Canada and “others” moved rightward? By whose criteria? As for the “liberated” in Iraq and Afghanistan, one wonders also about the one million Iraqis who have been “liberated” from life, owing to the U.S. invasion and subsequent destabilization of Iraq. The fact is that the majority of Iraqis have always, and still do favor the withdrawal of all U.S. forces. They view the occupation of Iraq as an insult, not as a “liberation,” and calling it otherwise does not make it so.
“Additionally, there was no discussion of the potential brand impact, if you will, of the nearly instant post-election belligerence and faux pleasantness, respectively, of Russia’’s Medvedev and Iran’’s Ahmadinejad, whose congratulatory letter to Obama said that ‘Teheran welcomes basic and fair changes in U.S. policies and conducts.’ “
Ho hum. Perhaps you have forgotten that Al Qaeda endorsed John McCain. I would think that stunt would have dissuaded you from attmepting the guilt-by-association ploy on Mr. Obama. He is not really responsible for remarks made by Medvedev or Ahmadinejad, is he?
“The fact is that Obama broke a promise he made throughout the primaries. He knew that his supporters and the media (but I repeat myself) wouldn’’t mind. (Aside: Don’’t you love the use of weasel terms like ‘opt-out’ for what is really ‘lying’?)
This ignores the fact that McCain could have opted out as easily as Obama did. As for “lying,” I think that is a little strong. I find it more likely that he simply changed his mind. But if we want to talk about lies, how about the one told by Mr. Bush, who insisted that he had “proof” that Iraq had nuclear weapons poised for delivery via ICBMS to points in Europe? “Proof” that was, of course, never forthcoming. And I would think that over a million Iraqi dead and thousands of American casualties – the results of Bush’s lie — would count for somewhat more that any possible damage to John McCain’s campaign – the results of Obama’s “lie.”
“ . . .but given the fact that John McCain closed the polling gap significantly in the race’’s final two weeks, it’’s not unreasonable to believe that early voting cost him a point or two of the six by which he lost.”
“Significantly?” You’ve got to be joking. I watched the averages on RealClear Politics every day for four solid weeks leading up to the election, and there was no “significant” closing of the gap inasmuch as the margin of error on election polls is about 3%-5% . Your assertion is – well, dammit, it’s a LIE.
Too bad, your bozo lost. Live with it. Or maybe you are all “real Americans” – those who never served, never cared, and only want to tell the brest of us how to live our lives.
Tough.
You LOST !!!!
WHAT AM I DOING? READING OPINIONS OF A BUNCH OF GRADE SCHOOLERS. THEY READ LIKEA WHINNING NAME CALLING IMMATURE 10 YEAR OLD? I CAN’T BELIEVE I JUST WASTED 30 MINUTES READING THIS MINDLESS PETTY DRIVEL! LET ME GO READ A GOOD BOOK OR GO KNIT,AT LEAST I WILL ACCOMPLISH SOMETHING AND STIMULATE MY BRAIN. GOD BLESS OBAMA, HE NEEDS IT WITH ALL THE COMPLAINING ,BACK STABBING, AND NAME CALLING GOING ON NOW! MY GOD, WHAT WILL IT BE LIKE IN 2010?
As I read these comments all I can do is shake my head. It is truly sad to see the amount of hatred that you hold for a human being. It is even sadder to see how hardened your hearts are towards this man because of the color of his skin. I wouldn’t be surprised if one of you were to try and plot an asassination on this man’s life………this is how deep your hatred runs!!! I know that no amount of words will change your cold, hate filled hearts but I pray that God will have mercy on your souls………and Susan, you should truly seek some much needed therapy, you have more issues than Readers Digest.
ROASBERRY you’re an idiot! You ain’t got 1 damned clue about what you’re even talking about! I just returned stateside, after spending nearly 4 years in Iraq. I saw first hand the appreciation to Mr. Bush and the United States as a whole, that the majority of the Iraqi population have. And the lies that you refer to, Mr. Bush only stated what was reported to him. Do you know for a fact that the WMD’s were not there? Do you honestly believe that members of the Baath Party or even foreign co-conspirers where going to leave the WMD’s sitting around, while we were looking for them? Why don’t you get the facts straight before you go running off at the mouth!
Juanita J.- the Democrats have been in control of the House for the last 2 years, I suppose that you believe they didn’t have anything to do with the terrible shape the economy is in?
Not the color of his skin I would vote for Condi Rice or Michael Steele in a New York second. I disagree with Obama’s views on taxes, abortion, the military, the size and role of government, energy etc. That is not racism it is freedom of speech.
Obama will bring truth and justice to a land that has never known neither
As predicted here two years ago on this blog, Barack Obama has become America’s first legitimate President. He has much to do. America’s crimes against humanity are many and it may take a generation to address them all but it starts tonight. The world celebrates today’s defeated of wickedness.
http://truthfirstnow.blogspot.com
Yes! We did and change is on the way. We are all Americans and need to be happy that the past 8 years will be over. We need solid & sane leadership of our country to get us back on track. I am an independant and always vote for the person, not the party. I voted for GW the 1st time and Kerry last. If John McCain hadn’t changed his politics and was still the “Maverick” McCain from years past, I would have voted for him. However, he changed dramatically and has became just another Bushite. I could not vote for someone who said the economy is fundamentally strong, and doesn’t even know how many homes he & his wife own (doesn’t matter who actually owns them, they are available to him), or someone who said it didn’t matter how many years we were in Iraq. The republican party has lost its “brand” and the so called conservatives have become tax & spend liberals and warmongers. Our government needs to stay involved in foreign affairs, however we also need to pay a little more attention to problems at home which the Bush administration did not do.
For 7 years we have been fighting a false war over OIL instead of using our resources to win the war on terror. If McCain had won we would be in Iraq forever as Royal Dutch Shell is returning to Iraq for the first time since 1972 and you know they will need the American Military to keep them safe…..forget about finding the person that was behind 9-11 because for 7 years we have been searching for Osama Bin Ladin and still no sign of him, then again, after 7 years you can have a missing person declared legally dead, so congratulations to President Bush and the Republican party for finally winning the war on terror.
Repubs, you have to realize that this time around, the brand of FEAR did not click with the majority of Americans. HOPE & CHANGE worked.
Election advertising was done by both parties. In my opinion, people who voted for McCain have no self-confidence and are extremely fearful…which is why the McCain campaign focused on FEAR tactics.
Obama may not be perfect, but he is intelligent enough to steer the U.S.A. into a better direction!
Your article seem interesting enough,( I was having a senior moment) and wow!!!! petty, really rather silly article, pure hate run the full length of it, Move-on with your life, my dear it’s very short u know, spread love !!! Change has come, and the old ways,the days or wine and roses has passed. It’s a new world,- at least here in our small side of the Planet. Go with Gusso or just go.
as someone wrote, “god is in control” and that is why the real christian won the election, our next president, Barack Obama, versus John McCain who is not a christian; and Sarah Palin who supports alaskan independence and believes in witchcraft. it is amazing that all the people who claim to be christian are so filled with hate. jesus preached to show nothing but love for your neighbor. As for early voting, sure let’s get rid of it, but instead let’s make election day a national holiday and give everyone the day off so they can vote. As for buying the election, if that claim is made, then you can claim that the rnc has bought all the past elections, since the rnc always out raises the dnc.
#57, Canada, France, and Germany moved right while Bush was in office as evidenced by three names: Harper, Sarkozy, and Merkel.
“1 million killed in Iraq” is a Lancet lie that has been totally discredited.
Medvedev and Ahmadinejad are happy Obama won. They think he’s weak. I hope they are wrong, but I fear they are right.
AQ’s support of McCain is stupid reverse psych, which may explain why you fell for it.
Obama lied about campaign financing, period. What McCain did or didn’t do irrelevant to that statement.
You totally mischaracterize Bush’s position on WMDs which by the way did exist, as shown by IBD and me.
Zobgy and Battleground showed major narrowing in the last 2-3 weeks. My claim on early voting costing McCain 1%-2% is solid. Your claim otherwise is patently false. NC provides further evidence.
Next …..
I’m sick of hearing people say Bush ran the country into the ground. Just because the democrats repeat something often enough does not make it true.
Barney Frank, Chris Dodd, Chris Cox and Obama himself are responsible for the financial mess we have. We have closer relations with Germany, France, UK, Saudi Arabia, Russia and China than we’ve ever had – Who decided that we’re hated? I travel golbally frequently. Or are you just drinking the DNC koolaid?
We may have made a mistake in Iraq, but Clinton determined that Iraq had WMD as did 95% of the world. We haven’t had another attack on the US in Bush’s presidency. I kinda like not having to live in daily fear like the Isrealis.
The reason articles like this are being written, is that the corrupt and self-indulgent Republican party, responsible for an inept 1 trillion dollar debt for an unnecessary war laughed Obama off – in their racist, snobbish, elite circles he was a non-serious, beatable candidate. Remember Rush getting voters out to vote for him over Hillary? Well, now they realize they misread the discontent of the MASSES who have been royally screwed over the past eight years. Now these people are united by a once in a generation leader – underestimated by all. This phenomenon will not be wiped away easily – the media was not the only one seduced by an intelligent candidate – so was the electorate – and not necessarily in that order. Blame the media – the oldest (boring) trick in the book. You are flat out wrong, just like Bush has been for 8 absolutely tortuous, humiliating years for the USA. This royal embarrassment for our country is nearly over. And most of the country is celebrating with much, much joy.
Wowwww…..I think that I won’t visit this site again. The opinions here are so extreme and juvenile that even some of the individuals from the peacful left seem a bit overwhelmingly juvenile to me. It seems that all of the hate and bitterness that was spread evenly through the Rep. Party has been concentrated and reduced to these few remaining individuals that can’t see that the past accepatable opinions are no longer relevant in their own party. Read a little on the Rep Governors Conference. Even they realize that they have to get back to the basics of the party and not just rely on hate and superiority. Well I will now leave all of you to your petty bickering.
i am not a republican or a democrat and dont want to say who i voted for. but i will say that it is rediculous that so many “repulicans” want to say that he stole an election, but when bush did it, it was fine. our country is failing and you want to argue about what obama has said and what he has done. instead come up with a solution on how america can be one and overcome what is going on. people are losing jobs daily, and obama gave them hope. people are losing their houses and cars and starting to struggle to feed their children, and obama gave them hope. i dont suffer from any of those things but if i did, he would have given me hope to. he touched millions of peoples hearts by speaking to them. he ran a hell of a campaign so just give him his credit. If your unhappy with the president we are about to have then move! Alot of people say they wont vote for him in 4 years either but you havn’t even seen what he is capable of doing. Stop being so close minded and acting like you are stuck in 1950. He may or may not have been my choice but it’s what we have to deal with just like Bush. So get with it or get lost but stop complaining people. being angry is just a waste of energy!
and to susan personally obama is just as much white as he is black and what the hell does his race have to do with this. its racist ass people like you who hold this country back. i am laughing at you and everyone else just like you who never wanted to see a person of color in charge. its hate like that, that will get you no where in life. I hope obama shows you and people just like you that a “Black” man can run this country just as well if not a hell of a lot better than your last “white” president.
Netta,
From Gene R. who I agree with to Bob Hurley who I agree sees the world through Socialist colored glasses, I want to read what they both have to say.
As for everybody in between, I feel the same way.
The people that make these comments at PJM aren’t dummies. They’re involved, and I bet much more up on things than your average Republican or Democrat.
But there are some things we don’t say or joke about. Because there are some loons out there that see a movie and start acting out. Or hear a violent thought expressed, and are fascinated by it.
Please don’t talk about hurting anyone, especially the President. Hurley is right. He’s my President. And no matter how much I may disagree with him, I would do anything necessary to defend him.
Gene is right, too. I choose not to answer Bob when he tries to attack me. But I’m still interested in what the man has to say.
To All,
WHAT IF OBAMA WAS WHITE???????????????
I hope President Elect Obama does a good job as President, but I suspect that the troubles facing this country are too great for any real improvements to be made by any mere mortal…and Mr. Obama IS a mortal
I see the Democrats just repeating what they did last time they were in power..the same thing the Republican party did when they were in power, namely hubris, arrogance, and corruption.
Both parties are at fault for this mess, and so are WE for electing them, and for our lack of self control, greed and sense of entitlement.
We live in a fast food, disposable, buy-now-pay-later society: Is it any wonder this country has troubles?
I think our glory days are over…No matter who sits in the White House.
I’ve never seen writing so horrible. This must be why people are tired of supporting the GOP.
You offer very little original ideas of your own and blame “the media” (Ad Age in this case) for not bringing up how Afghanistan and Iraq feel! Go figure that Ad Age doesnt talk about something completely unrelated to what they do… Think that they’re wrong? Go take a look at YouTube and see how many new videos from around the world are congratulating America on a historic presidency.
You write, “Additionally, there was no discussion of the potential brand impact, if you will, of the nearly instant post-election belligerence and faux pleasantness, respectively, of Russia’s Medvedev and Iran’s Ahmadinejad, whose congratulatory letter to Obama said that “Teheran welcomes basic and fair changes in U.S. policies and conducts.”
MY GOD. NOT TEHERAN. NOT THE RUSSIANS. What absolute garbage! So what if the Russians sent Obama a letter –> Your logic clearly shows this is an important topic that needs discussion and is being openly boycotted by the media. heh. And that letter is absolutely horrible the things it said! Who knew that the US would hate things like “fairness”…
Thank god the American people were able to avoid absolute horrible and misguided pieces of writing such as this and elect an educated president.
I have been trying to figure out why it is that the white voters who voted for McCain are racist however the black voters who voted for Obama are not. More to the point: Sorry folks but I don’t think Obama is our saviour. I think we are heading for bigger trouble than this country has ever seen. This country has been suckered by something much worse than Slick Willie ever thought of being. I for one fear greatly for our country, the great USA and much of our freedom is about to go right down the toilet.
Demdung – You’re funny. Deregulation has been a theme of the Republican Party for YEARS and you’re trying to blame this on the Democrats? Go figure no one believes you
But you are right — many democrats did vote the WRONG way (Obama included) that caused this mess…. but you can’t possibly take blame away from the party who’s mantra IS deregulation.
RADICAL POLITICIANS WILL DESTROY OBAMA
The far left in Congress is on track to ruin the Obama administration:
http://greensrealworld.blogspot.com/2008/11/radical-politicians-will-destroy-obama.html
Is this a radical website? Are you the bitter people Obama was talking about…sure sound like them. Accept defeat graciously, like McCain did and move on with your lives. If Obama fails, America fails…or dont you get it?!
This is the first election that I threw my whole heart and sole into. I tried to get my information from unbiased print and television sources. It was VERY difficult. At first I was a McCain fan because I’ve always enjoyed his politics and ability to see past the bull and just do what was right, regardless of party affiliation. I was impressed with neither candidate in 2004. My brother-in-law said, if you’re confused, stick with status quo. I did that. I thought, what could it hurt? And then Katrina happened. I was devastated and embarrassed by our government’s slow response. (I apologize for being verbose, I do have a point).
But I eventually felt that McCain was reactionary, and not necessarily in a good way. I felt Sarah Palin was exactly what McCain had been screaming about – inexperienced. I worried that Obama was too left, way too left. But then McCain said he supported Bush in 90% of his endeavors and that was about 80% too much for me. I admit I haven’t been a responsible, political “adult” for very long, but I gave this election my all.
Those of you inferring that Obama somehow stole this election with dirty tricks should do your research on the 2000 and 2004 elections. What I learned shook my belief in the democracy of this country to the core. The optical scan and touch screen machines were tampered with and there was no way to back-check votes. You voted for Kerry, and viola! your vote went to Bush. Diebold was clearly complicit and making sure Bush was elected and re-elected. That without even touching the Florida debacle. So please let’s not yell about what would this election truly have been like if people weren’t duped. Also I received a slew of mean, vicious, borderline slanderous emails about Obama and why I shouldn’t vote for him. All the venom towards dems and Obama saddened and worried to me to believe that this was a party – Republican – that I thought I would align myself with. McCain didn’t want to run a smear campaign and his camp forced him to at the end. And then there’s the small but hugely scary Christian sect. Intelligent design in public schools and all that. And the fact that the term “partial birth abortion” was invented just to pass a law, and such a thing medically does not exist. This country, if I remember right, was founded to protect our government from the grasp of religious fanaticism. But those small voices are getting mighty, and they’re coming from the right, and we’re going to end up going backwards in a sad and scary way. The party itself scared me off more than the actual candidate. So this time I proudly did not vote status quo.
Anais Nin said, “We don’t see things as they are, we see things as we are.” That never rang as true for me as it did during this election.
Geez the conservatives are making it sound like obama pulled a fast one with “slick” advertising. He had excellent EFFECTIVE advertising. His best ad showed McCain proudly announcing he voted with bush more than 90 % of the time. That was the ballgame. Bush was the worst most hated president in history and Obama used his advertising to show that McCain was “more of the same”
McCain failed to use his advertising budget to show any new strategy or to distance himself from the disaster that was the bush administration, but rather squandered it on cheap shots at obama.
PS susan. sarah never “changed her mind” on the bridge to nowhwere. She managed to KEEP THE MONEY. 230 million exra dollars but with no ties on how to use it. Must have been a horrible burden for her. Same old republican slight of hand like Fema brownie getting fired but keeping the salary. lol
#44 Observer — you’re bothered BO’s been called a liar?
Perhaps you’ll, too, call him one now that Bill Ayers has admitted he and his wife have been “family friends” with Barack and Michelle for years. Yes, he just attached this bit of “news” to the book he wrote some years ago. Not “just some guy in my neighborhood” afterall, wouldn’t you say?
Add to it this gem: Ayers also confirmed he DID hold one of the first fundraisers for BO’s political career in his home. That would be the ‘get-to-know-me party’ BO DENIED he’d held for him during his debate with McCain.
Let’s say it together now, “Liar.”
You see, Obama lied about this relationship, just as he lied about so many others throughout the campaign, because he knew Americans wouldn’t elect someone with his radically liberal affiliations.
At the very least, it would have been nice if he and the MSM had allowed the voters to be informed. But it was my observation that any person with a lick of sense recognized he was lying and rejected him immediately for his lack of character and integrity. And the smarter, more responsible among us did their own homework to learn all they could about the candidate who wanted to remain a mystery.
Too bad so many chose to be clueless. Or blind and deaf.
I, for one, think it’s more than a little insane that so many voted to give this guy what our government would not: a security clearance. So the saner among us are now crossing our fingers and/or praying we make it through the next four years without too much damage being done.
42. J Sta:
I did not merely add Colin Powell’s name to the article, it was a direct quote. Powell briefed the Senate on the WMD, go read a history book.
51. Granny Grunt:
So you would agree with me that the federal government has no place in the free market except with child labor laws and employee rights. Obama wants to make the federal government bigger! Now he wants to bail out the auto industry, now he wants to force unions! The auto industry is doing great in the south, guess what? They aren’t unionized.
Show me one president that has not promised all kinds of things and then not delivered. And no matter who our president is now or in the future, some of us will be happy and others will not. The best thing we can do is to get on with our lives, and stand behind Obama – he will do the best he can with all the problems he has inherited. It will not be easy, and he said himself it may take a lot longer than just 4 years. It is impossible for any human to walk in there and press a magic wand and everything will be o.k So give him a chance to prove himself. He wants to help this country, not destroy it.
Uh, Judy, I think you’re clueless about BO’s own hand in many of the “problems he has inherited” as you refer to them.
Our financial institutions’ meltdown is one. It’s a crisis he helped bring about. I’d go into it again for the umteenth time, but I’d really rather you do your own homework.
And you can fully expect gas prices to soar again soon. Remember he said he thought $5.00/gallon gas was fine with him, it just went up a bit too fast. He’s not bothered in the least that we send all that money to the Middle East rather than drill here and now to improve our economy and national security.
He has no intention of improving education. He and Ayers had their opportunity with some $150million. Instead of improving the reading, writing and math scores of students in Chicago, they diverted the money to their radical projects. He wants our kids indoctrinated, not educated.
There isn’t a way he’ll miss to tax all of us more. He’ll do it to force us to comply with what he thinks is best for us. Every aspect of our lives will be subject to his approval. Forget about individual liberty.
And you tell me, especially if you were one of those who fell in love with him because he said he’d get us out of Iraq. How did it feel to know he tried to stall the scheduled withdrawal of our troops when he went to Iraq during the campaign? Surely you know he did it because he thought it would improve his chances to be elected. It certainly wasn’t because he cared about the safety of our troops.
Did he finally seem like the creep he is at that point?
Or has it finally dawned on you that he’s teaching a generation of young people that it’s okay to break the law. That he encouraged them to engage in lawbreaking themselves. (That’s what his silence in the matter has done.) That the ends justify the means. Things he picked up from his favorite teacher, Alinsky, who dedicated his work to Lucifer.
He cares for no one but himself, Judy. He began decades ago to destroy our country along with his radical pals. You’ve just allowed him to finish the job.
87 ms attitude:
child labor laws the only part the gov should play in the free market ?? So it is ok for a couple of large companies to get together and fix prices? To get together and tell their suppliers not to sell to anybody else or they will take their huge business elsewhere killing any competition while they artificially jack up prices to the consumer with no competition? Because without antitrust and anti racketeering laws the free market is not free.
Oh wait that is exactly what bush did. Dropping the lawsuit against microsoft (you will notice there were virtually no technical improvements in the computer industry for his entire term after 8 years of furious growth under clinton )
And oh yes the oil companies how wonderful your “hands off policy” was with gas prices hitting 6 bucks and every single gas station with exactly the same price changes every day.
snd why does every republican mindlessly repeat “democrats want bigger government and crazy spending” when the fact is that bush created the largest government agency in history with homeland security. He put us huge debt with crazy spending on iraq. welfare and unemployment costs are way up because of his horrible economic policy.
Meanwhile Clinton ran the government at a surplus and cut down welfare costs unemployment costs and jail costs. Obama is hiring clintons advisers and hopefully will do the same thing. Yet with all the facts staring you in the face you mindlessly repeat “democrats tax and big government spending our money” How nice to not have to use your mind when there are republican slogans to do your thinking for you.
Well said SUSAN in post #43
Why are Obamabots posting on this forum? This isn’t NBC; we’re accustomed to incisive analysis by excellent writers here, and your blind support for the “anointed one” is not what we do here.
There is nothing “blind” about my support for obama. Fact is i wuuld dance and sing in the streets for anybody that takes the government back from bush and his nazi cabel. And anybody who can not see how they have run the country into the ground so they can feed off its corpse is the blind one.
Judy, Judy, Judy…Duh! You can elect me as president, I promise you hope and change but it might take more than 4 years to clean up this mess from the last 200 years. I’ll fix it good, I’ll change the constitution.
90. FlopCat: Yes. Your examples would not exist if it weren’t for government interference. The control of the market would rest with the consumer. People rejoiced when a Walmart was coming to their town…putting mom and pop stores out of business. It was what the consumer wanted. If the consumer does not want big business then don’t buy their products, if enough people vote with their money then that business is gone. I lived in a small town for a short while, there were two gas stations. My mother in-law managed one of them. She called the owner and asked how low she could sell the gas because it wasn’t selling. She dropped the price by 50 cents…the other station did the same…see how the free market works? Our founding fathers did.
P.S. That’s not a Republican slogan…it’s the truth.
Flopcat: Please explain:
Oh wait that is exactly what bush did. Dropping the lawsuit against microsoft (you will notice there were virtually no technical improvements in the computer industry for his entire term after 8 years of furious growth under clinton )
There have been many lawsuits brought against Microsoft. All technology goes through cycles of improvement, with or without the government intervening.
Every time I look back at the Bush administration and it’s faults, I can’t help but think of the hurdles they did cross and how absolutely DEVASTATING it would have been had Al Gore or John Kerry been in office
Can you imagine Al Gore after 9/11? Keeping the market solvent after the tech bubble burst? Global warming policy ridding us of an economy
Or John Kerry pulling out of Iraq early, reversing welfare reduction programs, etc
Bush may not have been the ideal president, but he sure did a better job than either of these two.
Then again if our sins of having Bush lead to electing Bambi – maybe we are paying doubly for not electing Gore or Kerry who probably won’t ruin this country as much as Obambi will.
You’ll see when climate czar Gore and Sos or other Kerry have their little bit of cabinet power in the Obambi “Change” administration
39 tracy s, were you racist when you opposed Clarence Thomas for the Supreme Court? (And don’t tell me you supported him. Puhleeze.) It’s not Obama’s skin we worry about. It’s his supporters. Folk like you, who are rejoicing that us racist pigs are going to get reamed.
We actually want Obama to succeed. We think it unlikely, but possible, and we’ll try to help him get things done if they look like they’ll help, and help him avoid error when some of his projects look like they’ll make matters worse.
With the Community Reinvestment act still on the books, how are banks to break even with mortgage lending? Any rule they use to distinguish between home buyers who are likely to keep up with payments, and buyers who just want the house for free until the payments come due, will weed out more poor than rich. And as long as the poor make up a greater fraction of some minorities, distinguishing buyers who can probably pay from buyers who probably can’t will be ruled illegal.
That’s what you want, right? No discrimination in who gets what home on the basis of wealth? Trouble is, you got your way, and bank after bank failed. If you continue to get your way, the rest of them will fail. Or they’ll just drop out of mortgage lending altogether and nobody will be able to buy a home.
When your credit card doesn’t work, and there’s no ATM’s anywhere, you’ll blame me. Go look in a mirror. Economics is not magic. Electing Obama doesn’t mean free lunches for the rest of time. It can’t.
The article was good, though I don’t think you can really blame Obama for the early voting – which I agree is the worst thing that has happened to the voting process in my lifetime. But the comments? When will you people grow up and stop whining. We lived through 8 years of pig Reagan, we lived though 8 years of sleazy Clinton and 8 years of pig Bush, we’ll survive 4 or 8 of lying Obama which for you will obviously be miserable, but that’s your choice.
I sdon’t care what any of you say – we have to give this soon to be president a chance. He can’t be any worse than the ones that he follows, especially President Bush. Everyone knows Bush has an approval rating of only 15%. Every single President of this wonderful United States of America that we are fortunate enough to reside in has made promises they never kept. They have also had “skeletons in their closets”. No one is perfect, we are all just human beings, making mistakes and trying to recover from them. President Bush is a nice man, but just not capable of running our country.We will now see how our new President will be. I voted for him, and I think he is a good man. He will do his best. There is no magic cure and it is going to take a long time. I believe that Obama wil get us on the right track. Just give him a chance. It is time now to stop bashing him, the election is over and the choice has been made. We have to stick together, support Obama, and we will get the job done.
What Obama did — turning off Address Verification Service
(not Automatic Verification Service) is socially irresponsible in the extreme. As I found out, turning it off is a great help to credit card and identity thieves. They use a site like Obama’s to check out stolen credit card numbers. If the charge goes thru, the number is good — they don’t need to know the name or the address. They then create a credit card with that number and go out and use it fast before the number is cancelled — this works because with “card present” transactions there is no AVS.
So you can bet that besides campaign finance fraud there was also a tremendous amount of straight credit card and identity fraud going on as well. Thank you Obama.
MSNBC’s role in this years election cycle has been vastly under reported. They “Spew” so much commentary mixed in with “news”, people don’t realize the bigger picture at how gullible many millions of voters were turned.
http://www.DailyPUMA.com
You scoff at MSNBC’s role in this years election. Which story will prevail ub gustirt, Sarah Palin’s 150,000 dollar wardrobe, or Barack Obama’s 200 million in undocumented campaign funds?
Which one should prevail?
Why won’t it?
Because MSNBC is still going strong.
http://www.DailyPUMA.com
Having opted-out of his promise
along the way, be it fact or fiction, i read he also opted-out of his promise or pledge to the voters of illinois that he would not immediately run for president when they elected him as a state senator back in 2004…………
pledge. oh, boy. just sunk in. he opted out of that “pledge”. what the heck will keep him from similarly opting out of any other pledges he intends to be making to the entire country in the next few months………..
He’s just Obama to me. Never my president until he proves he’s constitutionally qualified to hold the office.
97. Dave R: I won’t be miserable. I intend to take advantage of everything that he has to offer. I will be watching closely, as soon as the dems start charging for tolls, etc. I will walk or fly. Since he will only be in office for a max of 8 years, I’m not doing anything with my retirement account, it will weather through his presidency. I own a home, that I can afford, I will be buying a new car in the next 4 years, if he offers huge rebates on hybrids (maybe through a tax break?) I’ll take advantage of that. If he gives $4000 for 100 hours of community service for college students, I will enroll in school and get my masters.
I figure, if he is going to give us a Welfare State, then I might as well jump on and get my share. I’m not sure how he will pull it off because the people that I know, that make the money that he want’s to take, will be working the system too. They are smart people and they will take care of themselves.
The marketing continues….. I saw two different ‘news’ programs the night before last talking about the Obama’s style and youthfulness, comparing them to the Kennedy’s and ‘Camelot’. Michelle was described as a woman of style, who unlike the recent First Ladies, such as Laura Bush, whe knows how to look and dress. The next morning the newspaper had an article saying exactly the same. There is apparently a campaign that will convince all that the “New Camelot” has returned. The “Old Camelot” was a result of Jackie’s imagination and promotion, and regardless of how you feel about the Kennedy presidency – - and I admire it in many ways – - knowing what we know today, it would be difficult to interpret their marriage and time together as Camelot.
Now I am certain Mrs. Obama dresses very well, and has a great deal of assistance in presenting her image. I am sure he does as well and why not? I can not forget, however, how the media attacked Sara Palin for the same thing, and continue to do the same. I am sick of the media trying to control what we think. I am tired of turning on televisions shows like “Law and Order” and being lectured about how I should think about gay marriage or abortion, or religion. I am beginning to believe that the only way to escape becoming a lemming is to turn off the TV, cancel your newspaper subscription and find other ways to entertain yourself.
I did not vote for Obama because I believed his views and intentions were never presented to the American public and the press did not insist that he do so. I thought he was too young, too inexperienced and that his associations were at best questionable. He was elected and is now our President and, unlike the Bush haters from the very beginning, I will support Obama because I want him to succeed as our President. It is in my mind, however, very frightening to see the news media of our country, and abroad, play such an overt, biased part in any election. I’ve never seen such a thing before in this country and fear for our future because of it.
“Politics will eventually be replaced by imagery. The politician will be only too happy to abdicate in favor of his image, because the image will be much more powerful than he could ever be……..Today the tyrant rules not by club or fist, but disguised as a market researcher, he shepherds his flocks in the ways of utility and comfort.”