http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/election_20082/2008_presidential_election/daily_presidential_tracking_poll

Quote :

"The Rasmussen Reports daily Presidential Tracking Poll for Monday shows Barack Obama attracting 52% of the vote while John McCain earns 44%. This is the highest level of support ever recorded for Obama and is his largest lead of the year."

Even with the mainstream media trying to turn this Ayers thing into an actual story (can't blame them, a close race is in their best interest for ratings), Obama continues to roll.

10/6/2008 9:46:26 AM

yah, Obama has shown amazing strength in the face of a media that is totally biased against him.

[Edited on October 6, 2008 at 10:15 AM. Reason : ``]

10/6/2008 10:15:11 AM

POST THE OBAMA HITLER YOUTH VIDEO

10/6/2008 10:19:35 AM

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/palin

Quote :

"Palin said, "I don't know why that association isn't discussed more, because those were appalling things that that pastor had said about our great country." "

Hun, that issue is [OLD], but I appreciate your desperate attempt to stir the pot.

Quote :

"At a morning rally in Florida, Palin keep up her criticism of Obama and Ayers, though this time she referred to him as a "former terrorist.""

So is that an acknowledgement she was being deceptive? Hm, that's new.

10/6/2008 10:27:05 AM

Man, with the DOW dropping under 10k, the McCain campaign is going to look even worse for trying to distract voters with smear tactics.

10/6/2008 10:31:04 AM

^ look worse to Democrats, you mean. In case you didn't notice, the majority of the electorate don't care about "negative ads". Indeed, voters seem to enjoy a good and dirty fight. That's why Obama and McCain use them with such frequency

Though being an Obama supporter I'm sure you will say that McCain's ads and lies are much "worse" than your candidate's. Don't worry, you'll grow out of it. And if you don't, that's fine too.

10/6/2008 10:43:37 AM

^^Sweet jesus! The DOW is at its lowest in 4 years! FOUR WHOLE YEARS!!

10/6/2008 10:46:36 AM

If I was Queen Elizabeth II, if Palin came over on a state visit I would be straight up appalled at her lack of class and elegance.

10/6/2008 11:51:14 AM

Quote :

"Though being an Obama supporter I'm sure you will say that McCain's ads and lies are much "worse" than your candidate's. Don't worry, you'll grow out of it. And if you don't, that's fine too."

McCain is currently running only one positive ad. Just one. Don't pretend that both sides are equally guilty here.

10/6/2008 12:02:09 PM

We The People of the United States, who don't want our freedoms mucked up by a bunch of central planners in Washington, want a Constitution that really means it when we say limited government...

10/6/2008 12:02:36 PM

don't you mean, We the People of the libertarian United States of America?

10/6/2008 12:03:01 PM

Mon, Oct 6 new Virginia Polls.

One word : Ouch.
--------------------------------
VA-Pres
Oct 6 SurveyUSA
Obama (D) 53%, McCain (R) 43%
#
VA-Pres
Oct 6 Suffolk
Obama (D) 51%, McCain (R) 39%

Obama is also up +13 in New Hampshire today!

It's no wonder why McCain is now all 'AYERS AND WRIGHT AND AYERS AND REZKO' because they are floundering. Keating video up and live, DOW down 10,000 point line and sinking, his candidacy all over the map. Polls sliding.

SUCKS TO BE YOU.

[Edited on October 6, 2008 at 12:51 PM. Reason : -]

10/6/2008 12:48:38 PM

Bold prediction: If VA goes blue this year, especially that blue, NC absolutely will too.

10/6/2008 1:07:22 PM

Quote :

"McCain is currently running only one positive ad. Just one. Don't pretend that both sides are equally guilty here."

Said the rabid Obama supporter.

Like I said, the "other team's" lies/distortions/attacks etc always seem worse and less fair than your own "team's". It's just human nature. And I don't expect that to change.

I supose I could, yet again, urge everyone to disassociate themselves from their candidates and not view themselves as being part of any team, but with less than a month till the election, i don't see that happening.

10/6/2008 1:10:56 PM

^ Obama is up in NC actually but the trendlines are basically a complete toss-up. If Obama is up in the next volley of polls watch out

10/6/2008 1:16:07 PM

^^verified as fact. The only positive ad McCain is running is his maverick ad. All the rest are negative ads.

10/6/2008 1:18:10 PM

Quote :

"Bold prediction: If VA goes blue this year, especially that blue, NC absolutely will too."

there was a story on NPR this morning, talking to people at Liberty University in VA, who are of course 90%+ Republican. The University is canceling their classes on election day, and setting up voter registration drives, trying to get students to register to vote in VA.

There was one girl they interviewed that said she had switched her registration from NC to VA because "NC will definitely go Red, so my Republican vote is more important in VA". It will be awesome to prove her wrong on both counts

10/6/2008 1:25:33 PM

``

[Edited on October 6, 2008 at 1:29 PM. Reason : gotta study for mid-term ]

10/6/2008 1:28:23 PM

way to back away from that bullshit, especially after Ayers Sunday.

10/6/2008 1:32:47 PM

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122315505846605217.html

Quote :

"John McCain would pay for his health plan with major reductions to Medicare and Medicaid, a top aide said, in a move that independent analysts estimate could result in cuts of $1.3 trillion over 10 years to the government programs. The Republican presidential nominee has said little about the proposed cuts, but they are needed to keep his health-care plan "budget neutral," as he has promised. The McCain campaign hasn't given a specific figure for the cuts, but didn't dispute the analysts' estimate. In the months since Sen. McCain introduced his health plan, statements made by his campaign have implied that the new tax credits he is proposing to help Americans buy health insurance would be paid for with other tax increases. But Douglas Holtz-Eakin, Sen. McCain's senior policy adviser, said Sunday that the campaign has always planned to fund the tax credits, in part, with savings from Medicare and Medicaid. Those government health-care programs serve seniors, poor families and the disabled. Medicare spending for the fiscal year ended Sept. 30 is estimated at $457.5 billion. Mr. Holtz-Eakin said the Medicare and Medicaid changes would improve the programs and eliminate fraud, but he didn't detail where the cuts would come from. "It's about giving them the benefit package that has been promised to them by law at lower cost," he said. Both Sen. McCain and his Democratic rival, Sen. Barack Obama, have recently sought to refocus on health care. The issue once ranked at the top of voters' domestic concerns, but has in recent months been eclipsed by energy and the economy. Sen. McCain charges that the Obama plan, which would create a government-run marketplace in which people could buy coverage, would lead to government-run health care. Sen. Obama charges that Sen. McCain's plan would leave many people unable to get insurance. Sen. Obama's campaign turned up the volume in a major push on health care over the weekend with two days of attacks from the stump, four new television advertisements, a series of health-care events across the country and fliers to voters' homes in swing states. Sen. Obama is focused on Sen. McCain's plan to offer a new tax credit of $2,500 per person and $5,000 per family toward insurance premiums. This would allow people to buy health coverage on the open market, where they may have more choices and might look for a better bargain. In exchange, the government would begin taxing the value of health benefits people get through work. If an employer spends $10,000 to buy a worker health insurance, the worker would pay taxes on that money. "It's a shell game," Sen. Obama told an outdoor rally of 28,000 people Sunday in Asheville, N.C. "Sen. McCain gives you a tax credit with one hand -- but raises your taxes with the other." Sen. McCain's plan actually would lower taxes for most people. But that means the plan wouldn't pay for itself, because it cuts certain taxes more than it raises others. The federal government imposes two taxes on wages, generally: an income tax, which funds the government's general operations, and the payroll tax, paid for by employers and employees, which funds Social Security and Medicare. If Sen. McCain were to apply both of these to the value of health benefits, he could fully pay for his new tax credits. That is what aides have in the past suggested he would do. In April, when Sen. McCain gave a major speech about his health plan, Mr. Holtz-Eakin, the senior policy adviser, said the tax provisions alone were budget neutral -- meaning that health benefits would have to be subject to both income and payroll taxes. Campaign officials have regularly implied since then that the tax plan was a wash. In the vice-presidential debate last week, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin described Sen. McCain's proposed tax credits and said: "That's budget neutral. That doesn't cost the government anything, as opposed to Barack Obama's plan to mandate health-care coverage and have this universal, government-run program." Mr. Holtz-Eakin said the campaign never intended to apply the payroll tax to health benefits. That means that most people would see a net tax cut, contrary to Sen. Obama's assertions. Only those with very rich benefits packages are likely to see a net increase in taxes. But it also means that Sen. McCain must fill a huge budget hole -- which the campaign says will come from cuts to Medicare and Medicaid. The nonpartisan Tax Policy Center, a Washington think tank, estimates that the McCain plan would cost the government $1.3 trillion over 10 years. The plan would allow as many as five million more people to have insurance, it estimates."

John McCain, keep your hands off my health insurance.

[Edited on October 6, 2008 at 1:37 PM. Reason : .]

10/6/2008 1:37:33 PM

Quote :

"Like I said, the "other team's" lies/distortions/attacks etc always seem worse and less fair than your own "team's"."

Socks, to any objective observer McCain has been more negative than Obama. You need to concede this. His campaign will be looked back upon by most people as being disgraceful.

10/6/2008 2:03:53 PM

10/6/2008 2:32:08 PM

Hey nuts, you realize there are tax credits that would cover the taxes on it.

we need to cut medicare and medicaid spending... im glad to actually see a politician address this.

10/6/2008 2:32:52 PM

If Wright is fair game, then Palin's witch-hunting, jew-hating Pastor is also fair game.

Also we can loop the clip of John McCain saying, ""I'm very proud to have Pastor Hagee's support" followed by every batshit insane thing that Hagee has ever said publicly.

[Edited on October 6, 2008 at 2:54 PM. Reason : ]

10/6/2008 2:53:15 PM

Quote :

"Hey nuts, you realize there are tax credits that would cover the taxes on it. "

I would end up with a $2,500 tax credit to cover that cost. My health insurance through work is valued at far above $2,500. I will end up losing money.

This isn't a tax credit to the individuals who get health insurance, this is a tax credit to the insurance companies, since it is nothing more than a transfer of wealth to those health insurance companies.

Secondly, if you are married with children, your tax burden will increase far beyond the tax credit of $5,000.

On top of that, tax credits companies receive to provide health insurance to their employees also will disappear. In other words, just add more people to the uninsured rolls.

In other words, that dog don't hunt.

The thing I really love too, is at a cost of $1.3 trillion over ten years, only 5 million more people will be getting health insurance. What a great fucking plan john mccain.

[Edited on October 6, 2008 at 2:57 PM. Reason : .]

[Edited on October 6, 2008 at 2:59 PM. Reason : .]

10/6/2008 2:56:02 PM

Really, give me a ball park of what your employer pays for your insurance? Mine is around 2400/yr.

Quote :

"This isn't a tax credit to the individuals who get health insurance, this is a tax credit to the insurance companies, since it is nothing more than a transfer of wealth to those health insurance companies. "

How do you figure that you getting a credit off YOUR taxes is a credit to insurance companies?

10/6/2008 3:03:38 PM

Shopping to get the exact same identical plan as I receive through work (it is a mandatory plan) it comes out to be $3,000 a year.

Now, why isn't that tax credit a tax credit to me? because in order to get that tax credit, I have to spend that money. Guess who gets that money, not me, the insurance company.

10/6/2008 3:08:34 PM

Quote :

"Socks, to any objective observer McCain has been more negative than Obama. You need to concede this."

you're proving this point

Quote :

"the "other team's" lies/distortions/attacks etc always seem worse and less fair than your own "team's"."

10/6/2008 3:10:53 PM

objective, not subjective.

10/6/2008 3:11:31 PM

Quote :

"Shopping to get the exact same identical plan as I receive through work (it is a mandatory plan) it comes out to be $3,000 a year. Now, why isn't that tax credit a tax credit to me? because in order to get that tax credit, I have to spend that money. Guess who gets that money, not me, the insurance company. "

So if your employer kept paying your 3k premium a year as a benefit to you. And assuming, as smart of a guy you are, you are in the highest tax bracket of 35%( LOL) that leaves your tax bill of 1050 bucks. Holly shit, according to my math 1050 is less than 2500. So you would pay NOTHING.

hahah, and your point about the credit going to the insurance companies. Seriously, read your statement, count to ten, and look at it again. Your point is laughable. So you are suggesting that you purchasing a product is giving money directly to who you bought it from? You dont say. I LOVED when Biden said this. This is like bitching that your mortgage payments go directly to the bank. You will have bought a plan and got it for,at worst, a discount and, at best, for free.

Too funny.

10/6/2008 3:15:18 PM

Quote :

"Really, give me a ball park of what your employer pays for your insurance? Mine is around 2400/yr. "

boo-hoo you are only upset b.c you are forced to deal with medicaid and medicare recipients on a daily as well as only a few of the TWWers that Obama has targeted in the 150K tax bracket.

By the time i make that much likely we will be back to a true conservative president. So I don't give a fuck for now.

10/6/2008 3:21:18 PM

Quote :

"By the time i make that much likely we will be back to a true conservative president. So I don't give a fuck for now. "

Ah spoken like a truely compasionate democrat. The problem is its the most selfish party.

Oh, btw, Im not forced to deal with medicare or medicaid, as of right now, we still have a choice to see either.

My point was to point out that Nuts has no idea how our tax system or a credit would work. Its a point obama knows most of his audience doesnt understand either, so he keeps using it as an example.

10/6/2008 3:25:25 PM

Quote :

"So if your employer kept paying your 3k premium a year as a benefit to you. And assuming, as smart of a guy you are, you are in the highest tax bracket of 35%( LOL) that leaves your tax bill of 1050 bucks. Holly shit, according to my math 1050 is less than 2500. So you would pay NOTHING."

Jesus, lord almighty. did you really type that out? that is not how the tax credit works under the mccain plan. The tax credit works so that my tax bill would not be on the 3,000, but on the left over amount of $500. Meaning, my taxable income has just increased by $500.

Quote :

"hahah, and your point about the credit going to the insurance companies. Seriously, read your statement, count to ten, and look at it again. Your point is laughable. So you are suggesting that you purchasing a product is giving money directly to who you bought it from? You dont say. I LOVED when Biden said this. This is like bitching that your mortgage payments go directly to the bank. You will have bought a plan and got it for,at worst, a discount and, at best, for free."

Money wasn't given to me. Through the McCain plan, I don't have extra money sitting around to buy health insurance. It's that if I go out and buy health insurance by tax bill will be less. Now, if you are in that uninsured pool, you aren't really making enough money anyway, so this little tax plan does not benefit you in the least.

Think next time.

Quote :

"My point was to point out that Nuts has no idea how our tax system or a credit would work. Its a point obama knows most of his audience doesnt understand either, so he keeps using it as an example."

It is evident that you have no read the McCain plan. By calling it revenue neutral, meaning pay out (tax credit) is equal to pay in, McCain is raising taxes on people, who is he getting that extra money from? those who get insurance from their employer.

You also completely ignore the part about removing tax credits from employers who provide insurance to their employees.



I can't wait to see what it really amounts to when I calculate in the vision and dental I partly pay for at work too.

[Edited on October 6, 2008 at 3:45 PM. Reason : .]

10/6/2008 3:33:17 PM

Quote :

"you're proving this point"

Tree, I can tally up all the negative things either campaign has done so far. Anyone who is intellectually honest knows that while Obama will have many lies and distortions on his side, McCain's side will be longer and more sordid. Karl f-ing Rove remarked about McCain's negativity. Enough said.

10/6/2008 3:44:11 PM

Again nuts, you dont understand how our tax system and tax credits work.

If your employer paid for your insurance 3k a year. Then that would be considered as income under the mccain plan. So say you make 50k of taxable income. Your NEW taxable income is 53k. So you have to take that 3k and multiply it by your tax bracket. That is your increase in tax from the McCain plan.

The people who are paying more will be 1. those who dont have insurance now, obviously, and 2. those with really expensive plans and in higher tax brackets whose companies pay for it currently.

10/6/2008 3:47:19 PM

I forgot to add in my dental and vision, which I partly pay for through pre-tax income. The plan for McCain just gets worse and worse. I can only imagine what it will be like, once married, or if I had a kid.

10/6/2008 3:49:42 PM

Nuts did that help you understand how taxes and tax credits work?

Quote :

"Money wasn't given to me. Through the McCain plan, I don't have extra money sitting around to buy health insurance. It's that if I go out and buy health insurance by tax bill will be less. Now, if you are in that uninsured pool, you aren't really making enough money anyway, so this little tax plan does not benefit you in the least. "

Exactly moron, your first point is correct, its just that you are confused on how the numbers work. Dont worry, its pretty common in those audiences apparently. Kinda like the credit for buying a hybrid. YOu dont actually get a check for 2k to use towards the purchase of your car, its just you get 2k off your taxes, so it really is your money.

Oh, and if you dont have ANY income.. then you would probably qualify for medicaid. You might have heard of that.


McCain calls for:


Allowing people to buy health insurance nationwide instead of limiting them to in-state companies, and permitting people to buy insurance through any organization or association they choose as well as through their employers or directly from an insurance company.


Providing tax credits of $2,500 to individuals and $5,000 to families as an incentive to help them buy insurance. All people would get the tax credit even if they get insurance through work or buy it on their own.

Wow, nuts, you would actually pay less taxes too so keep more of your money.. .OH the horrors.
[Edited on October 6, 2008 at 4:02 PM. Reason : .]

[Edited on October 6, 2008 at 4:08 PM. Reason : .]

10/6/2008 4:01:17 PM

10/6/2008 4:18:30 PM

Just released...McCain continuing to take on water.

North Carolina - Presidential Race (PPP Polling)
PPP surveyed 1,202 likely voters on October 4th and 5th.

Obama - 50%
McCain - 44%

Also, bonus for today:
NEW CNN NATIONAL POLL (0+ / 0-)
OBAMA 53 %
McCain 45 %


[Edited on October 6, 2008 at 4:25 PM. Reason : =]

10/6/2008 4:20:10 PM

Hey Mr. Gullible, don't you know that polls have no value whatsoever and do not in any way indicate the trends of anything?

10/6/2008 4:38:25 PM

Remember folks, the media is in the tank for Obama. Any poll they take will be as biased toward him as they think they can get away with. They have done fairly well downplaying his connection with Ayers so far, but they can't any longer. I think a lot of his Kool-Aid drinkers will be disappointed, though. I was in Raleigh in 04 and everything seemed to be for Kerry, and nobody could believe he could lose, but outside of the urban areas, the tone was much different. The media is in a rush to spin it for Obama even a month out, but I think there is a good chance McCain will mop the floor with him. We rural conservatives that he looks down on are a bigger force than the left realizes. We might "cling to our guns and religion" but we also vote.

10/6/2008 4:43:42 PM

I'm just going to contribute to this thread with poll results mainly from here out, there's nothing left to say from my own personal punditry except that this is trending for my home team very, very well. Hope it keeps up.

Glad you want to stay informed, stay tuned, thanks for playing.

(Ed note: ^ LOLLLLLLL. OK sure thing man! )

[Edited on October 6, 2008 at 4:44 PM. Reason : - ]

10/6/2008 4:43:44 PM

I check the polls every day. I appreciate it when you post in here.

10/6/2008 4:46:08 PM

Democrats:



(via the economist)


Republicans:





No wonder people view McCain as being so out of touch

[Edited on October 6, 2008 at 5:00 PM. Reason : ]

10/6/2008 4:59:39 PM

Quote :

"Hun, that issue is [OLD], but I appreciate your desperate attempt to stir the pot. "

It's only *old* because the media, which is in the tank for Obama, has refused to even talk about it. it's about fucking time that McCain called Obama out for his terrorist ties.

10/6/2008 5:13:56 PM

:sigh:

obviously this needs to be posted here as well

Quote :

"Fact Check: Is Obama 'palling around with terrorists'? Posted: 09:00 AM ET Gov. Palin commented about Sen. Obama and William Ayers at a rally in Carson, California Saturday. The Statement: Republican vice presidential candidate Gov. Sarah Palin said Saturday, October 4, that Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama is "someone who sees America, it seems, as being so imperfect that he's palling around with terrorists who would target their own country." Get the facts! The Facts: In making the charge at a fund-raising event in Englewood, Colorado, and a rally in Carson, California, Palin was referring at least in part to William Ayers, a 1960s radical. In both appearances, Palin cited a front-page article in Saturday's New York Times detailing the working relationship between Obama and Ayers. In the 1960s, Ayers was a founding member of the radical Weather Underground group that carried out a string of bombings of federal buildings, including the Pentagon and the U.S. Capitol, in protest against the Vietnam War. The now-defunct group was labeled a "domestic terrorist group" by the FBI, and Ayers and his wife, Bernadine Dohrn — also a Weather Underground member — spent 10 years as fugitives in the 1970s. Federal charges against them were dropped due to FBI misconduct in gathering evidence against them, and they resurfaced in 1980. Both Ayers and Dohrn ultimately became university professors in Chicago, with Ayers, 63, now an education professor at the University of Illinois at Chicago. Obama's Chicago home is in the same neighborhood where Ayers and Dohrn live. Beginning in 1995, Ayers and Obama worked with the non-profit Chicago Annenberg Challenge on a huge school improvement project. The Annenberg Challenge was for cities to compete for $50 million grants to improve public education. Ayers fought to bring the grant to Chicago, and Obama was recruited onto the board. Also from 1999 through 2001 both were board members on the Woods Fund, a charitable foundation that gave money to various causes, including the Trinity United Church that Obama attended and Northwestern University Law Schools' Children and Family Justice Center, where Dohrn worked. CNN's review of project records found nothing to suggest anything inappropriate in the volunteer projects in which the two men were involved. Obama campaign spokesman Ben LaBolt told CNN that after meeting Obama through the Annenberg project, Ayers hosted a campaign event for him that same year when then-Illinois state Sen. Alice Palmer, who planned to run for Congress, introduced the young community organizer as her chosen successor. LaBolt also said the two have not spoken by phone or exchanged e-mail messages since Obama came to the U.S. Senate in 2005 and last met more than a year ago when they encountered each other on the street in their Hyde Park neighborhood. The extent of Obama's relationship with Ayers came up during the Democratic presidential primaries earlier this year, and Obama explained it by saying, "This is a guy who lives in my neighborhood … the notion that somehow as a consequence of me knowing somebody who engaged in detestable acts 40 years ago — when I was 8 years old — somehow reflects on me and my values doesn't make much sense." The New York Times article cited by Palin concluded that "the two men do not appear to have been close. Nor has Mr. Obama ever expressed sympathy for the radical views and actions of Mr. Ayers." Other publications, including the Washington Post, Time magazine, the Chicago Sun-Times, The New Yorker and The New Republic, have said that their reporting doesn't support the idea that Obama and Ayers had a close relationship. The McCain campaign did not respond Saturday to a request for elaboration on Palin's use of the plural "terrorists." Verdict: False. There is no indication that Ayers and Obama are now "palling around," or that they have had an ongoing relationship in the past three years. Also, there is nothing to suggest that Ayers is now involved in terrorist activity or that other Obama associates are. "

you want to know why the "mainstream, liberal, in the tank for obama" media isn't cramming the story down our throats?

BECAUSE IT'S A NON-ISSUE

now shut the fuck up


[Edited on October 6, 2008 at 5:17 PM. Reason : ,]

10/6/2008 5:15:37 PM

I can't tell whether bcsawyer is being sarcastic, because he's doing a great job of being a stereotypical McCain supporter.

[Edited on October 6, 2008 at 5:17 PM. Reason : ^think a little more carefully, aaron]

10/6/2008 5:15:56 PM

I'm sorry, but Obama has a lot more connections to Ayers than that article would suggest. They might not be best friends, but the connection between Obama and Ayers is damning, even if Obama doesn't "espouse" his views.

but, I'd like to see CNN do a story on the Keating 5 and explain why it's stupid to link McCain to it. We know they won't. And we know why

[Edited on October 6, 2008 at 5:29 PM. Reason : ]

10/6/2008 5:28:39 PM

Quote :

"I'm sorry, but Obama has a lot more connections to Ayers than that article would suggest. They might not be best friends, but the connection between Obama and Ayers is damning, even if Obama doesn't "espouse" his views."

care to elaborate

10/6/2008 5:33:07 PM

Quote :

"Verdict: False. There is no indication that Ayers and Obama are now "palling around," or that they have had an ongoing relationship in the past three years. Also, there is nothing to suggest that Ayers is now involved in terrorist activity or that other Obama associates are."

I don't understand the fact check here. Were they not friends/associates at one point? I guess her lie was that they aren't currently "palling around," but weren't they in the past? I haven't read an entire transcript or anything but did she say Obama was planning a terror strike with Ayers? Did she specify their relationship being in the past three years?

The fact is that Ayers definitely WAS a terrorist, and once a terrorist, always a terrorist in my book. Especially considering he has said that he doesn't regret anything he's ever done. So while he has maintained a normal and somewhat successful career since, it doesn't make his past forgivable.

Whatever, it really isn't a big deal but when you refer to his association with Ayers, no matter how small it was, along with Wright's "God Damn America" tirade and Michelle Obama saying that was the "first time she had ever been proud to be an American" comment, it's a little disheartening to me. Yeah, Ayers may have had none (or very little) influence on Obama's life but there's no way his pastor and wife do not. I'm not questioning his patriotism or anything like that. It just bothers me that our potential president has been around people who suggest America really isn't that great. I'm going to be responded with sarcastic "USA #1" comments but I like for my president to not only believe his country is the best in the world (which I'm sure Obama does) but also openly express that.

I guess Palin didn't really need to mention it, but if I was going to talk about any of the company he keeps, it would be about Wright because there's no doubt of the influence there.

10/6/2008 5:41:11 PM