Obama Ad Mocks McCain’s Home Ownership
A new ad from Barack Obama mocks John McCain’s inability to remember how many houses he owns when asked recently. In the ad, the narrator talks about the economy, foreclosure and John claiming the economic fundamentals are fine. It closes by saying to the effect, “we can’t afford to let John McCain move into the White House.”
The ad is a bit silly. All politicians have money and own several houses. Most are done for investments. I would garner a bit that George Bush, John Kerry and hundreds of other politicians in Washington don’t know how many homes they own either.
Sphere: Related ContentVote: Stem Cells - Barack or McCain?
Below you will find video clips of Presidential candidates John McCain and Barack Obama that we filmed this past Saturday night at the Saddleback Civil Forum.
We have paired together McCain’s and Obama’s answers on ‘Stem Cell Research’ here for you to watch and decide who you agree with the most.
Barack Obama on What’s Worth Dying For
In this clip from our coverage of the Saddleback Civil Form, Barack Obama answers Pastor Rick Warren’s question on:
Sphere: Related Content“As an American, what’s worth dying for? What’s worth having sacrifice of American lives for?”
Rick Warren Introduces Barack Obama
Here is some more of our footage we shot Saturday night at the Saddleback Civil Forum between Presidential hopefuls Barack Obama and John McCain that was hosted by Pastor Rick Warren. More footage to follow as we get it uploaded.
Sphere: Related ContentLive Blogging the Presidential Forum by Kristie Holmes
Note: I’m a political novice, a social worker, a mom and a new professor. What I pick up from this forum will be filtered by these roles. Please don’t look here for deep political understanding. However, feel free to take what you will from a woman who lives outside of news reporting and politics.
I was born and raised in California, and I’m married to a Southerner who can recite all of the past presidents of our country and discuss the civil war with his family at dinner. I might have been one of the Jay Leno people on the street when talking about the subject of politics. As a social worker, I am concerned about democratic issues and ideas, and as a homeowner, some Republican ones. And, I freely admit to at times registering for whatever party was on campus so I could vote.
4:59 pm
We had no sound in the media room while the star spangled banner was sung. So a tent full of media folks sang a (not bad) version. It felt very patriotic.
5:00pm
Nice start by Rick Warren. He says that he believes in separation of church and state, but not of faith and politics. We all have a faith perspective. These two guys are his friends, both patriots and he doesn’t agree wholly with either of them.
5:14pm
BARACK OBAMA
Who are the three people he will rely on?
Will rely on his wife Michelle- she can tell him when he screws up. Second, his grandmother- worked her way up to run a bank. In terms of the administration, he’s not going to restrict himself to three people.
Greatest failures: drinking, drugs, loving himself, being dissatisfied- couldn’t focus on others.
America’s greatest failure. We still don’t abide by taking care of “the least of these”- those that are less fortunate than themselves (book of Matthew, the Bible).
Flip Flopping- Rick Warren states that this, he can sometimes support. What has Barack changed his mind about? 10 years ago, welfare reform: things must be changed. Now he says that work must be a center piece of any social policy (dignity of work, being made for work, making a contribution). Not really sure what the big flop was was about though…
War in Iraq was a decision he struggled with. Saddam was a very bad guy. But he was opposed to it.
BREAK- so, my impressions so far? Probably a pretty nice guy…did his homework on the bible verses. Perhaps overly aware of how people perceive him (cameras) as I am sure all politicians are.
STILL BARACK: WORLDVIEW (5:19pm). 200,000 plus questions came in….
Christianity? What does it look like and feel like to Barack? Jesus Christ died for his sins and he is redeemed by Him, knows he does not walk alone. If he can get himself out of the way, his sins will be washed away. More seriously, it gives him a sense of obligation of not just words, but deeds- working for the least of these. Acting justly, walking humbly, mercy. Gives him confidence to run for President.
Humor- said that was an easy question. next up: Abortion.
Ouch, I heard about this on the news the other night- late term abortion (nurse with dying baby for 45 minutes because of a failed abortion) etc. He seems to have no idea how to answer this question directly. He is pro- choice. Looking down while talking about it. Limits to late term abortions. Stumbling through this a bit. He respects the view that what he believes in this area is inadequate. But, to be honest this seems to be a faith conflict to me.
Marriage defined to him: Man and Woman. He believes in civil unions. I agree with him here. Affording civil rights to others, even if he disagrees.
Stem Cells: discarded embryos. Not sure what I think, but his simplistic answer seems a slippery slope. How do you prove that they were discards?
Evil: evil has to be confronted. We can’t erase evil, but we can be soldier’s in God’s task. Have humility in how we approach evil (by not being evil?…I think he is saying that…).
Which Supreme court justice would he have NOT nominated? Clarence Thomas. Doesn’t agree with his interpretation of the constitution. I can’t really chime in here. I would be making stuff up.
I love that Rick Warren said to not give him “his stumped speech”.
Faith Based Agencies/ Organizations: Should they forfeit the right to hire who they want to in order to get government funding? He is talking but I don’t know what he is saying. Sounds like he is making an excuse about something. But he wants to avoid discrimination. A lot of media people have started stretching and getting fidgety.
Merit raises for teachers? Yes. Create higher baseline and reward excellence.
Define the “Rich”- “give me a number” said Rick Warren. Obama takes a humorous shot and says something like, “guys who sell 25 million books…you are rich (with a smile).”
$150,000 Middle class. Rick Warren interjects that in this region of this country this can be considered poor- lots of noise from the audience and media room. I agree! Just try to buy a house in Southern California. This range will see a tax cut.
$250,000 and above are rich. These families will see a raise in taxes.
INTERNATIONAL ISSUES:
What is worth dying for? American freedom, interests. When asked about Darfur-wouldn’t commit, “no hard and fast line…If we have it within our power to prevent genocide in concert with the International community…” (there’s the loophole). A bit of cotton candy.
Orphans: good ideas…goes back to public health which he has done a few times, especially during the abortion topic.
Religious Persecution- moved quickly to China. Looks like he feels solid in what he is saying. WE must bear witness and speaking out about human rights abuses, which includes religious freedom. Faith and beliefs must be protected. Then moved to us walking the walk (i.e. no torture).
Human Traffic- we need better tools for prosecution.
ONE MINUTE: WHY DO YOU WANT TO BE PRESIDENT?
Empathy, the basic idea. America reflects this. The American Dream is slipping away economically, politically and other ways that need bridge building.
Barack closes by saying that he wants people to know him well, through forums like these and has faith this country will get the president that they need. He was then asked a question about something more difficult but launched into energy conservation- a great topic, but it did feel like he just used that last moment to get his last plug in.
JOHN MCCAIN
His three people he would go to:
A general- David Petraeus, John Lewis and Meg Whitman (CEO of Ebay)
Greatest moral failure: his divorce.
America- he matches Barack. He was more practical about serving a cause greater than your self interest. After 9/11 we should have told people to join Americorps or Peace Corps rather than go shopping or take a trip.
Makes it apparent that he will go against party lines and gives examples of why he would to stay true to what he believes in.
He did not hesitate on the flip flop question. Has flip flopped about offshore drilling. Says we have to do it NOW. Lots of applause.
Obama and McCain share views on torture and our need to conserve energy.
This guy is more humorous than I ever thought he was.
Even I know about the prison camp…the military definitely shapes this man. He comes back to security related to the military often. His experience does command respect.
I am not writing as much as I was with Obama, but that is because I am trying to listen a bit more, and type a bit less. It is hard to do both!
6:14pm
Christiantity in his life: he is saved and forgiven. Torture story (personal). He is good at answering questions with an experience story.
When does life begin? At the moment of conception. He is very sure of this. He has never changed his mind, he will not change. Regardless if anyone believes what he believes, at least everyone is clear about what he does believe.
Marriage defined to him: Man and Woman (another agreement). Sounds like he is okay with civil unions. Believes that the states should make their own decisions.
Embryonic Stem Cell Research: short and not completely clear. Moral struggle, happy about alternatives on the horizon.
Defeat Evil: ” Will follow Osama to to gates of hell.” Followed with an appropriate story. He doesn’t sound at all canned.
He had a list of supreme court justices that he would not have had. Proven records of strictly adhering to the constitution is what should be done, and has not. Much damage has been done by the list.
Faith Based Agencies/ Organizations: Should they forfeit the right to hire who they want to in order to get government funding? NO (firm, like he is with most topics). Then he stated, “Life is full of anecdotes and I am sorry to tell you another but… (Katrina story)”. Good story.
Teachers: “Find bad teachers another line of work” : choice and competition. Charter schools, home schooling, voucher system. It is a civil rights issue, sending them to a failing school.
When are you rich? Every family needs a home, job, insurance etc…not the best answer here and he stated that he doesn’t want to take money from the rich… but is loose on how to address some of the other issues. We don’t need to raise taxes, we need to not spend 3 million dollars on Bear DNA (this is a great point).
“I can inspire, I can lead, and our best days are ahead of us”.
Privacy and National Security: these ideals compete. Not sure what he is saying but that everyone on both sides needs to work together to avoid attack and staying on top of the latest technology. I get the idea that this is something that he would get a report on rather than be actively involved in. But who knows, perhaps he was texting secretly below the table on his iPhone or Blackberry during the forum.
INTERNATIONAL:
What is worth dying for? Freedom, national security. Similar answer to Obama. Temper this with ability to to know that we can’t right every wrong- be a beacon of hope - a shining city on the hill (Reagan).
Our obligation is to stop genocide whenever we can. (Also in agreement with Obama). McCain stated that he was very sad about the suffering of the Georgians by the centuries old ambition of Russia. This behavior is not acceptable in the 21st century.
We need to make adoption easier in this country so they don’t have to leave the country to adopt. He then promises his last story. His wife brought him a weeks old baby from Mother Theresa’s orphanage and said “meet your new daughter”.
He wants to reach across the aisle to get things done. America wants hope and he wants to give it to them. He still tells people that won’t vote for him anyway that he will be their president and will put this country first.
Both gave nice answers about how they felt to be answering questions in this church.
6:54pm
So, it is a couple of hours later and I can say that I would not be devastated at this point if either man was our next President. It was a great, well done forum where both candidates showed sides to their personality that I hadn’t seen before (not that I have watched all that much). I have more concerns about some of the things Obama has said (or what he was unable to say/ clarify) as well as associations he has had in his past. Honestly, the late term abortion thing did effect my view (in a negative way) of him. Especially since he was reverting back to when life starts (which I can see how people may differ/ argue this). But the uglier issue discussed recently was about late term abortion where the baby could actually live if they were given aid after the failed abortion. I wasn’t happy with his answer in this regard and wish he would have given another answer. Otherwise, I found him genuine in that he wants to be a genuine leader and is willing to take other’s views into consideration- even his wife’s. He looked up to his grandmother and her business sense…so the fact that the first two people mentioned that he would go to for advice were women, may reflect a difference in the times. Women, in Obama’s time play more prominent roles than perhaps those in McCain’s time. There was a definite generation gap between the two, which has its pros and cons.
Sphere: Related ContentPreliminary Thoughts….Obama and McCain Forum
While waiting for the media shuttle, I watched the protestors outside of the church. I wasn’t much sure what they were protesting about…but apparently just wanted to be heard. It seems that there was more of a protest than the event staff expected, being that this is not actually a debate. There were red shirts of the AARP, Gay Rights, Abortion Rights, War protests…in short they were fired up about their topic and an opportunity to make noise about it.
Sphere: Related ContentSaddlebrook’s Obama-McCain Civil Forum
On Saturday night Political Kudzu will be covering the Barack Obama/John McCain Leadership Civil Forum that take place at Rick Warren’s Saddleback church in Lake Forest, California.
The forum will allow Pastor Warren to go one-on-one with each candidate without any interuption from each other. Barack won the coin toss and will be going first. McCain will follow in the second hour with Warren.
Undecided voter Kristie Holmes, a social worker, will be live blogging for us and giving her laywoman thoughts, opinion, and analysis on both Barack Obama and John McCain live from the media room at Saddleback during the event.
Read Kristie’s Live Blog of the Saddleback Presidential Civil Forum
The event will be aired on CNN this Saturday August 16th at 8:00pm EST. Kristie will live blog here on this site starting at about the same time and throughout the event.
Read More About the Saddleback Civil Forum
Sphere: Related ContentJohn McCain’s Rejected ‘NYT’ Editorial (Full Text)
Senator John McCain submitted an editorial to the The New York Times as a rebuttal to the one the paper published last week by his rival Senator Barack Obama on his plan for Iraq. The paper rejected McCain’s editorial and op-editor David Shipley said, “It would be terrific to have an article from Senator McCain that mirrors Senator Obama’s piece. To that end, the article would have to articulate, in concrete terms, how Senator McCain defines victory in Iraq.” for them to consider publishing it.
Here is the full text of McCain’s rejected editorial via Drudge:
In January 2007, when General David Petraeus took command in Iraq, he called the situation “hard” but not “hopeless.” Today, 18 months later, violence has fallen by up to 80% to the lowest levels in four years, and Sunni and Shiite terrorists are reeling from a string of defeats. The situation now is full of hope, but considerable hard work remains to consolidate our fragile gains.
Progress has been due primarily to an increase in the number of troops and a change in their strategy. I was an early advocate of the surge at a time when it had few supporters in Washington. Senator Barack Obama was an equally vocal opponent. “I am not persuaded that 20,000 additional troops in Iraq is going to solve the sectarian violence there,” he said on January 10, 2007. “In fact, I think it will do the reverse.”
Now Senator Obama has been forced to acknowledge that “our troops have performed brilliantly in lowering the level of violence.” But he still denies that any political progress has resulted.
Perhaps he is unaware that the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad has recently certified that, as one news article put it, “Iraq has met all but three of 18 original benchmarks set by Congress last year to measure security, political and economic progress.” Even more heartening has been progress that’s not measured by the benchmarks. More than 90,000 Iraqis, many of them Sunnis who once fought against the government, have signed up as Sons of Iraq to fight against the terrorists. Nor do they measure Prime Minister Nouri al Maliki’s new-found willingness to crack down on Shiite extremists in Basra and Sadr City—actions that have done much to dispel suspicions of sectarianism.
The success of the surge has not changed Senator Obama’s determination to pull out all of our combat troops. All that has changed is his rationale. In a New York Times op-ed and a speech this week, he offered his “plan for Iraq” in advance of his first “fact finding” trip to that country in more than three years. It consisted of the same old proposal to pull all of our troops out within 16 months. In 2007 he wanted to withdraw because he thought the war was lost. If we had taken his advice, it would have been. Now he wants to withdraw because he thinks Iraqis no longer need our assistance.
To make this point, he mangles the evidence. He makes it sound as if Prime Minister Maliki has endorsed the Obama timetable, when all he has said is that he would like a plan for the eventual withdrawal of U.S. troops at some unspecified point in the future.
Senator Obama is also misleading on the Iraqi military’s readiness. The Iraqi Army will be equipped and trained by the middle of next year, but this does not, as Senator Obama suggests, mean that they will then be ready to secure their country without a good deal of help. The Iraqi Air Force, for one, still lags behind, and no modern army can operate without air cover. The Iraqis are also still learning how to conduct planning, logistics, command and control, communications, and other complicated functions needed to support frontline troops.
No one favors a permanent U.S. presence, as Senator Obama charges. A partial withdrawal has already occurred with the departure of five “surge” brigades, and more withdrawals can take place as the security situation improves. As we draw down in Iraq, we can beef up our presence on other battlefields, such as Afghanistan, without fear of leaving a failed state behind. I have said that I expect to welcome home most of our troops from Iraq by the end of my first term in office, in 2013.
But I have also said that any draw-downs must be based on a realistic assessment of conditions on the ground, not on an artificial timetable crafted for domestic political reasons. This is the crux of my disagreement with Senator Obama.
Senator Obama has said that he would consult our commanders on the ground and Iraqi leaders, but he did no such thing before releasing his “plan for Iraq.” Perhaps that’s because he doesn’t want to hear what they have to say. During the course of eight visits to Iraq, I have heard many times from our troops what Major General Jeffrey Hammond, commander of coalition forces in Baghdad, recently said: that leaving based on a timetable would be “very dangerous.”
The danger is that extremists supported by Al Qaeda and Iran could stage a comeback, as they have in the past when we’ve had too few troops in Iraq. Senator Obama seems to have learned nothing from recent history. I find it ironic that he is emulating the worst mistake of the Bush administration by waving the “Mission Accomplished” banner prematurely.
I am also dismayed that he never talks about winning the war—only of ending it. But if we don’t win the war, our enemies will. A triumph for the terrorists would be a disaster for us. That is something I will not allow to happen as president. Instead I will continue implementing a proven counterinsurgency strategy not only in Iraq but also in Afghanistan with the goal of creating stable, secure, self-sustaining democratic allies.
The ‘Times’ continues to make itself more and more irrelevant in being a non-biased, solid source to find the latest news in our society today.
Sphere: Related ContentBET Founder Bob Johnson Pushes Hillary for Barack’s #2
Black Entertainment Television (BET) founder and Charlotte Bobcats owner Bob Johnson is pushing the Congressional Black Congress and the Democratic party to come together and add Hillary Clinton to the Barack Obama ticket as his Vice President.
Johnson, the owner of the Charlotte Bobcats, has reportedly sent a letter to Rep. James Clyburn of the Congressional Black Caucus, in which he appealed for CBC members to help. “I, as a longtime supporter of Senator Clinton and the Democratic Party, urge you to do everything possible to unify this party to win the Presidential election in November. For me and millions of other Democrats, I believe that the most important step that you can take now is to encourage the Congressional Black Caucus to urge Senator Obama to select Senator Hillary Clinton as his vice presidential running mate.”
I have to agree that a Obama-Hillary ticket would unify the Democrats and make John McCain’s chances of reaching the White House very difficult.
Sphere: Related ContentSusan Sarandon’s Promise She Won’t Keep
Aging actress Susan Sarandon is again making promises she is very unlikely to keep. This time the Bull Durham star is promising to move out of the country if John McCain is elected President.
She says if John McCain gets elected, she will move to Italy or Canada. She adds, “It’s a critical time, but I have faith in the American people.”
She is not the first actor or person to Hollywood to vow to leave the country if a candidate wins the Presidency. Alec Baldwin promised to leave the country if George Bush was elected back in 2000, but Baldwin is still in the States berating his daughter and making bad TV.
Sphere: Related ContentMcCain Courting Top Three Veep Candidates
John McCain is in Arizona hosting three potential Vice Presidential running mates for his long hard run to Novembers election. He is meeting this weekend at his Arizona home with Florida governor Charlie Crist, Louisiana governor Bobby Jindal, and former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney.
The two governors, Charlie Crist, of Florida, and Bobby Jindal, of Louisiana, have both accepted invitations to meet with McCain at his home in Arizona, according to Republican familiars with the decision. One Republican said that Mitt Romney, a former rival of McCain for the presidential nomination was also expected to visit him this weekend. Romney’s advisers declined to comment.
If the running mate comes out of these three then I have to think it likely will be Charlie Crist simply because he is governor of Florida which will play a huge role in determining who becomes the next President.
Jindal would be the most interesting choice of the three. He is a 36-year old Roman Catholic Indian. He might be the perfect yang to McCain’s ying.
Sphere: Related ContentDNC Launches ‘McCainpedia’ Database
The Democrats and the DNC have launced McCainpedia (how original!) to show conflicting statements, inconsistencies, flip-flops, and missed votes by John McCain as a Senator.
The “online encyclopedia” is the latest Internet tool used by the DNC to engage voters in the election process, spokesman Dag Vega said in a press release issued Monday.
The multimedia Web site, which lists the Arizona senator’s positions on the issues, allows viewers to watch, download and use video taken by Democratic trackers of McCain on the campaign trail.
It posts rebuttals to McCain’s views on a host of subjects ranging from the economy to same-sex marriage. Of McCain’s position on the Iraq war, the site criticizes him for “spouting rosy and empty rhetoric” and missing 22 votes on the war while traveling around the country campaigning in the general election.
You can check out McCainpedia HERE.
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