This is just one mans opinion......

I am not enamored about John Mcain for sure as I was not with GW Bush in 2004 thus in 2004 and this year I look at the alternative. In 2004 I found John Kerry to be "scary"....this election I find Senator Obama much more scarier.......

Senator Obama is inexperienced for sure....but that is not what bothers me. What I cannot bet over is his background...

....His first employer was Saul Alinsky, who is well known as a Marxist. Sen Obama give him lots and lots of credit for training.

....His religious mentor (and I am sure all are tired of this,but it IS relative) the man he turned to for advice was Rev Wright.

....He has ties to another socialist type....William Ayers. How close..who knows

These things really bother me and since he is inexperienced, I need to look at his background. If you add in his rating as most liberal senator you see a real left socialist leaning.

Add to this his sponsored bill in Congress...the "Global Poverty Act" has words in the bill that say ".....a redistribution of the worlds resources..." and I will be honest, it scares me quite a bit.

Just one mans opinion

Bucco: It is more than scary, it is plain dangerous. The man is hidding a lot of things, starting with his middle name, Why doesnt he use it. I am a Republican and will never vote Democrat, but besides the point, he has the experience of less than a term in the Senate, does not even qualify him for freshman. Yesterday Kadafi (remember him from Libya) called him BROTHER and the Kenyan with the american name. If this does not scare the democrats they will qualify as legally blind.

Originally Posted by Lil Dancer

I disagree - as age goes up, so does the chance for mental decline. And considering McCains's recent gaffs...

I guess we agree to disagree. But since I'm starting to advance in years, I may forget what the disagreement is about....

I'm more into "wisdom" from those to whom I delegate any authority. For me the time hasn't come to declare which one of the two remaining Senators is the most wise. However, I must admit that I do lean to the elder as having demostrated wisdom many more times than the younger, who has yet to demonstrate anything at all other than charisma.

Originally Posted by Lil Dancer

I disagree - as age goes up, so does the chance for mental decline. And considering McCains's recent gaffs...

Originally Posted by SteveZ

I guess we agree to disagree. But since I'm starting to advance in years, I may forget what the disagreement is about....

I'm more into "wisdom" from those to whom I delegate any authority. For me the time hasn't come to declare which one of the two remaining Senators is the most wise. However, I must admit that I do lean to the elder as having demostrated wisdom many more times than the younger, who has yet to demonstrate anything at all other than charisma.

When we harp on the gaffs a candidate makes, regardless of the side, we say more about our absence of reasonable arguments. Whether it be Dan Quayle spelling potato incorrectly, one of GW's infamous misstatements, Big Al claiming to invent the internet, or Bubba decrying the church burnings in Arkansas that never happened, we simply avoid discussing actual important items. Liberal jackels are quick to condemn McCain as senile because he confuses Shia and Sunni, not an uncommon error amongst anyone referring to the region, or references Putin as President of Germany in a midst of a statement that started with him saying he was in a conference in Germany and President Putin of Germany . . . But what do they say when Obama refers to having toured all 57 states? Right wing nuts use this as proof that Obama is a Muslim terrorist since there are 57 Islamic states. If McCain makes bloopers because he's senile, does Obama do so because he's ignorant? Equally asinine reactions. These guys speak publically 24x7. They're always on camera or on tape. Anyone makes a slip of the tongue and to attribute any greater meaning says more about the stupidity of the person making the assertion than the character or abilities of the politician.

HOWEVER, if one of these folks were to make a similar blunder as a integral part of a prepared presentation and continued with the thought, e.g.., had McCain actually confused Putin and Merkel and attributed Merkel's action in Germany to Putin or had Obama started rattling off the states as Iowa, Dubai, Montana, Indonesia, Arizona, Yemen, etc., there'd be a problem. A slip is a slip and means nothing. Saying something you really mean but did not mean to say out loud for public consumption is not an innocent slip of the tongue. It is a gotcha, and should be attacked with all vehemence.

I totally agree Muncle,
The slips and gaffs are just not important. Make as many public appearances as these candidates do and see how many times you could miss speak or confuse details. The news media will make your mistakes the headlines and people will follow their lead and make those gaffs the substance of a campaign.
To all the candidates I say just give me information about the policies and programs you will be proposing for our economy and freedom. I want details, not rhetoric, not what is wrong with your oppositions program, just real facts about your qualifications to be our president.

I have to respectfully disagree. I will give them the benefit of the doubt on some verbal slip ups; after all they are human, under a lot of stress, not enough sleep during the brutal primaries, etc., but I do think some of the gaffs are important. For instance McCain's recent one where he said the date when U.S. troops can begin to withdraw from Iraq is "not too important."

The Arizona senator made the comments on NBC's Today Show where he was asked if he had an estimate of when a withdrawal process may be possible.

"No, but that's not too important," McCain replied. "What’s important is the casualties in Iraq, Americans are in South Korea, Americans are in Japan, American troops are in Germany. That’s all fine. American casualties and the ability to withdraw; we will be able to withdraw."

Frankly, to me, this statement showed how out of touch he is.

And the other gaff, relating to shiites and sunnis'. He made it like 5 times in a row, and didn't even realize it until Lieberman corrected him.

And it isn't like he's had a pressure filled primary to work thru like Obama and Clinton.

I just have some doubts about his mental astuteness.

Originally Posted by beady

I totally agree Muncle,
The slips and gaffs are just not important. Make as many public appearances as these candidates do and see how many times you could miss speak or confuse details. The news media will make your mistakes the headlines and people will follow their lead and make those gaffs the substance of a campaign.
To all the candidates I say just give me information about the policies and programs you will be proposing for our economy and freedom. I want details, not rhetoric, not what is wrong with your oppositions program, just real facts about your qualifications to be our president.

24 X 7 new is a curse, as is the bias of much of the media. Had George Bush given Kennedy's "Ich bin ein Berliner" spee3ch, the headline in the NY Times and the lead on all MSNBC shows would have been "Bush calls himself a doughnut!".

Let me see if I have this straight. According to Muncle slips and gaffes shouldn't count but how many times has Muncle mentioned Obama's slip about the 57 states, including in this thread? Guess they only don't matter when they pertain to McCain?

They've both made some misstatements. Most have been minor, a couple have been serious. They'll both make many more before the election. Let's cut them both a little slack. If we truly think the misstatement is serious, then mention it, debate it and then let it go. If it is a simple slip of the tongue, just let it go and don't bring it up.

Never ever heard of anyone voting for or against anyone because of a :slip of the tongue".....altho I am sure that somewhere at some time someone has !

Right now, before the debates we need to concentrate on the backgrounds of each candidate and their personal qualifications. As the weeks go on and the debates come into play we need to start looking at each persons stance on the issues we find important.

Having said all that, someone referred to the 24/7 news channels on this thread......the bad thing is the 24/7 news channels who have their own spin on thiings PLUS the internet where you can find a website to validate whatever you want to validate (UFOs anyone?).
The sad thing is that most folks will vote on sound bites, blogs, etc that do not even represent the facts OR they will vote straight party just because...which I absolutely do not agree with.

Originally Posted by redwitch

Let me see if I have this straight. According to Muncle slips and gaffes shouldn't count but how many times has Muncle mentioned Obama's slip about the 57 states, including in this thread? Guess they only don't matter when they pertain to McCain?

They've both made some misstatements. Most have been minor, a couple have been serious. They'll both make many more before the election. Let's cut them both a little slack. If we truly think the misstatement is serious, then mention it, debate it and then let it go. If it is a simple slip of the tongue, just let it go and don't bring it up.

Okay, if you're accusing me of it, let's look:

Originally Posted by Muncle

When we harp on the gaffs a candidate makes, regardless of the side, we say more about our absence of reasonable arguments. Whether it be Dan Quayle spelling potato incorrectly, one of GW's infamous misstatements, Big Al claiming to invent the internet, or Bubba decrying the church burnings in Arkansas that never happened, we simply avoid discussing actual important items. Liberal jackels are quick to condemn McCain as senile because he confuses Shia and Sunni, not an uncommon error amongst anyone referring to the region, or references Putin as President of Germany in a midst of a statement that started with him saying he was in a conference in Germany and President Putin of Germany . . . But what do they say when Obama refers to having toured all 57 states? Right wing nuts use this as proof that Obama is a Muslim terrorist since there are 57 Islamic states. If McCain makes bloopers because he's senile, does Obama do so because he's ignorant? Equally asinine reactions. These guys speak publically 24x7. They're always on camera or on tape. Anyone makes a slip of the tongue and to attribute any greater meaning says more about the stupidity of the person making the assertion than the character or abilities of the politician.

HOWEVER, if one of these folks were to make a similar blunder as a integral part of a prepared presentation and continued with the thought, e.g.., had McCain actually confused Putin and Merkel and attributed Merkel's action in Germany to Putin or had Obama started rattling off the states as Iowa, Dubai, Montana, Indonesia, Arizona, Yemen, etc., there'd be a problem. A slip is a slip and means nothing. Saying something you really mean but did not mean to say out loud for public consumption is not an innocent slip of the tongue. It is a gotcha, and should be attacked with all vehemence.

Originally Posted by Muncle

Thank God you have Obama to protect the 57 states!

Which was a direct reply to:

Originally Posted by junglejim

As Mcain told the (small) crowd recently, he’s super qualified to be President due to his extensive foreign policy experience dealing with Vladimir Putin…the President of Germany.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E5ENwej0fpc

Come on people.......we don't need another term of this BS.

THINK

As is patently obvious to the most casual observer, the only mention I ever made of Mr. Obama idiotic, some say Freudian, slip of referring to the 57 States was to point out the asininity of harping of such things. I may at some time have referred to Heinz 57 Varieties or the '57 Milwaukee Braves, but not Mr. Obama's 57 States. Now quite possibly you've been giving a lot of thought to Mr. Obama's 57 State comment (there, I've repeated it more times in this paragraph as I've written it in the entire forum) because you're beginning to question your seeming preference for, at best, an empty suit. But I cannot say that with any certainty as I'm not a psychiatrist or even psychologist. I really don't know why.

You're right, Muncle. I owe you an apology. I did a search and you either did not mention the 57 states before or the search did not find them. Sorry.

Irish Rover: I'm not sure what the "all gooey" statement means. And contrary to YOUR opinion, I have never and will never blindly follow anyone. If you're interested in some reasons I'm pro Obama, you can read my "Where's the Beef" post.

p.s. My favorite gaffe was McCain calling Putin the President of Germany!
Oh lucy, I can't take another 4 years of dumb!

The choice is pretty clear. Do you feel America should become an empire and preemptive strike any nation that has resources we need? Do you look forward to government that doesn't function and will eliminate social security? Do you feel secret containment camps which allow people to just vanish and be tortured are good for the country? Do you believe the middle class should be eliminated? Do you think the media and internet should be controlled by the government? Do you believe we should always be in a state of war because that is what fuels an empire that believes that might makes right?
About 80% of the country now feels stay the course is not an option. They see the dark path we are on. If the votes get counted this time and the results don't reflect this we will know that democracy and freedom will be in grave jeopardy.

Warning: Bush's War? .......View at your own discretion.

http://www.bercasio.com/movies/dems-wmd-before-iraq.wmv

Johnny, you should be ashamed of yourself. :edit: like the contents of your post above do not belong in this forum. You are dealing in fact and most obviously, facts have no place here. If you cannot be irrational and emotional, it would be best if you refrained from posting. No war for oil Bush lied and people died. Stay the course. Yes We Can. Change!!!

This is obviously Republican Spin, produced by excellent ventriloquists from FOX News or Rush Limbaugh.