The media is once again pushing the question, "When will Senator Barack Obama 'close' the deal with the voters?"  Just as they did during the Democratic Primary when Obama was up against Senator Hillary Clinton.

Just as they did during that primary, they are refusing to ask the same question of the current opponant, Senator John McCain.

Even though Barack Obama has led in all but one national poll over the past month, the average spread between the two men is only 2-6 pts.  It's basically a statistical dead heat.  Anything could happen between now and November.

Senator John McCain has years of Congressional 'experience', he has years of military service, he is a national hero for being a POW during the Vietnam War, and he been sometimes called a maverick in the Republican Party.

Wasn't it John McCain that pushed for more troops in Iraq?  Isn't he claiming that surge worked?

As every political pundit and campaign has said, McCain is up against a man (Obama) with very little national political experience.  Senator McCain is even claiming that Barack Obama is just a celebrity star like Brittney Spears, meaning he has no sustance.

Why then, can't Senator John McCain 'Close' the deal with voters?  Why aren't the media asking 'that' question?

It’s time for a debate, town hall style, between Senator John McCain and Senator Barack Obama. 

The audience should be randomly drawn from the local phone book by an authorized accountant firm.  

A letter should be written by the accounting firm, inviting the person from the random drawing to the town hall debate.  A response card should be included in this letter for the person to return by a certain date.  No direct contact with this person, by either party, should be allowed.

If they are able to attend, they should show up at the gate/door the date and time of the debate.  Each attendee shall be given a number that will also be put into a bucket.

All questions will be made by the attendee that has his or her number drawn from that bucket.

Both candidates should be given a specific amount of time to respond to ‘all’ questions, even if not directed to them.

The debate shall be 1 hour and 45 minutes long.  The first 15 minutes should be used by the two candidates introducing themselves and having the television station that is covering the debate, tell the rules.

It’s time for an open debate by voters of all party lines without viewers knowing what they are.

Only after the debate should the attendee's party affiliations be told.

I think it’s time for Senator Barack Obama to talk about his race and how it gives him a different perspective on life.

Yesterday, Senator Barack Obama was reported as saying the following at a rally:

"Nobody thinks that Bush and McCain have a real answer to the challenges we face. So what they're going to try to do is make you scared of me," Obama said. "You know, he's not patriotic enough, he's got a funny name, you know, he doesn't look like all those other presidents on the dollar bills."

Today, Senator John McCain’s camp is accusing Barack Obama of playing racial politics…

Obama "played the race card, and he played it from the bottom of the deck," McCain campaign manager Rick Davis said in a statement. He called Obama's remarks "divisive, negative, shameful and wrong."

Senator Obama and voters need to face the facts.  Barack Obama 'is indeed different’.  It’s nobody’s fault.  Nor is it a crime.  It's just a fact. 

He’s a black and a white man.  We’ve never had such a man run for the Presidency of U.S.  All our 43 presidents have been white and mostly older men.  

Our nation is making history by experiencing this campaign and possibly a new kind of presidency.  A woman (black or white) grows up seeing the world in a different light than a white man does, that is just plain fact.  

Now, we as voters must see and learn about the different light of a man that has a little bit of both, white and black, in him.  

What does he think of our nation, domestic and foreign policy wise?  What does he want for the common man/woman, nation and the world?  How can his 'different' upbringing 'help' him with his presidency, if he should be given that honor? There are all sorts of questions to ask and answers to hear from this man and others.

Why is it considered a ‘racist’ comment if he discusses his upbringing or 'difference' and how some might use that difference against him by scaring folks that are afraid of such ‘change’?

Senator Obama discussing his race is no different than when Senator Hillary Clinton talked about her gender and how her campaign was making history. 

It’s also no different than Senator McCain using his ‘experience’ and ‘age’ (by reference to 'years of service') as a reason for voting for him.

Remember President Ronald Reagan’s famous words during a debate against Mondale? 

"I want you to know that also I will not make age an issue of this campaign. I am not going to exploit, for political purposes, my opponent's youth and inexperience."

Was he ‘using’ his ‘age’ for political gain?  Yes, but in the long run it ended up helping him win the nomination.  Those people that were worried about his age being a 'health factor', ended up laughing it off.

We as voters should demand to see the different perspectives on life by these two men.  We should also relish the chance to learn from them. 

After all, we are indeed a nation of different nationalities, tribes and races.  Let's keep it that way.

McCain’s new ad is out.  Which one you ask?  You know, that one, didn’t you see it yet?  Again I ask which one; there are so many McCain attack ads out there I’ve lost track.

I don’t know about you but that’s the first impression I have when I hear about another attack ad by the McCain campaign.

Senator John McCain and his campaign crew must be up all night, every night, just dreaming up new ways to attack Senator Barack Obama.  Instead of spending time thinking of ways to let voters know what McCain stands for and what he will do for the voters, they’re in the ‘attack mode’.

How many attack ads have you seen done against Senator John McCain by the Obama campaign in the last month?  Personally, I can’t think of even one this whole month.  That’s not to say there haven’t been any, just that I don’t remember them.

Oh sure, you’ll see the Obama campaign responding verbally, via the media, to the McCain attack ads; but rarely do you see a video attacking Senator John McCain.

Senator Barack Obama is doing what he said he would.  He is running his campaign on the ‘issues’, not by attacking Senator John McCain.

Obama should be commended for doing so for so long.  There may come a time however, that he’ll have to reconsider his actions.  I hope it’s soon.

Senator Barack Obama is getting worse media coverage than Senator John McCain:  Hm'mmm?  That's odd.  Both Hillary and McCain claimed Obama was getting the best coverage and they were being left out.  Perhaps they'd like some of the BAD coverage Obama's been getting?

The Center for Media and Public Affairs at George Mason University, where researchers have tracked network news content for two decades, found that ABC, NBC and CBS were tougher on Obama than on Republican John McCain during the first six weeks of the general-election campaign.

You read it right: tougher on the Democrat.

During the evening news, the majority of statements from reporters and anchors on all three networks are neutral, the center found. And when network news people ventured opinions in recent weeks, 28% of the statements were positive for Obama and 72% negative.

Network reporting also tilted against McCain, but far less dramatically, with 43% of the statements positive and 57% negative, according to the Washington-based media center…..

Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman said,
"Generally speaking, the military tries very hard not to get involved in political campaigns," he said. "Conducting a campaign speech for example on a military installation is not something that would be appropriate to do."

Senator John McCain sure has a SHORT MEMORY:

McCain will start his "Service to America" tour after a western swing that included nine fundraising events. There are at least two next week.

Stops include Episcopal High School in Alexandria, Va.; the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Md.; military bases in Florida and Mississippi; and his political base in Arizona. The son and grandson of admirals, McCain is also expected to discuss his service during the Vietnam War.

So, Senator McCain feels it’s ‘ok’ to visit military bases during a campaign stop?  Was he, unlike Senator Obama, using our troops for backdrops to his campaign photos?

This will be short and sweet.

 

I assume that most of you heard the accusation against Senator Barack Obama during the Pennsylvania primary up against Senator Hillary Clinton this past year, that Obama was an "elitist" because he was overheard at a campaign fundraiser saying, "It’s not surprising then they get bitter, they cling to guns or religion or antipathy to people who aren’t like them or anti-immigrant sentiment or anti-trade sentiment as a way to explain their frustrations"

 

Well, just this morning (7/27/08) around 8 a.m. central time, I heard MSNBC morning news talking about an upcoming story about the housing crisis and how Americans are (not exact quote) 'turning to a higher power for relief', then what you saw was what looked like a Bible store with religious items in it.  They went to commercial after that.

 

I didn't have time to watch the actual story, perhaps one of you did?  It seems to me however that this story validates at least part of what Senator Obama was trying to say that day about people clinging to religion and guns to explain their frustrations.

 

Senator Obama should show this clip if he’s attacked by the Senator McCain for these words again in the future.