The Presidential Debate

Yes, I watched it all. I wish I hadn’t, but I did.

Both men had some good lines.

McCain did better than I expected but I didn’t expect much, because he’s not going to wow you with his speech.

Obama, though, didn’t impress at all. I see why he didn’t go for all those town hall meetings.

Obama and McCain voting records

You’ve seen the ads.

McCain voted with Bush 90% of the time.

You’ve heard the rebuttals.

Obama voted with the Democratic party 97% of the time.

Diametric opposites then?

Maybe not.

Senator Barack Obama…
Voted on 29 of the 31 total votes.
Voted with the Republican (GOP) opinion 27.59% of the time.
Voted with Senator McCain 41.38% of the time.

Senator John “Maverick” McCain…
Voted on 25 of the 31 total votes.
Voted with the Democrat (DEM) opinion 40.00% of the time.
Voted with Senator Obama 48.00% of the time.

Out of 31 total votes, McCain and Obama voted the same 12 times.

I can hear the question. So here’s how he came up with those numbers,

I went to a Washington Post website and compared their voting records with respect to 31 votes during the period Februay 10, 2005 through August 3, 2007 – votes which the Washington Post considered the “most important bills, nominations and resolutions that have come before Congress. …based on an analysis of the potential impact of the legislation on policy and politics.”

Will this kill the issue? It should. Will it stop the bickering? Probably not.

(Cross posted at Fairly Conservative).

Obama criticizes McCain in ad

OK, maybe that’s not so amazing but in Obama’s new (I guess it’s no longer new) ad the criticism is for…

Wait for it

McCain is ooooooooold (hat tip to Owen via Dad29).

I think that’s ageism, isn’t it?

Is this part of the new agressive, dealing-with-the-issues Obama?

Obama has seemed to be drifting lately anyway concerning Democrats on the hill. Recent polls have showed Obama floundering also.

So we have this new ad, based on the new strategy showing McCain in the 80′s wearing (GASP!) 80′s style.

Golly. Is this what Obama campaign manager David Plouffe is refering to when he said,

“We will respond with speed and ferocity to John McCain’s attacks and we will take the fight to him, but we will do it on the big issues that matter to the American people.”

He doesn’t do e-mail. I’m sure America is worried about that.

What can we expect next in hard hitting ads from the Obama camp?

Does he listen to 60′s music? He parts his hair? These are the issues America wants to know about, I’m sure.

Or, why not, he can’t lift his arms above his shoulders? Oh, wait, that’s why he doesn’t do e-mail.

McCain’s severe war injuries prevent him from combing his hair, typing on a keyboard, or tying his shoes [Ed.-found toward the end of the article].

No wonder we find,

A Democratic fundraiser for Congressional candidates said some planned to distance themselves from Mr Obama and not attack Mr McCain.

And with this latest ad, it’s no wonder.

This among other troubles recently,

Democrat Barack Obama’s campaign has pulled ads running in Georgia and shifted some of its paid campaign staff from Georgia to North Carolina while contending that it’s not surrendering the state to Republican John McCain.

And (BTW, note that headline. No bias there.)

Eighty percent say McCain, with nearly three decades in Congress, has the right experience to be president. Just 46 percent say Obama, now in his fourth year in the Senate, is experienced enough.

Fully 47 percent say Obama lacks the proper experience — an even worse reading than the 36 percent who had the same criticism about McCain running mate Sarah Palin, serving her second year as Alaska governor after being a small-town mayor.

Increasing desperation ahead.

(Cross posted at Fairly Conservative).

Waukesha Carnival – Palinsanity edition

Well, it’s been far too long since my last round-up of Waukesha-related bloggings, so here, finally, is edition 38. So let’s get started.

The buzz was over the Republican National Convention and John McCain’s inspired pick of Sarah Palin as his vice presidential candidate.

Fox Head is one of many conservatives who are excited about the ticket after being “Eh!” about McCain. The difference? Sarah Palin, of course.

Dean Culver at Common Sense Waukesha calls it The Libs New Low! but the Right does it too.

Dan Diebert comments on a Waukesha “hate crime” against Obama. Darryl Enriquez covered it also, but he works for the Journal Sentinel so is not allowed to be funny.

Cindy Kilkenny at Fairly Conservative hit blog paydirt with two posts on Anne Kilkenny (no relation).

Tim at The Other Side of My Mouth, said we should declare wild speculations of her family and her daughter’s pregnancy to be off limits–one of the few on the left (Obama was another, to his credit also) to do so.

Kyle Prast from Practically Speaking and a friend went to see McCain/Palin at Cedarburg.

Scott Feldstein had a thoughtful review of McCain’s acceptance speech.

Troy Fullerton at Rendevous with Destiny has a crush on Sarah.

Silent e shared a cartoon from Michael Ramirez that says it all for some Republicans.

For those who believe the Republicans didn’t deal with the issues in their acceptance speeches, Spring City Chronicle posts a relevant part of Gov. Palin’s speech.

And we all know football season is here. Bryon Houlgrave gives us two posts with pictures from area high school games.

Within Wisconsin, Dad29 quoting from Patrick McIlheran reminds us that the minimum mark-up law is not dead.

The Daily Scoff tackles the Government Accountability Board.

James Wigderson looks at some state campaign financing.

Hungry? MommaBlogger at Homemaker’s Guide to the Galaxy baked you a pie. Now, go get a snack. You’ll need one.

Or maybe you want to try one of these weird foods given to us by Dan at Skeptics Anonymous and Eat Wisconsin. They’ve eaten more on the list than I have (I don’t even know what some of them are!) but two that neither have eaten, I have–whole insects, if you count larvae, and snake. Which reminds me of the old line, “I like cats–they taste like chicken!”

Locally, Jeff at Five Points labels Weekend in Waukesha a great success. I would agree.

Lisa from Sequentially Speaking shares that Neptune Comics is moving to the Westbrook Shopping Center on Moreland (Kohl’s).

James Rowan does his usual criticism of sprawl. But I did learn a new phrase–bread and circuses.

In other political posts, Sen. Mary Lasich (aide Kevin Fischer?) tells us the federal government wants to regulate our lawn mowers.

Josh at Blog Waukesha tried to educate a tax-increaser on economics, but couldn’t seem to get through to him.

Finally, Hurricane Gustav caused Tom Gehl to recall Miss Molly.

That concludes this edition. You can always submit a post (even if it isn’t yours) to the next edition by using this convenient form. Or you can e-mail the link to me at thoughtfulconservative [at] yahoo [dot] com. Past posts can be found here.

McCain-Obama joint statement on 9/11

So far it only appears on John McCain’s site,

“On September 11, 2008, we will join together to mark the seventh anniversary of the 9/11 attacks at Ground Zero.

“All of us came together on 9/11 — not as Democrats or Republicans — but as Americans. In smoke-filled corridors and on the steps of the Capitol; at blood banks and at vigils — we were united as one American family. On Thursday, we will put aside politics and come together to renew that unity, to honor the memory of each and every American who died, and to grieve with the families and friends who lost loved ones. We will also give thanks for the firefighters, police, and emergency responders who set a heroic example of selfless service, and for the men and women who serve today in defense of the freedom and security that came under attack in New York City, at the Pentagon, and in Shanksville, Pennsylvania.”

Good. 9/11 does not belong to any particular party or persuasion.

As noted below, they will appear jointly at Ground Zero.

McCain Palin rally in Cedarburg

It’s being televised live by CNN on their website (maybe others also).