President Obama, John McCain, and Just a pebble

As a person who has never judged based on skin color, I am not overly impressed by the accomplishment of Barack Obama.  I can, however, acknowledge that Black Americans should feel significant pride that they can be elected to the single most important position in the world.  I can only hope that he becomes the most successful president in history, one that protects innocent life.

I watched John McCain’s concession speech.  I feel he was incredibly gracious.  I feel that, of the two candidates, he is significantly more accomplished and prepared to be President.

I started this blog to help Mike Huckabee become the 44th president.  That, obviously, didn’t work out.  I’m ok with that.  We should understand the past, but, don’t dwell on it.  The purpose of this site was to sustain life through politics.  In 4 years, Mike Huckabee will probably run again.  And so will some other qualified candidates.  That list probably includes Sarah Palin and possibly Bobby Jindal.  When the time comes, I’ll select my candidate and throw full support behind him or her.

I’m of an age that I find myself in a position to mentor some of my younger coworkers.  I tell them that they can throw themselves in, bulldoze people and projects, get things done, and leave a lot of people really ticked off.  Lots of successful leaders do that.  But, there’s another way to be just as successful.

Clearly identify the goal, treat people with respect by recognizing their viewpoints and their diversity, and have an explanation when you select a different path.

Pascal said, “The least movement is important to all nature.  The entire ocean is affected by a pebble.”

I learned a lot from getting so involved in this Presidential election.  And, I influenced it.  Not to the extent I wanted, but, I convinced many people to support Mike Huckabee.  AND, I got even more to at least consider him.  Me, just a pebble.

Since FortyFour no longer has the significance it once had, I’ll be starting over at

Just a Pebble.

Visit me there soon!

Your Friend,

Vince

Watch ABC with me on Wednesday Night

I’ll be watching Pushing Daisies – whatever that is.

Election Polls

Update: Someone reminded me I had not referenced where the poll came from – IBD/TIPP.  If you want to see updated numbers, check Drudge.  He also claims they were the most accurate poll in 2004.

It’s amazing to me how all the polls are showing different results.  Yet, the Mainstream Media only discusses the polls that has Obama pulling away.

	Obama	McCain	Undecided
Protestant	38	51	11
Catholic	39	48	13
Other Christian	40	49	11
None	77	13	10

So, maybe, Obama has a Christian voter problem.

Additionally, he may have a patriotic voter problem.

Displays Flag	Obama	McCain	Undecided
Yes	36	51	13
No	63	28	9

Who is Joe the Plumber?

I’ve got a feeling I know this guy – or someone like him.

Here’s a link to NYP.  They have the video for now.

Some memorable lines from the debate:

1. After the 43rd time of Obama saying he’s going to defeat George Bush, John McCain said, “I know George Bush.  And Senator, I’m no George Bush.”

2.  After the 43rd time of eloquent speech, John McCain said, “He talks purty, don’t he?”

3.  When the subject of Ayers came up, John McCain said, “I don’t care if he hangs around terrorists, but, Joe Plumber does.”

All right, already.  You caught me.  McCain didn’t say those things.

He did say, “If you wanted to run against George Bush, you should have run 4 years ago.”

McCain did talk about Obama’s Eloquence and what a load of dung it is.  Read between the lines.

McCain did try to draw lines to Obama’s associations with Ayers and Acorn.  I don’t know why he didn’t say that character matters.  He could have opened with, “20 years ago, I made a mistake.  Since then, I’ve worked hard to combat corruption in government, I’ve earned the scars that go with being a maverick.  And character matters to Joe Plumber.  Senator Obama launched his career in the living room of a known terrorist, he sat on a board and collaborated with him.  He benefited from a $300M Home Purchase deal with Tony Rezko in the background.  And now, we are finding out about his associations with ACORN which has done more to earn the distrust of Joe Plumber than any organization regarding the validity of elections.”

He didn’t drive the wedge as forcefully as he should have regarding Abortion and the Supreme Court.  This could have been the knock out punch and McCain didn’t deliver it.  He approached with Obama voted present 130 times in the Illinois senate.  A passionate description of Nurse Stanek’s experience holding a born alive aborted baby while he died could have sealed the deal.

This election may be about the missed opportunities to send this ultra liberal candidate back to the senate to while away the years like Ted Kennedy has, continuing to stuff the pork away.

You Catholics out there should be ashamed of supporting Barack Obama.  There are other qualified candidates that don’t support On Demand destruction of human life.  If you need some recommendations, ask.

The Current Election Polls and Hope

The current polls show Obama leading and probably pulling away.  It has me terribly concerned, not because I’m an ardent McCain supporter, but because I am an ardent Obama opponent. One major reason is that he is the most Pro-Abortion presidential candidate ever.  I’ve been mulling a new post on abortion.

I was over at Cathlete and sorting through the links.  I settled on Unborn Word of the Day.  And perhaps it was providence that I found an article about a very important election and Our Lady of Guadalupe, the Patroness of the Unborn.

After reading it, remember that prayers for the unborn may lead to the defeat of Barack Obama.

Debate 2

Tom Brokaw should go back into retirement.  He did an incredibly poor job of moderating. Not just time management, but also question selection.  We’ve heard those questions time and time again – nothing very interesting.

Three points:

1. McCain has a legitimate approach to an energy policy.  Drill for Oil.  Build Nuclear power plants.  Pursue alternatives.

2. Obama is the most liberal member of the senate.  The country is mad that the government is broke.  Obama is a supporter of pork.

3. I understand McCain’s health proposal (not sure I agree with it).  I don’t understand Obama’s proposal.  First, Obama says if you are happy with your insurance, great.  But then he went on to say that letting us buy across state lines will only encourage insurance companies to not offer services he thinks are important.  He’s going to tell us what our policies will include.  Also, he did not deny that there would be a penalty if you don’t buy insurance, if employers wouldn’t offer it.

That said, Michael Savage may have called it.  Obama will win and McCain will eventually lose his seat in the senate.

I hope that is not the case.  Obama is the most liberal senator.  He has not been the leader in his own party.  He will be pulled around by Nancy “the Catholic Church is unclear on Abortion” Pelosi and Harry “we don’t know what to do” Reid.

The Constitution and the Role of Vice President

Don’t take my word for it . . . read it here.

Joe Biden referenced Article 1, stating that the office of the Vice-President is just a member of the Executive Branch.  He went on to contradict himself when he said that the Vice-President votes in Congress when the Senate is deadlocked.

Here’s the fact.  From the Constitution:

All legislative Powers herein granted shall be vested in a Congress of the United States, which shall consist of a Senate and House of Representatives.

Biden was right.  The Vice-President does vote in the Senate.  This means that when the Vice-President votes to break ties in the Senate, He (or hopefully She) is part of Congress (the Legislative branch).

Here’s further support for that statement – straight from the Constitution.

The Vice President of the United States shall be President of the Senate, but shall have no Vote, unless they be equally divided.

Does it need to be more clear?  The Vice-President is part of the Senate – part of the Legislature.

Finally Article 3:

The executive Power shall be vested in a President of the United States of America.

Note that the word VICE is missing.  The executive power shall be vested not in the Vice-President but the PRESIDENT.  As much as it might pain Senator Biden, it seems that Governor Palin and Vice-President Cheney know a little more about the constitution than him.

Palin wins

I think we all saw a little more of why Sarah Palin has lit a fire under the Republican base.  I’m a little biased – I’ve been watching Palin for a long while.  But, Palin won the debate.  The proof is HNN has already cut over to Nancy Grace.

The Presidential Debate: Remember Ross Perot?

I’m waiting for the presidential debate to start.  I’m waxing nostalgic for Ross Perot and his poster board props.  At the same time, I’m glad Ross Perot isn’t running again.

Will McCain be ready for the debate?  I’m hoping they don’t hold him back.  I like people who are themselves – all the time.  One of my favorite operators was Grouchy Bob.  Bob complained about everything, all the time.  Bob also did his job very well, then pitched in and did other people’s jobs.  I’ll put up with a lot of things for a guy like that.

8:10 PM I’m not liking the format already.

Say it to him?  What?

Jim Lehrer: Senator McCain, Senator Obama says your mother wears army boots.

McCain: What?! You little turd.

OK.  That didn’t happen.

Obama has asked for $1MM per day for every day in the senate.  McCain is a little stiff in his delivery.

8:20 PM

Now he’s warming up.  $900MM may not seem like a lot of money to Obama.

35% Business Tax.  The second highest in the world.

$7000 per child tax credit. Woo Hoo!

The energy bill adorned with Christmas ornaments.  McCain voted against it. . . Obama voted for it.

McCain says Obama has voted to raise taxes on those making $40M/yr.

What are you willing to cut to pay for the Financial Rescue Plan?   Obama, “we have to have energy independence, we have to fix our health care system, spend more on science and technology and education, rebuild our infrastructure.”  I hope McCain replies, “He asked what you were going to cut not what you are going to spend more on.”

McCain: Obama has the most liberal voting record in the senate.  It’s hard to reach that far across the aisle when you are so far to the left.

8:30 PM

JL: What are you going to cut

Obama: I want to invest in energy.

McCain: Spending freeze

Obama: There are some places where we need more spending.

McCain:  We’re sending 700 BILLION per year overseas – Drill here, drill now.  We need nuke power, wind power, etc.

Obama: tough decisions.  We’ve got to know what our values are.  Health care.

McCain:  Don’t hand the health care over to the government.  Let families make the decisions.  We owe China 500 BILLION DOLLARS.  We need to reduce unnecessary spending.

8:40

McCain:  I went to Iraq in 2003.  When I came back, I said we have to change the strategy.  Our troops will come home not in defeat.

Obama: 6 years ago, I opposed this war.  We hadn’t caught Bin Laden.

McCain: Obama’s sub committee has never had a hearing.

McCain:  I’m afraid that Senator Obama doesn’t understand the difference between a strategy and a tactic.

McCain:  Sen. Obama refuses to acknowledge the strategy is working.

Obama: that’s not true. that’s not true.

McCain: Obama voted to cut of the troops.

Obama:  It’s going to take 16 months.  (but not get out, just to reduce our troops)

McCain:  Osama Bin Laden and Gen Patreus have 1 thing in common.  They both said Iraq is the central battleground.

McCain:  Snatch defeat from the jaws of victory and adopt Obama’s plan.

8:50P

Obama: we need more troops in Afghanistan.  It is a strategic mistake to not have more.

McCain: Yes, I want to send more troops to Afghanistan.  But, what Obama doesn’t realize is that we need a new strategy – the same strategy that is working in Iraq.

McCain:  You might think with his concern, he might take up the issues in his sub committee.

9:40PM

I call it a draw.  I think McCain missed some opportunities to score big.  Why not ask Obama if he voted for the funding.  When they were talking about budgets, McCain should have said, “Barack, he’s asking you what you would cut.  Not what you would spend more money on.”

Ted Nugent for Vice-President

Let’s bump McCain and run the Palin/Nugent ticket.

Nugent is on Glenn Beck:

Making ends meet isn’t movies and collectible dishes on the wall.

I’m just a guitar player.  My responsibility as an American is to be involved.

The only welfare I believe in is buying a good wheelchair for the heroes in our military.  But that isn’t welfare, that’s paying a debt that’s due.

The answer is to vote for John McCain and stay on his ass.  Stay on your senator’s ass.