Debate 2 Results: Game Unchanged

First off, $300 billion to buy up even more bad debt? Did McCain actually say that? No, seriously… Did he actually say that? Isn’t buying up a whole bunch of bad debt at the taxpayer’s expense what the original bailout was for anyway? This isn’t going to help him with the millions of regular Americans who were/are already furious over the first bailout. The deadbeats and socialists who actually like the bailout package are firmly in the Obama camp anyway, so this didn’t sway them either.

McCain finally hit back on the Fannie/Freddie issue. The red meat conservative in me was disappointed that he didn’t take the attack even further, tearing into Dodd, Frank, Raines, ACORN, Pelosi and so on. But in all reality, he probably did the best he could for the forum he was in. Lashing out at the Democrats too much would have come off as mean and unpresidential. Obama is allowed to be mean, arrogant and unpresidential. McCain is not, and neither one of them really should be.

Ayers and friends… Not a single word from McCain about any one of Obama’s numerous radical and/or treasonous friends and associates. McCain struck out big time on this one. Going back to my last comment, I would have liked to see McCain explain the accounting scandal at Fannie Mae in strong but simple terms, and then establish the mental comparison between Fannie Mae and Enron, with the Democrats and Obama front and center. Oh, well.

For the most part, McCain and Obama matched each other blow for blow, and neither one of them really did anything to change anybody’s opinion. McCain outclassed Obama by a mile and a half on Iraq, Russia and national security. But then again, if you beleive that Iraq isn’t worth winning, that Russia doesn’t pose a threat to the US or that Mahmoud Amadinejad can be reasoned with, you’re probably voting for Obama anyway.

Obama also does well with women in a way that McCain can not. They no doubt see him as young, charming and sensitive, just as they did Bill Clinton back in the 1990’s. McCain on the other hand, is a seasoned old sailor and statesman with white hair and a stiff walk. Remember Bob Dole?

For women voting on the basis of “sexy” McCain is a losing proposition. That is, in part, why McCain tapped Sarah Palin for VP. But therein lies another glaring concern. Sarah is – how do I say this as tastefully as possible – better looking at forty-four than a lot of women in their twenties. Beauty doesn’t play well with the banal soccer mom types, and they just may vote against her out of spite, since men think she’s good looking. Joe Biden is a world class gas bag, but that won’t hurt Obama. If Jeremiah Wright didn’t hurt Obama, Biden certainly won’t.

The bottom line is this: McCain needed to go out their and light the place up. He failed to do so and it will cost him. There is still time, but not much. Last night’s performance by McCain was like striking out three times in the eighth inning when your down by about four runs. And one more thing. If I hear Obama refer to his “fist term as president” one more time, I just may throw the TV out the window.

Don’t Tread On Me, Barack

Every major poll now indicates that we are heading towards a Barack Obama victory in November, if not an all out landslide. So what? The polls are skewed (dare I say rigged) and the media outlets who conduct and publicize them are blatantly in bed with the Obama camp. At this point, any presidential poll conducted by most of the major polling organization or any of the major newspapers and TV networks, should be viewed with the same level of skepticism as a Pravda article proclaiming the greatness of Stalin. Okay, so maybe it’s not that bad. Yet. But this is as close as we’ve ever come to that on American soil.

Between now and election day on November 4, the singular focus of the mainstream media will be to trash John McCain and Sarah Palin, while shilling for the Chosen One in every possible way at every possible opportunity. Just like in 2000 when the press prematurely called Florida for Al Gore, their is a concerted effort afoot to discourage Republican turn out, particularly in the key battle ground states. Now they’re calling the whole enchilada for Obama, a full month ahead of the fact. Remember also that massive voter fraud will likely play an important role, thanks in part to Acorn and the like. We are witnessing Chicago style politics on a national scale, and this is no time for Republicans and conservatives to whither and concede.

We may not play dirty like the Democrats, but we can certainly stand and fight. There is still time, and anything is still possible. Only now are Obama’s many seedy connections coming to light, and only recently have McCain/Palin and the Republicans begun to stake the Democrats to the financial mess that they surely created. Do not think for a minute that if the shoe was on the other foot, and all the conventional wisdom pointed to an Obama defeat, that the Obama people would just lay down and take it.

Here in Illinois, we have been languishing under the oppressive rule of the Chicago Machine for decades. Our taxes are among the highest in the nation and the business climate is anything but hospitable. Last year, Illinois governor Rod Blagojevich pushed for a so-called gross receipts tax that would have cost thousands of blue collar and white collar jobs.  Crooked “pay to play” politics and dirty money are the unofficial rule of law. And unlike forty-eight other states in the Union, we are required to carry a state-issued firearms owner identification (FOID) card just to exercise the limited Second Amendment rights that we are allowed to enjoy. There is no concealed carry in Illinois. And yet, despite all of the anti-gun legislation and activism here in Illinois, Chicago is a virtual war zone. But we do have All Kids and other costly forays into socialized medicine. Moreover, there is no viable two party system in Illinois, meaning that we have a Democrat monopoly on power. Top office holders are selected from within by the party elites, and paraded around on TV at election time, as if the electorate had a say in the matter.

The bottom line is this: We still have a month left to fight, and this may be our one last chance to save America from Obama, Daley, Madigan, Blagojevich, Ayers, and the forces of Chicago.