Posts Tagged ‘Barack Obama’

What does “qualified” even mean?

Thursday, September 18th, 2008

Is Sarah Palin qualified? Is Barack Obama qualified? To be president or vice president of the country what is needed, really? What kind of experience?

It seems to me that increasingly identity politics is more and more important to people when they choose who they want to lead them. Arguably, this has always been so. But when a candidate, John McCain, is all of a sudden doing well after adding Sarah Palin to his ticket, one has to look for reasons why. She is not an expert of any kind, except perhaps at parenting (though that’s also in contention, what with her own daughter’s underage pregnancy). She has no experience dealing with foreign leaders. She has only been in public office for a handful of years and was a sportscaster prior to that. So why is Sarah Palin appealing?

She is pro-life and pro-family. So? How does that equate with experience?

She’s a hockey mom.

She’s an ordinary person.

Her personality and beliefs are what’s appealing. Not what she’s done.

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9/11 Anniversary, Again.

Tuesday, September 9th, 2008

It’s early September, almost Sept. 11, the day that turned the first weeks of school into even more of a drag than expected for all students across the country in 2001. No, but seriously, it’s been 7 years since the terrorist attack and it seems we are still in a mess. Wars all across the globe with no clear end in sight. On the bright side, President Bush will be out of office soon. But who will take his place is far from clear and that means our country may have to accept, to quote Barack Obama, “more of the same.”

Time Magazine reported today that a new independent study, which will be released tomorrow, found that “The United States remains ‘dangerously vulnerable’ to chemical, biological and nuclear attacks seven years after 9/11.” The story also cited a report from Congressional Democrats. That report “found little or no progress across the board on national security initiatives.”

If both the partisan Congressional Democrats and an independent panel, the bipartisan Partnership for a Secure America, which includes leaders of the disbanded 9/11 Commission, say America is still vulnerable, than how can the American public actually believe in John McCain and his “stay the course” message?

There are two issues to be discussed. Is the country safer since 9/11?? No, say the studies. But many others say yes.

And has the War on Terror been effective?

Republicans, along with some Democrats, believe strides have been made to make the country safer. But only conservatives and republicans are sticking with the War on Terror. What a difference a change of phrase can make. Is the country safer is merely a broader question than has the war been effective. It’s more open-ended, leaving politicians room to breathe, or back off their positions in the future.

Interestingly, two major Democrats, the two Senators from New York, the state that suffered the most in 9/11, believe the country is safer. Chuck Schumer and Hillary Clinton.

With the anniversary right around the corner it will be interesting to see how Obama and McCain make the most of the moment. Obama thinks we are not safer. McCain thinks we are. Not surprising. Both will be in NYC and both have claimed to not politicize the memorial and to not run attack ads. What is more important, for me and many others, is not respect but vision. The candidates should look to the awful day that will always be with us for guidance, and make appropriate proposals for the future.

brianr - whereIstand.com

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Lieberman, Lieberman, Lieberman

Thursday, September 4th, 2008

Joe Lieberman. Who is he? Is he an opportunist? Does he have any loyalty or allegiance? Is he a Republican or a Democrat? Hard to answer. But i came across something really interesting on whereIstand, which has a nifty feature where you can compare one public figure to another. Lieberman agrees with John McCain 70 percent of the time. And he agrees with Barack Obama 70 percent of the time, too. Maybe he is the centrist and independently minded politician he says he is….Let’s take a closer look.

Lieberman and Obama agree on abortion issues and gay rights issues and disagree on foreign policy issues like justified torture, waterboarding, how to deal with Iran and should Iraq be the central front in the war. They also disagree about outsourcing. Lieberman thinks it improves the economy. Some pretty hefty issues….

Lieberman and McCain agree that the National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska should not be drilled for oil. (Though, interestingly, Sarah Palin led the crowd at the Republican Convention chanting, “Drill! Drill! Drill!” Football or politics? I couldn’t tell.) They also agree that global warming can be stopped, that torture as interrogation is justified, and that the Iraq invasion was justified. They disagree on gun control, contraceptive coverage from insurance companies and on making the federal tax cuts permanent. These are also big issues.

But it’s clear that Lieberman is very hawkish on foreign policy and security issues. Those are the causes he is constantly trumpeting, not tax cuts, guns and contraception. And where Lieberman makes the biggest difference is in direct correlation with his biggest issues. For example, he is the Chairman of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee and a member of the Armed Services Committee.

So, even though Lieberman seems to be down the middle statistically, his main power lies with foreign policy, defense and security issues, which are more conservative than even some Republicans.

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John McCain’s Birthday!

Friday, August 29th, 2008

John McCain turns 72 today. Today is also the day he’s said to be naming his V.P.

If elected in November, he will be the oldest person to ever be inaugurated President of the United States. Is he too old?? In my opinion, yes. Not just because of his age and the ailments you get when you’re older, but because it means the majority of his life, his adolescence, and his formative years, were spent a VERY long time ago. Talk about being out of touch.

There are good arguments on both sides. Out of 105 opinions on whereIstand.com, 70 think McCain’s age will negatively affect his campaign. That’s a large percentage. And, a CNN/Gallup poll taken in July said that McCain’s age may be more of an issue than Obama’s race. We’ll see.

But it seems to me that lately his age is playing less and less of a part in the minds of voters. At one point it was being talked about all the time. People were even discussing of McCain should release his psychiatric records.

So why are the two candidates virtually neck and neck right now?

Barack Obama couldn’t be more of an opposite to McCain. Which is maybe why this election will end up being so close…. Even though most of the American people think we’re headed in the wrong direction and think the Iraq war is now a big mess, they are still willing to vote for McCain, who is staunchly pro-war. They will vote for him because he’s the opposite of Obama. White, old, military. The old guard. It’s sometimes hard to vote for change.

Many don’t seem to mind that McCain is very old. What seems to matter now is that he’s not black. Just like the election, on whereIstand, the opinions are split down the middle on whether Obama’s race will affect his candidacy.

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Everyone seems to be saying Biden was a good choice for Obama’s V.P. Why then, according to a recent poll, is Obama not seeing a bump in his approval rating?

Wednesday, August 27th, 2008

Did Barack Obama choose wisely when he picked Joe Biden to be his running mate? Well, for me, that remains to be seen. If they win, he chose wisely. If they lose, damnit why didn’t he join forces with Hillary??

Regardless of what I think, everyone else has an opinion too. At whereIstand.com, those opinions are collected and very few people have come out against the choice. Researchers at the site have compiled a list of what public figures- elected officials, newspaper columnists and editorial boards, etc.- think of the pick. They wholly support the choice.

Why then, according to a recent Gallup poll, did Obama’s Biden choice do him no good?

According to the poll, “Barack Obama has received no bounce in voter support out of his selection of Sen. Joe Biden to be his vice presidential running mate.”

Even conservatives are hailing the choice, so why aren’t the voters?

On the site you can see who said what, and which conservatives are crossing the line. John McCain and Chuck Hagel, Republican Senator from Nebraska, say it was a good choice. Even more interesting are the conservative pundits and columnists who backed the choice. Glenn Beck, the conservative political commentator and radio host, went so far as to say the McCain camp might have a problem if they don’t pick as skilled a debater as Biden for their V.P.

The Washington Times, known for being conservative also praised the choice. A “solid pick,” they said.

After the convention this week we’ll see how the numbers are. Will Biden’s speech draw people in? Will Obama’s convince those who are unsure? It all remains to be seen.

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Race and Obama

Tuesday, August 19th, 2008

Race is the big issue with the election this year. Will Barack Obama win because he is black? Will he lose because he is black? Is American ready for a black president? It’s on everyone’s mind.

Of the 28 public figures on whereIstand.com with opinions on how Obama’s race will affect his candidacy, five are black. What i found particularly interesting was that four of the five said race would negatively affect Obama’s chances of winning the election.

What does that say about our country and whites and blacks in general?

Polls have suggested that whites are saying America is ready for a black president, while according to the public figures on whereIstand, black people themselves think racism will get in the way.

Al Sharpton, St. Louis Post-Dispatch columnist Sylvester Brown Jr., Democratic Party strategist Donna Brazile and sportswriter Stephen A. think race will negatively affect Obama. Robert L. Johnson, the successful businessman and founder of Black Entertainment Television is the lone abstainer.

Beyond recognizing how race is understood by blacks and whites, this information shines a light on, perhaps, how people in business may view things as opposed to activists and journalists.

whereIstand also aggregates the opinions of its many users on the issues. Of the 50 user opinions, 14 say race will have no effect, 16 say race will positively effect his candidacy and 22 say negatively. Because users are often anonymous and don’t post pictures it isn’t possible to determine whether race has any affect on the stand they take on the issue.

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