Debate One Wrap

Who won Friday's debate? As the front-runner, Senator Obama needed to avoid any major mistakes. Senator McCain needed draw clear distinctions and make the case that Obama is not ready to lead.

Americans must have been disappointed that neither candidate veered from their brief talking points on the current financial crisis. Hindsight is 20/20 and both found it useful to assign blame and name scapegoats. It was startling how neither had any insight or vision for resolving this crisis. It seems both are satisfied to stick the taxpayers with a $700 Billion tab in the name of bipartisanship without offering any specific adjustments to their current spending plans. McCain shifted the subject to earmark spending - an area of strength, but one that has marginal applicability to this crisis. Obama explained that he will bring relief to the middle class, by increasing taxes on their employers - this would be devastating in the current economic environment, and McCain should have hammered it.

Either candidate could have offered a Reader's Digest explanation of how mark-to-market accounting is creating an illiquid environment for many of our financial players. Behind every pool of securitized mortgages are tangible, hard assets - homes. Even if 100% of subprime mortgages are forclosed on, they are worth something. Instead of addressing this obvious point, both candidates seem content to create more Sarbanes-Oxley style regulations that have saddled American commerce post-Enron. This steers global jobs and investment away from the USA.

As the debate turned to foreign policy, Obama again used his 20/20 hindsight to assign blame, name scapegoats, and declare that he opposed the 2003 decision to invade Iraq from the safety of the Illinois legislature. He hammered McCain for proving to be wrong on a number of items regarding the 2003 invasion, but McCain effectively brought the "gotcha game" full circle with Obama's fierce opposition to the surge.

As expected, John McCain discussed Iran, Pakistan, and Russia with confidence and ease. Since the Democratic primaries Obama has deftly moved towards McCain's positions, which minimizes any McCain advantage for the swing voters who are just beginning to tune in. As an example, we learned last night that Obama is now in favor of extending NATO membership to Georgia and Ukraine. This is welcome news, but it's not altogether convincing when he passed on the opportunity to use his huge audience in Berlin to press the issue with the chief NATO obstacle - Germany.

There is still a huge opening for one of the candidates to take on the $700B Bush-Paulson-Frank bailout for Wall Street. Obama cannot take this kind of chance with his advantage in the polls. McCain could assert his Maverickness in a way that turns this race for good. The solution would be a detailed plan that outlines to the American people a pro-growth economic expansion focused on the future. It would eliminate earmarks and capital gains taxes. It would reduce marginal tax rates and promote a strong dollar. It would be a stark contrast to the Hoover and FDR interventionist policies that kept unemployment at 20% for ten years following the 1929 stock market crash. This week, it appears both candidates prefer the Hoover-FDR model.

Sorry, Charlie - Palin Electrifies Conservatives

Politico reports that Palin electrifies conservatives. The powerful conservative engine that carried Bush-Cheney to two victories has never revved up for McCain. The people that drive this engine don't say much, but they live in the swing states of the heartland. They are on fire for Sarah Palin.
Palin was not selected to appeal to pro-choice California Republicans like Charlie who admire the way that Joe Biden attacked Clarence Thomas during his confirmation hearings. As an aside, in advance of the hearing Sen. Biden privately assured Thomas that he would support his confirmation. Fortunately, Thomas correctly suspected that Biden was lying to his face to soften him up and won confirmation despite Biden's best Washington two-faced hit job.

True, there is much to be learned about Governor Palin's capabilities to be Commander-in-Chief. We do know that she fearlessly challenged the very powerful status quo in her own party to become her state's popular top executive. When talking about his leadership background, Barack Obama told Rick Warren that his toughest decison was to oppose the Iraq War while in the IL legislature - because it could have jeopardized his political future. Has Barack Obama ever stood up to anyone? It took him 3 attempts to admonish his radical pastor. Obama is soft compared to most hockey moms, but particularly Sarah Palin.

No doubt Palin lacks plenty in foreign affairs expertise - the same charge would have been leveled against most any governor McCain selected. However, she is an expert on the most pressing domestic issue, unlike Speaker Pelosi who last week told Meet the Press (3 times in the same appearance!) that natural gas was an alternative to fossil fuels.

In 1988 the Democrats tried to compensate for the neophyte on the top of their ticket with seasoned Senator Lloyd Bentsen. The mainstream media howled that Bentsen would wipe the floor with Dan Quayle. He did. Quayle gave the media plenty to support their hypothesis, but America recognized the bigger potential disaster - President Dukakis. Bush-Quayle won 40 states.

The Alternative GOP View

Charlie Sayles is one of my uncle's oldest friends and has become my friend over the last few years. He helped my uncle build our company and has come out of early retirement to serve in a key advisory role for me. Outside of being one of the smartest people I know, he is also a bit of a rarity - a conservative Republican who lives in California.

Charlie is not a blogger, but was so moved by McCain's selection of Palin, he wrote down a few words to share with his friends. (Funny thing is my super conservative Republican mother probably shares the majority of Charlie's thoughts).

What follows is an alternative Republican view just so we can remain fair and balanced here on Ground Game.

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So Mccain has selected Alaskan Governor Sarah Palin to be his running mate. I have to admit my ignorance, because before today I had never really heard of her. Unfortunately, I have to agree with the Democrats that this takes the issue of Obama's "readiness" to be Commander in Chief off the table.

Like many Americans, I surfed the web to find out as much as I could about this self proclaimed "hockey mom". I respect her decision to have a disabled child, I just don't want her dictating that to other moms.

Republican pundits are calling her selection "brilliant", an opportunity to bring over the Hillary voters, and a fresh new face to the election. They argue that she has fought corruption (although they didn't mention she might be accused of it) even from within her own party, making her a maverick like John Mccain. The far right hails her lifetime membership in the NRA and her steadfast pro life position in all cases.

I can just see our "hockey mom" staring down Putin, Ahmadinejad, Kim, and Osama. I can just see her determining troop deployments, negotiating with the Saudi Royal Family over oil production and prices, and understanding the deep roots of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.

Mccain is 72 and wants to win an election and has proven he doesn't care about America's future because he has already lived his life and it won't affect him.

The Republicans have attacked Obama for not being ready, but then they choose this lady.

Obama has been selected to hold public office by more than 22 million people now, this person less than 150,000.

He has an Ivy League education, Columbia and a law degree from Harvard, she has a journalism degree from the University of Idaho.

He served in the state senate of the 5th largest state for 12 years, she served as mayor for six years in a town of about 5,000 people.

He has been in the US Senate representing the 5th largest state for four years, and sits on the Foreign Relations Committee, she has served as Governor of the 47th largest state for less than two years.

He spent years in Chicago, the nation's third largest city with all of the urban problems America faces (some even exagerated in that city), she hails from Wasilla.

The Republicans defended her record saying she has more executive experience than he, and while that's true (I give her the one and a half years as governor not her six years as mayor) I always remember Ross Perot's comment about Bill Clinton, "Just because you ran a corner 7 11 it doesn't qualify you to run Walmart."

Clinton claims they said he wasn't ready, and he proved them wrong, but he wasn't. Two years after he took office the Republicans swept control of Congress for the first time in 40 years, gaining 54 seats in the house, and eight in the Senate. The Speaker of the House lost his reelection bid, the first time that had happened since the Civil War, and the powerful Chairman of the House and Ways Committee was beaten as well. All in all, 34 incumbents were beaten as America revolted against the inexperienced Clinton, and installed Newt Gingrich as the first Republican Speaker since 1954. Republicans held congress until inexperienced Bush took over.

I have felt that this year, more than any other, the selection of Vice President was important. It gives the American public an inside look at Barack Obama's judgement, and on the Republican side, we needed someone to have confidence in, being that Mccain is the oldest person running for a first term.

I happen to like Biden. He has been one of the only democrats I would have willingly voted for. It goes back to the 1988 election when the Democrats were running Dukakis, and Gebhart (who I really hated) and Jesse Jackson that I resigned myself to vote for Bush unless Biden won. Then I thought he did an excellent job on the Clarence Thomas hearings, knowing he was chair of the judiciary committee and against his nomination, but realizing it was going to go through anyway. I was obviously pleased with Obama's selection, and Biden is still one of the few Democrats I like.

On the Republican side, what in the hell was Mccain thinking? How can we have confidence in this person I had never heard of before today? Obama has been running for president for 18 months and we've had a chance to get to know him, like him or not. He particpated in over 10 debates and campaigned all over the country. Biden, like Mccain, has been in the Senate forever. These people we know. We have eight weeks, and one debate to learn about this person who could be a heartbeat of a 72 year old man away from the White House.

If we have learned anything from the last eight years, we have learned that we need someone smart in the White House. We need someone with America's interest at heart, not Texas. I read one quote that this lady said she would accept the vice presidential nomination if she thought it would help Alaska.

Scary.

It makes every attack the Republicans have thrown against Obama as invalid. Yet they stand up and cheer. I've been disheartened by the way they have cheered Bush's idiotic moves for the last eight years, now I'm completely ashamed to be a registered Republican.

McCain Selects Palin

John McCain's selection of Sarah Palin as his running mate was indeed a bold one. While I have noted many differences with Senator McCain's political philosophy on these pages, he may have the best instincts and judgment of anyone in the country. John McCain has consistently demonstrated his phenomenal gift of foresight from his vote against Reagan's Beirut plan as a freshman congressman to his recent advocacy for the surge in Iraq and Georgia's NATO membership.

The Pros...
Sarah Palin got involved in public service to take on the status quo (high taxes and corruption), not out of political ambition. Like Sen. Obama she is an unproven, yet historical candidate with TV charisma and good looks.

The Alaska Republicans may be the GOP's closest comparison to the Chicago Democratic machine. Sen. Obama won favor of the power players of his machine by playing by their rules, voting in lock-step with their issues, going to their church, and counting them as mentors. In contrast, Sarah Palin challenged and defeated the incumbent governor of her own party and then called for an investigation of Alaska's Republican Party Chairman.

Sarah Palin comes from small town America. She is an evangelical with a solid pro-life record, an NRA member who will appeal to Second Amendment defenders, and an energy expert who can explain the untapped potential of domestic oil and natural gas supplies. She is with the majority of Americans on all of these issues.

The Cons...
Is she as ready as Mitt Romney to be POTUSA? Will her advice to McCain be as solid? Maybe not, but do we really think that a man with McCain's instincts was going to listen to Romney much anyway? Sarah Palin still has to clear significant hurdles - there will be obscure world leaders and conflicts that will be well outside of her expertise. This ultimately doomed the Mike Huckabee campaign, but I wonder if running with John McCain can allow her to tap into the energy that Huckabee generated without the voter anxiety on foreign affairs. I'll await Jonathan's insight on this one.

A historical DNC...
Obama had a successful convention. Congratulations to the Land of Lincolner on his historic achivement. The McCain Camp has been very savvy in slowing the Dems' momentum this summer. However, the big show in Denver will begin to revitalize leftist voters.

Now that's a housing problem...
The London Times has reported that Iraqi billionaire Nadhmi Auchi loaned $3.5 million to convicted felon Tony Rezko three weeks ahead of Obama's estate purchase in 2005. Auchi's U.S. visa was revoked due to his involvement in the Oil for Food scandal, yet two Illinois officials had the State Dept restore the visa. Will the mainstream media press for full disclosure from the Obama campaign and the state dept? Obama has still not provided the settlement statement to show the flow of funds from this transaction. The 529s must be chomping at the bit as the Obama campaign is all about their candidate's character and good judgment.

What Are the Democrats Trying to Warn Us About Obama?

Sure, Obama will win Oregon tonight and move closer to cinching the nomination.....but doesn't anyone find it strange that 65% of DEMOCRATS in Kentucky STILL don't want to vote for the man that will be the party's standard bearer in the fall? You want to discount Kentucky? Well, what are the majority of DEMOCRATIC voters in Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Indiana trying to tell us? I heard on MSNBC tonight that since Feb 19, HRC has amassed 500,000 more votes than Obama.

Look, I'm a Republican, and no fan of Obama or Hillary. I would just like some Democrat (or "Independent") to explain to me why anyone should vote for Obama in the fall when almost half of all the members of his own party don't want him......even now.

The Real Battle

After correctly predicting the results in North Carolina and Indiana (for the first time this season I might add), I have watched with contained glee to see the Clinton machine try and find the new "path" to the nomination (Howard Wolfson now claims the popular vote in Puerto Rico is the new math necessary to be the game changer).

So here is what I have noticed. The real battle here is not between BHO and HRC for the Democratic nomination. The truth is, it may never have been. This fight is and has been about who will lead the Democratic party into its next era - the young upstart with the quintessential American story or the formally young upstart with the former quintessential American story.

This is, has been, and will be about Barack vs. Bill and over control of the house the Bill built. Why else would the Clinton's risk their past legacy (albeit a questionable one for the majority of people, but a legacy nonetheless) and their future over this race? Bill has cared much less about Hill on his sojourns around the campaign stops and centered much more on himself and his history and his future. With HRC in the White House, Bill is firmly entrenched as the Democratic father for the foreseeable future.

That is why he still wags his finger, why his face turns fire engine red, and why he is willing to play the race card even if it means the destruction of the party ("if I can have it, nobody will"). It is Bill who has been running this campaign which is why he will not be silenced unless he believes it strategic. And because of Bill it will go on. He has more to lose than she does.

And Bill is in the fight of his life. Perhaps his last as the grand CEO of the party he built.

Indiana Primary Endorsements - Saddle Creek Precinct

Indiana Primary Endorsements - Tuesday, May 6, 2008
Republican Ballot, Hamilton County, Indiana
Saddle Creek Precinct, Clay Township #263

President of the United States: Mitt Romney

Governor: Mitch Daniels

U.S. Representative (IN-5): Dan Burton

State Representative (87): Cindy Noe

Judge Circuit Court: Sonia J. Leerkamp
Judge of the Superior Court No. 3: William J. Hughes
Judge of the Superior Court No. 4: J. Richard Campbell
Judge of the Superior Court No. 5: Wayne A. Sturtevant

County Auditor: Dawn Coverdale
County Treasurer: Kim Good
County Surveyor: Kenton C. Ward

County Commissioner (Dist. 2): Steven C. Dillinger
County Commissioner (Dist. 3): Steven A. Holt
County Council: Brad Beaver, Jim Belden, and Rick F. McKinney

Carmel Clay School Board: Tom Linkmeyer and Joseph R. Miller

The Saddle Creek precinct will vote in a new location for this primary. Voting will take place in the break area of Carmel Water Distribution at 3450 W 131st St. Polls are open from 6a to 6p. The Supreme Court has upheld Indiana's law to require photo identification, so don't forget yours. Happy Election Day!