Originally Posted By jdub Oh, no-- right now I'm listening to some old lady caller to KGO Radio telling the host she's a "Hillary" supporter, and "I'm not gonna vote for Obama; I'm gonna vote for McCain."
Originally Posted By Mr X Another brilliant Hilldog kook. Just what we need. Almost, ALMOST makes me wish for a McCain victory, so they can get exactly what they're asking for. Almost.
Originally Posted By gadzuux I've heard no rumors about the speech tomorrow night. One of the cable networks said something about "the generals present" but no more. There must be other speakers besides Obama, who will probably hold it to thirty minutes at most. Has anybody got "the scoop"? I'm wondering if tomorrow night's finale will include a performer capable of holding a full stadium of people - maybe springsteen, maybe petty. But just as a
Originally Posted By Darkbeer Should be interesting to see if the NFL Football game goes long tomorrow night (NBC is broadcasting it in Prime Time on the East Coast starting at 7 PM EDT, 4 PM Pacific). Will the Democrats stall to make sure the game is over before Senator Obama makes his speech. 3 hours is awfully short for an NFL game, heck, during the regular season, the Sunday afternoon games are scheduled at 3 hours and 15 minutes, and the Prime Time games go closer to 3 and 1/2 hours, and that is after a 1 hour pre-game show, which tomorrows game won't have...)
Originally Posted By SingleParkPassholder A pre-season game where all that's left in the 4th quarters are scrubs? Phffftttt.....
Originally Posted By Darkbeer The Dems get a Pre-Season game tomorrow... The Republicans get the FIRST REGULAR Season game next Thursday, September 4th. The date that Senator McCain is scheduled to give his acceptance speech... A Regular Season Game is expected to go longer than a pre-season game, at the same 7 PM EDT start time!
Originally Posted By Dabob2 I thought Bill's speech was better than Hillary's, but only because he's a better speaker. To be sure, Hillary was as good on Tuesday as I've ever seen her, but she can't quite compete with ol' Bill, who's just one of the best political speakers we've seen in the TV age. On substance, they both did what they needed to do. I agree with those who said that Bill was smart to include all those areas, because plenty of people who are more casual than us about these things would just tune in for him, then miss Biden. Biden I've give a B. Didn't knock it out of the park, but got some good points across, came off well himself, and hit a solid double. Tonight Obama has the chance to hit it out of the stadium and bring them both home (to torture the baseball metaphor some more).
Originally Posted By gadzuux Biden gets extra credit because he's got the perfect wife and that big catholic family, straight out of central casting, and a compelling narrative story of the tragedy followed by triumph (the swearing into office by his son's hospital bed is genius!), taking the train twice a day, son heading for iraq, authoring the 'violence against women' act, and let's not forget those big teeth. How perfect is that?
Originally Posted By mawnck I just switched on Mr. Limbaugh's daily lovefest to see what he's doing. It was just as I figured (dang I wish I'd posted it). Sounds like all he's got for last night is "none of it's true" and a bunch of taunting comedy bits. His original line of "the Dems are clueless and this convention sucks" is now so patently false that even he can't use it. Rush sounds VERY agitated. I'm really enjoying this. Ooh, and this just in from Rush - A set designer who worked for Britney Spears designed the stage for Obama's speech tonight. Well, that proves it - Obama will make a lousy President. He hires experienced set designers. OK, enough Rush. I have work to do.
Originally Posted By DlandDug >>Biden... How perfect is that?<< Joe Biden? Maybe the perfect gaffe machine. (True fact: Google "Biden" and "gaffe" and the phrase "biden gaffe machine" pops up. Who knew.) From the LA Times, just last year: >>Biden’s charming cluelessness was on display in a recent ABC news interview. The famously verbose senator was asked to state in 25 words or less why Democrats should nominate him. His response was 45 words. I suppose that, by Biden’s standards, coming in at just under twice his allotted length counts as a victory of sorts... In addition to his uncontrollable verbosity, Biden is a gaffe machine. He ran for president 20 years ago but had to abandon his campaign when it was discovered that he had plagiarized speeches from a British politician, substituting in key details to make the story his own. ...he mused about Illinois Sen. Obama: “I mean, you got the first mainstream African American who is articulate and bright and clean and a nice-looking guy.” ...last summer Biden attempted to endear himself to an Indian American supporter by telling him that in Delaware, “you cannot go to a 7-Eleven or a Dunkin’ Donuts unless you have a slight Indian accent.” Not only was this an offensive line, it didn’t even make any sense: The observation, familiar to anybody who watched a comedian on cable television 15 years ago, is that Indian Americans are the only ones who work in convenience stores, not that they’re the only ones who shop there. The man can’t even keep his condescending cliches straight.<< <a href="http://articles.latimes.com/2007/feb/04/opinion/op-chait4" target="_blank">http://articles.latimes.com/20...p-chait4</a> How Biden handles a question about his plagarism: >>Mr. Biden looked at his questioner and said: "I think I have a much higher I.Q. than you do."<< <a href="http://weblog.signonsandiego.com/weblogs/afb/archives/026777.html" target="_blank">http://weblog.signonsandiego.c...777.html</a> Biden on religion: >>"The next Republican that tells me I'm not religious, I'm going to shove my rosary beads down their throat."<< (Cincinnati Enquirer, Oct. 22, 2005) <a href="http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080824/ap_on_el_pr/cnv_biden_catholic" target="_blank">http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/200...catholic</a> And, of course, he's the gift that keeps on giving. Here's CBS News' report on the momentous day that Obama announced Biden as his running mate. Among Biden's statements: >>“My wife Jill, who you’ll meet soon, is drop dead gorgeous... she also has her doctorate degree, which is a problem.” Biden’s ultimate gaffe came near the end of his speech, when he called Obama, “Barack Amer..” It wasn’t clear whether he intentionally wanted to call his running mate, Barack America, or if he forgot his last name.<< <a href="http://www.cbsnews.com/blogs/2008/08/23/politics/fromtheroad/entry4377062.shtml" target="_blank">http://www.cbsnews.com/blogs/2...62.shtml</a> And as a mentor, Biden is already rubbing off. When introducing Biden to the crowd, Obama said (drum roll, please): >>So let me introduce you to the next President, er, Vice President of the United States of America!"<< Gotta love it...
Originally Posted By DlandDug And lest anyone think I'm just picking on the no-doubt intellectually superior Joe Biden, here's another take on the whole thing. From John Harwood of the New York Times and CNBC: >>He [Biden] is not somebody who is infused with political correctness, the verbal equivalent of putting his pinky up when he opens his mouth. So this is what, the way ordinary voters are as well. They're not always worried about sort of calibrating every single word by "ooh, is this racially insensitive?" That's something that Joe Biden brings as an asset to the ticket. The gaffes actually show one of his strengths.<< <a href="http://newsbusters.org/blogs/mark-finkelstein/2008/08/23/harwood-bidens-racially-insensitive-gaffes-actually-strength" target="_blank">http://newsbusters.org/blogs/m...strength</a> See, saying dumb stuff is actually a show of strength. Yeah, that's the ticket!
Originally Posted By mawnck >>See, saying dumb stuff is actually a show of strength. Yeah, that's the ticket!<< Well the guy in office right now ... Nope, too easy.
Originally Posted By ecdc >>See, saying dumb stuff is actually a show of strength. Yeah, that's the ticket!<< Oh please. When you've been in politics as long as Biden, anyone can pick out gaffes from statements over that long. And are we seriously having a Republican complain that a Democrat isn't politically correct? Wow. Of course, McCain has had plenty of gaffes this election cycle too. Whether it's not knowing how many houses he has or supposedly being an expert on foreign policy but still not knowing the difference between Sunni and Shia, it's there to mine. But some of us would rather focus on issues than gaffes.
Originally Posted By gadzuux Remember, I was a Biden supporter before I was an Obama supporter, so a litany of 'frank talk' - some of it from over twenty years ago - isn't going to shake my convictions. Biden's style of speaking is an 'everyman' voice. He resonates with the blue collar lunch buckets in the northeast and midwest. People tell me I talk too much too, and they're probably right. But all of this is secondary to what he brings to bear as an effective legislator. In the arena of getting bills passed into law, he's as good as they get, and he has the ideology that aligns with Obama. So he's a triple threat - an effective politician, an effective public speaker and has candidate 'curb appeal' with the big catholic family and the compelling backstory. That's why he's 'perfect'. If he blurts out some clinker of a comment now and then, it's forgiveable. At least you know what he's thinking, and you certainly can't say that about dick cheney.
Originally Posted By gadzuux >> I just switched on Mr. Limbaugh's daily lovefest to see what he's doing. << I was listening to him in the car yesterday and he said "that's not the REAL Michelle Obama that gave that speech last night". Amazing.
Originally Posted By ecdc >>So he's a triple threat - an effective politician, an effective public speaker and has candidate 'curb appeal' with the big catholic family and the compelling backstory. That's why he's 'perfect'. << Exactly. Which is why it seems Republicans continue to have sour grapes throughout this election cycle and have to attack everything the Democrats do, instead of bothering to talk about their candidate. For people who complained 4 years ago that a vote for Kerry really was just a vote *against* Bush, they're sure practicing it in droves this year. It seems no one actually likes John McCain all that much. They just don't like Obama. Ironically, they don't like him for false reasons - he has no substance and we don't know enough about him. All charges that have been effectively refuted numerous times.
Originally Posted By DlandDug Ho ho ho. Three posts in a row to defend Biden the gaffe machine by pointing out that... that's what they all do! >>Remember, I was a Biden supporter before I was an Obama supporter, so a litany of 'frank talk' - some of it from over twenty years ago - isn't going to shake my convictions.<< Would that be Biden's "own" frank talk, or the comments he "borrowed" from others?
Originally Posted By ecdc >>Biden on religion: >>"The next Republican that tells me I'm not religious, I'm going to shove my rosary beads down their throat."<< (Cincinnati Enquirer, Oct. 22, 2005)<< I just re-read this and have to laugh out loud. I love the tagline "Biden on religion." Yes, clearly, this is as meaningful as Biden gets on religion. This is his take on it. Sure. Good lord, Republicans are pissed off and desperate this election year! It's great!
