REVITALIZING CHANGE or REPUBLICAN FOSSILS? Young Voters Give Obama the Win

It has become a great season reminiscent of the winter holiday season when millions get into the spirit. Only, millions of Americans now have visions of political victories and defeats dancing in their partisan heads. But it has become so serious that even Santa Claus could become an unwelcome guest depending on his own political leanings.

The cold world of politics has become colder and more rancorous every day. Mother against daughter, father against son, lipstick against pig... McCain has ramped up his “Lie Machine” while his running mate Palin prepares to meet the press like students who cram for exams when they have not attended class all semester… Obama has loaded his quiver of arrows to shoot down all of the lies sent his way while Biden lays in wait for newcomer Palin, his deer in the headlights.

Several national polls tell a different story, but those stories should be disregarded. The real numbers have yet to be counted…

The polls cannot and do not account for the millions of voters added to the Democratic coffers... Democrats have added over 2 million new voters in 28 states that register voters by affiliation, while Republicans have lost 344,000 voters. That includes Ohio and Pennsylvania, two states that have recently voted out several Republicans in congress. These numbers include young voters who have never voted and are not accounted for in the national or state polling.

According to published reports Ohio alone has over 750,000 eligible voters between the ages of 18 and 22 who will vote for the first time; Colorado has 293,000; New Mexico 145,000; Virginia 465,000; Michigan 690,000 and Florida has over 1 million. Consider how mobilized Black and Latino voters have become. Their registrations have doubled in most states Kerry lost by a few thousand votes… Now you begin to see a new narrative.

Obama wins if he maintains his Democratic base that has been regularly polled while adding these new voters. Also note that these polls are not conducted with voters who can only be contacted by cell phone or who never answer their landline phones... Democrats.

This election is about change in many respects, but not only about political change. It is also about the change in social and cultural demographics of our society. It is also about the change in age demographics too. Those who were not voting age 4 years ago now have a vote. They have very little to do with the divisive politics of generations before them. Their world is shaped by their own reality, and they have rejected the world of Washington double talk and fear mongering that has dominated the country over the last 8 years. This new generation is more educated, and much more global than previous generations. They recognize their own power to enforce the changes they need and want.

Obama has become their change merchant. He represents their future, not fossil fuel McCain or Palin. While corporations attempt to fool the masses with their corporately generated poll questions, they have not questioned all of the eligible Democratic voters including the newly registered voters.

Earlier this month the BBC asked over 22,000 people in 22 nations who they prefer as President of the United States. They overwhelmingly selected Barack Obama, and yet Obama and McCain are tied in certain U.S. polls?

Don't count on it! Obama is way ahead. Ask your children.

G.M.

More reading on the subject of polls and cell phones:

http://www.pollster.com/blogs/cell_phones_and_political_surv.php

http://www.campaignline.com/stories/?StoryID=46659C9C-1422-17E0-F89D46ADC2F9FF81

http://www.tri-cityherald.com/962/story/309088.html

An Open Letter to Obama

Dear Mr. Obama:

In offering my support to your candidacy for President of the United States, I also applaud your efforts in bringing positive change to America's recently broken government. Indeed, you have the support of Democrats in general, and your voter base is strong. Nevertheless, this support alone might not be enough to get you elected in November. You will also need the support of thinking Republicans, Independent and undecided voters.

In your recent interview with Keith Olbermann of MSNBC, you stated that “the American public is not stupid” regarding the blatant lies coming from the McCain-Palin camp. The American public cannot be characterized as stupid, but the American public certainly has a short attention span when it comes to remembering things wrought by Republicans over the last 8 years. How else could you explain John McCain keeping this presidential race so close when he should be very far behind you in the polls?

Those many controversies leading up to the Bush victory in 2000 were overshadowed by his great Iraq deception in 2004. Yet he got another four year term in office… Unfortunately for you there seems to be more than enough Americans with short term memory issues willing to give John McCain another undeserved victory in 2008.

Mr. Obama, the American public has overdosed on The Simpsons, American Idol and sports programming. Most Americans do not know who their congressmen or congresswomen are, and they do not even care to know. In general, the American public is willing to believe what they are told by those they trust the most. So this issue is now about the quality of information the electorate receives on a daily basis.

Voters trusted Bush and Cheney for the simplest of reasons. It is now clear that those reasons never really existed. Many of those same voters are now willing to trust McCain and Palin for reasons that are even simpler, and more devious. These voters are either uninformed, or unwilling to be informed; unwilling to change... You still have access to those who are willing to be informed, and/or willing to change.

How do you get people to listen to truth even as they are being bombarded with lies about you and your political ambitions? How can you reach a population that is so consumed with foolishness that they would be willing to vote in McCain who says this election is not about the issues that face us, but about his image as he arrogantly shields Palin from press scrutiny?

First, you must spell the truth out to voters in the language that they understand. Make your accusations plain and clear. Remember, you are dealing with people who are gullible enough to believe Sarah Palin when she tells them she sold a jet aircraft on EBay, a complete fabrication.

Second, you must realize that you are not running against Vin Scully and Venus Williams… You are in a dogfight with McCain and Palin; two glorified thugs that would sell Jesus a false bill of goods for 30 votes. You must sharpen your words and let them cut with precision. You must get the public accustomed to the truth according to Obama.

Right now, those who are not in your camp are getting a steady diet of lies at every turn because McCain and Palin know they cannot beat you if the public voted on the real issues. Lying is their strength and it makes your candidacy weaker, especially when the public does not see you carefully tearing each lie apart.

Third, you must not look for assistance from the press. The press just wants a headline but not necessarily the truth. Take your headlines to the people and let the press follow along… Your press is the American public, and that is why you are so successful today. Make them angry at McCain. Pin ALL of the public’s troubles on Bush-McCain. No time to be Gentleman “O.” You are fighting the most devious of politicians.

Finally, show your public that you care enough about matters to get indignant about it. Get offensive. If you remain as passionate as you were in your acceptance speech then you will get the undecided voters on your side. There are millions of people losing their homes, or about to lose them. Even the memory of losing a home or a job many years ago counts today.

Americans are angry and blame Bush for America’s troubles. Bush is slinking away pretending he never took part in the crime, while his right hand man McCain tells everyone he was not accessory to Bush's failed legacy. McCain is telling all of America that he is a maverick who fought the Bush system.

Mr. Obama, you must make certain the public knows that McCain helped drive Bush’s getaway car with Karl Rove and Scooter Libby in the back seat! He endorsed the Bush policies 95% of the time, and that is not change. You must regularly tell the American public that McCain and Palin are nothing more than poster children of Republicanism under George W. Bush. They represent everything Bush and his administration stand for which is deceit, corporate greed and political corruption.

Remind the American public that it is not enough to just believe, but we must regularly think about what we believe in. McCain and Palin both are unbelievable…

I am looking forward to your inauguration on January 20, 2009. I will be in attendance.

Sincerely,

G.M.

Palin: The "Faint" White Hope

In watching the Republican National Convention, I have observed that mostly white men and women are there cheering and waving American flags… Despite the eventual spattering of brown and black faces that I finally saw in the crowd, this RNC celebration makes me realize even more that the Republicans have their own version of what “America” looks like, and how it should remain…

Republicans realize they must reach in their vast bag of tricks to get the attention of Americans if they plan on turning this election around in their favor. As usual, their bag of tricks consists of items that are never useful to the larger public, but chock-full of goodies that work magic on people who are easily swayed by the most divisive and least inclusive issues that face Americans… at large.

Issues of sex, religion, race and gender have been the hot button topics of this country since its inception. Though it is very possible to discuss these topics with reasonable discourse, Republicans bellow these facets like crazed people yelling “fire” in an overcrowded evangelistic tent. And what better way to fire up the Republican troops when you are about to lose a Presidential election to a Black opponent?

First, they bellowed “Muslim,” because his name is Barack Hussein Obama… Then it was “anti-American,” when he did not wear a lapel pin… Soon Republicans took him to task over “anti-white” sermons his minister preached. Underneath it all was their Obama rallying cry, “lack of experience.”

Tonight the Republicans presented Sarah Palin as their Republican Vice Presidential Nominee. This was the first time most Americans actually heard her speak or got a glimpse of her. We know she is the Governor of Alaska for less than 2 years, and has 5 children. Her husband is a fisherman and member of the Teamsters Union… She is under investigation for political crimes. She believes that Obama is inexperienced and that McCain is the “right man for the job…” What more do we need to know…?

Republicans are hoping for that “Palin Assist.” But since she brings little to the Republican ticket other than partisanship and drama, they are hoping that Palin will assist them in winning over white Americans, especially white Hillary Clinton supporters. They are banking on the likelihood that whites across the country leaning Obama’s way will become so incensed after they witness Obama jab Palin and McCain that they will turn Republican….

On the surface Republicans will characterize it as an “elite” Democrat challenging “American values,” but under the surface and in their hearts and minds it is all about the "uppity" Black Man disrespecting a White Woman who has now become the Republicans’… “Faint” White Hope!

These tactics of gender and race divisions might work in some parts of the country. It certainly worked in Tennessee Bob Corker’s favor when he beat Harold Ford in 2006 by less than 5 percentage points. Remember the white woman in Corker's television add beckoning Ford? Informed Democrats want to make sure these divisive tactics do not influence this election…

Ethnic times have changed for the majority of Americans. Someone needs to tell the Republican Party leadership that these are now “multi-ethnic” times. And if they are not sure how to change with the times then they should learn from the Democratic National Convention… Every race and ethnicity got some face time at the DNC. They all considered themselves uniformly patriotic and willing to change the look of American government.

But all those in favor must vote to bring about this change…

G.L.M.

Glass Heads and Glass Houses

Republican Vice Presidential Candidate Sarah Palin today announced that her 17 year old daughter was pregnant, and that she would eventually marry the father of the child. It was also announced that Palin has hired a defense attorney to represent her in an Alaska State investigation regarding allegations that she misused her state office to fire her ex-brother-in-law from his Alaska State Trooper job…

Palin’s spokesman Steve Schmidt issued this statement: "Life happens in families. I think that if people try to politicize this, the American people will be appalled by it," Schmidt said."The fact is that the American people, who are decent people, don't appreciate intrusions into the private space of good families -- of families who are dealing with real problems."

Was Bill Clinton's family dealing with a real "Lewinski" problem?

Now let’s be real… If you have been an Evangelical Republican for the last 10 years, as Sarah Palin has been, you cannot claim that exemption, “life happens,” when you miserably fail your own code of moral ethics; the same code you harshly imposed on the Clintons and others of their Democratic Party... You cannot be an Evangelical Republican, that has shown little compassion towards the poor Black unwed mothers of America, and expect to hear nothing when your own Republican-Vice-Presidential-Candidate's teenage daughter comes up pregnant with no husband…

Unfortunately, when you live in a glass house you are always repairing broken glass. It is unavoidable. Truth is we all live in glass houses. Our lives are filled with see-through panes that are easily shattered once we start throwing stones. The problem for Republicans rests in their belief that they are the only ones entitled to launch stones without return fire.

Republican policies are generally geared towards blaming the victim. They preached this false gospel that the victims of Hurricane Katrina were either being punished by God for their lack of morality, or because they were too stupid to get out of New Orleans before it was too late. Republicans threw those stones from church pulpits, and conservative talk radio shows. Those stones came back to further shatter Bush’s image and the Republicans who supported him in Congress. Pictures of President Bush and Senator McCain eating birthday cake while the people of New Orleans were drowning in 2005 eventually surfaced.

Bush is now in Texas coordinating the efforts for Hurricane Gustav victims in an attempt to make up for his Hurricane Katrina failures. But his glass house is broken beyond repair...

Republicans have shown little compassion for women issues in the last 8 years. They are run by older White males who want control over the bodies of American women by reversing Roe vs. Wade. The Republican Party has been hijacked by the “Christian Right,” therefore the Republican party has become intolerant of issues that go against what they consider “Christian Values.”

Enter Sarah Palin, a relatively unknown quantity that has risen to prominence within the male dominated Republican Party. She is the female equivalent to Alan Keyes; a token who is willing to be used by those in power who would do anything to keep power… presenting a false choice...

Apparently McCain does not realize that by selecting Palin he has exposed his own judgmental weakness. In throwing her out to the public McCain has exposed his own head, and those of the entire Republican leadership to a barrage of hard hitting questions that ask, “Is McCain fit to lead this country?” Are Republicans serious in presenting John McCain and Sarah Palin as their answer to Barack Obama and Joseph Biden?"

"Thee shouldst not throw Stones, who hast a Head of Glass thyself " [1754 J. Shebbeare from Marriage Act II. lv.]

GM