Obama raising huge money since Super Tuesday...

[knucklesplitter]

Obama fans should absolutely love this.
http://my.barackobama.com/page/contr..._email/graphic

He has raised almost $6M since the polls closed on Super Tuesday. Supposedly mostly from small donors too. Extraordinary to say the least.

Meanwhile The Clinton campaign just had to "borrow" $5M from Hill & Bill's fortune. Also reports are saying that some of her staff is going without pay.

[sperry]

Good for Obama.

Too bad I'm getting the feeling he's not going to get the nomination. Hopefully I'll be wrong.

A Hillary vs. Romney race would be like a do-over of pick the lesser douche from the last election. While an Obama vs. McCain vote would be like two refreshing candidates running for office to make a difference IMO.

While I disagree w/ McCain's stance on nearly everything, I have nothing but respect for the guy. I think he's really an upstanding, genuine guy that really cares about sticking to his beliefs. Frankly, if we had a bunch of McCains with different platforms running for office, I'd feel like there's hope for the future of the nation. I don't get that feeling w/ Hilary and Mit... I feel like they're the "more of the same" candidates.

[Dean]

Obama clobbered Hillary in the debate when she said she would freeze interest rates for 5 years and he said that he would not as it would not permit the new lower fed and LIBOR rates to bring interest rates down before the resets and possible ReFis.

He has a great new economic advisor/backer and appears to be listening to him.

Hillary is now clearly the worst choice.

McCain / Obama will be an interesting race.

I hope/think it will be a McCain/Huckaby ticket vs. an Obama/???? ticket. But who for the ???? Edwards doesn't excite me. Hmmm...

[ScottyS]

Obama/Hillary ticket with the plan to help Obama "disappear" about a year into the win.....

[Kevin M]

Obama raised over $35million in January, mostly from small individual contributions on the internet as I hear it.

Scott, I think you're dead on with your thoughts on Obama and McCain being atypical politicians. I too don't agree much with McCain on his policies, but I do think that he and Obama are the only candidates who wants to be President of the United States of America, and not just the voters in their party. McCain's record of working on legislature with Dems on all sorts of issues bodes well.

I honestly believe that the PRresident should be the most moderate candidate possible. Senators should be a little bit more polarized, and the House should have a good portion of peopple from all parts of the spectrum from far left to far right.

[MikeK]

There are a lot of die hard democratic voters in my office who all say they will vote republican if Hiliary gets the nomination.

[knucklesplitter]

It's $7.5M now by Obama. Clinton claims $4M.

The thing I like about McCain is how bad he pisses off the wacko far right. I am all for anybody who Limbaugh, Coulter, Hannity, Dobson, and that whole dispicable ilk are against. But I'd still hold my nose and vote for Hillary I think. Hopefully I won't have to. Obama is def. not my first choice, but he is 2x better than another Clinton imho.

[Dean]

Romney is going to announce he is pulling out of the race today.

[knucklesplitter]

Originally Posted by Dean

Romney is going to announce he is pulling out of the race today.

He may as well - he doesn't have a chance, especially with the Huckster still in there.

[sperry]

Originally Posted by MikeK

There are a lot of die hard democratic voters in my office who all say they will vote republican if Hiliary gets the nomination.

I hate to say it, but if it comes to Hilary vs. McCain... I'm not sure who I'd vote for. If McCain wasn't so for sticking it out in Iraq and trying to win a hopeless war, I'd probably vote for him over Clinton... but if I voted for McCain I'd have to share the blame for every soldier that dies over there after he takes office.

Granted the situation there isn't his fault as much as it's the fault of the Bush Administration, but if he's not going to be part of the solution, he's part of the problem. Like I said earlier, I respect McCain's opinion about the war, because unlike Bush et. al., he's upfront about how it's a shitty situation that we should never have gotten into rather than blubbering and bullshitting about how great things are going. I just disagree with his opinion on the solution of the problem enough to make him nearly unelectable to me.

If he conceded to popular opinion on that one issue alone it would be enough for me to vote for him. All the rest of the things I disagree with him about (gay marriage, homeland security, abortion, healtcare, etc) I could overlook because I think he's a positive politician that would be willing to work with Congress to meet the will of the people. I'd rather have a president I trust but disagree with than another president that I can't trust no matter how much I agreed with their election platform.

[knucklesplitter]

But about McCain... I think these pics say it all...

[sperry]

Originally Posted by knucklesplitter

But about McCain... I think these pics say it all...

How can he be against gay marriage, when that's such an obviously gay moment right there?

[Kevin M]

Originally Posted by sperry

If he conceded to popular opinion on that one issue alone it would be enough for me to vote for him. All the rest of the things I disagree with him about (gay marriage, homeland security, abortion, healtcare, etc) I could overlook because I think he's a positive politician that would be willing to work with Congress to meet the will of the people. I'd rather have a president I trust but disagree with than another president that I can't trust no matter how much I agreed with their election platform.

That's what I like about McCain. I don't really agree with him on a lot of issues, but I think he's smart enough to be able to agree to disagree. He wants to do the best job he can for the country, rather than the best job he can for his party's hardliners. I'm happy to vote for anybody who recognizes that America is pretty damn moderate and requires compromise on basically every issue.

[knucklesplitter]

Oops, I meant only to imply that Bush and McCain are pretty cozy... not gay. Not that there's anything wrong with that!

[sperry]

Originally Posted by knucklesplitter

Oops, I meant only to imply that Bush and McCain are pretty cozy... not gay. Not that there's anything wrong with that!

I got it... I was just attempting levity.

Error 404: Levity not found.

[knucklesplitter]

Originally Posted by Dean

Obama clobbered Hillary in the debate when she said she would freeze interest rates for 5 years and he said that he would not as it would not permit the new lower fed and LIBOR rates to bring interest rates down before the resets and possible ReFis.

He has a great new economic advisor/backer and appears to be listening to him.

I didn't know/notice this. Any more info?

I have said before that Obama could be a good one if he chooses the right cabinet and advisors What the country needs is a real leader surrounded by good staff. Somebody who can rally people through some tough decisions that need to be made and some difficult actions that need to be done. And when I say "rally" I don't mean through fear and manipulation like we've seen the last 7 years.

I think Clinton would choose good competent people, but I doubt she could bring the country together as well. That and so many other negatives...

[Nick Koan]

Originally Posted by MikeK

There are a lot of die hard democratic voters in my office who all say they will vote republican if Hiliary gets the nomination.

That's cause Hilary is awful.

She's just another "more of the same" politician. No one wants that right now. Everyone wants change, and even though Hilary claims to be a proponent of change, its obvious she's just another career politician that'll bend to special interest groups.

I'd vote for Huckabee over Hilary any day.

[knucklesplitter]

Mittens is out. In his exit speech:
"If I fight on in my campaign, all the way to the convention, I would forestall the launch of a national campaign and make it more likely that Senator Clinton or Obama would win. And in this time of war, I simply cannot let my campaign, be a part of aiding a surrender to terror."

Just more Repugnican fearmongering and manipulation.

[sperry]

Originally Posted by knucklesplitter

Mittens is out. In his exit speech:
"If I fight on in my campaign, all the way to the convention, I would forestall the launch of a national campaign and make it more likely that Senator Clinton or Obama would win. And in this time of war, I simply cannot let my campaign, be a part of aiding a surrender to terror."

Just more Repugnican fearmongering and manipulation.

He's right. Getting out of Iraq is surrendering to terror.

The terror of spending lives, time and money on a failed, ill though out, and unjust war while our economy crumbles under the weight of poor government. I know I'm terrified, but not of the terrorists, I'm terrified that we're going to see another 8 years of piss-poor government.

Good riddance to Mit.

[Dean]

Originally Posted by knucklesplitter

I didn't know/notice this. Any more info?

I have said before that Obama could be a good one if he chooses the right cabinet and advisors What the country needs is a real leader surrounded by good staff. Somebody who can rally people through some tough decisions that need to be made and some difficult actions that need to be done. And when I say "rally" I don't mean through fear and manipulation like we've seen the last 7 years.

I think Clinton would choose good competent people, but I doubt she could bring the country together as well. That and so many other negatives...

Here is the transcript.

Basically Hillary wants to freeze existing ARM rates for 5 years but Obama rightly points out that that would have adverse effect on everyone. She has since said it would not be a mandatory freeze, but that just shows she didn't understand what she was talking about.

Freezing existing ARM loan rates would drive rates for new loans up making it hard for new buyers, or those existing loan holders to refinance, thus driving the housing problem even further down.

There is a lot more to it, but that is the gist.

Right now with LIBOR and prime rates down, refis for qualified borrowers are probably going to resolve far more of these sub prime issues than anything short of "we will pay your loan for you" legislation.

Raising qualifying loan limits may help a little as well, but it is a double edged sword.

[MikeK]

I'm leaving if Huckabee becomes the next president. The whole religion thing over here scares me enough as it is.

Honestly I think the recockulous national debt is America's biggest problem right now. If something isn't done about it RIGHT NOW the drag on the economy over the next few decades will do more damage to the american way of life than global warming or any other factors. How awesome would it be to have tax rates 10 or 20% higher with every cent going straight to foreign governments. And I just noticed that the current budget includes more money for Iraq than ever before

Article 1, Article 2, etc

[knucklesplitter]

Whoever wins in November will have several real messes on their hands to deal with. That is for sure. It will be daunting. Wouldn't it be great if he/she rose to be the great president of our time? I just don't get that vibe from any of the candidates though.

[knucklesplitter]

Originally Posted by Dean

Here is the transcript.

Basically Hillary wants to freeze existing ARM rates for 5 years but Obama rightly points out that that would have adverse effect on everyone. She has since said it would not be a mandatory freeze, but that just shows she didn't understand what she was talking about.

Freezing existing ARM loan rates would drive rates for new loans up making it hard for new buyers, or those existing loan holders to refinance, thus driving the housing problem even further down.

There is a lot more to it, but that is the gist.

Right now with LIBOR and prime rates down, refis for qualified borrowers are probably going to resolve far more of these sub prime issues than anything short of "we will pay your loan for you" legislation.

Raising qualifying loan limits may help a little as well, but it is a double edged sword.

Thanks, that makes more sense.

I was really more curious about the new economic advisor you mentioned. Is that just your speculation? I couldn't find anything on Google.

[knucklesplitter]

Originally Posted by MikeK

I'm leaving if Huckabee becomes the next president. The whole religion thing over here scares me enough as it is.

Agreed. I lived in South Carolina and small-town Oklahoma for a total of 12 years. Many can be deeply religious there... in a cherry-picking-the-Bible-for-stuff-that-conforms-to-my-twisted-worldview kind of way.

[Dean]

Originally Posted by knucklesplitter

I was really more curious about the new economic advisor you mentioned. Is that just your speculation? I couldn't find anything on Google.

Former Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volcker endorsed him and is rumored to be advising him in some capacity.

Volker is a pretty damn sharp guy when it comes to economics.