Free Republic

ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) - Calling him the true reformer in the presidential contest, members of Reform Party USA endorsed Sen. John McCain for president on Saturday. Party Chairman Frank MacKay said representatives from 27 states voted to endorse McCain, the Republican nominee and Arizona senator. None voted for Democratic nominee Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois. "It's a good day for reform," MacKay told The Associated Press. "Whether (McCain) wins or loses, I believe we did the right thing and it gives independents the best chance out there to elect one of our own to the White House." MacKay said the...

Who is Vera Baker? Some people in Chicago claim she was Obama’s Finance Director for his 2004 Senate campaign. FEC Senate campaign records show she was paid a pretty penny as “Finance Director”. However, people familiar with Obama’s 2004 Senate campaign say Claire Serdiuk was Obama’s Finance Director. Looking through everything we can see online for that 2004 campaign, Claire Serdiuk is consistently listed as the Finance Director - because that’s what she was. There’s no mention of Vera Baker…but Vera Baker was paid as the “Finance Director” too. And then, suddenly, Vera Baker was relocated to New York. Right...

Obama is hit by 'affair' smears following claims that attractive aide was banned by his wife Target: Barack Obama faces rumours about his private life Barack Obama is the target of a shadowy smear campaign designed to derail his bid for the US Presidency by falsely claiming he had a close friendship with an attractive African-American female employee. The whispers focus on a young woman who in 2004 was hired to work on his team for his bid to become a senator. The woman was purportedly sidelined from her duties after Senator Obama’s wife, Michelle, became convinced that he had...

America, the world policeman, often decides who shall live, the Kuwaitis and the Kosovans, and who shall die, the Cambodians and the Tutsis. It's not like they don't affect the fate of peoples everywhere. Israel's existence hangs in the balance as Iran builds its nukes with the aim of annihilating the Jewish state. That's basically why polls show Israelis favoring McCain, a reliable friend, over Obama, a pig in a poke, by a wide margin. Obama brought it on himself. He is only presidential candidate in history about whom much is unknown. What is known is that until recently his...

In reflecting back on his 1992 presidential campaign, William Clinton credits his success, in major part, to his strict adherence to his campaign’s theme- "It’s the economy, stupid!". Lest he stray from this theme, he notes that he taped the phrase to his mirror- presumably right in the middle of the girly centerfolds. The singularly unfocussed McCain Campaign might be well served to adopt a similar technique by requiring that all senior staff wear Sarah Palin T-shirts. As many seniors do...

A top adviser to Republican John McCain said Sunday the presidential hopeful is weighing new economic proposals to help the nation weather the financial crisis. Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., said McCain was considering policy proposals that would cut taxes on investments. "I think it goes along the lines of now's the time to lower tax rates for investors, capital gains tax, dividend tax rates, to make sure that we can get the economy jump-started," Graham said on "Face the Nation" on CBS. "It will be a very comprehensive approach to jump-start the economy by allowing capital to be formed easier...

OHNSTOWN, Pa. -- A day after John McCain defended Barack Obama from angry Republicans, running-mate Sarah Palin described Obama as a pro-abortion ''radical,'' saying it's not negative to talk about his record. While on a bus tour of Pennsylvania, a key battleground state, Palin also spoke publicly for the first time about the outcome of an Alaska legislative investigation into the so-called ''Troopergate'' affair. She asserted that the probe proved she did nothing illegal or unethical despite its finding, released late Friday, that she abused her power in pushing for the firing of an Alaska state trooper who was once...

Senator Obama regularly calls us to be united in our “common humanity” and “our shared destiny.” In Berlin, he called on all of us to tear down all sorts of “walls” that divide us. However, despite vague references to “our values,” Obama cannot articulate what it is that unites us or what are our values. In fact, his politics are not the politics of unity, but of division. The unity Obama offers can never be because he views sins as fundamental rights. Spe Salvi (Saved in Hope), the encyclical letter of Pope Benedict XVI, reminds us that “[s]in is ....

EDITOR'S NOTE: This is part of a special series of stories focusing on the election that Baptist Press will run between now and Nov. 4. Stories will run on Wednesdays and Fridays. NASHVILLE, Tenn. (BP)--This is the fifth in a series of stories focusing on one specific national issue and detailing where the two major presidential candidates stand. Called "In Their Own Words," the stories avoid commentary and instead present the candidates' views as they have stated them in the past -- either in interviews, speeches, debates or on their campaign websites. Baptist Press in recent weeks has spotlighted the...

"Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin said more than one person has whispered in her ear in Ohio that John McCain needs 'to take the gloves off' in his campaign against Democrat Barack Obama. Before a friendly crowd of Republican fundraisers Friday, the Alaska governor did that herself." Associated Press The bare-knuckled barracuda took off her gloves a long time ago, she enjoys hurling baseless and vicious accusations against Barack Obama. McCain had been content to let his surrogates throw mud at Obama, but recently he's been getting quite dirty himself. It's hard to conceive how the McCain campaign can...

The Sun Times today gave a major clue that Barack Obama will indeed go down with Tony Rezko, sooner rather than later. It looks as though Rezko is about to turn on Alexi Giannoulias, the 30-year old State Treasurer of Illinois (who was elected only because Obama backed him).

ARLINGTON, Virginia (AFP) — Republicans Sunday pushed back against charges that John McCain's campaign had been sowing "hatred" against Barack Obama, as they struggled to put their White House bid back on track. Just over three weeks until the November 4 elections, Republican presidential nominee McCain reacted furiously at the accusations leveled against him by 1960s civil rights icon John Lewis. The latest political turbulence came as Obama, 47, builds a steady lead over McCain, 72, on the national level, and on the state-by-state electoral map. Republican Senator Lindsey Graham, on CBS television's "Face the Nation," said: "The idea that...

his is becoming a very strange campaign. On CNN this evening both David Gergen and Ed Rollins echoed the current mantra that the “old” noble McCain is gone, and a “new” nastier one has emerged, largely because of his attacks on Ayers, perhaps his planned future ads on Wright, and a few unhinged people shouting at his campaign stops. Recently Christopher Buckley endorsed Obama, likewise lamenting the loss of the old noble McCain. NY Times columnist David Brooks dubbed Palin a “cancer,” and he suggested that Obama’s instant recall of Niehbuhr sent a tingle up his leg as Obama once...

When Sarah Palin heard that running mate Sen. John McCain planned to abandon Michigan, she argued to no one in particular that the Republicans should stay active in the state and fight it out with Sen. Barack Obama. Gov. Palin's approach is correct. After all, the Republicans are campaigning for the White House on a platform to create more jobs and to maintain lower taxes. Both issues should appeal to Michigan's auto workers whose jobs are increasingly threatened by Asian competition and weak domestic demand. The dual message should be easy to communicate. And the last thing McCain wants to...

Comcast shows that the program on at 12 MST on Fox News is titled "Presidential Character - Obama" Hope they mention everyone... Ayers, Odinga

PORTLAND, Ore. - Authorities have arrested two men after a Molotov cocktail was thrown at a 4-foot by 8-foot campaign sign for Republican presidential candidate John McCain in a southeast Portland yard. Karen Scrutton said she was asleep inside her home at 7956 S.E. 17th Ave. in the Sellwood neighborhood when she saw her sign go up in flames after 1 a.m. "I screamed upstairs to my husband, 'Jean! Jean!" she said. A neighbor heard a crash and chased off one of the suspects. Jean Scrutton said his son-in-law found another suspect not far away. Not long after, investigators picked...

On Saturday, as more than 100,000 NASCAR fans gathered at Lowe's Motor Speedway for the Bank of America 500, legendary racer Richard Petty announced his endorsement of Republican presidential candidate Sen. John McCain. "What we need right now in these uncertain times is a steady hand on the wheel, a leader we can trust to put country first, ahead of politics," Petty said in a prepared statement. The endorsement was not surprising. It came from a longtime party stalwart and onetime Republican candidate for secretary of state. But it did mark a busy day for the GOP. Faced with what...

HERE IS a recap of our recommendations for this year’s election. We have analyzed candidates and ballot issues to reach our opinions. President: John McCain is the clear choice over Barack Obama. Sen. Obama promises the moon and the stars to various constituencies, while Sen. McCain stands foursquare on national security and cleaning up Washington, both of which he has a proven track record. U.S. Senator: We are withholding our endorsement until after the Chieftain-sponsored debate here in Pueblo on Monday. Congress - 3rd District: Democrat John Salazar is the clear choice over Republican Wayne Wolf. Rep. Salazar has proven...

His use of the phrase is resonant. It comes from a scene in Malcolm X, where Denzel Washington warns black people about the hidden evils of “the White Man” masquerading as a smiling politician: “Every election year, these politicians are sent up here to pacify us,” he says. “You’ve been hoodwinked. Bamboozled.”

Georgia Rep. John Lewis said Saturday that controversial remarks he made comparing the feeling at recent Republican rallies to those of segregationist George Wallace were misinterpreted. The civil rights icon issued a statement Saturday evening which said a "careful review" of his remarks made earlier in the day "would reveal that I did not compare Sen. John McCain or Gov. Sarah Palin to George Wallace." McCain said Lewis' earlier statement was "a brazen and baseless attack" and called on Sen. Barack Obama to repudiate it. Lewis had said earlier that he was "deeply disturbed by the negative tone of the...

John McCain's campaign and the Republican National Committee plan to spend "upwards of $160 million" in the final weeks of the presidential race, according to a senior McCain adviser. This will represent a massive counter-attack to combat Barack Obama's lopsided spending advantage to date. The McCain adviser told FOX News that, while Obama is outspending them in all but two of 14 battleground states, "that will change over the last four weeks." As national and battleground state polls show McCain trailing Obama consistently, McCain is urging voters not to count him out. "In case you missed it, this is about...

Darn right we are angry. We have had enough of the Democratic/media elite and their superior condescending attitudes. We have stood by while you ridiculed our values on Family , the right to life, the right to own a fire arem, freedom of speech, limited goverment and our religion. We have listened to you destroy the President and Vice President every day. We have watched you blame everything from hurricanes to global warming on this administration. We know about Democratic leaders using Fanny Mae and Freddy Mac as a piggy bank and that your inaction to pass legislation to reform...

Red State Update at Belmont Debate

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republican presidential candidate John McCain is considering rolling out a new comprehensive economic package to tackle the U.S. financial crisis, one of his closest supporters said on Sunday. "I think it goes along the lines that now is the time to lower tax rates for investors, capital gains tax, dividend tax rates, to make sure that we can get the economy jump-started," said Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina. McCain, 72, was in the Washington area and off the campaign trail on Sunday, prepared for his debate on Wednesday against Democratic rival Barack Obama. That debate...

In a rally last week in Waukesha, Wisconsin, there was anger. The anger was clearly based on a genuine fear that Barack Obama will become the next president of the United States, and along with Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi, will take our nation in a direction so far to the left, that the system of government our founding fathers envisioned will be totally unrecognizable. And they are looking to John McCain and Sarah Palin to have the cojones to take Obama and the Democrats to task on it. Barack Obama is a socialist, perhaps even a Marxist. His political...

STAUNTON — With fewer than 25 days left until election day, candidates and supporters gathered to rally voters Saturday at the monthly Staunton, Waynesboro and Augusta County Republican breakfast. Advertisement Quantcast Showing their support for Sen. John McCain's presidential candidacy, younger brother Joe McCain and former Gov. Jim Gilmore encouraged Republicans to spend the next month putting in a final bid to independents and Democrats for their votes. Pushing not only financial donations but also grassroots efforts, both men urged Republicans to canvas for McCain and his running mate, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, whom Gilmore called an "exciting, fresh, new...

McCain-Palin 2008 is about to launch a $160 million ad blitz backed by $40 million from the NRA. We have heard Rove may be deploying $200 million in 527 PAC funds which could bring the dollar amount to $400 million. Buck up troops and no whining. Obama has been spending ad money like a drunken (Indonesian) sailor. He has hit McCain with probably $150 million in ads and has barely budged the rigged polls. McCain-Palin have been hit by ads, MSM, bad market and we are still going to win. McCain's battleship has 10 inch armor plating and we are...

ASHBURN, Va. - As the presidential race revs up, political conversations in NFL locker rooms echo those in workplaces nationwide. Taxes. Economy. McCain. Obama. War. Terrorism. White. Black. And a dilemma for these high-paid athletes: principles or pocketbook? "We're right in the middle," said Washington Redskins veteran Philip Daniels. "We've all got family members that are not doing so well. Democrats would help them out, but Republicans would help us out." Everything about his income screams Republican. He's made millions many times over in his 13 years as a professional athlete, and the thought of paying higher taxes under a...

ARLINGTON, VA -- McCain-Palin 2008 today released the following statement by John McCain on reports of pending General Motors plant closings: "I'm disappointed to hear of the upcoming General Motors plant closings. Hardworking people are paying the price because our country's leaders have put Washington corruption and Wall Street greed before Main Street's interests for too long. Change is coming. I know families across America are hurting and as president, I will lead members of both parties in a fight to keep and create good jobs in communities across the country. Now is not a time for words and platitudes....

PRINCETON, NJ -- The latest Gallup Poll Daily tracking report finds registered voters preferring Barack Obama (50%) to John McCain (43%) when asked who they would vote for if the presidential election were held today.

McCain is supposedly getting "nasty" and "vicious"? Sounds like excuses for jumping ship. A lot of moderates who would not vote for McCain liked him when he was a sophisticated, ironic maverick loser scoring points against the simplistic Bush and other cardboard-cut-out conservatives. Now he has the onus of winning a campaign and can’t be a noble, tragic loser;so it is easy to say he is no good since he is less than perfect. The sure iconoclastic loser has an attraction that the mainstream conservative possible winner does not....

These results, based on Oct. 9-11 polling, represent a narrowing of Obama's lead over McCain. Obama led by double-digits for three consecutive days last week, but now his advantage is down to seven percentage points. Obama has led in each of the last three individual days' polling, but by less than double-digits each day, suggesting that the race is, in fact, tightening. Obama has generally held an advantage over McCain since mid-September, when the imminent failure of several large financial institutions made the economy an even bigger concern than it had previously been. (To view the complete trend since March...

THE POLL: The Ohio Newspaper Poll, presidential race among likely Ohio voters (20 electoral votes). THE NUMBERS: John McCain 48 percent, Barack Obama 46 percent. OF INTEREST: Three weeks ago, this poll had Republican McCain leading 48-42 percent.

Cannot be posted due to copyright issues: http://www.desmoinesregister.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2008810120320

Why did Sen. John McCain pull out of Michigan? Knee-jerk voters. A new Rasmussen Poll said 59 percent of Americans believe our legislators are so inept, they'd vote to replace the entire Congress. I bet the other 41 percent live in Michigan. Maybe McCain pulled out because he found us so stuck on stupid, he decided to go to where people would listen He realized what we all realize. Voters in Michigan vote for the same person decade after decade, even after that person proves to be the worst imaginable one for the job. According to the 2008 University of...

Georgia Rep. John Lewis said Saturday that controversial remarks he made comparing the feeling at recent Republican rallies to those of segregationist George Wallace were misinterpreted. The civil rights icon issued a statement Saturday evening which said a "careful review" of his remarks made earlier in the day "would reveal that I did not compare Sen. John McCain or Gov. Sarah Palin to George Wallace." McCain said Lewis' earlier statement was "a brazen and baseless attack" and called on Sen. Barack Obama to repudiate it. Lewis had said earlier that he was "deeply disturbed by the negative tone of the...

John McCain’s entire life has been devoted to the service of America. Throughout a long and distinguished career in the military and in Congress, he has repeatedly displayed the courage and integrity to place America’s interests first — regardless of personal cost. And he has demonstrated the experience and wisdom to lead America — and, importantly, our allies — in effectively dealing with complex and vitally important national security challenges around the world. We unequivocally endorse him to continue his service to the country as the next President of the United States. Brigadier General Patrick O.Adams, USAF (Ret.) Major General...

Frank Rich of the NYTimes. Why is this man lying? Reading the New York Times and expecting the truth is like going to a brothel and expecting to find true love.  Reading NYTimes columnist Frank Rich and expecting anything other than dishonest, partisan hyperventilating is even dumber. But when it comes to a serious issue like allegations of death threats against Sen. Obama, I'd like to think that Rich or his NYTimes editors might have some sense of journalistic responsibility.That's how much of a Pollyanna I am.In his column today, Rich writes about fears of assassination attempts against Sen. Obama and the decision of...

This campaign gets ever more surrealistic. For most of August and early September, Obama on the stump was complaining about the McCain campaign's "lying" and "lies"; yet last night on CNN Ed Rollins and David Gergen were lamenting the "new" McCain who had authorized an ad that said Obama had "lied" about his relations with Bill Ayers. Then Fightin' Joe Biden was on the stump, veins bulging, hands pumping, screaming that "John McCain could not bring himself to look Barack Obama in the eye and say the same things to him. In my neighborhood, you got something to say to...

This is a WIN_win, low risk and easier to prove than William Ayers'. Charge that Obama was wrong and unAmerican to campaign last year for pro-violence extremist cousin, Raila Ordinga, in Kenya, using TAXPAYER'S money in what was supposed to be a "fact-finding tour"! We have the proof & video, right? Have already contacted McCain people/adviser, now pray & email them too that they will let Gov. Palin talk about this & use Ordinga-Obama relationship in their next ads! Obama is AT THE VERY LEAST exercising terrible judgment and horrible foreign policy to ally himself with such a DANGEROUS man,...

Republicans were out in force in Portage on Saturday to drum up support for presidential candidate John McCain and GOP candidates running for countywide offices. Although Portage is a Democratic stronghold, Porter County Republican Chairman Chuck Williams said independent voters and Democrats with loose party affiliations will be key to the success of GOP candidates such as Jim Murphy, who running is for a county commissioners seat. “Our polling shows there is support for Democrat Barack Obama. But the support he’s getting is from people who are not straight-party voters,” said Williams, who spent four hours Saturday knocking on doors,...

A PROPHET WHO'D RATHER NOT MENTION IT We've noted many times that John McCain was one of the prescient legislators who saw the dangers posed by the runaway Freddy Mac and Fannie Mae and tried to do something about the problem. Until now, though, I'd never seen this letter of May 5, 2006, signed by McCain and 19 other Senators, that couldn't have been clearer about the dangers posed by the Democrats' reckless treatment of Fannie and Freddy, and the need to take action to protect the taxpayers and the economy. It's hard to see how any warning could be...

The quotes that explain the entire financial meltdown POSTED AT 12:10 PM ON OCTOBER 12, 2008 BY ED MORRISSEY SEND TO A FRIEND | PRINTER-FRIENDLY For those who want a smoking gun to show the genesis of the financial collapse, this short sequence from a longer video I posted this week will do it. Clinton HUD Secretary Andrew Cuomo announced a settlement of a lending discrimination complaint with Accubanc, a Texas lender whose prerequisites for mortgages came under attack from “community organizers” at the Fort Worth Human Relations Commission and the city of Dallas. I clipped out this sequence to...

Crush the Obamedia narrative: Look who’s “gripped by insane rage” By Michelle Malkin • October 12, 2008 11:50 AM The Obamedia is attempting to set yet another false narrative: The narrative of the McCain “mob.” McCain-Palin rallies are out of control, they wheedle. Conservatives are mad! They’re yelling mean things about Obama and calling him names! It’ scaaaaary! Paul Krugman is trembling: “Something very ugly is taking shape on the political scene: as McCain’s chances fade, the crowds at his rallies are, by all accounts, increasingly gripped by insane rage…What happens when Obama is elected? It will be even worse...

The Republican Arizona senator trails the Democratic Illinois senator by 5 percentage points, according to a recent poll done for the Albuquerque Journal and reported in that newspaper. Forty-five percent of voters support Obama and 40 percent support McCain, according to the poll Advertisement of more than 600 likely voters from around New Mexico. The poll was conducted Sept. 29 through Oct. 2 and has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.8 percentage points. Two-thirds of New Mexicans said the economy was their top issue in the presidential election, according to another recent poll conducted by Research &...

Obama Launches the "McCain is A Racist" Push Here it comes, Barack (Don't Use my Middle Name!) Obama's answer to the Bill Ayers Charge. John Lewis, a Democratic congressman from Georgia, condemned McCain for "sowing the seeds of hatred and division" and accusing the Republican nominee of potentially inciting violence. Then he said that John McCain was like George Wallace. Of Course there some MAJOR differences between the two, for one George Wallace was a DEMOCRAT. Of course there is no outrage coming from the media over this statement. Its OK to make up a statement about McCain being a...

PEEKSKILL – Some 200 people, veterans and supporters, rallied at Peekskill’s Riverfront Green Park in support of the McCain-Palin ticket as well as for Republican Kieran Lalor, who is challenging Democratic incumbent Congressman John Hall in next month’s election. The groups New York Vets for McCain and Iraq Vets for Congress rallied on Saturday and heard speeches from Senator William Larkin, a retired Army lieutenant colonel, and rally organizer Ret. Gen. Patrick Garvey, Marine Corps. Reserves, among others. Lalor is former Marine who served in the Iraqi war.

HUNTINGTON, W.Va. (WSAZ) – It has been reported for months that John McCain would have a relatively easy time winning West Virginia, but a new poll shows Barack Obama has made quite the comeback. The American Research Group reported that for the first time Obama has taken the lead here in the Mountain State. The poll shows that if the election were held today, Obama would capture 50 percent of the vote compared with Republican presidential candidate McCain's 42 percent. This is a big turn around from previous polls, which showed McCain leading by a wide margin in West Virginia.

If the third and final debate goes as the first two did, there will be little news and no good news for Sen. McCain. He needs to make--and break--some news at the next debate. So, what should he do? He should propose the appointment of a Special Prosecutor--a career prosecutor with experience prosecuting financial crimes--to look into the mortgage mess. It is the right thing to do. And promise that if one is not appointed by the current attorney general, he will appoint one on Inauguration Day. Specifically, the Special Prosecutor would look into the housing mess, including: --The collapse...

With all the fiery rhetoric coming from the Obama campaign about the nastiness of McCain supporters you might imagine that Obama supporters are just the nicest people in the whole wide world. But you would be wrong. As it turns out, the Obama supporters actually have a history of taking violent action and potentially life endangering actions against McCain supporters. I wonder what John Lewis things of that? Pair arrested after large McCain sign torched in Sellwood yard Authorities have arrested two men after a Molotov cocktail was thrown at a 4-foot by 8-foot campaign sign for Republican presidential candidate...