WHAT THE FUCK IS GOING ON????
McCain suspending campaign due to crisis
Email|Link|Comments (0) Posted by Foon Rhee, deputy national political editor September 24, 2008 03:07 PM
Saying that the Wall Street bailout plan is in jeopardy and the US economy at stake, John McCain said today that he is suspending his presidential campaign on Thursday and called for postponing the first presidential debate on Friday night.
"It has become clear that no consensus has developed to support the Administration’s proposal," he said in New York. "I do not believe that the plan on the table will pass as it currently stands, and we are running out of time.
"Tomorrow morning, I will suspend my campaign and return to Washington after speaking at the Clinton Global Initiative. I have spoken to Senator Obama and informed him of my decision and have asked him to join me.
"I am calling on the President to convene a meeting with the leadership from both houses of Congress, including Senator Obama and myself. It is time for both parties to come together to solve this problem."
Obama spokesman Bill Burton just issued a statement: "At 8:30 this morning, Senator Obama called Senator McCain to ask him if he would join in issuing a joint statement outlining their shared principles and conditions for the Treasury proposal and urging Congress and the White House to act in a bipartisan manner to pass such a proposal. At 2:30 this afternoon, Senator McCain returned Senator Obama’s call and agreed to join him in issuing such a statement. The two campaigns are currently working together on the details."
"We must meet as Americans, not as Democrats or Republicans, and we must meet until this crisis is resolved. I am directing my campaign to work with the Obama campaign and the commission on presidential debates to delay Friday night’s debate until we have taken action to address this crisis."
Besides, there's less than 14 states where the election matters anyway.
Why do you hate America?
btw cnn is now saying that mccain won't attend the debate if the bailout package isnt done by friday.
either way, i'm making cocktails friday so come over and drink while we still have THAT freedom!
- Votes from people in less populous state count more than votes from people in more populous states
- Most of the campaigning to happen in states with a close-to-even Democrat/Republican split.
I'm not sure of any positives that come out of the system, as compared to say a national popular vote system.
I could probably throw it back at you and say "I oppose getting rid of the electoral college" is jargon for "I like the fact that people who share my political beliefs get a disproportionately large share of the vote".
Things always change I 'spose, but I cant imagine voting for McCain anymore - that leaves me with a libertarian or Obamanomics. Cant say Im thrilled with either, but both are less loopy than Mccain.
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States with low populations have way too much political power. It's great if you want to live in Wyoming or Alaska... supposedly out of the reach of the Federal government. But that doesn't mean we have to bend over backward giving large states with low populations the number of EC votes they have.
If Idaho had one person living in it, they'd still have one electoral college vote, and that's nuts.
Urban centers are under-represented in our current system. Which results in the executive branch not being elected by "one person, one vote".
Many people in the US don't want the world to be a complicated place. So they elect someone (like G Dubs) who tells them that it's not complicated. There are terrorists ay-rabs with nucular weapons and there are good freedom-loving Amerikans. Abortion should be illegal in all instances, doesn't matter if it's a 10 year old daddy rape victim. They believe him. He breaks it down for them.
The people in the underpopulated states REALLY LIKE Palin. Many of them WANT a soccer mom with no experience and a small brain but a gutsy perseverance in office. They respond to her. Heck, I respond to her, although when I notice myself reponding I feel physically sick-- I think she's probably a nice person, but with evil evil ideas.
So, to conclude, I am even scared-er for this election than I have been in the last couple. I think that we're getting dumber, and pretty soon we won't be able to compete with the rest of the world.
But states with big urban centers have more electoral votes, no?
At any rate, don't worry. despite news attention to the contrary, VP choices rarely, if ever, will effect the result of an election.
http://rideside.net/node/894
tgl:
"Just to satisfy myself (someone get P. Chippy onto this, he was skeptical the other night):
state
population
electoral votes
EV / person
Wyoming
501,242
3
5.99e-06
New Hampshire
1,287,687
4
3.11e-06
Massachusetts
6,433,422
12
1.87e-06
That's overall population, 2003 estimate. Electoral vote distribution is based on the 2000 census? (Just thinking about how in 2008, the population may have shifted enough that the 4 allotted to NH might not be indicative of population seeing as with a 4% population growth per year, NH might warrant another vote.)
Not sure how individual state turnout could be factored into this equation...
The Wyoming resident's opinion for president is worth three times mine? And twice rladews? NH has more than twice as many people as WY, but only 25% increase in electoral votes?
WY gets 2 Senators... that's the way their concerns as a State should be heard. Let every person count equally."
Here is an example of underrepresentation. Hopefully by taking an example of a small liberal state and a large conservative state, you'll see that the problem is not just liberal vs. conservative.
Each one of Vermont's electoral votes represents about 200,000 people. (3 of them for about 600,000 people)
Each one of Texas's electoral votes represents about 700,000 people. (34 of them for about 24 million people)
Thus, a individual Vermonter's vote counts more than 3 times more than a Texan's.
Of course that's not likely. Even if one candidate won all of those states, they'd likely get under 60% of the votes in those states. And, 60% of half of the voters is still only 30% of the vote.
In actuality the "whoever collects the most actual votes wins", would lead to a broader scope of canvassing, instead of just Youngstown OH, Jacksonville FL, and Pittsburg PA, we might see some action in Missoula, Springfield, Dallas, or even NY...
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Don't get me wrong, this is still true. It's just not in anyway related to the Electoral College debate.
Harry S. Truman
Let's also be careful when we talk about "Democrats" and the "Obama campaign". Two different animals.
<i>Then he came to Gore's results in IQ tests taken in 1961 and 1964, at the beginning of his freshman and senior years. "One thirty-three and 134. Absolutely superb. That means tremendous ability."</i>
http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn?pagename=article&contentId=A37397-2000Mar18
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Biden telling the paraplegic to stand-up is stupid.
Palin saying "I can see Russia!" isn't just a stupid gaffe. Especially since she and the McCain campaign continue to use it. It's jaw-dropping. Couric gave Palin an opportunity to expand on her foreign policy credentials, and Palin failed to do so.
She continues with the proximity line as her main credential. I'd feel much better if she'd read a book, or listened to a speech, or watched a movie and then came away with an opinion or conviction or world-view that she felt strongly about. Is a little self-introspection too much to ask of someone seeking public office?
There is no record that this candidate had any thoughts about Iraq until fall of 2006. And then, when she finally says something, it's <a href="http://andrewsullivan.theatlantic.com/the_daily_dish/2008/08/palin-surge-wha.html">I don't know</a>.
I'm sure she was busy at the time, killing earmarks and what not, but really: you're a governor with political aspirations and you've not been able to find some time over _the_past_three_years_ to think about Iraq?
At least Cheney is as serious as a heart attack. Please point me to something from Palin's record or recent interviews that could persuade me that Palin is a serious policy maker.
I can agree that brilliance is not the standard... how about coherence?
I must admit I had not seen the Couric interview when I had complained about the 'Small Brain' comment.
Thursday's debate will be fun to watch, I'm sure.