Best campaign strategy ever: McCain and Obama try to buy your vote
The general election campaign is barely underway, but I already like what I'm seeing. Why? Both John McCain and Barack Obama want to address Americans' anxiety over the anemic economy by (drum roll) ... giving us money! Obama wants Congress and President Bush to doll out another $50 billion stimulus package ASAP:
On the first day of what is to be a two-week economic tour around the country, Barack Obama said Monday that lawmakers should inject another $50 billion immediately into the sluggish U.S. economy.
The presumptive Democratic presidential nominee cited the largest monthly increase in the unemployment rate in over 20 years, and record highs in oil prices, food prices and foreclosures.
"Such relief can't wait until the next president takes office. ... That's why I've called for another round of fiscal stimulus, an immediate $50 billion to help those who've been hit hardest by this economic downturn," Obama told a crowd in Raleigh, N.C.
Now it's your turn to bid for voters, McCain:
With gas prices reaching a national average of four dollars a gallon -- a record high -- John McCain is planning to resurrect his call for a national gas tax holiday, which became a staple of his stump speech in late April and early May.
A McCain aide told CNN's Dana Bash on Monday that the Arizona senator planned to plug the gas tax holiday in public statements throughout the day as a message to voters that he understands the plight of working families in a tough economy.
Before a fundraiser in Richmond, Virginia on Monday, McCain mentioned the gas tax holiday in remarks to a smaller event for about 40 high-dollar donors. "That was derided by Sen. Obama and others as a gimmick," McCain said, but added that working people and truckers would appreciate it.
"I don't pretend that it's an answer to our energy problems," he said.
Say what you will about voting responsibly and evaluating the candidates based on how their stances affect the entire country, but think about it: What is tangibly better for you than having more money? I thought the first stimulus package represented fiscal policymaking at its worst, but that isn't stopping me from cashing the $1,200 check that just arrived in the mail. And even though Obama's and McCain's respective vote-buying moves are just gimmicks, if they insist, I'll be more than happy to indulge in cheaper gas or another check from Washington.
This is some of the backgroung I have found on Barach H. Oboma.
July 27, 2004
Boston (CNSNews.com) - Without a formidable Republican opponent in his U.S. Senate race, Barack Obama has little reason not to take money from billionaire liberal financier George Soros, a man other Democrats keep at a distance.
When Obama takes the stage Tuesday night for a prime-time address at the Democratic National Convention, the candidate for Senate in Illinois will be introduced to a wider audience for the first time, bringing heightened scrutiny to the relative political newcomer's campaign.
Democrats expect him to pass any test he faces. They view Obama as a rising star within their party, touting his good looks and ability to connect with voters. If elected Nov. 2, he would become the first black to hold a Senate seat since Carol Moseley Braun, also from Illinois.
Obama, however, is different from most Democrats because of his willingness to embrace the controversial Soros. Shortly after Soros equated the abuses at the Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq to the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, Obama joined him for a New York fund-raiser June 7.
The event, held at Soros' home, boosted Obama's campaign at a time he was still facing a challenge from Republican Jack Ryan. After news broke about information in Ryan's divorce records, the candidate was forced to drop out. The Illinois GOP has yet to find a replacement.
Obama, meanwhile, has emerged as the party's young face. He was selected over longtime party stalwarts to speak Tuesday night, and Obama has seized the opportunity.
Little has been made of his connection to Soros, although it is quite unique. Not only did George Soros donate to Obama's campaign, but four other family members - Jennifer, sons Jonathan and Robert and wife Susan - did as well.
Because of a special provision campaign finance laws, the Soroses were able to give a collective $60,000 to Obama during his primary challenge. Obama faced millionaire Blair Hull, which allowed donors to give more than typically allowed.
Obama is one of only a handful of candidates to get a personal contribution from George Soros. The others include Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle (D-S.D.), Sens. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.), Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.), Bob Graham (D-Fla.), John Kerry (D-Mass.), Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), U.S. Rep. Tom Lantos, and former Vermont governor Howard Dean
"Why did George support Obama?" his spokesman, Michael Vachon, asked rhetorically. "Because when they met in Chicago a couple of months ago, it was apparent that Barack Obama was an emerging national leader, and he would be an important addition to the Senate."
Vachon said Obama is the only candidate this election cycle Soros has met personally, with the first powwow in March. Asked why Soros hasn't sought out a meeting with Kerry, the man he is pulling for to defeat President Bush on Nov. 2, Vachon said it was just a matter of Soros keeping his distance.
"George is a major funder of an independent 527 group, and it probably makes more sense for him and Kerry to keep each other at arm's length," Vachon said.
Those meetings with Obama have caught the attention of the Illinois Republican Party, said spokesman Jason Gerwig.
"Barack Obama and his liberal voting record have gotten a free ride," Gerwig said. "His aspirations seemed to be focused more nationally now than they do on Illinois, especially if you look at some of the money he's taken from Soros and from left-coast liberals."
On issues like health care, education, energy and the economy, Obama has articulated defined positions on his campaign website. But on other matters, the candidate hasn't been challenged to say where he stands. Obama's campaign didn't return CNSNews.com's calls.
"He's more of a socialist than he is even a Democrat," said a critic, Cathy Santos, co-founder of the Chicago-based Republican Young Professionals. "A lot of his policies have the government taking care of people. Instead of giving people a leg up, he would rather give them a leg."
Soros initially was attracted to Obama because of his vision on education and health care, Vachon said. But Santos said if Obama got his way, the U.S. health care system would be worse than what Clinton proposed after her husband was elected president. She also said voters should be wary of Obama's "any time, anywhere" stance on abortion.
Illinois Republicans have also grown frustrated with the glowing media coverage Obama has received. Three publications, The New York Times, New Republic and The New Yorker, have all written at length about Obama, who is still only a state senator from the Midwest.
"He's turned into being this darling, but he still hasn't had to talk about the issues," Santos said. "No one really knows where he stands on a lot of these issues. Until we have a Senate candidate, if we have one, no one's going to know how liberal he is until he starts casting votes."
Posted by: John A. in San Diego | June 12, 2008 at 02:13 PM
MC-CAIN’S EXTRAORDINARY EXPERIENCE
Considering his:
• Sacrifice of American Wealth and Blood for the Sole Benefit of Israel
• Amnesty for Illegal Mexicans Aliens Usurping Jobs and Services
• Outsourcing of Jobs and Technology to China
• Early Release from Captivity for Military Secrets
• McCain-Feingold Legislation Suppressing Freedom of Speech
• McCain-Leiberman Control Gun Legislation
• Slander and Ridicule of Huckabee, Romney, and Ron Paul
• Roberts and Falwell, “agents of intolerance”
• Roe vs. Wade Sacrificial Killing of Children
• To “occupy Iraq for 100 years”, “bomb Iran”, and “just keep Afghanistan”.
• Veto of Bush Tax Cuts
• Keating Five Crooks
• Unsolved Recession and Inflation Problem
• Unsolved Heath Care Problem
• Unsolved Social Security Problem
• Long Scandalous, Contentious, and Non-Productive Political Career
Posted by: Jeugenen | June 12, 2008 at 06:32 PM
Obama is maybe the last chance America gets before becoming old USSR- ridiculed, powerless and dumb in the eyes of the world, shaking a fist trying to remind of old glory,which isn't there anymore. Its also, by now, become just like Soviet Russia- without privacy, without justice; with every kind of false propaganda and fear use for control. Its become almost the totalitarian "big brother" America itself critisized so badly. And if, God forbid, Obama is terminated, just like every other GOOD US president and leader- there shall be civil war, and terrorists would be the least of our worries. BTW until the whole anti-terrorism bs started, there was less terrorism in the world. Haven't you noticed- we make an issue of something first, create the problem; then people react to the aggression WE project- and then we blame THEM for defending themselves.Just as once you make something illegal- you can make money on it by fining and jailing people- and epole tryto defend their right to choice.For 100, 000 years there was no "illegality" and there was no terrorism, mass substance abuse,or random killings for fun. Now, within 50 years of extreme government control - people are loosing their minds!With all the limitations on the youth nowadays- they go exteme to achieve any kind of fun. Give people back their constitutional rights, and foreigners - their lands back(economically as well as physically) Leave THEM alone, and start re-building our rotting country! God bless you, Obama!!! McKain is the likes of greedy corrupt authorities doing all for profit( and so far profiting on war, which they don't want to stop at any cost- war means money, just not for the poor).
Posted by: leyla | June 18, 2008 at 04:22 AM
It is not always that an individual, a social group, or a country has a chance to lift itself to a higher level. In recent decades, since man first landed on the moon, the world has taken several giant leaps that today have turned humanity into a global village. It was amazing when the whole world watched LIVE on CNN, the march of American and the Allied troops into Kuwait, and later on into Iraq. Equally unforgetable are the video shots of September 11 that enabled mankind see the abuse of modern aviation technologyn into an instrument of hatred and terror. Today we can watch instant news anywhere in the World. America remains the most open society in the world, morally, politically and spiritually. Every aspiring democracy wishes their country's elections could be as open, transparent, issue-oriented, yet peaceful and as orderly as American Elections. If Barrack Obama becomes America's next President, the world would truly have entered a New World Order. The African American will have lost his/her camouflage of slavery and the painful strpes that inflicted their psyche. Obama has demonstrated his ability to detach himself from his roots and yet thrive in a new environment. Will the long awaited Millennium of Peace commence with America's most racially mixed and travelled first-ever African American President? . Obama genetically is neither white nor black, but a mixture of both. So are the Arabs, Indians, Jews, Asians and many Europeans. It seems that the change Obama is preaching really will transcend America if he wins. It is up to Americans to give the World the LIFT humanity needs to the next orbit.
Posted by: Emmanuel Usanga | June 18, 2008 at 05:28 AM
Hey, John A., that was a pretty impressive feat. I have never been able to find "backroung" on any political candidate! And I never knew that there was a candidate named "Barach H. Oboma."
Seriously, since you took the trouble to read and cut and past that entire article that spelled his name dozens of times, couldn't you have at least made an attempt to spell it correctly?
Posted by: Iconoclast | June 18, 2008 at 11:12 AM