Recession?

What happens if there's a recession, and the government tries to deny it, for over a year? Look around, it's called a DISASTER!

McCain/Bin Laden

The Deacon heard John McCain promise to bring Osama Bin Laden to justice, and heard everyone cheer. He wonders, though, if anyone knows that, back in 2004, General Clark promised to find Bin Laden within 90 days of taking office? Probably not.

Two Americas

Well, I guess if there's 2 Americas, there's 2 John Edwards for them, also. Disgusting, simply disgusting.

Pettiness and Punks

The Deacon works on political campaigns, and is decent at what he does. In 2004, the Deacon worked on a Presidential campaign, and did his job well enough so that most people in the national office would know who he is. In 2008, however, with all those different campaigns, not one would hire the Deacon. Why? Because little kids whose parents bought their jobs would be threatened by someone like the Deacon. My experience against yours, and you wouldn't have a job anymore. Politics is a petty, petty game filled with little punks, and it's a shame. Some candidates work too hard to have inexperienced kids drive their campaigns into the ground with their know-it-all attitude, but that's what's happening.

What's That Smell?

The Deacon has been noticing gas prices creeping downwards over the past week. What's that smell, cheaper oil? No, it's November 4, 2008.

Drill Here. Drill Now. Pay Less. A whole 3 cents less! Wow, that's worthwhile! C'mon people, the Pickens Plan makes more sense!

McCain/Romney

Back in 1994, Mitt Romney was the first person the Deacon ever voted for. He did some volunteer work on his governor's race, partly because of his hatred of Shannon O'Brien (right up there with Kerry, Lieberman, and Olver). However, if Mitt Romney ever appears on a ballot again, he will be the last person the Deacon votes for. Compare any Romney statement from 1994 to Romney statements in 2008 - and that's why.
If Team McCain picks Romney, they should just fast forward to 01/20/09 and swear Obama in now.

McCain/Obama/Surge/Hagel

Here's the problem for John McCain - in order to run an effective campaign against Obama, he has to harp on foreign policy and Obama's views on the Iraq war. Why is that a problem? It pushes an endorsement he could sorely use in his effort to sway the center, that of Chuck Hagel, further and further away, quite possibly even, to the other half of the other ticket. Few who voted against the surge did so because they thought it would fail, they did so because there was no diplomatic plan to follow along with it. Any American knows that if you increase the size of our fighting force, any where in the world, the other side has very little chance of doing anything resembling success. Over the next few months, though, you'll be told that Obama was one of those few who voted against because he thought it would fail because he doesn't have the experience to know that it could not fail. The Deacon is sure that Team McCain is hoping very much for one thing - that Obama doesn't try to make up for this by creating Obama/Hagel 08. The Deacon has a hard time imagining voting for either candidate right now, but he would not hesitate to vote for that ticket.

Sure

Sure, it's been awhile, but the Deacon's been busy. Too busy to sit in front of a computer for 5 minutes and write something? Maybe not, but that's what happened.

Look for a post a day from now on, but I can't promise anything.

The Problem with Internet Only Campaigns or Draft Movements

The Deacon wonders what happened to make people think that they could run a campaign or draft movement solely online. Did the internet become free for everyone, did everyone get a computer, are you foolish enough to think that everyone has a computer and uses it to actively search for your web site? There's no doubt that blogs have become more popular, but they are still not a valid news source, and very few people over the age of 30 are going to search through blogs to find one they like rather than go directly to one they've been told about - and that's where the problem lies.

Sure, you can build up numbers through word of mouth and emails to friends, but what about everyone outside of your circle? "Well, set up a Meetup in your area and start a group." No, for 2 reasons. 1 - it costs money for someone who might not be totally interested in your group to start a Meetup. 2 - these people don't know enough about your group and want to know more, is there downloadable materials for them to distribute to inform the general public?

The Draft Clark movement worked in 2004 because there was an internet and a ground presence - you could actually go out somewhere and find people handing out information about the movement and the candidate. There was a Draft Hagel movement this year, but people obviously thought it could grow on its own without them stepping up and out. There was the great failure that is Unity08, where tech geeks thought they could revolutionize the system without informing people about what they were doing or how. Now, there is the Draft Bloomberg movement. Go to www.draftbloomberg.com, and there will not be anything for you to download to hand out to people. Go to www.uniteformike.com, and there is at least a downloadable flier, but there's also a "Collect Signatures" option that shows you links to other sites rather than a form to download and take with you to actually do what you thought you clicked on - collect signatures.

People, if you want these candidate to run or win, you are not doing a very good job of showing them proper support to get it done. If you have nothing to show people, a physical piece of paper at the very least, then you have nothing at all. A name and an email address is not going to go door-to-door for you, only people will. Step out from behind your computers, and interact with your fellow Americans, or stop wasting our time!

What the 2008 Election CANNOT Be About

The Deacon was a fan of Mitt Romney in 1994 and 2002, but has not cared for Willard in a long while. Just listening to him suspend his campaign, the Deacon heard something that cast a shadow over his day. Suspending his campaign so that a national campaign could start early and defeat Hilary or Barak and prevent our country surrendering to terrorists, that was pathetic. The election of 2008 CANNOT be about terror! If we allow the campaigns and parties to take us down that road heading into November, we will never talk about the issues that really matter - health care, the economy, the environment, eduction, the things we deal with in our every day lives. Seriously, how often in your day does a terrorist threat occur? As often as someone you know becomes ill, a few houses in your town are foreclosed?

People, we cannot allow the election to be about terror. The point of terror is to disrupt the norm. Neglecting the issues that actually matter to us, we will be losing the war on terror by supposedly fighting it. We cannot follow the lead set by the Bush Administration and the Republican herd in Congress. Move on or fall behind - that needs to be the motto of the nation for 2008 - move on or fall behind.

Two Down

Well, Giuliani and Edwards have called it quits. Giuliani has thrown his support behind McCain, while Edwards has yet to endorse anyone. They say most of Edwards' supporters will go to Clinton. It seems McCain's plan is to continue to pull in the Independent voters for the primaries. But what about the general election? This Independent is hoping Michael Bloomberg sees this opportunity and takes it! The economy is now stated to be the number 1 issue for voters--even over Iraq. This plays well with Bloomberg and his business/management experience. I hope Bloomberg jumps in there and more Independents see him as a viable alternative to the two-party same-old, same-old.

J.F.

"I wondered who I was running against."

Well, you are supposed to have the experience to be President, and you are running for that office. If you are confused about who you're running against, Hillary or Bill, should we want you as President? Why does it matter who you are addressing? If you can not handle an argument against more than 1 person, why are you running?

Barak Obama should not be President of this country in 2008. We, the people, cannot afford it. If you need pity to win, Mr. Junior Senator, than that is not a quality we want in our leader.

Polls

The Deacon has something to say about polling. He's never really believed in it because he's seen it fail too many times. Also, he's never been polled, have you? Anyone you know? That is the problem. We hear about all these polls telling us how America feels about certain things - think about the people who have the time to answer poll question, who take the time to do so. Do you honestly believe they are anything like you?

This is in response to the polls that say Bloomberg has no chance in 2008. According to who? Registered Ds and Rs? If you can find enough registered Independents who will take the time to answer that question, you numbers will not be the same. The Deacon guarantees that.

The Great Fiction

Did you know Obama is from Kansas? Tell a true Chicago native that you're happy to see one of their own in the process, and he/she will let you know that there is no one from Chicago running for President. The Deacon loves to see people's reactions when they find out he's from Kansas!

The campaign of Hope and Change. Can we see an example of when the junior Senator has done, well, anything? What does he know about Hope and Change having worked in the IL state legislature? Does he have the experience to lead this country on a path of Hope and Change? "Cheney and Rumsfield had all the experience in the....." yeah, and they weren't President! Enough with talk! This country, its people, need action!

The Deacon must admit, he thought of Obama as the future of the D party and the country - if he showed something in the Senate and ran in 2012. Now, the more the Deacon looks at Obama, the more he does not like what he sees, in fact, though the Deacon will never endorse a candidate on this blog until a general election, he will go so far as to say that Obama should not be President this time around. The Deacon is very rarely wrong with his impression of people, and will just say, it would be the most disappointing, ineffectual Presidency in history. One hundred years from now, in an American History class, students would have a tough time remembering who came after GWB, besides the fact that he was the first African American President. Right now, we need better than that.

Speaking of.....

The Deacon loves to read the wee stories from all those experts who say no one wants Bloomberg to run. The people who do not what Mike to run? The people who exist solely in a 2 party world, who's livelihood and existence depend on partisan politics. "Well, I can't see him getting the 270 electoral votes to win it." Really? Why, did we disenfranchise everyone who does not vote a straight party ticket? Or, do you mean something like 2000? Either way, if he does get the 270, will you not be on TV anymore? That would be sad. "Well, even the people of NYC don't want Mike to be President." Oh, now that's different. A city that big, I'm sure it was tough to find a sample that said what you wanted to hear. Plus, I'm sure the thousands of other cities involved in the process all agree, right?

The two party system is not getting the job done. Maybe it's the fault of the current administration, or, more likely, the fact that the World is not as simple as this or that and nothing else. You can cling to it all you want, tell Mike you don't want him to run, but the curretn system is on its way out. The Silent Majority has been poked and prodded, is not happy, and it will effect change.

Are You Kidding?

Now, the Deacon is not a serious blogger. He loves to write, but sitting in front of a computer all day is no way to live. So, posts will be rare, mostly rants, and hardly ever in-depth.

Anyway, in the past two days, there have been some posts on Israeli blogs that talk about Bloomberg being a good choice as long as he doesn't pick Chuck Hagel as a running mate. The reason? Hagel's multilateral foreign policy view is bad. Really, are you serious? If the Deacon went into a discussion right here about how ignorant that is, it would not be pretty. I'll just say that, in 2008, that HAS to stop. Find a new protector.

Unity08 - Failure

When Unity08 started, it was about allowing the people to chose a bi-partisan ticket in an online convention. That would have been an historic idea. Then, some marketing people seem to have taken it over and inflict their way on it, completely warping it in the everyday political mind. Unity08 had a chance to grasp the awakening great power of the Silent Majority. Instead, it moved at a pace that made the Deacon think it should have been named Unity2012. They say they had problems fundraising, but when did anyone see an invite to an Unity08 fundraiser? Did they even ever hire a fundraising team? This lack of money made them think ballot access was impossible. With volunteer help, it would have been. We're talking about people who saw the system as broken, and wanted to become involved in fixing it, but who ever saw anything other than a generic mass emailing from Unity08? Who ever saw an official Unity08 meeting in their town or even state?

We were told that "politics as usual is dead," but Unity08 proved this to be false. Politics as usual means a promise of something great unfulfilled, and that's what they have given us. They talk about Obama and Bloomberg representing what the goal was from the beginning. Bloomberg, maybe, but Obama, no. The Junior Senator from IL has a blindingly witty response when asked if he thinks he has enough experience to be President - that Dick Cheney and Donald Rumsfield had all the experience necessary, and look where we are. Blinding, because we are asking if he thinks he has the experience to be President, and neither of those men have been. If he ever showed the fortitude to mention GWB, then he would be showing us someone with more experience who has not done so well. Bloomberg, on the other hand, has managed a billion dollar business and one of the most complex cities in the world, very well and with party diversity within his administration. So, if Unity08 says Obama embraces its ideals, it seems to be doing so only to appease a section of its membership (were you ever given an easy option to end your Unity08 membership, could you even find it on that new site?), when it says Bloomberg does, it seems to be the only true thing it has said.

Hello, Unity08, it is 2008, not 2012 or even 2020. You had to work to make your goal happen, and you have fallen woefully short. Whether it was a misunderstanding of where the majority of this nation stands technologically, or, seemingly, a grave misunderstanding of what was needed to put the proposed process into effect - people-wise, not technology-wise. A National organization/movement with only 1 office? I can hear the , "we never had the money," but, again, did anyone receive an invitation to a Unity08 fundraiser? Was anyone asked, within their state, to help out? The answer, is, no, and there is no excuse for letting us, the American people, down on such a grand scale.

People, Unity08 has effectively said that your voice does not actually matter. Let us do ourselves a favor and put them to rest.