During the Obama campaign to become President, he consistently spoke about how he wanted serious earmark reform and how he was going to limit the total earmark spending to that of 1994 levels. His opponent, John McCain, vowed to cut earmarks off completely. They are frivolous wastes of money. If they cannot pass on their own, they should not be force-fed to the American public through the blatant misuse of political power and agenda pushing. In 1994, about $7.8 billion was spent on earmarks… I guess that promise is out the window.

The $400 billion bill contains nearly 9,000 earmark line items that account for almost $8 billion of American taxpayer funds. These are the line items that have been identified by various groups and are public knowledge. Obama himself has acknowledged the existence of these non-essential additions of expenses… his excuse is that he did not have time to examine and prioritize the current bill. The timing of the bill was of the utmost importance to keep the doors of the government open… Do you care if the government’s doors are open? Aren’t they closed for the majority of the year anyway while the politicians are off vacationing on taxpayer dollars or off throwing parties sponsored by the ultra-rich lobbyist parties?

How did this bill come about? How come the President, who is the figurehead of the Democratic Party, can’t convince his own Party to do away with unworthy earmarks throwing tax dollars away? The Democrats are the ones in power in both the House and Senate… and they have been since 2006. I suppose the Republicans are at fault or the Bush administration had something to do with the Democrats flaunting their newfound power and pushing their precious agenda forward at the expense of an already suffering nation. $8 billion more down the drain… in a time when unemployment is on the rise and the stock market is at 12 year lows.

I cannot understand how people can turn a blind eye to what is going on now that the Democratic Party has ultimate control. Obama has turned his back on his campaign promises in an effort to satisfy his true liberal political roots. He is cashing in the American dream to satisfy the debts he owes… the debts he created in becoming President. Oh, you may be one of the naïve people who believe Obama won on his own merits and political rhetoric… hardly. He is a figurehead pushed upon us by a vast legion of liberal elitists. He’s a transparent blowhard politician through and through and they always answer to someone. I’m not a tin foil hat wearer, but where money and power exist, there are people conspiring to gather more of each at all costs.

Obama, our political savior has become nothing more than a rubber stamp for his liberal friends and their policies… well, his policies. At just more than 50 days, Obama’s approval rating has already begun to slip. His own Party is becoming antsy in how he is handling the economic crisis. The $800 billion stimulus bill passed, but not in the manner that made Obama look “Presidential.”

There is nothing that can be done now, Obama will sign his name onto this new bill and we will see another $8 billion burn while many of us continue to lose our jobs, our retirements, and our house that is/was our family’s home. How many politicians do you know who have lost their house… their car… their retirement… anything for that matter? Not one. The Washington political families are safe forever, they have padded their wallets from raping the American citizens for decades… they have only the blackmailing lobbyists to worry about along with their own indecency.

It’s another sad day for the American citizen whether you’re an Obama supporter or not. You are losing your rights, your future, and your Constitution just as I am. If the first 50 days are a representation of what we’ll get for the next 1,400 while Obama is President, there may not be 50 states in our Union. Some states do have sense and we all have a Constitutional right to defend what this country stands for. People forget that states voted to become a part of the Union, the smart ones may remember that we can vote ourselves out of it.

In the past, candidates utilized gimmicks to get their name out amongst the masses, but as times change and new information avenues open up, new ways to spend money appears. No longer are large campaign signs featuring the latest memorable slogan or supporters walking around with t-shirts and signs stamped with their candidate’s name enough. No longer are stump speeches enough to get the policy stances out. No longer are debates the focus of differentiating the candidates running for President. No longer are we in a world where the focus of the campaign is on the actual policy stances and historical voting records of our candidates.

We have entered an age where the campaign for President has become a popularity contest. Never in my life had I ever witnessed a campaign for the most powerful office in the world run more like a high school prom king contest. The news media, television and print, spent more time bickering over such inane topics such as lipstick, hairdos, age, dresses, and just general non-essential subjects than ever before. Sure, some of the information is pertinent to the situation because we all want to “get to know” the candidate, but when there is an economic meltdown occurring while we are engaged in two foreign wars, I think there were better ways to spend our time.

Reports about how much Sarah Palin’s wardrobe cost came out before the election. Obama’s campaign flunkies continually focused upon the wardrobe of John McCain’s wife (which was mostly irrelevant considering her family fortune). Of course before Election Day, all we heard about the Obama campaign was how diverse his fund raising ability was and how much money he collected… over $600 million in his run for President.

Finally, we have some publicly available reports about how Obama’s campaign spent their money over the last few weeks of the campaign. It turns out that Obama spent over $147 million in the final weeks and the purchases would surprise some of you. According to the New York Daily News, Obama spent $4 million on Google advertising and an additional $9.4 million on online advertising, $4.4 million on print ads, and $62 million on television advertising. Also amongst the campaign purchases were 400,000 temporary Obama tattoos and payments to people like Jimmy Buffett and the remaining Grateful Dead band members for appearances and concerts.

In an historical first, Barack Obama even purchased a 30 minute television commercial which delayed the start of a World Series game. Obama even bought advertising in video games which will be seen forever. Barack Obama embraced the popularity contest and utilized his enormous campaign financing edge to win the office of President. McCain followed through on his promise to accept public financing which limits the total amount of money available for campaign spending but Obama reneged on his promise and chose private financing. His choice allowed him to generate over $600 million in contributions while McCain was limited to maybe 20% of that for his general election campaign.

As we have seen, Obama dominated the airwaves and advertising avenues by well over a three to one margin and his publicity stunts were effective in maintaining his lead throughout the election process. Turning our election process into a popularity contest is a major disservice to the American citizen. We should not be treated to a “purchased” politician running our country. We should be treated to a man who would run our country for free, and a campaign which focuses on the policies and direction of our country. I think the campaign for President should be 100% volunteer work and if elected, every cabinet official and advisor should work free from taxpayer provided money and assistance.

If that were the case, I would think we would have a much different political landscape because people would run for office that were true patriots and not power and money vultures. Work FOR the people who voted you in and NOT for those who financed your purchased seat in office.

Citation: http://www.nydailynews.com/

After this “debate,” where did the discussion leave us? It left us in the same place we were in before and maybe a step behind in the overall sense of Christianity. Our world and society has many differing points of view and her letter focused upon Obama’s unwavering support of the Pro-Choice movement. He has stated that one of his first actions as President will be to sign the Freedom of Choice Act (FOCA). Obama was also the co-sponsor of the Senate’s version of the bill in 2007 and he stated, “The first thing I’d do, as president, is sign the Freedom of Choice Act. That’s the first thing that I’d do.” I’m not going to regurgitate what the FOCA entails, but it basically removes all restraints from abortion until fetal viability. What is fetal viability? It essentially means before 24 weeks pregnant. You can find out any and all information you would like by simply searching online.

The lady who wrote this letter believes that based upon her faith, she cannot and should not vote for someone who supports abortion. Christianity by default is anti-abortion and is in fact quite the opposite. Christian leaders inform their congregations about the issues they vote about, not who to vote for (illegal by non-profit organization rules and regulations). However, based upon the issues and your Christian faith, someone should not come to the conclusion that voting for a pro-choice candidate is ok. I said “should not.” As we saw, over 65 million Americans voted for Obama in our Presidential election. Utilizing some recent data, nearly 80% of America considers themselves Christian. So, there must be a large portion of Christians who decided to vote for Obama no matter what his stance is on abortion is.

Sure, there are many other factors when choosing a President and we all know that a single position “should not” affect your overall choice, but for me, this is not a single issue versus many other comparable issues. Abortion to me is a deal breaker issue. For others, it is not and that is their right. For other Christians, it is not, and that is their right. I’m not trying to pass judgment upon anyone, but for me, if I had voted Obama, I would have effectively traded dollars for life. It supposedly means more money in my pocket due to his impending “tax cuts” and “better” economic policies in trade for his support of Roe v. Wade and the signing of the FOCA bill.

Yes, I know there are other issues at play including the two wars we are engaged in along with healthcare and educational issues, not to even mention immigration problems, but could I devalue my Christian faith for the blessings of government and dollars in my pocket? I could not. McCain was not my first choice and he was a “lesser of two evils” approach for me, but at the very minimum, he supported the protection of unborn children. Would I support someone who was Pro-Life but on every other issue I disagreed with? Of course not.

As for Obama and my vote, I disagreed not only with his Pro-Choice stance, but almost 100% on every other policy he supports. What if I had supported 100% of his other policies, would I have voted for him? Never. My Christian faith requires me to abide by my moral and ethical values. While being human, I do make mistakes, but this would have been a willful mistake. I would have chosen to rationalize that his Pro-Choice stance was a sacrifice we should make for the betterment of our country. Since when should we view trading unborn children’s lives as a necessary trade for a stronger economy?

You may believe that I am passing judgment, I am not. Each person, if truly being a Christian, KNOWS what the right decision is and they will either feel good about it, or feel remorse about their actions later if they chose not to follow. I voted my conscience in the sense of my faith and my policy choices by voting for McCain. Yes, I know our country needs change, but change for simply the sake of change is not what we need.

Have I become apathetic because I’m accepting the fact that we are going to be a nation led by the most liberal President ever in our history? Am I apathetic because the only other valid choice is an aged war veteran who has been manicured by Washington D.C. over 30 years of political “service?” Am I apathetic because our likely next President has issued statements over the last year indicating that his “faith in the American people was vindicated” only AFTER he won the Iowa caucus vote in the Primary race? Is it because our likely next First Lady issues a statement nearly nine months ago that “for the first time in my adult life I am proud of my country” and that she is no longer “feeling so alone in my frustration and disappointment…?”

The Obama family has consistently made statements such as these. Sure, every citizen at some point has become disenfranchised, disappointed, and angry with the state of our government, but when has our citizenship ever been called into question as a country? Obama feels that his “faith in the American people” was “vindicated.” Why did it need vindication? The citizens are not the problem with this country… it’s the politicians and the government who we have elected who were SUPPOSED to be working on our behalf that is the problem. Why has Michelle Obama only now become proud of her country because her husband has been placed on the political pedestal he currently sits upon? I have my issues with this country, but the fact is, I’m proud of it and always have been… even when we faced the international shame Bill Clinton brought upon us with his lewd behavior while in office.

The Obama family believes in change and supposedly offers the American society something different. What exactly are they offering different that hasn’t been promised to us for decades? People seem to disregard the Obama’s attending of a church led by a radical Black Liberation enthusiast for 20 years. Why do you think Barack needs the society to be “vindicated” and why do you think Michelle has felt “alone” and “frustrated and disappointed?” Reverend Jeremiah Wright Jr. has repeatedly utilized his pulpit to disparage America and brainwash his congregation with his liberation “theology.” After 20 years of supposed attendance, the Obama family should well in fact be frustrated and disappointed in the American citizenship and require its vindication because they have been TAUGHT this position.

I agree, we need change in our government but does anyone really think ONE person can effectively change the landscape which has been created over 200+ years? Does anyone think ONE person can fix our ailing economy? Does anyone think ONE person can fix all of America’s ills? This is what the Obama campaign has been selling. They SAY Barack is the one to bring about change and have utilized mass media brainwashing techniques in an effort to sway the public. In the end, it appears that the millions of campaign dollars will have just done that. After about a BILLION dollars spent, Obama appears likely to become our next President.

We are going to have a President who has never been an executive at any level of importance. We are going to have a Vice President with his only notoriety being that he is prone to make “public gaffes.” We are going to have a First Lady who has a lingering distaste for the public she will serve. We will have a Presidential family who has been spiritually taught and mentored for 20 years that they were oppressed by the American society which they will become in charge of.

So, I sit here apathetic, resigned to the fact that our country is being misled by someone we truly don’t know anything about. Sure, Obama promises us a better economy, more jobs, and lower taxes, but where does he stand on the real issues? Do we trust his moral and ethical values? Do we trust in him? Do you trust his family? Do you trust his past? Even though Obama has been on the campaign trail for two years, we still don’t really know anything outside of the same old promises that have been made by every politician I’ve ever seen.

Citation: http://www.foxnews.com/

I compare Obama’s political campaign to the New England Patriots team of last year. They were undefeated, rarely threatened, and were anointed as the best NFL football team ever to grace the playing field. They were even given superstar treatment as they converted their perfect regular season by having their final regular season game shown on multiple major television networks… a first. It sounds similar to Obama’s campaign does it not? He’s the front runner, the early appointee, the unbeatable superstar of the political arena.

McCain’s campaign is also comparable to a football team of last year, the New York Giants. New York had their issues and labored through many games while on their way to the playoffs. They weren’t seen as an NFL championship caliber team, but they had a fighter’s chance by being in the playoffs. Anything can happen when it’s a single elimination playoff. In the end, the dominant Patriots were beaten by the upstart Giants ruining their attempt at a perfect season. To many Patriots fans, they stole something that wasn’t supposed to be theirs. They didn’t “deserve” to be champions.

Now, we see this situation in our current political process. Obama has been in the spotlight since he entered the race and has received rock star status since “defeating” Hillary Clinton in the Democratic Primary races. McCain is basically the Republican sacrificial lamb similar to what Bob Dole was when he ran against Bill Clinton. However, McCain still has that fighter’s chance. Just like the Giants proved, anything can happen. Polls before the election are not actual votes cast. Come Tuesday night next week, we could see a 4^th quarter comeback similar to Ronald Reagan’s comeback in 1980.

Yes, the McCain supporters are right to be nervous and worried because all facts point to a landslide victory for Obama based on current polls. But, until the actual votes are counted, he’s still in this race and until that last vote has been counted, he has not lost.

Excited or worried, we all still must vote. Vote for something more than money. Vote for someone who has the ethical and moral standards we can trust and believe in. As I’ve said before, don’t vote and you don’t get to complain.

Factor 1: Moral & Ethical Makeup

This is my ultimate tie-breaker, game changer, and make or break factor. If a candidate does not display these qualities, there can never be a level of trust which would involve me casting my vote for that candidate. Liars, immoral people, and untrustworthy politicians are at the root of the problems we are facing these days. If more people factored in the real person hiding behind the Party’s ticket, we would not have the overwhelming governmental problems we are facing today.

Factor 2: Economic Policy

I put economic policy on a fairly high standard because of a simple historical fact. If the United States fails to be an economic super power, then we are at risk of an inevitable collapse. Countries and governments cannot survive and be stable for the long term without solid economic policy. History has shown and proved this fact time and again. Strong economic policy is a must. Creating jobs, taxation policy, trade agreements… all are key components when determining who should be your choice.

Factor 3: Constitutional Rights Policy

Within this segment, I focus upon our rights as citizens. How does the candidate deal with and support our Constitution? Does the candidate uphold what our forefathers detailed and supported via the Bill of Rights? If a candidate prefers to rationalize and shred the documents our country was founded upon, it’s a deal breaker no matter what the other factors direct me to do.

Factor 4: Military Policy

Our President, our commander in chief, MUST have a strong military policy. We cannot rely upon diplomacy as our first weapon of defense in every situation. We must not rely upon the United Nations to protect our interests abroad. We MUST focus on creating and maintaining the most technologically advanced military in the world. We MUST have the best trained fighting force and have the best equipped service men and women.

Factor 5: Foreign Policy

Foreign policy has become more important through the years as our world becomes “closer.” No longer can we utilize isolationist policies and be competent. We must focus upon globalization and focus upon the world community when interacting with the foreign communities.

There are many other factors which affect people’s choices but I believe if you find a candidate who satisfies the above factors, the remaining factors will fall into place. What about education policy or health care policy? What about civil rights? What about immigration policy or affirmative action policy? As I said, there are many factors and each of us has varying degrees of sensitivity to them. But, when it comes down to it, our President should MASTER the above five categories and if that is the case, all underlying policy decisions will likely be satisfied accordingly.

If you don’t know where your candidate falls within each category, then you have some investigating to do. If you vote and don’t know what they stand for, you are hurting not only yourself, but the entire country. Learn what the candidates are about and decide honestly on where they stand and not what you HOPE they will be. One thing to remember, no candidate will ever satisfy your decision tree 100% but you must focus upon the deal breaker factors when you choose. Choose wisely and make an informed vote, our future depends on it.

In my case, I am choosing the lesser of two evils. Truly saddening is it not? Given our country’s current woes and economic standing, we are given two men to choose from that cannot invigorate enough voters to break a basic split down the middle of our country? Are we all that different? Sure, I will bet that come Election Day, the Electoral College will show a landslide victory for Obama and thus he will be anointed our country’s savior. But, when it comes down to it, the voting public will likely be closer to being split down the middle than a 75% for and 25% against vote. For every Obama supporter, you will find a McCain supporter. The Electoral College vote will not show that distinction.

Anyway, back to my topic of endorsements. This weekend and through most of yesterday, we were treated with the ground shaking, earth shattering, monumental news release that former Secretary of State Colin Powell is endorsing Barack Obama as his choice for the next President of the United States. After the vacuum inducing announcement has subsided and with oxygen returning to the room, my lungs can now provide my bloodstream enough oxygen and my consciousness has returned. I think I may have hit my head on the “Duh!” stick on my way down.

Seriously, did ANYONE truly believe Powell would put his political weight behind McCain or ANYONE in the Republican Party at this time? Powell felt the brunt of the Iraq war fiasco while in office during the Bush administration. He was one of the leaders pushing the WMD information forward and asking for votes. After the determination that our intelligence was faulty, Powell lost almost all credibility and thus left his post as Secretary of State as Bush entered his second term. Powell laid low, healed his wounds, and waited for the opportunity to deal as big a blow against those who made him look foolish. That time was and is now.

With about two weeks to go until we vote and with the campaigns winding down, Powell has chosen to cast his lot behind Obama. No more debates, no more major humps to overcome, just hold it steady until the finish line and it’s over. Powell’s announcement was one of the remaining few bullets the Obama campaign had to turn the tables versus McCain. It has been speculated for months that Powell was endorsing Obama, but the announcement did not come until after all the major campaign hurdles had been cleared. He was their shiny silver bullet to mitigate, nullify, and destroy any momentum McCain may have had after the final Presidential debate.

Powell is nothing more than a figurehead, a puppet, and a past figure of what went wrong and not what went right. With Powell choosing the “enemy” over his past alliances, it provided a supposed watershed moment for the Obama campaign. His announcement means absolutely nothing to me. Just as newspaper after newspaper endorses Obama, it means nothing. I equate Powell’s announcement with the support Paris Hilton and Alec Baldwin provide for the Obama campaign… this is publicity and nothing more.

Are there any other glowing endorsements coming Obama’s way? I’m sure there will be. Next thing I know, I’ll be reading that Oprah is going to be part of Obama’s administration when elected. Maybe even Hillary will be offered a position within his administration. She is in a tough position though. When he gets elected and if things go well, her window of opportunity will be closed because he’ll become a two term President. If she thinks he will fail, she will decline any potential job and run against him again in the next Democratic Primary. That is a story I’m interested in. The Clinton name in the Democratic Party has major weight and if she is without a job in his administration after nearly BEATING him for the nomination, something is worth thinking about there.

So, I’m voting, but I’m not endorsing. Don’t vote and you don’t get to argue. Don’t vote and you don’t get to complain.

Recently, John McCain settled upon the stance that he would be returning to the senate to hammer out the necessary federal involvement in the government sponsored bailout of the financial sector. McCain suspended his campaign for President with less than six weeks to go before Election Day. He chose to do this while embroiled in a neck and neck race separated by only a few percentage points that barely overcome the statistical margin of errors. The White House will be won by wooing the undecided voters.

Halting your campaign in such a critical timeframe comes across as one of two things. Number one, the Obama campaign and liberal media types will try and sway you to an opinion of “He’s blowing smoke. He’s only doing it for a media byte.” Secondly, he actually cares about his country and understands that face to face meetings and involvement solve more than any phone call ever can. McCain publicly gave Barack Obama a chance to join him in Washington (where Obama’s senate seat is waiting) so they could partner in an attempt to work out the best bailout bill possible. Obama rejected the idea and flatly said that “We should be able to multitask.”

Multitasking is of course one of the jobs of our leaders. No, they cannot ever sit down and worry about a singular thing, can you as a simple citizen? We are all multitasking every minute of our lives. McCain was, and is, trying to do what’s best for his country and that includes his presence in person at some of the most important debates and lawmaking discussions our generation has ever known. Obama, to simply respond with an inane rebuttal shows me something about his focus upon our country. Personally, I want a President who will confront issues in person, head on, and not give a percentage of attention to the dire issues we are facing.

I do not want a “Jack of all trades, King of nothing” as our commander in chief. I want someone who has the guts to take a step back, focus upon the major issue our country is facing and do something about it in person. I don’t want a conference call President. I don’t want an email or text message leader. I don’t want a public statement President. I want someone willing to get their hands dirty by showing their face, entering into the debate with opposition, and sweating with their patriotic blood boiling on the debate floor, trying to make our country better. Multitask? Sure, not the issue.

Obama, with his gimmick statement of “multitasking,” makes me believe that he doesn’t view our economic issues as being important enough to warrant his supreme presence. Stop campaigning? Delay the debates? Why? “I’m trying to win the White House can’t you see? These problems can wait until January when I take office and then I’ll multitask my way into making America my portrait of America…”

Some problems can’t wait, campaign or no campaign. McCain is right to suspend his run and return to his JOB! McCain’s and Obama’s JOB is to serve as elected United States Senators. They have voluntarily CHOSEN to run for President. Their JOB requires them to be present in Washington right now as we are facing disaster. If Obama cannot see this, then is he truly ready to lead our entire country? He has once again shown his lack of leadership when faced with circumstances requiring action now. The wait and see period is over. It’s time for Obama to state an opinion and live or die with it and stop being the hindsight is 20/20 candidate!

I’m not going to dig up Biden’s voting record to see if he’s voted 50% or 75% of the time or how many times he abstained from voting, but let’s just assume that he’s a Senator who actually shows up (because really, if he doesn’t have that to his credit, Obama might want to quickly rethink his VP choice). Now, on top of his “Hillary is a better VP choice than I” statement, he comes out with the following statement displaying his lack of tack, [Obama and I want to] “take money and put it back in the pocket of middle-class people.” He continues to say, “it’s time to be patriotic … time to jump in, time to be part of the deal, time to help get America out of the rut.” Simply put, quoting from the Associated Press journalist, Biden is saying that “paying higher taxes is the patriotic thing to do for wealthier Americans.”

Call it what you want, but I’m not so sure that paying more taxes equals being patriotic. Patriotism to me is someone giving their life for the protection of our way of life, our freedom, and our country. Patriotism is shown by voting, by standing up for what you believe in, and by being active amongst society. Patriotism is voluntary. Taxes are not voluntary. Patriotism is in no way related to taxes. Actually, our country’s most hallowed patriots were patriots because they were UNWILLING to pay extra taxes levied upon them without their approval.

So, call me crazy, but Mr. Joe Biden should leave this argument alone and never try and equate taxation with patriotism. Robin Hood economics is what Obama and Biden believe in. Take from the rich and provide to the less rich. Here’s an idea if you want the wealthy to give up their honestly earned money. How about giving a bigger tax BREAK on donations to charities and other organizations which are directly aimed at helping the needy? Encourage help from the wealthy and don’t demand it by seizing their cash. Our government needs trimmed extensively. The cost savings alone by cutting billions, if not trillions, of wasted tax dollars would help fund many ethical and “right” programs without sacrificing the country’s stability or protection.

We all know that will never happen. Why would someone agree to cut their own pay or even risk the chance at firing themselves? We are then left with increased taxes as the only way to fund the programs brought forth. Democrats play the sympathy card every election. The rich get richer while the poor get poorer, but we can fix that. We’ll take the money from the rich and distribute it to the poor. What they don’t understand is that the rich will take their money offshore and leave America in shambles. Why would any knowledgeable investor or business owner stay in America if their dollars were going to be “stolen” and distributed to millions of people who have no right to them?

You and I both know the answer… none. Donald Trump stated on Larry King the blatantly obvious, “the people that create the jobs and the people that really create a lot of things in the country, and they’re going to be taxed into oblivion.” Money creates more wealth. If we force our wealth to leave our borders, we are cutting our own economic throats in an attempt to play Robin Hood.

If everyone thinks our economy is in trouble now, just wait until the taxation upon the wealth of our nation reaches 50%, as Obama proposes. Not only will we be stripped further of our jobs, but we will fall into a government subsidized way of living. Force people to give up their wealth and you are one step away from a Communist regime.

I’ll make one final personal statement. I am not a wealthy individual and I do not pride myself on worldly possession. But, I am 100% against TAKING from the rich and giving to the poor. As I said before, we need to encourage donations and support, not tell people how they must divide their money. According to the tax plans of both parties, I would in fact receive a better tax savings from Obama, but I am willing to sacrifice a few hundred dollars to save our country. The issue is not only about our personal checkbook, but it’s about our way of life. Drive the people who create wealth and jobs from our country and we’ll become nothing more than carpetbaggers waiting for a government handout.

Citation: http://www.foxnews.com/

As I was thinking about Biden’s disappearance, I began to search out a few stories involving the 30 year Senate veteran. Well, my search didn’t go any farther than the front page of CNN as I found a story prominently displaying Biden’s name in the title. After digging into the article, I thought to myself that maybe he would have been better off if he had kept his name and celebrity buried. What I found was something I wouldn’t expect from a candidate on the ticket during one of the most important campaigns in our lifetimes. Remember though, there was a vast amount of Democrats who were pushing for Obama to choose Hillary Clinton as his running mate. Clinton ran a very tough primary race versus Obama and clearly distinguished that she had powerful voter segments pulling for her candidacy.

Biden, while speaking to a crowd in New Hampshire offered the following pearl of political wisdom: “Make no mistake about this, Hillary Clinton is as qualified or more qualified than I am to be vice president of the United States of America. Let’s get that straight. She’s a truly close personal friend and she is qualified to be President of the United States of America, she’s easily qualified to be Vice President of the United States of America and quite frankly it might have been a better pick than me.” Now, he did say this in “defense” of Clinton as someone yelled from the crowd that they were “happy” Biden was chosen as Obama’s running mate and not her.

While I commend Biden’s rescue of Clinton’s character and ability to perform the duties of either office, stating to the public that she was likely the better choice as a running mate is not the most eloquent political maneuver ever chosen. Personally, I agree that Clinton would have been a better choice than Biden and it would likely have closed the election hands down for Obama. But, it would have also brought with it great ramifications. It’s pretty easy to see that Obama and Clinton do not necessarily get along on a personal level. They both defend the Democratic Party’s agenda, but they just do not “hit it off.” Knowing this, the choice of Clinton as a running mate would have showed weakness in Obama’s candidacy as he would be “relying” upon the Clinton supporters to win office. Who would really be in power if elected … Barack or the two-headed political monster of the Clinton family?

Obama wanted to make absolutely sure that everyone knew he was the one going to be in charge. Joe Biden was the safe choice, the choice of experience, and the foreign experience necessary to legitimize his ticket. However, Biden was not the vote bringer, the attack dog, or the astute politician that is currently necessary to compete against the newly invigorated Republican ticket. Obama sacrificed going for the political throat to keep his own celebrity intact. Leaving this door open, McCain instead did the unthinkable. He went for the throat with one of the most risky political maneuvers we have ever seen. He picked an unknown, green Washington outsider, up and coming party favorite to be his running mate. Oh, and it’s ok to mention that she is female.

At this point of the campaign, less than 2 months to Election Day, Biden has appeared to be the second rate choice. Not only has he not come through as the attack dog necessary to keep the opposite ticket at bay allowing Obama to stick to his guns on core policies, he allows bombshells such as his statements above overshadow his own ability. Obama has become the do-it-all politician when his focus should be squarely on McCain and the issues affecting our government and society. If Biden wishes to stand up and help bring the election home for his Democratic Party, he needs to start playing his part in this battle for the White House rather than sit idly by outside of the spotlight while everyone else runs roughshod over his party’s “rock star.”

Priority number one for Biden is to become noticed once again. He must become a factor BEFORE the Vice Presidential debates or it may be too late. Second, he must temper what he says so that he doesn’t diminish his own political credibility. Unless he does become relevant again, Obama’s quest to win the office of President could come to a screeching halt after leading the race until the last half of a lap. Will the Democratic Party let a sure win election fall to the wayside by lackluster showmanship and failure to show up in the 9^th inning? Who would have ever though it could happen? But, it is a real possibility at this point and it’s only the first week into the real season of political warfare.

Citation: http://www.cnn.com/