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Getting this election over with is becoming an evening of sheer misery…
It’s not enough that I am going in for tests before my Friday brain surgery at 6:30 AM tomorrow and go through four different doctors and three tests by 2:30 PM…just getting my mind in the mood for that doesn’t let me bond with the TV pundits who are arguing out the campaign results they can’t really call.
Thinking about how miserable it would be if Romney won, but that is not nearly as bad as thinking about how graceless in their concessions the losers will be if Obama and the Democratic Congressional candidates win. Nobody seems to really be trying to tie the country together and make us the 
UNITED states that we have to become.
BTW, I want to really think the hundreds of you who have wished me well by e-mail, in Facebook, and those of you who have commented on this blog. I never really knew how many of you visit the LobsterScope and it’s daily changing graphic background and what my daughter calls the rantings of an old man. I hope I’ll be back at full speed next week some time, but it will be hard to keep it up now through the weekend. Don’t be surprised if a day has no or only one post… and don’t plan on anything Friday or Saturday.
Those of you who listen to me on the radio at WSHC 89.7 Shepherdstown, either locally or on the worldwide live feed at http://897wshc.org , won’t hear me this weekend. I got friends and fellows to cover my time on the air and I thank all of them.
If you are in a state that has late polls open and you haven’t voted yet, get out there and do it. People have died for your right to vote!
Bye now… Bill.
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Interviews with Supporters at Ohio Romney Rally
Life seems to be very hard for these folks. Listen to the big amount of Romney lies they have ingested like vitamins:
Wow! This is the first time I’ve heard that Obama has brought Buddhists into the country to take over.
How do you live with these people… these utterly stupid an misinformed people?
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Some swing state updates…Ohio looks like Romney is sneaking up.
The strong lead Obama was carrying in Ohio is seen as a tie in this poll. While other polls may be different, this one from the Cincinnati Enquirer is still upsetting:
You get what you pay for…
Ohio: Obama 49%, Romney 49% (Cincinnati Enquirer)
Minnesota: Obama 47%, Romney 44% (Minneapolis Star Tribune)
Virginia: Obama 49%, Romney 46% (Priorities USA Action)
I’m really hoping that all these polls are not reality at all. They all seem to be set up to one side, left or right, by pollsters before they are taken.
For instance:
“…the Cincinnati Enquirer, a reliably conservative paper that virtually always endorses Republicans. In 2008, they deftly endorsed John McCain without one word mentioning the walking time-bomb he had chosen as his Vice Presidential candidate.”
– The Daily Kos
See what I mean?
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- Rasmussen All Tied In Ohio! (davidscommonsense.net)
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- Oct. 27: Minnesota Moonlights as Swing State, but Ohio and Virginia Are More Crucial (fivethirtyeight.blogs.nytimes.com)
We hear so much about truth when talking about candidates’ statements…
… but is Obama/Biden or Romney Ryan the more truthful team? The Dems are the losers on lying… but the Republicans cannot seem to achieve overall truthfulness. Politifact evaluates their percentages of truthful expression as follows:
So if having candidates you can believe is important, then there is no question of which team to support.
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It looks like last night’s debate was Obama’s triumph…
Although I don’t think Mittens made any huge gaffes, he did tell a pile of obvious lies and Obama seemed to catch him on them. I was reading Andrew Sullivan’s online live commentary as the debate went on, and his summations in the last few minutes pretty much made the event understood:
10.35 pm. After the first truly epic implosion in the first debate, Obama has clawed his way back in the following two, in my view. He has marshalled his arguments as potently as possible; he
brought the themes of his candidacy together compellingly. His advantage on foreign policy will not, I think, diminish; it may well strengthen. And that is only just. After eight years of the most disastrous, misguided, immoral and a catastrophic foreign policy, Obama has brought the US back from the brink, presided over the decimation of al Qaeda, the liberation of Egypt, Tunisia and Libya, and restored America’s moral standing in the world.
For Romney, he made no massive mistakes. No Gerald Ford moments. And since the momentum of this race is now his, if now faltering a little, a defeat on points on foreign policy will be an acceptable result. But this was Obama’s debate; and he reminded me again of how extraordinarily lucky this country has been to have had him at the helm in this new millennium.
He’s flawed; he’s made mistakes; but who hasn’t? If this man, in these times, with this record, against this opposition, does not deserve re-election, then I am simply at a loss for words. I have to believe the American people will see that in time.
10.34 pm. Obama’s closing statement was his best few minutes in all three debates. Romney’s seems a little desperate and now he – the man whose running-mate is Paul Ryan – is saying he is more bipartisan than Obama.
10.30 pm. So Romney just blames the entire economy on Obama alone. This litany of “the economy sucks throw him out” is the crude but effective big lie.
10.27 pm. “Governor, the people in Detroit don’t forget.” The lies this man has said tonight have been more numerous than I can ever remember in any debate. The man does not have the moral character to be president, in my opinion.
I think Obama, aside from appearing presidential and in control of his information (and correct in presenting his record, as well.) Romney, as Obama said, tried to “Airbrush History.” The best turnover Obama brought around was when Romney claimed Obama had made an “Apology Tour” of the middle east, and the president cleared up his trips and and made it clear that the charge Romney has made was his “biggest whopper.”
Romney has seemed to abandon neoconservatism by endorsing Obama’s withdrawal from Afghanistan and agreeing on many other of the president’s foreign policy actions. Obama made sure to point this out. It seemed like Romney was congratulating the President of the United States.
Obama really came out as one who deserves a second term.He was clearly the Commander in Chief and Romney didn’t look like he would fill that role in the same way.
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A Quote for the Day – On the success of Obama
This was released in the new issue of The New Yorker as its Editors announced their endorsement for Barack Obama:
“The President has achieved a run of ambitious legislative, social, and foreign-policy successes that relieved a large measure of the human suffering and national shame inflicted by the Bush Administration. Obama has renewed the honor of the office he holds.”
– Editors of The New Yorker
You can read the whole endorsement right HERE.
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Some National Poll results for this morning:
Here are the latest national polls of the presidential race:
Hartford Courant/UConn: Obama 48%, Romney 45%Public Policy Polling: Obama 48%, Romney 47%
Rasmussen: Obama 48%, Romney 48%
OK… very close on the National front. First time I’ve seen a polling result from my long lost home state, Connecticut (I say “long lost”, but I mean “very much missed.”)
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Quote of the Day – Say… isn’t George Will a Republican?
Certainly, this is a fascinating statement from a famous conservative columnist:
“I think there was a winner in the sense that Barack Obama not only gained ground he lost but he cauterized some wounds that he inflicted on himself by seeming too diffident and disengaged.
“It was a very good fight. I have seen every presidential debate in American history since the floor of Nixon and Kennedy in 1960. This was immeasurably the best.
“I think as a tactical measure tonight, the president did very well.”
And we’re seeing more Republicans come out of the woodwork with a different view of the President. Very interesting.
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Getting ready for tonight’s debate…
I really want to think about those things Romney is lying about so that when they pop up in the debate I can yell at the television and wish him ill results in the election.
For instance, when Mittens says Obama added more to the deficit than any previous President, we should look at the facts:
Did you see what those Repiglicans did?
It’s interesting, then, that Obama has the trust of Americans on most issues, but somehow Romney has labeled himself as the deficit reducer — given the things he seems to be representing, this is really impossible. I think people need to think this over and I hope Obama clarifies everything tonight.
Great lead for Obama on handling an unexpected crisis.
And look what Obama scored in government spending vs. the Repilicans’ great hero Reagan:
Ok… I have high expectations for Obama tonight. I hope you do, too.
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Ex-Lax for Mitt
I’m passing this on from walthe310 at Bell Book Candle:
Mitt‘s lies are full of S—T.
That is a characterization of the content of his speeches, not of his person. To dramatize how Obama supporters view Mitt’s words, I propose that each of us mail a sample of Ex-Lax or equal to Mitt at this address:
Romney for President
P. O. Box 149756
Boston, Massachusetts 02114-9756If you agree that this a good idea, please reblog this message so that as many people as possible see it.
What a good idea! The press is being informed about this and the more who participate, the more fun we will all have. At the same time, make a cash equivalent donation to Obama’s campaign at www.barackobama.com.
When you send Mitt his present, write “EX-LAX for Mitt” on the outside of the package so that even if they don’t open it at the Romney campaign they will know what it is. 🙂
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Obama’s comments today about Romney and the debate… a GREAT speech.
Obama gave this speech in Denver this morning:
It looks like Obama is putting the Mittster on the rack for a roast. I assume this is a key to what will happen in the next debate.
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Latest Swing State Polls show Obama ahead in 5 out of 6…
Here are the latest polls from the battleground states:
Colorado: Obama 49%, Romney 46% (We Ask America)
Florida: Obama 49%, Romney 48% (Gravis Marketing)
Iowa: Obama 48%, Romney 44% (We Ask America)
Michigan: Obama 52%, Romney 40% (We Ask America)
New Hampshire: Obama 54%, Romney 39% (WBUR)
North Carolina: Romney 50%, Obama 46% (American Research Group)
While other polls have some different results (I’ll post them when they come up), Obama in general seems to be keeping enough of a lead to finally win the election.
The debates, of course, may change all of this. We’ll see.
This Debate Week… Wednesday is the Event.
As we get closer to the first presidential debate the news commentators are filled with comments on the pre-debate rehearsing each candidate is doing and speculation as to who is the better debater. Clips appear from Romney’s primary debates (never a 1 on 1 effort, however, always with three other candidates) and Obama‘s debates from the 2008 campaign. From what I see, they both have their strengths.
Romney says he has “zingers” ready to pull on Obama during the debate. What these are, however, is unclear… apparently written by his support staff and committed to memory by Mittens at his rehearsals. Obama is saying that he’s more interested in the seriousness of the debate as opposed to zingers, and, as far as I’m concerned, zingers are probably the best method for Romney to put his foot in his mouth once again.
Everyone seems to agree that if Romney doesn’t win this debate, he might as well give up the whole campaign effort. He needs to win it to be back as a potential winner.
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42 days until the vote… where do the candidates fall into electoral predictions?
Thanks to Talking Points Memo.
It looks like Obama is still increasing his possibilities… and less than 6 weeks to go.
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A quote for the morning – what does England think of Romney?
Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein said that he had personally heard British Prime Minister David Cameron say the following about Willard:
David Cameron
“I witnessed Prime Minister saying to a group of people, myself included, that Mitt Romney had that unique distinction of uniting all of England against him with his various remarks. On behalf of my love of England, I have to support the President who is anything but making faux-pas.”
– Harvey Weinstein
Hmmm. Elect Romney and turn off our number one European ally. This will help re-establish our position in the world.
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Hard to believe: Romney says Obama will lie in debates!
Mitt Romney says that he expects President Obama to lie in the Presidential debates. He said this on Good Morning America on national Television:
“…the challenge that I’ll have in the debate is that the president tends to, how shall I say it, to say things that aren’t true. I’ve looked at prior debates, and in that kind of case, it’s difficult to say, ‘Well, am I going to spend my time correcting things that aren’t quite accurate? Or am I going to spend my time talking about the things I want to talk about?’”
Talk about the words of a liar… is it a good strategy to try and lay onto an opponent your own deficiencies.
What in hell does this man think he is pulling off here?
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The Conventions are Over… where do the candidates stand now?
Nate Silver made some reasonable observations in the New York Times. Here are his predictions as of today:
How this will change over the next two months is the question.
The state by state probabilities as of today are certainly in Obama‘s favor:
Needless to say, the heavy vote states are right there in Obama’s pocket. Let’s see it it lasts.
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Quote of the Day – from last night’s keynote speech…
“If you want a winner-take-all, you-are-on-your-own society, you should support the Republican ticket. If you want a country of shared opportunities and shared responsibility, a we-are-all-in-this-together society, you should vote for Barack Obama and Joe Biden.”
Some of you may have missed Clinton’s speech due to football or the lateness of it’s presentation (if you are an early sleeper like me), so here it is in it’s entirety:
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Something to think about during this week’s Republican Convention…
You will hear Romney and others accuse Barack Obama of accelerating federal spending ahead of all previous administrations. In reality, even with the stimulus bill, health care and other Obama achievements, the President’s level of spending is 0nly 1.4% on an annualized basis – the slowest amount of growth since the Lyndon Johnson administration in the 1960s.
Take a look at the stats:
These are the figures to keep in mind when the Republicans continue to lie about Obama’s record. Do not believe them!
And remember, it will cost us much, much more if Romney is elected.
Can we afford such a lesson?
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Hee hee hee… Mitt Romney’s Joking Quote of the Day…
Speaking in Michigan, Romney came out with this Birther joke:
“No one has ever asked to see my birth certificate. They know that this is the place that we were born and raised.”
Of course, he has said earlier that he has no doubts that Obama was born in the USA. A hearty applause, however, met his comment. Still, it was awkward for the candidate to play on the birther conspiracy , even after the president released his “long-form” birth certificate in 2011.
Reuters released Mitt Romney’s own birth certificate on the day when the candidate appeared with Donald Trump, who once again spurted out his doubts about the president’s birthplace.
Is this crap ever going to end. I guess when you have no solutions to the many problems we face, this is about as good as Willard can do.
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Quote of the Day – Romney Staffer Admits GOP is Rooting Against Economy
“I am buying that they’re rooting against the economy somewhat, because they think
that the short term pain of the next four months is much better than having an additional four years under Obama. If we have to suffer between now and November to get a president, they’re all for it.”
– Former Romney adviser Rob Gray
and, as Bob Cesca says:
…they don’t give a rip that “the economy” isn’t just some sort of abstract fart in the wind. It’s real people with real families in need of real jobs, and broadly speaking it’s the financial health of the United States. Republicans are rooting against that. Good people. Let’s totally continue to take them seriously — you know, because they’re so serious.
If anything should be working against Romney and pals among the rest of us in America, it is that. That conservative politicians would let their country flush down the drain instead of helping it survive is their primary failure.
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