What follows is the official Ponderstorm Political Endorsements for the 2008 political season. Please note that apart from the Presidential race, these endorsements cover what is on my ballot (see sample ballot – pdf) for the 3rd Congressional District and the Northern Supreme Court District in Mississippi.

You will notice a strong Republican bias. I am urging support along those lines on the federal level since the Republican Party, in spite of its many faults, remains the only party willing to even half-way protect social values, win wars and promote the free enterprise system of economics. Here are my endorsements and some reasons for them.

President/Vice President – John McCain & Sarah Palin (R)

For me, the choice of voting for John McCain and Sarah Palin was easy to make and decided months ago. McCain and Palin are social and fiscal conservatives who believe in protecting the United States and winning wars. Need I say more given the alternative?

While I could easily argue that John McCain is not my ideal candidate, he is light years ahead of his opponent on issues that deeply matter to me and to the integrity and safety of this nation. In a tight election year like this, I gladly endorse John McCain and Sarah Palin for President and Vice President, respectively.

MS Senate – Thad Cochran (R)

Senator Thad Cochran has served Mississippi since 1972, first as a United States Congressman and in 1978 as a Senator. When he was elected to the U.S. Senate in 1978, he was the first Republican in over 100 years to win a statewide election in Mississippi.

In the years since, Cochran’s voting record has been consistently conservative. He leads with humility and an unassuming manner that has earned the respect of millions on both sides of the political isle.

MS Senate (special election) – Roger Wicker (R)

Senator Roger Wicker was appointed to the United States Senate on December 31, 2007 by Governor Haley Barbour. Wicker’s appointment, due to the resignation of retiring Senator Trent Lott, fills that vacancy in until the general election on November 4, 2008.

Prior to this Senate appointment, Wicker served in the House of Representatives since 1994 and the Mississippi State Senate from 1987-1994. Wicker, though guilty of using earmarks to bring special projects to his congressional district, has a socially conservative voting record overall and, I feel, remains the better candidate to serve Mississippi in the Senate.

MS House District 3 – Greg Harper (R)

Greg Harper is running as a fiscal and social conservative for Mississippi Congressional District 3 (see map on left). Among other things, his platform includes securing our borders, protecting traditional marriage and the unborn, restoring fiscal responsibility, and defending our right to keep and bear arms.

There are no State Senate or House races this year. There are no other statewide races or ballot measures this year in Mississippi; however, there are four Mississippi Supreme Court seats up for election in 2008.

Mississippi Supreme Court justices are selected via nonpartisan elections for eight-year terms. There are three Supreme Court districts in Mississippi (see map on left — Supreme Court District Map Legend: 1 – Central District; 2 – Southern District; and 3 – Northern District).

MS Supreme Court Northern District – Ann Lamar & David Chandler

Justice Ann Lamar was appointed to the Mississippi Supreme Court by Governor Haley Barbour on May 21, 2007 to fill the position vacated by retiring Justice Kay Cobb. Prior to her service on the Mississippi Supreme Court, Lamar served as a circuit judge from the 17th Circuit Court and as a district attorney and an assistant district attorney. Lamar has been endorsed by the Mississippi Republican Party. Learn more about Ann Lamar.

Judge David Chandler currently serves on the Mississippi Court of Appeals. In addition to his current position with the Mississippi Court of Appeals, his experience includes serving on the Choctaw County Board of Supervisors, as a municipal judge for the City of Weir, and as an adjunct professor of law at the Mississippi College School of Law. Chandler has been endorsed by the Mississippi Republican Party. Learn more about David Chandler.

Helpful links to voter information and political party values comparisons:

Mississippi

• Mississippi county voting registrars contact information
• Mississippi Voter Information from the Mississippi Secretary of State

National Candidate & Party Comparisons

• Party Platform Comparision 2008 (pdf document) by iVoteValues.com (compares Republican and Democratic Party platforms)
• AFA Voter Issue Guide for the 2008 Presidential Race
• ChristianityToday Platform Comparison (compares where the two main political parties stand on abortion, faith-based programs, religious liberty, and other issues)
• Priests for Life 2008 party platform comparison handouts for churches – Side and Side 2

The embedded video below shows what is at stake in this election regarding the right to life. Hear Senator Barack Obama and Senator John McCain in their own words state their positions on this foundational issue. I urge everyone to look deep within their heart and ask themselves if he or she really wants a pro-abortion President of the United States.

Click here to view the embedded video.

For me the choice is clear and John McCain is the only candidate who gets this fundamental issue right. No amount of poise, polish or eloquence from an amazing candidate can change my mind. On the contrary, when I see the candidates on this issue, John McCain is the one who displays eloquence and grace while Barack Obama stumbles around or calls for a bloody genocide. For this, Barack Obama is a sellout to black people and the whole nation.

Here are ten of my main reasons for supporting Senator John McCain for President of the United States in 2008.

1. John McCain believes in winning wars.

2. John McCain believes human life and human rights begin at conception.

3. John McCain believes that evil exists and should be confronted.

4. John McCain believes in putting our country first over special interests.

5. John McCain believes in cutting spending.

6. John McCain believes in lowering taxes.

7. John McCain believes nobody should be punished for their income or success.

8. John McCain believes that marriage is between one man and one woman.

9. John McCain believes in appointing strict constructionist to the federal courts.

10. John McCain believes in letting the American people live without excessive government intervention.

Embedded below is a powerful video with an inspiring message about freedom and hope from the perspective of an Iraq War veteran. It is his personal message to Senator Barack Obama on why he is supporting Senator John McCain for President.

Click here to view the embedded video.

This video has been viewed over 11 million times as of Oct. 30, 2008.

I regularly read Obama 2.0 and just learned of some very interesting commentary by the talented founder of Macho Sauce Productions Alfonzo (Zo) Rachel. In his own words, Zo is a “musician, martial artist, amateure movie makin’, Christian conservative republican.”

His latest video is entitled 1 More B4 11 04 and builds a strong case for electing a conservative as President. He also describes very well the differences between liberals and conservatives, Democrats and Republicans, and Obama and McCain in ways that are very compelling. His logic is tight (I would dispute his dinosaur comment given some historic and scientific evidence that may suggest otherwise) and his reasons for supporting conservatives and John McCain in particular are some of the best I’ve heard. He is passionate about freedom and excessive government involvement in our lives. It’s well worth watching.

Click here to view the embedded video.

There is such an incredible level of bias in most mainstream news media coverage in favor of Barack Obama that even the Clintons complained about not getting a fair shake during the Democratic Primary. You know it must be way out of balance when the smooth-talking Bill Clinton, the darling of the 1990s, is thrown under the bus in favor of somebody even more smooth-talking.

Howard Kurtz reported (Oct. 22) on a new study by the Project for Excellence in Journalism that showed that “media coverage of John McCain has been heavily unfavorable since the political conventions, more than three times as negative as the portrayal of Barack Obama.” In all, 57% of print and broadcast stories about John McCain were “decidedly negative” while only 14% were positive. Contrast that with Barack Obama’s coverage during that period: “36 percent of the stories clearly positive, 35 percent neutral or mixed and 29 percent negative.”

Kurtz continues:

The Wall Street meltdown appears to have been a turning point for both candidates. Thirty-four percent of the stories about Obama’s reaction to the crisis were positive, while 18 percent were negative. McCain’s coverage, though, went into a free fall after he initially declared that “the fundamentals of our economy are strong.” By the following week, more than half the stories about McCain were negative and only 11 percent positive, just as Obama’s coverage was turning positive by a margin of more than 5 to 1.

Kurtz’s concluding paragraph offers this statement:

While some will seize on these findings as evidence that the media are pro-Obama, the study says they actually contain “a strong suggestion that winning in politics begets winning coverage, thanks in part to the relentless tendency of the press to frame its coverage of national elections as running narratives about the relative position of the candidates in the polls . . .”

I will go a step further and state that many in the media are pro-Obama and clearly so. I feel that their pro-Obama enthusiasm carries over to the mechanics of polls and the interpretation of polling data.

Michael Barone wrote an intriguing article (Oct. 22) entitled “Are the Polls Accurate?” with a subtitle “Reading them right is more art than science.” Barone maintains that we can trust polls but “with qualifications.” He then points out several inherent imperfections in political polling that can cause under-representation for some candidates and over-representation for others. Sampling errors can be introduced by cell phone-only households, pollsters not calling back, and respondents refusing to answer questions. These factors can skew results. Also, it seems that during the Democratic Primary, some people didn’t want to admit they did not vote for the rock star-like Obama and so exit polling was higher than actual results.

That brings me to my final point in this article. Most people are probably familiar with the polls that show a large Obama lead over McCain; however, two polls (AP-Ipsos and AP-Gfk) released on October 22 suggest that the Presidential race is essentially tied with Obama at 44% and McCain at 43%. These polls showed that the race tightened after the third debate (which is something I predicted would happen).

Key takeaways from the AP-Ipsos poll are these:

Since the last AP-GfK survey in late September, McCain also has:

–Posted big gains among likely voters earning under $50,000 a year; he now trails Obama by just 4 percentage points compared with 26 earlier.

–Surged among rural voters; he has an 18-point advantage, up from 4.

–Doubled his advantage among whites who haven’t finished college and now leads by 20 points. McCain and Obama are running about even among white college graduates, no change from earlier.

–Made modest gains among whites of both genders, now leading by 22 points among white men and by 7 among white women.

–Improved slightly among whites who are married, now with a 24-point lead.

–Narrowed a gap among unmarried whites, though he still trails by 8 points.

McCain has cut into Obama’s advantage on the questions of whom voters trust to handle the economy and the financial crisis. On both, the Democrat now leads by just 6 points, compared with 15 in the previous survey.

Obama still has a larger advantage on other economic measures, with 44 percent saying they think the economy will have improved a year from now if he is elected compared with 34 percent for McCain.

Intensity has increased among McCain’s supporters.

A month ago, Obama had more strong supporters than McCain did. Now, the number of excited supporters is about even.

Eight of 10 Democrats are supporting Obama, while nine in 10 Republicans are backing McCain. Independents are about evenly split.

Some 24 percent of likely voters were deemed still persuadable, meaning they were either undecided or said they might switch candidates. Those up-for-grabs voters came about equally from the three categories: undecideds, McCain supporters and Obama backers.

So now there are polls, polls and more polls. Obviously all the polls released this week cannot be accurate since they yielded such inconsistent results. That inconsistency, coupled with blatant media bias, makes me wonder if we can trust any of the polls this election cycle.

On the other hand, the above results give the McCain camp something to be truly excited about since it suggests a surge of support could be emerging for him. I hope that is the case. What do you think?

Article II of the United States Constitution presents the qualifications for the office of the Presidency. I quote in part:

No Person except a natural born Citizen, or a Citizen of the United States, at the time of the Adoption of this Constitution, shall be eligible to the Office of President; neither shall any person be eligible to that Office who shall not have attained to the Age of thirty five Years, and been fourteen Years a Resident within the United States.

There are questions about the birth place of Barack Obama. His paternal grandmother reportedly claims she witnessed his birth in Kenya, while others, including Obama himself, claim he was born in Hawaii.

If he was born in Kenya then he would not be a natural born citizen (his father was Kenyan and his mother American so U.S. citizenship would not flow to him as a birthright). Needless to say, assuming he is Constitutionally qualified, Obama could clear up the controversy by simply submitting his birth certificate as John McCain did (McCain was born in the Panama Canal Zone to a military family).

However, to this day, Obama has not submitted his birth certificate or any records proving his citizenship. He refuses to release any college records as well that would state his citizenship. That has prompted at least one lawsuit to prove he is Constitutionally eligible to be President. The video below (10 minutes 52 seconds) is the story of one such lawsuit from a life-long Democrat and attorney in Pennsylvania.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Barack Obama’s refusal to show that he meets the basic Constitutional requirements for holding the office of the Presidency troubles me. It is a legitimate Constitutional question that should be asked of every candidate.

John McCain’s birth has been analyzed at length by the mainstream media and bloggers (see here and here for examples). Why does the mainstream media not show the same interest in Barack Obama’s place of birth?

For Obama to withhold evidence of his Constitutional qualifications for the Presidency suggests he is hiding something. That makes him look very suspicious to the scores of millions who feel the Constitution matters. Furthermore, his refusal fans doubt regarding his eligible and provides ammunition to those who say he is trying to hide actual Kenyan or Indonesian citizenship.

To be completely honest, I find both his withholding of documents and the growing questions of ineligibility very disturbing. I join with those who demand that Barack Obama produce his legal birth certificate and evidence that he is Constitutionally eligible to be President. Just release the records!

I’m not a fan of radio shock jock Howard Stern; however, the audio clip below contains a segment from his show that is very telling about some American voters. It demonstrates, in part, how a radical liberal like Barack Obama could end up in the White House based largely on personality and cosmetic factors instead of weighty issues like policy and what is best for the country. It shows how personality ignorantly trumps policy in many people’s minds.

In this audio clip, Obama supporters were asked why they liked Obama and given several choices using John McCain’s policy positions (like support for the war in Iraq and being pro-life) and even listing Sarah Palin as Obama’s VP choice. The respondents unflinchingly endorsed the McCain positions and Sarah Palin as they espoused their support for Obama. Mind-boggling and depressing at the same time!

Click here to view the embedded video.

Note: Special thanks to Noel Sheppard at NewsBusters for this piece. In fairness, I’m sure you could find a similar group of lazy voters supporting McCain. Regardless of political party, this kind of ignorance should not be tolerated and is dangerous for our country. Think, people, think! We’re voting for a President, not a celebrity talking head.

After watching three debates and many speeches, we all know John McCain is not an eloquent speaker. His mannerisms sometimes appear strained, partly due to torture-related injuries received decades ago as a prisoner of war, and partly because he is not as refined as his opponent. However, in this election we’re choosing a leader, not a celebrity spokesman, and so those cosmetic factors should be of little concern given the grave issues we face as a nation.

With that in mind, there are at least 10 things I’d like to see John McCain address everyday on the campaign stump.  If he will fully embrace and show energy and emotion on these ten populist issues, I feel the election will be his to lose. However, if he won’t actively campaign on them, then he will be defined by his opponent and will miss the chance to paint Barack Obama as the extreme liberal he really is. Apart from a strong stance on these issues, the race will degenerate into a popularity contest for which McCain cannot win.

Here are 10 things I’d like to see McCain embrace in his campaign:

1.  Fighting pork and cutting government spending.

Obama likes to accuse McCain of using a hatchet instead of a scalpel when McCain proposes a broad spending freeze. If I were McCain I’d welcome that accusation and say “Just a hatchet? Give me a chain saw.” The simple truth is you cannot cut much with a scalpel but you can cut vast quantities more with a larger tool. Government has so much pork and excessive spending that we need a chainsaw to cut it all out.

2. Support for the War and the need to kill terrorists.

National security is still the President’s number one task.  McCain should talk daily about his successes in this area and drive home the need for a competent Commander in Chief who supports winning the War and not just withdrawing. The same should be said about Iran and their support of terrorism. Iran must also be stopped in their efforts to enrich uranium and make nuclear weapons. This is a serious international problem that the next President will have to deal with.

3. The Supreme Court.

The next President is likely to appoint at least two Supreme Court Justices as well as scores of federal judges. These are lifetime appointments. McCain says he will nominate strict constructionists. Obama supports those who will legislate from the bench. Need I say more?

4. Abortion and the right to life.

Embracing a culture of life is critical to the survival of our nation. Forty million abortions since Roe v. Wade is equivalent to exterminating more than the entire population of California. To kill that many Americans today would mean that more than 13 out of every 100 of us would have to die.  Protecting life should be talked about everyday by a candidate who believes a baby’s human rights begin at conception.

5. Support for traditional marriage.

A huge majority of Americans are in favor of protecting marriage as a sacred institution between one man and one woman. Obama wants to redefine and distort the definition of marriage to include same gender arrangements. Americans need to know about this massive difference between the candidates.

6. Obama’s radical friends and associations.

Obama has a history of incredibly poor judgment in the area of his friends and associations. There are so many long-term radical associations in his past that it is hard to believe him when he claims that he is not a radical himself. Americans deserve to know the full story about William Ayers, Reverend Wright, Father Pfleger, Tony Rezko and ACORN to name just a few examples.

7. Oil and energy.

Drill here, drill now. Build more nuclear power plants. Develop more energy sources. We need to treat our lack of a viable energy policy as a national emergency and work to become energy independent ASAP.

8. Taxes and the economy.

With his “spread the wealth around” Marxist philosophy, Obama must be stopped before he transforms the American tax code into one that resembles a communist system.  Obama’s promise to give 95% of Americans a tax cut when only about 65% pay any income taxes amounts to such a system. Americans must be told the truth until it hits home.

9. Dangers posed by Russia and China.

Russia and China have been flexing their military muscles in more aggressive patterns over the past few years. We need a President who is willing to confront them, stare them down, and put them in their place when they bully other nations.

10. Name names and push a reform agenda now.

John McCain needs to live up to his nickname as The Sheriff and aggressively take on corrupt interests — especially Democrats in Washington — and those who led Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac down the path of corruption. McCain called for reforms of Fannie and Freddie years ago but few know that.  During that time, Obama, on the other hand, was taking huge sums in campaign contributions from these corrupt organizations. McCain needs to name names and push a strong reform agenda now.

I think if McCain aggressively addressed these ten areas he would win a landslide victory. Most voters are looking for a leader who will leave them alone to pursue the American dream, will take on the bad guys, and will protect our national interests and traditional values. John McCain needs to hurry up, step up to the plate and build the case that he is just that leader.

We’ve been told for months now by politicians, especially Democrats, that the U.S. economy is in shambles.  Over the past few days we’ve been told that government must act now in a huge way to bail it out before the woes of Wall Street hit Main Street. We’re told that this is the worst economy since (insert year of choice here). There is so much doom and gloom.

But let’s step back and think for a minute. Yesterday we saw a huge drop in the stock market. Today we saw it recover about half that drop. While wild swings are not ideal, the fact that things calmed down and recovered so much today after the hailed bailout plan was voted down yesterday speaks volumes about consumer confidence (which today was reported for September to be up from August’s numbers and higher than analysts expected).

Also, the value of the U.S. Dollar surged in relation to many foreign currencies today, especially major tracking ones like the Euro, Yen and the British Pound. How could that be if our economy is on the verge of collapse and a second Great Depression? Would foreigners want to hold dollars if they were soon to be devalued or made worthless? I think not.

A couple weeks ago John McCain was ridiculed for expressing that while there are problems in our economy it is fundamentally strong. I agree with McCain and applaud him for speaking the truth and not trying to “talk down” the economy for political gain. Think about it: The American worker remains the most productive in the world. We have an incredible infrastructure to facilitate business transactions, labor exchanges and economic development. We have a strong legal foundation that protects innovation, entrepreneurship, private property — including intellectual property — and individual freedom. Where else in the world can you find all these components required for a strong economy?

Yes, there are problems in our economy today (largely the result of bad government policy) but the American economy remains fundamentally strong because Americans are fundamentally strong and innovative. The sooner government realizes that it needs to get out of the way of free and private markets the better it will be for everyone — from Wall Street to Main Street. I think the positive economic response we say today to yesterday’s no vote on the bailout bill should serve as a lesson that government intervention in the economy ought to be limited and restrained.