Ponderstorm My Brainstorm on Life & Politics

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!

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.

Posted under Barack Obama, Campaign, Video

A friend of mine runs Obama2.com and posted this humorous comparison video produced by Our Country Deserves Better PAC. The video highlights Senator Barack Obama’s thin resume (including some classic verbal gaffes and stumbles) compared to that of Governor Sarah Palin.

It seems that Team Obama is aware that comparisons with Senator John McCain make their candidate look like an empty suit. Perhaps that’s why they’ve targeted Sarah Palin as the less experienced member of the Republican ticket in an effort to bolster the credentials of their candidate. See for yourself.

Posted under Barack Obama, Campaign, John McCain, Video

Yesterday I wrote about Democratic Presidential candidate Barack Obama’s “lipstick on a pig” statement that I feel was a not-so-subtle reference to Republican Vice Presidential candidate Sarah Palin. The McCain-Palin camp went on the offensive and responded with the following video ad.

Looks like Obama really stuck his foot in his mouth this time. To rephrase another of his statements from yesterday, he may end up being the old fish wrapped in a piece of paper that will still be stinking in eight years. (Obama: “You can wrap an old fish in a piece of paper called ‘change.’ It’s still gonna stink after eight years.” If the “lipstick on a pig” statement was meant to be Sarah Palin, do you think the “old fish” was a reference to John McCain?)

Posted under Barack Obama, Campaign, Video

Republican Vice Presidential Candidate Sarah Palin is known as a hockey mom and told a joke during her acceptance speech at the Republican National Convention when she saw a group of women holding hockey mom signs: “I love those hockey moms. You know they say the difference between a hockey mom and a pit bull? Lipstick.”

That joke has received a lot of play in the mainstream media and is retold often around the water coolers, talk shows and blogs of America. It has come to symbolize Sarah Palin.

Today, at a Lebanon, Virginia campaign stop, Senator Barack Obama stated “you can put lipstick on a pig, it’s still a pig.” What was he suggesting?  Just an old expression or a personal attack?  I think the latter. Judging by the reaction of Obama’s audience, I think they think he’s talking about Sarah Palin also. Watch the video and decide for yourself.

Posted under Barack Obama, Campaign, Video

I’m sure this shocked many on the left and many in the mainstream media, but the Republican convention was more watched than the Democratic convention AP Television Writer David Bauder reported today. He writes: “The Republican convention was the most-watched convention on television ever, beating a standard set by the Democrats a week earlier.” Also interesting is that John McCain and Barack Obama both were tied at 42.4 million viewers each for their respective party nomination speeches.

Overall, “more than 40 million people watched political speeches on three nights by Obama, McCain and Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin,” Bauder reports. “Three times in two weeks, political speeches were watched by more people than the ‘American Idol’ finale, the Academy Awards and the opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympics this year.” Interestingly, speeches by Joe Biden, Hillary Clinton or Bill Clinton didn’t achieve these numbers.

According to Nielsen Media Research there were an average of 34.5 million people watching the GOP convention over three days. Nielsen suggested that “proved people are becoming more interested in what the Republicans have to say.” Nielsen reported that the Democrats had an average audience of 30.2 million over their convention’s four days. That’s more than 4 million viewers for the Republican convention.

Interesting numbers and interesting times. I think these latest numbers show a reinvigorated Republican Party due in large part to the inclusion of Sarah Palin on the ticket with John McCain.

Posted under Barack Obama, Campaign, John McCain, Politics