PastaJoe

McCain and Palin haven't given a speech since the last debate without making him a focal point of their speech.

According to preliminary ratings numbers from the networks, more than 26 million people watched the program on CBS, NBC or Fox. That's 3 million more than usually watch those networks at that hour, according to the Hollywood Reporter. Averaging in the cable networks that also carried the event, about 30 million people in all saw the long-form campaign ad. The ad was most watched on NBC, where nearly 10 million viewers tuned in. More than 8.5 million watched on CBS while just under 8 million viewed the program on Fox. On average, about 7 million people usually tune into each network at that hour. Overall, according to Nielsen, for the six networks that aired the infomercial simultaneously, it scored a household rating of nearly 22 percent — meaning 22 percent of all households watching television at that hour tuned into the spot. That compares to the 38.3 household rating the last presidential debate scored. Obama's combined audience beat the highest rated television show last week: CBS' CSI drew about 20 million viewers. It also drew more than double the viewers the average World Series game this year did. But even if viewers didn't catch the spot when it first aired, clips of the program have repeatedly been broadcast across the cable news chanels Thursday, maximizing the Illinois senator's exposure in the crucial remaining days before Election Day. "The strategic brilliance of this for Obama is that he is going to consume about 24 hours of the news cycle," Evan Tracey of Campaign Media Analysis Group said. "It boxes [John] McCain in, takes the oxygen out of the room." http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/

You mean the same media lapdogs that McCain called his closest supporters before the election? After it was determined to be unconstitutional to restrict public donations, which was the preferred choice by Dems to limit campaign costs, the Dems decided to beat the Repubs at their own game. And now McCain is crying about the Dems not playing fair. Maybe if he had a better plan for America he'd get more financial support. But that would have cost him the nomination.

Turkeys can fly short distances. I had one fly over the hood of my car as it was crossing the street. And there are some around here that fly up into the trees to sleep at night to avoid the wild dogs. And the point is that McCain's campaign is so out of sync they don't even know if the guests they're introducing are there.

Probably the same people who still think Iraq attacked us on 9/11.

Joe Wurzelbacher, aka Joe the Plumber, has become an integral part of John McCain's presidential bid, but it appears the Arizona senator's campaign and the now-famous Toledo plumber need to work on their communication skills. McCain aides told CNN's Dana Bash Wurzelbacher would appear with the Republican presidential candidate at his first campaign event in Defiance, Ohio. But in what was a slightly awkward moment for McCain, Wurzelbacher was nowhere to be seen when the Arizona senator called out for him. A campaign aide later said Wurzelbacher had "decided not to come" and may join McCain later in the day. But reached at his home by CNN's Mary Snow, Wurzelbacher said it was "news to him" that he was supposed to be at the McCain rally. Wurzelbacher said nobody from the McCain campaign confirmed he was attending the event and called the incident a "miscommunication." Wurzelbacher also said he is headed to Philadelphia for a charity event unrelated to the campaign and has no plans to meet up with McCain today. UPDATE: Contacted by CNN a second time, Wurzelbacher said the campaign only called him to confirm after the event in question already took place. He will now try to meet up with McCain later in the day. Wurzelbacher also said he had gotten an initial call about coming to the morning rally, "but no one called back to confirm," and was "not happy" that McCain had called out his name and he wasn't there. http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/

Better yet, put the name, car, and license plate number of a co-worker you don't like on the note.

Well since she'll be 91 when I turn 69, yeah probably.

Of course it's not official until the Electoral College votes in December, and then the president elect has to take the oath on Jan 20. Stuff could happen between now and then (national crisis resulting in martial law?). People in power hate to give it up. I'm just sayin. Scooter is just counting the days.

McCain would have given his right nut (and I'm not talking about Palin) to have the support that provided the money for Obama to buy that air time. 632,000 first-time givers to Obama in September. The contributions by the new givers that month averaged $86. And spending money on advertising is not a waste, that money goes to the advertising agencies, television networks, and employees who work for those companies. It's going back into the American economy. People voluntarily donating to the campaigns expect that is what it will be spent on, not personal items like clothing (oops, Sarah!). As George Will points out, the Center for Responsive Politics calculates that, by Election Day, $2.4 billion will have been spent on presidential campaigns in the two-year election cycle that began in January 2007, and an additional $2.9 billion will have been spent on 435 House and 35 Senate contests. This $5.3 billion is a billion less than Americans will spend this year on potato chips. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/conte...id=opinionsbox1

Let's compare the 2007 murder rates per 100k people in each of the candidate's states: Illinois: 5.9 Delaware: 4.3 vs Arizona: 7.4 Alaska: 6.4 So based on the states they represent, and since you think they should have a direct influence on the numbers, it looks like McCain/Palin have some work to do to get down to the Obama/Biden rates. http://www.disastercenter.com/crime/

I'm equating placing responsiblity for social activity on political leaders, which you started.

Which president and party ended the funding for the addtional 100,000 cops on the street policy?

I thought this was a thread about the hamburger chain's pins. I've had a beef with them ever since they ended the all you can eat salad and taco bar.

What's Sarah Palin done to reduce the drug use and unwed pregnancy in Alaska, among the highest per capita in the country?

The already-contentious North Carolina Senate race took a brutal turn Wednesday after incumbent Sen. Elizabeth Dole released a television ad suggesting challenger Kay Hagan is "Godless." “A leader of the Godless Americans PAC recently held a secret fundraiser for Kay Hagan,” the 30-second ad says before showing clips from members of the group declaring God and Jesus do not exist. “Godless Americans and Kay Hagan. She hid from cameras. Took godless money,” the ad's narrator also says. “What did Kay Hagan promise in return?” The ad ends with a female voice declaring, "There is no God." That quote is delivered by someone who sounds like Hagan, but those words have never been said by the candidate. The Dole campaign says it's basing its charge on Hagan's attendance at a fundraiser that was in the home of an advisor to the Godless Americans’ political action committee, a group that promotes rights for atheists. In a conference call with reporters Wednesday, Hagan said she has never heard of the Godless PAC and said the fundraiser in question had more than 40 hosts, including Sen. John Kerry. She also said she has contacted her lawyers to issue a cease-and-desist order on the commercial. "I am absolutely appalled at Elizabeth Dole's vile tactics," Hagan said. “This is politics of the worst kind, and I know it has been rejected by North Carolinians at every level. It is so unbecoming of a woman like Elizabeth Dole. This is a fabricated, pathetic ad." http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/

Perot doesn't like McCain ever since he dumped his first wife Carol for Cindy. Perot paid Carol's medical bills after her car accident and while John was a POW. [Perot talking] "After he came home, he walked with a limp, she [Carol McCain] walked with a limp. So he threw her over for a poster girl with big money from Arizona [Cindy McCain, his current wife] and the rest is history." Perot's real problem with McCain is that he believes the senator hushed up evidence that live POWs were left behind in Vietnam and even transferred to the Soviet Union for human experimentation, a charge Perot says he heard from a senior Vietnamese official in the 1980s. "There's evidence, evidence, evidence," Perot claims. "McCain was adamant about shutting down anything to do with recovering POWs." This and other views in his January interview: http://www.newsweek.com/id/94827/

Stevens said he isn't going to step down, and when he loses the election it will be a moot point. Besides, I don't think a Governor can appoint themself to be Senator, can they? Or do they have a Dick Cheney rule there? If there was an appointment, she would probably pick Todd, or maybe her son-in-law to be, he could use a job with good benefits.

So you'd rather have a prolonged recession than have Obama take credit for a recovery? Part of the financial crisis is due to perceptions that the situation won't improve, so nobody wants to take a chance. What if they get some confidence from knowing Obama will provide steady leadership, shouldn't he get credit for restoring that confidence?

Because Bush's tax cuts have kept so many companies from moving jobs to China and India, and has attracted jobs back from other countries...

The electoral college could still submit their votes based on their best judgement of the perceived will of the people. Or they could go to Kevin Costner to break the tie. I suppose it it went beyond Jan. 20, Nancy Pelosi would become the president in the absence of a successor.

I hope you and other McCain supporters keep saying it's close, because hopefully it will energize Obama supporters to make sure they go vote and get others to vote and not take the election for granted.

Speaking of which, what's wide stance Larry Craig been up to lately?

We could stay there 2 years or 10 years, but in the end when we leave if the Iraqis don't have a political agreement then it will revert to civil war in either case. Enough American lives have been sacrificed, I don't want any more. You can respect someone's service and still disagree with their policy views.

That's going to be Sarah Palin's limo if she becomes VP.