Vote '08

The two candidates pictured above both have recently called for a suspension of the federal gas tax between this Memorial Day & Labor Day, & have both blasted Barack Obama, who opposes it.

No one likes high gas prices. But pandering to the base, immediate needs of the voters represents a “quick fix” style solution designed to get votes rather than address a long-term problem.

Each of the three candidates have promised to reduce the nation’s dependence on foreign oil.

• Here’s Barack Obama’s plan
• Here’s Hillary Clinton’s plan
• Here’s John McCain’s plan

Each of these arguments have merits. For starters, each represent a break from the current system which is running on inertia. & look where that’s gotten us.

There are two ways to approach fixing the gas price problem: reducing demand, & increasing supply.

Dropping the federal gas tax for this summer would do neither of these; it would increase demand - presumably because the price would be better - & decrease supply, as more people use gas.

& it really wouldn’t make that much of an impact in your wallet, anyway, as this clip from Good Morning America illustrates:

Thomas Friedman of the New York Times fleshes out that point in his column today.

& lest you think that opposition to the idea sticks with just one ideology, check out the wealth of economists - including a former economic adviser to President Bush - who say it’s a cheap gimmick designed to get votes.

Personally I’m more than happy to pay the tax - provided that tax is going towards figuring out a long-term solution to the problem. I am tired & extremely frustrated at politicians in Washington - of both parties - refusing to look beyond the next week, the next month, the next year, or, most importantly, the next election.

This 2008 presidential campaign, as we’ve said before, is not an easy one. It’s awfully hard. You as a voter have a responsibility to look past your immediate concerns & try to envision how to plan for 20, 30, 50 years down the road. Changing how we view our dependence on foreign oil is just one part of this.

So we urge you to reject any politician’s plan to give you a “quick fix” in the short term while ignoring the long term issues that are at stake for our economic (& literal) survival.

What do you think?

One of the major failings of the Bush administration since September 11th, 2001 has been the lack of any kind of call for national sacrifice (& no, we’re not counting the call from the President to “go shopping“).

After the jump, we offer some thoughts on how the next president needs to change this.. even though we have evidence they’ve given no indication they’ll do so. 

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[Hard to ignore a segue like this one after the Elton John post.]

In an interview with the gay magazine ‘the Advocate,’ Barack Obama says if elected he would repeal the military’s current “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy regarding homosexuals.

For those of you unfamiliar with it, it requires the military to not ask if any service member is homosexual, but also mandates that any person who reveals themself to be so be immediately discharged.

Find out what Obama had to say — & get our take on the thing, too — after the jump.

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continues to take a look at some hard truths about Iraq that folks on both sides of the debate need to realize.

The always-readable George Packer of the New Yorker has a great piece in the winter 2008 issue of the World Affairs Journal. The entire thing is worth a read, but here I want to highlight some of the points he makes that are worthy of applying to how we approach this upcoming presidential campaign, both in terms of how to think about the Iraq question & how we need to change our approach for many other issues.

Packer has been to Iraq many times in the past five years, & he is definitely a critic of the way the U.S. rushed into war:

“Iraq’s remoteness…derives from the politics of the war, and from the political culture of contemporary America at war. The fighting only ever affected a tiny fraction of the public directly. The administration, which never leveled with the country about the potential costs and risks of the enterprise beforehand, tried to keep the war quiet by declaring victory prematurely, refusing to allow pictures of flag-draped caskets arriving at Dover Air Force Base, keeping silent when large numbers of soldiers were killed. The all-volunteer military bought the administration a year or two of goodwill before public opinion began to turn. The façade collapsed when the nation began to realize, around the time New Orleans was under water, that the war was going badly. There was no reason to follow the president into the mouth of hell, and public support, which had always been thin, disintegrated lmost overnight.

But he also has some very critical points to make for those who would turn their backs on any issue this war has created simply because of their initial opposition to it:

“The administration’s deceptions, exaggerations, and always-evolving rationales provoked a counter-narrative that mirrored the White House version of the war in its simple-mindedness: the war was about nothing (except greed, empire, and blind folly). Once, after a trip to Iraq, I attended a dinner party in Los Angeles at which most of the other guests were movie types. They wanted to know what it was like “over there.” I began to describe a Shiite doctor I’d gotten to know, who felt torn between gratitude and fear that occupation and chaos were making Iraq less Islamic. A burst of invective interrupted my sketch: none of it mattered-the only thing that mattered was this immoral, criminal war. The guests had no interest in hearing what it was like over there. They already knew.”

& these entrenched positions on both sides only made matters worse:

“So the lines were drawn from the start. To the pro-war side, criticism was animated by partisanship and defeatism, if not treason. This view, amplified on cable news, talk radio, and right-wing blogs, was tacitly encouraged by the White House. It kept a disastrous defense secretary in office long after it was obvious that he was losing the war, ensured that no senior officer was held accountable for military setbacks, and contributed to the repetition of disastrous errors by the war’s political architects. Meanwhile, the fact that the best and brightest Iraqis were being slaughtered by a ruthless insurgency never aroused much interest or sympathy among the war’s opponents. The kind of people who would ordinarily inspire solidarity campaigns among Western progressives-trade unionists, journalists, human rights advocates, women’s rights activists, independent politicians, doctors, professors-were being systematically exterminated. But since the war shouldn’t have been fought in the first place, what began badly must also end badly. “

Again, the entire article is worth your time, but I link it today to make a point I’ve made before:

America, its people & its policies are not black & white. We all would improve our country immensely if we saw the world as it truly is, in shades of gray. 

• If you have supported this war from the start, you need to face the fact that this was one of the worst thought out endeavors in American history, & you should realize that rigidly toeing the party line has actually ultimately hurt its cause.
• If you have opposed the war from the start, you need to face the fact that nothing, absolutely nothing, can return Iraq to what it was under Saddam Hussein, & you should recognize that in many ways this has been good for the long term future of the Iraqi people.

The surge is a perfect example of this “shades-of-gray” mentality. We should be thankful that the military has finally - far too late to be most effective, but finally - figured out that the battlefield is not one of territory, but in the minds of the Iraqi people. However, this past week’s violence has shown that it can only get us so far in achieving victory. More needs to be done.

This isn’t just about Iraq, though. It’s important in this crucial election year that you be willing to listen to what you may consider “the other side.” Being entrenched into one single ideology, being willfully ignorant of that ideology’s potential downsides, will lead our great nation on the path to ruin.

“The overall U.S. death toll in Iraq rose to 4,000 after four soldiers were killed in a roadside bombing in Baghdad, a grim milestone that is likely to fuel calls for the withdrawal of American forces as the war enters its sixth year. The American deaths occurred Sunday, the same day rockets and mortars pounded the U.S.-protected Green Zone in Baghdad and a wave of attacks left at least 61 Iraqis dead nationwide. The four soldiers with Multi-National Division - Baghdad were on a patrol when their vehicle was struck at about 10 p.m. Sunday in southern Baghdad, the U.S. military said. Another soldier was wounded in the attack - less than a week after the fifth anniversary of the conflict.”

Again, hopes you are paying attention to Iraq, even though the economy is taking center stage.

Last Friday, liberal columnist Mark Shields & conservative columnist David Brooks discussed the 5-year anniversary of the war, & both encapsulated my feelings on the war perfectly by saying this:

JIM LEHRER [no relation]: Finally, your thoughts, five years of the Iraq war, what are you thinking about right now, David…

DAVID BROOKS: Well…

JIM LEHRER: … about the war and the rest? What needs to be said about it? Let’s put it that way.

DAVID BROOKS: Well, it’s been a searing experience for the country and for a lot of us. I would say it’s changed my view of the world quite dramatically, as I look back. And I think what I knew but didn’t practice was the sense that societies are complex, organic organism, more complex than we can possibly understand. And if you’re going to intervene…

JIM LEHRER: You mean other societies than our own?

DAVID BROOKS: Ours, too. Ours, too.

JIM LEHRER: Oh, OK.

DAVID BROOKS: And if you’re going to intervene in a society, you have to respect the complexity and respect your own ignorance of that complexity. And that’s something every conservative should really know, but sometimes those facts were held in abeyance in the enthusiasm of the moment.

JIM LEHRER: Mark?

MARK SHIELDS: We know, Jim, we went to war against a country that had never attacked us, that never threatened us, on the bogus claim that that country had weapons of mass destruction which were a threat to us.

And it was not a moral war, and it was not a just war. It was a war in which the United States sullied, stained and repealed one of the great American values, that is that, in wartime, war demands equality of sacrifice.

All the sacrifice in this war has been borne by the 1 percent of Americans who are in uniform and their families. The rest of us have been quietly by, especially those of us who opposed the war, and been moral defectors.

We haven’t protested the fact that this is a war that our children and grandchildren will pay for. We haven’t even — we’ve blithely accepted tax cuts, and no draft, and no burden, paid no price, bore no burden, and accepted leadership that demanded nothing of us, and we’ve demanded nothing of them.

JIM LEHRER: David?

DAVID BROOKS: Well, I do think that desire to sacrifice is hanging out there. It’s still an unmet need in the body politic. There are still thousands of young people, people of all ages, who want to do some sort of service. And for the next president, that will be something to pick up, not to draft them. We’re not going to have a draft. But to increase national service is something McCain has talked about, Obama, Clinton. They’ve all talked about it. And I think it will emotionally help heal some of the unwanted desire to actually rally together after 9/11.

God bless & keep the souls of the (now 4000) fallen in Iraq. May whomever becomes their leader on January 20th, 2009 better understand how to support them, & realize that the nation is willing to be asked more of it to help see this conflict to victory.

Later today on NewsChannel 9 at 5:30, we’ll talk with an Iraqi refugee who has called Murray County, Georgia home. Despite promises to welcome Iraqi refugees with open arms, the U.S. has accepted them at a frustratingly low pace. 

The A.P.’s running a story about Ron Paul indicating he may drop out of the race soon:

WASHINGTON - GOP presidential candidate Ron Paul is hinting to supporters that he is ending his long-shot campaign for the presidency. The Texas Republican congressman addressed supporters in a 7 1/2-minute video on his campaign Web site Thursday night and did not specifically say he was quitting the race. He said that although victory in the conventional political sense is not available in the presidential race, many victories have been achieved due to the hard work and enthusiasm of his supporters. He said that he hoped that one day he and his supporters could look back and say his campaign was a significant first step that signaled a change in direction for the country. Paul said their job now was to plan for the next phase of their effort.

Watch the entire 7-1/2 minute clip & decide for yourself after the jump! (NOW UPDATED with Ron Paul supporter reaction)

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The Tennessee Republican party has drawn flack for a press release it issued earlier this week making repeated use of Barack Obama’s middle name, Hussein.

The release ostensibly questioned Obama’s commitment to the survival of Israel, a question Obama answered in Tuesday’s debate:

This answer makes Wednesday’s brouhaha all the more questionable. The Tennessee GOP went ahead & released the charge, despite the fact that the candidate seemed to answer most of the questions about his commitment to Israel & his credits to American Jews who have helped him on his campaign.

With that arrow taken out of the quiver, what remains is the releases repeated use of the candidate’s full name, including Hussein. The photo accompanying the release also makes the implication that Obama is some sort of “secret terrorist.”

Later in the day the TN GOP defended the release and the use of the name, saying “Richard Nixon often went by Richard Milhouse Nixon, and Hillary Clinton often went by Hillary Rodham Clinton.”

Again, this was all on the same day that presumptive GOP nominee John McCain repudiated similar comments made by a right-wing radio talk show host in Illinois made on the stage where McCain was about to appear. (hear more of that part of the story here & hear the criticism that host, Bill Cunningham, received from his own side of the aisle here).

McCain showed some much-needed leadership in criticizing the Tennessee GOP for the release:

“If I am the nominee of the party, I will obviously assure that everyone within my party knows that this has got to be a respectful debate.”

But it was Tennessee Senator Lamar Alexander who gets the most credit for playing the adult here. He personally asked the TN GOP to remove the picture & reference to “Hussein” from the website.

Obama has no reason to be ashamed of his name. It happens to be one of the most common names in the Muslim world, but that in no way reflects on whether or not he’s a Muslim.

Republicans, you have every reason to have hope that your side will win this year. Trying to tie Obama’s middle name to radical Islamic extremism only hurts your cause. If Republicans win this year, it will be on the issues, & not using tactics like these.

Don’t take my word for it; take Karl Rove’s, as reported by the Atlantic’s Marc Ambinder:

No less an authority figure than Karl Rove has warned Republican operatives from demagoguing Barack Obama’s middle name.

At a closed door meeting of GOP state executive directors in late January, Rove said the safest way to refer to Obama would be to use his honorific, “Sen. Obama.”

“The context was, you’re not going to stigmatize this guy. You shouldn’t underestimate him,” one of the executive directors said. Rove said that the use of “Barack Hussein Obama” would perpetuate the notion that Republicans were bigoted and would hurt the party.

& please don’t think this post is an attempt by Vote08 to promote one side or the other. This message should be heard by both parties. Liberals who thought they were promoting Democratic causes late last year actually hurt their cause when they published the “General Petraeus-Betray-Us ” ad in the New York Times. Frankly, Petraeus, not Vladimir Putin, deserved to be named Time’s Man of the Year this past year for what he has done to improve the situation on the ground in Iraq (& far more importantly, how he has successfully changed the mindset of those who are prosecuting that war).

Vote08 is in favor of civil discourse between both sides. We can have a presidential contest without stooping to this level.

Late this afternoon, the Tennessee Republican party issued a press release about some GOP state lawmaker’s long term health care plan, & how it contrasts with the one touted by (Democratic) Tennessee Governor Phil Bredesen. Bredesen’s middle name, Norman, was omitted.

William F. Buckley Jr ., the erudite Ivy Leaguer and conservative herald who showered huge and scornful words on liberalism as he observed, abetted and cheered on the right’s post-World War II rise from the fringes to the White House, died Wednesday. He was 82.

Buckley is often called the father of modern conservatism. But he also helped create much of what we think of as the ‘debate’ media today.

Long before Crossfire, Hardball, or Hannity & Colmes, Buckley debuted a public affairs show called Firing Line that brought impassioned political discourse to the airwaves. Buckley was passionate about his views, but unlike almost anyone on the airwaves today, he treated each & every one his ideological foes with patience & respect, which is a trait toward which we all should strive.

Here’s a clip from one of the most famous Firing Lines, in which Buckley debates well-known liberal thinker Noam Chomsky:

Buckley was an “old-style” conservative meaning he leaned more towards libertarianism. Consequently, he was a vocal opponent & critic of President Bush’s invasion of Iraq:

“The war in Iraq was anything but conservative. The reality of the situation is that missions abroad to effect regime change in countries without a bill of rights or democratic tradition are terribly arduous.” He added: “This isn’t to say that the Iraq war is wrong, or that history will judge it to be wrong. But it is absolutely to say that conservatism implies a certain submission to reality; and this war has an unrealistic frank and is being conscripted by events”

Feel free to leave your thoughts on Mr. Buckley in the comments section.

Voters in Pakistan choose their parliamentary members today, a day which coincides with our own “Presidents’ Day.”

The Pakistani system is a little different than the American one. Each party (there are more than 2) has a leader who is trying to get voters to choose the party. It would be as if John Kerry was ‘the face’ of the Democratic campaign for Congress in 2006, an off-presidential election year.

Here’s a campaign commercial for one of those parties. Notice how the candidates up for election are faceless & nameless, & that the party’s head is the one whom you see:

Vote08 would like you to ponder this story today & consider our own democracy & your role in it.

The great U.S. Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis once said that in a democracy, ‘the most important political office is that of private citizen’

Here’s a look at a ‘how-to-vote’ video broadcast on Pakistani TV. No idea what the video is saying, but the images should tell you enough.

By the way, registered voters in Hamilton County who voted on Super Tuesday: 40.04%

Folks, this is not acceptable. The number is far too low in a country as precious as ours. Many people take their right to vote for granted.

Chances are if you are viewing this site, you are already engaged in the political process & hopefully voted in the recent primaries.

But Vote08 would like to challenge you in the coming months to engage people whom you know who don’t normally vote to get involved. & this doesn’t mean that what we’re asking here is to convince a non-voter to choose a particular candidate. We would argue you’re going to be much more effective if you simply ask “are you going to vote in November?” rather than “WHO are you going to vote for in November?”

Regardless of who people are voting for, there’s an argument to be made — from any political viewpoint — that a greater participation in a democracy produces better results for your way of thinking.

Think about it.

  In another corner of the world, Kosovo has declared its independence today. This is an important step for that country, but a long & bumpy road remains ahead. Remember how important it was when our Founding Fathers took the fateful step against England that helped bring our great nation where it is today.

& Happy Presidents’ Day, everyone.

In honor of the ‘Month of Love’ campaign on NewsChannel9.com, it’s time for Vote08 to fess up: We’re in love!

We’re in love with the 2008 Presidential campaign!

Our hearts are melting for the six weeks of excitement we’ve already seen since the year began.. and our hearts are a-flutter thinking about what may lie ahead!

After the jump, our special Valentines to all of the candidates!

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199 years ago today, Abraham Lincoln was born in a one-room log cabin in Hardin County, Kentucky.

He would grow up to become a state lawmaker in Illinois, an Illinois congressman in Washington D.C., & ultimately the United States’ greatest president.

What would Lincoln say about today’s presidential campaign? Find out what some are saying, after the jump. (more…)

Despite many conservative media outlets’ efforts to paint the “liberal” tag onto the presumptive GOP presidential nominee [uh, Fox News? that should be (R-AZ)], it is abundantly clear John McCain reverts what was assumed to be an easy layup for Democrats back into a real horse race for the big prize.

McCain delivered one of his best speeches from the campaign trail yet at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) yesterday. (Here’s a link to the full text of his speech & here’s a bit of video showing how he delivered it, complete with boos from the crowd). McCain faces an uphill battle convincing conservatives he really does share their values, & he started the conversation yesterday. Whether he made any converts remains to be seen (Rush Limbaugh, a vocal McCain critic, suggested yesterday to his listeners they should start giving Hillary Clinton money to keep her in the race, as she is the only way to keep the GOP united). But more importantly it remains to be seen whether support from a wing of the party which for the first time since 1980 has not picked the eventual nominee is still relevant.

Vote08 throws a bucket of cold water on conservatives considering sitting the race out, after the jump.

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A lack of candidate candor over the Iraq question is hurting the United States’ long-term efforts in the struggle against terrorism. Vote08 has reality checks for voters on both sides after the jump.

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