Buckeye RINO

The State of Ohio Blogger Alliance has undertaken the task of highlighting criticisms of the Obama ticket that the in-the-tank MSM works hard to downplay or outright ignore.  The effort has been titled “Help Ohio Prevent Electing Obama Now” (HOPE ON), and, in all, 13 installments will be rolled out for blog readers to peruse and reflect upon.

Here are my recaps for Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6, Part 7, Part 8, Part 9, Part 10, Part 11, and Part 12.

BizzyBlog wraps up Part 13, the final installment of HOPE ON.  You can see an accompanying video at BizzyBlog, and you can see all 13 videos at neverfindout.org.  The transcript reads:

Thank you, Senator McCain. We don’t hear much about your service to our country. You don’t talk about it very often. But that’s okay. We will.

We all know to judge a man’s character not by what he says, but what he does. You haven’t just told us you love America. You have shown us. The years you spent tortured as a prisoner of war, don’t just tell us you are honorable. They show us we can trust you.

What did our Founding Fathers hope for in a president? How about a war hero who sacrificed again and again for the love of his country? How about a veteran of the Senate who has tirelessly put America first?

Senator McCain, fads come and go, but they don’t last. You are not a fad. You are the real deal, Senator. We could never question your commitment. We can’t question your experience. We can’t question your associations and your motivations.

You have always been proud of America. You have always put your country first. And for that, we say, “Thank you, Senator.”

The person who really did an excellent job of pointing out why McCain is the right person for the presidency right now is California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger.  Here’s a video clip of Schwarzenegger speaking to those assembled at a McCain rally in Columbus, Ohio, during the past week. At about the 4 minute mark into the video, Schwarzenegger extols McCain by saying, “I only play an action hero in the movies, but John McCain is a real action hero.”  At about 5 minutes and 20 seconds, Schwarzenegger recounts his own migration from the socialism of Europe to the opportunity of America.  He also points out that Europe has had to backpedal on socialism because of its pratfalls, and he points out that America should not be marching toward socialism to find solutions for our economic problems, because socialism doesn’t have the solutions.  The Schwarzenegger speech is definitely worth a listen, so I hope you check it out.

From the Buckeye RINO perspective:

I’m pleased that Senator McCain stopped by Sandusky on his whirlwind campaign tour of Ohio.  On the stump, McCain gave a rousing speech, like the one at the Republican National Convention, imbued with hope, which is a stark contrast with the stump speeches I’ve sampled from Joe Biden.  Obama, on the stump, mocks McCain, but I don’t think there’s really much to mock, even though it has worked wonders on turning Obama into the media darling while placing McCain in the media doghouse.  McCain has not been George W. Bush, despite Obama’s contrary assertions.  McCain has been transparent.  McCain has been bipartisan.  McCain has been true to America even through times of wartime torture, and he has the scars to prove it.  McCain and Palin are firmly committed to reforming Washington DC.  As I noted in Part 9, McCain and Obama should be measured by the content of their character, not the color of their skin.

If you’ve been reading this HOPE ON series, then you are aware of some of the most troubling aspects of the Obama platform.

• Obama has revealed himself to be a socialist.  We now have the smoking gun.  Now that he’s been pinned down, his counter-argument is that McCain’s platform is based on “selfishness,” which is hardly the way I’d describe John McCain when the chips are down.
• It’s now been shown that Obama’s reluctant shift toward an all-of-the-above approach toward energy was just a sham, as it’s now come out that the regulatory burden to be imposed on the coal industry during an Obama presidency will be prohibitive.  How many more industries, not just in the energy sector, could be impacted by regulatory burdens imposed by Obama remains to be seen.
• Obama’s views on education reform aren’t directed at learning or achieving academic success.  As shown by his work with Bill Ayers, “social justice” is to be the ultimate imperative that the schools are charged with achieving.
• Obama hasn’t been forthright, and the media has been his willing accomplice, as he intentionally steers clear of a number of topics.
• His views on how to achieve foreign policy objectives aren’t just naive, they are dangerous.
• Obama and his campaign are using the same politics of personal destruction against detractors like Joe the Plumber that Bill Clinton used against the likes of Paula Jones.
• Obama not only didn’t keep his word about public financing of his campaign, but he and his campaign have deliberately removed the checks and balances that would ensure that donors are identified, are U.S. citizens, have not donated using stolen credit card numbers, and have not exceeded the individual donation limits.
• And if checks and balances aren’t in place when it comes to campaign finances, they aren’t in place when it comes to voting.  The notoriously corrupt Chicago political machine has been exported from Illinois to all parts of the United States, especially swing states like Ohio.  Ohio Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner has not ensured the integrity of elections.  The system can be gamed.  There are reports of ballot box stuffing and other forms of election fraud across the USA.  Brunner is now publicly saying that checking against voter fraud may cause her computer network to crash, which is the biggest lie I’ve heard emanating from Columbus since Marc Dann was drummed out of the Ohio Attorney General’s office.

This is just a partial list, for it doesn’t touch on issues of immigration, abortion, Iraq, Afghanistan, Russia, China, infrastructure, consumer protection, the First Amendment (“fairness doctrine”), the Second Amendment, the Fourth Amendment, the Supreme Court, national defence, housing, the Federal Reserve, states rights, etc.

McCain’s reforms are aimed at increasing the integrity of our nation’s politics.  Obama’s proposed changes, especially in light of how the campaign has been conducted, raise questions about integrity.  McCain is the real reformer, the real maverick, the real change agent, the real action hero, the real deal.

The State of Ohio Blogger Alliance has undertaken the task of highlighting criticisms of the Obama ticket that the in-the-tank MSM works hard to downplay or outright ignore.  The effort has been titled “Help Ohio Prevent Electing Obama Now” (HOPE ON), and, in all, 13 installments will be rolled out for blog readers to peruse and reflect upon.

Here are my recaps of Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6, Part 7, Part 8, Part 9, Part 10, and Part 11.

Return of the Conservatives has the scoop on part 12.  Watch the video there or here.  In 2007, Obama was rated the most liberal member of the Senate, with a whopping 95.5 rating on the liberal 100-point scale from National Journal, who reveals their rating methodology here.  That’s just one measure.  As pointed out at Return of the Conservatives, there are other measures.  The Citizens Club for Growth rated Obama tied for last place with a zero rating in Obama’s first year in office. Also pointed out at Return of the Conservatives:

He has a 0% rating from the Americans for Tax Reform and a 13% rating from Citizens Against Government Waste. His hatred for the Second Amendment was clear with his support of the DC gun ban, and further it is no surprise that the NRA gives him a F rating, and the Gun Owners of America gives him a 0% rating.

From the Buckeye RINO perspective:

This video and the one for HOPE ON Part 4 are nearly identical in content, so you might want to pull up Part 4 for further commentary.

These liberal scores are just based upon votes.  What isn’t measured are the ideals that Obama has held very close to the vest (HOPE ON Part 6) about where he ultimately wants to lead this country.  Given the smoking gun of his 2001 radio interview, as mentioned in HOPE ON Part 8, that suggests that his liberal leanings equate with those of Bill Ayers (HOPE ON Part 7) except for the violence (Obama denounced the violence carried out and advocated for by Ayers, but never denounced the radical views of Ayers–in fact, as more of the puzzle pieces come together, the ideological portrait of Obama is resembling that of Ayers more and more), which would put Obama to the left of virtually every blogger in Ohio’s political blogosphere, to the left of every other presidential candidate, including Ralph Nader and Cynthia McKinney, and to the left of nearly every popular liberal icon, like Michael Moore, Jane Fonda, and Bill Maher, let alone the other U.S. Senators.

When it comes to the bailout, Bob Latta gets it.

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Downtown Sandusky, in Erie County, Ohio, has a quaint little park named Washington Park.

Washington Street runs through it.

(Many more photos to ogle if you click to see the full story.)

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The State of Ohio Blogger Alliance has undertaken the task of highlighting criticisms of the Obama ticket that the in-the-tank MSM works hard to downplay or outright ignore.  The effort has been titled “Help Ohio Prevent Electing Obama Now” (HOPE ON), and, in all, 13 installments will be rolled out for blog readers to peruse and reflect upon.

Here are my recaps of Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6, Part 7, Part 8, Part 9, and Part 10.

DarkeBlog has the scoop on Part 11.  The video can be accessed there or here.  The transcript of the video is important, so I’m including it with some bold type to add my own emphasis.

—Senator McCain, history has shown us your economic plans will work.
—When Ronald Reagan took office, the economy was far worse than it is today.
—You understand that Reagan’s plan worked. Senator Obama does not.
—Ronald Reagan cut marginal tax rates, dividend, and captial gains taxes. Senator Obama will raise them.
—Ronald Reagan cut taxes on small businesses. Senator Obama will raise them.
—Ronald Reagan cut spending and reduced the size of the federal government. Senator Obama plans to increase spending by nearly a trillion dollars. So who’s right?
—During Reagan’s eight years, the Gross Domestic Product nearly doubled. The net worth of a middle class household, again, nearly doubled, and 14 million new jobs were created.
—Senator McCain, we are hopeful.
—Because your economic policies are the policies of Ronald Reagan.
—As a nation in crisis, we’d be fools not to embrace your ideas.
—What happens when we pick the alternative? Please America. Let’s never find out.

From the Buckeye RINO Perspective:

I was too young to vote when Ronald Reagan was first elected in 1980.  But I do remember double-digit unemployment in Ohio.  I remember the oil shocks.  I remember double digit inflation.  I remember double digit mortgage rates.  Americans were being held hostage in Iran.  The U.S.S.R. had invaded Afghanistan.

Not only was the United States economy weak, but our foreign enemies also thought we were weak.  Jimmy Carter called for a boycott of the Summer Olympics in 1980.  Jimmy Carter called for a grain embargo on the Soviet Union.  American farmers had to sell their grain at prices that were too low, only to see profiteers in other nations who’d bought our low-priced grain turn around and re-sell the grain to the Soviet Union at prices that were inflated by our embargo.  Middlemen profited greatly thanks to Jimmy Carter.

One of my school teachers, who was a Democrat, had this to say when sizing up the Carter-Reagan presidential race: “I think, if the Soviet Union called up the White House on the hotline to say ‘Surrender or we launch our nuclear missiles in fifteen minutes,’ Jimmy Carter would surrender.  I think if Ronald Reagan answered the phone instead, he’d say ‘You’ll have your nuclear bombs up in fifteen minutes?  We’ll have ours up in ten!'”  I think the so-called “Reagan Democrats” were stirred by the resolve of Ronald Reagan.  I think voters across the spectrum felt he’d fight tooth-and-nail for us, while Carter would wave the white flag.

Looking back, isn’t it almost surreal that our GDP and the average family’s net worth both nearly doubled during the Reagan Administration?  The Iranians promptly returned the hostages.  The Soviet Union tried to get a little toe-hold on the Caribbean island of Grenada, and Reagan promptly invaded it. The old Cold War strategy of mutually assured destruction as a deterrent was replaced by the new strategy of outright victory. “Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!”  The wall came down.  It’s the stuff of legends and fairy tales, and yet it happened.

This video ad points out that John McCain wants to tackle our economic problems the way Ronald Reagan did:  Cut taxes and let business thrive.  On the foreign policy front, all the other candidates, including Barack Obama, remind me of Jimmy Carter.  Only John McCain is resolved to win out against our enemies.

Frankly speaking, I love Ronald Reagan.  Which presidential candidate reminds you more of Ronald Reagan?

The State of Ohio Blogger Alliance has undertaken the task of highlighting criticisms of the Obama ticket that the in-the-tank MSM works hard to downplay or outright ignore.  The effort has been titled “Help Ohio Prevent Electing Obama Now” (HOPE ON), and, in all, 13 installments will be rolled out for blog readers to peruse and reflect upon.

Here are my recaps of Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6, Part 7, Part 8, and Part 9.

The Boring Made Dull has the scoop on Part 10.  You can check out the video there or here.  Obama claims there will be those in the middle class who get tax breaks, but he’s never actually voted that way in the U.S. Senate.  Obama talk of federal initiatives and taxes make it sound as if the government creates wealth, but the government doesn’t.  The people create the wealth of the nation, and tax policy must reflect that, but Obama’s principles don’t even acknowledge that.

From the Buckeye RINO standpoint:

John McCain has said that he will not raise taxes because he knows that it would hurt the economy’s recovery hopes.  I have not dwelt too much the tax proposals of the presidential candidates, as I’m sure you’ve heard the talking points many times over.  I have, however, said a few things about taxes relative to ethically challenged sub-prime lenders playing shell games in order to avoid paying taxes.  I’ve also made some down-ticket endorsements based partly upon candidate platforms relating to taxes, like Nick Brusky for Lorain County Commissioner, Larry Silcox for Huron County Commissioner, Dave Potter for Congress from Ohio’s 13th, and Jeff Wagner for state rep from the Ohio House 81st District.  I’ve also noted that the Democrat machine in Lorain County uses some strong-arm tactics to intimidate residents from trying to interfere with hiking taxes.

The State of Ohio Blogger Alliance has undertaken the task of highlighting criticisms of the Obama ticket that the in-the-tank MSM works hard to downplay or outright ignore.  The effort has been titled “Help Ohio Prevent Electing Obama Now” (HOPE ON), and, in all, 13 installments will be rolled out for blog readers to peruse and reflect upon.

Here are my recaps of Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6, Part 7, and Part 8.

Cornell McCleary of American Experience has the scoop on Part 9.  The video link is here.  This is a reminder of Martin Luther King Jr.’s admonition that we not look upon each other according to the color of our skin, but that we look upon each other according to the content of our character.

From the Buckeye RINO perspective:

We Americans haven’t yet arrived at the point where we pay no more attention to the color of our skin.  The progress we’ve made in our nation’s history from the days of slavery and the days of Jim Crow has continued apace, but has not been completed.  I, personally, have spent much of my adult life living in non-white households and non-white neighborhoods.  I can share personal experiences that are illustrative of the progress that still needs to be made, but I don’t wish to stir the pot today.  Having said that, I will say this:  The other nations of the Earth have not made as much progress toward tolerance as America has.  We blaze the trail that other nations follow.  And while other nations may have enacted policies that they may point to as being more friendly to diversity and more respectful toward basic human rights than the United States of America, I remind you that those same nations still have a longer way to go in real life than they do on paper.  In real life, America leads.

As a Republican, I belong to the party of Lincoln and Teddy Roosevelt.  Abolitionists formed the core of the party faithful when it was founded.  Abolitionists in early America were among those most likely to adhere to the principle that “all men are created equal,” as expressed in the Declaration of Independence.  Abolitionists were found in large numbers in Ohio during the state’s early years.  The shortest routes of the Underground Railroad from the antebellum South to Canada ran through Ohio.  Ohio raised the largest contingent of soldiers to fight for the Union Army during the Civil War.  I am a descendant of early Ohio’s abolitionists.  For about a decade after the war, newly emancipated slaves identified strongly with the Republican Party until Rutherford B. Hayes screwed that up by swallowing a poison pill in order to win the presidential election of 1876 that was decided by the U.S. House of Representatives when all candidates failed to garner a majority vote of the Electoral College.  The end of Reconstruction ushered in the era of Jim Crow, and no attempt was made to crush Jim Crow for an entire century, when the Civil Rights era was ushered in.  During that century, America fought two World Wars, and a number of Americans, black and white, migrated to the industrial North from the agricultural South to find work in the factories that supplied the nation with its war hardware.  Ohio’s relatively progressive views on race were smothered beginning with the Hayes administration of 1877.  By the time that Democrats took the leadership role in the Civil Rights movement of the late 1960’s, Ohio’s population and attitudes had changed a lot.  While African-Americans found themselves enfranchised anew, and large numbers of them identified with the Democrat Party, pockets of deep racism existed among whites of both major political parties.  For my part, I have endeavored to join my voice with others in my party to urge Ohio Republicans to close the rifts that separate us by race.  Though I am not pleased by the scarcity of people of color within the Republican Party’s membership, I am pleased that we’ve been able to make progress in removing the glass ceiling for Republican candidates of color to aspire to any elected office they choose to pursue.  Regarding removal of the glass ceiling, I’d venture to say that Ohio’s Republicans have outshined Ohio’s Democrats.  Many Ohio Republicans nowadays are willing to cast votes for candidates based on the content of their character and not the color of their skin.  I’ve already voted for a black U.S. President twice, during the primaries of 1996 and 2000 when I was drawn to the empowering message of Alan Keyes.  The Democrat Party’s insistence that this presidential election should be a referendum on racism by electing Barack Obama has elicited responses of puzzlement by many of my fellow conservative Ohio bloggers who were so passionately outspoken in their support for Ken Blackwell just two years ago.  For many of us, elections of candidates are already about the content of a person’s character, the vision for where a person wants to lead, the articulation of where a person stands on the issues, and not the color of a person’s skin.

Nevertheless, I have spotted instances of intolerance during this election cycle, and have even written some blog entries calling attention to some of those instances.  I think it was wrong to put Reverend Wright on parade.  Obama’s message was distinctly different than Wright’s.  I felt that Barack Obama was being persecuted for his religious observances.  I even called out Mitt Romney, the candidate I voted for in the primary, when I thought he was crossing the line.  I am familiar with liberation theology, and I see the positives that come from it, so I think that the fearmongering against it is inherently racist.  I was alarmed when it was rumored that someone shouted “Kill him,” referencing Barack Obama as the target, at a McCain rally, and I urged cooperation with the Secret Service if anyone had any evidence of such conspiracies afoot.

When coverage is so heavy concerning the presidential race, some important candidates can get ignored in the shuffle.  So if you are in Ohio’s 9th Congressional District and only know who incumbent Democrat Marcy Kaptur is, but have no clue who Republican challenger Bradley Leavitt is, I’m happy to report that the PBS station in Toledo, WGTE, has video footage of Mr. Leavitt on its program “Deadline NOW,” that originally aired on October 17th.  The video link is here. The host of the show, Jack Lessenberry, interviews both Bradley Leavitt and Democrat challenger George Mays, who is running for Ohio’s 5th Congressional District seat against Republican incumbent Bob Latta.

I’ve noted before that both Kaptur and Latta voted NO both times on the bailout bill, and I applaud them for those NO votes.

Kaptur (“Deadline NOW” video of her from September 5th), as Leavitt notes, hasn’t exhibited leadership to match her 26 years of seniority.  The district hasn’t benefited much from her representation.  An example of something still waiting to be done is the construction of the proposed I-73, an interstate highway that would link a number of states, but that would also provide a critical direct link between Toledo and Columbus.  What can get the project off the drawing board and into production?  I’ve had the opportunity to see both Kaptur and Leavitt in person.  I’m voting for Leavitt, as I live in the 9th District, myself.

My parents live in the 5th District, and they are supporting Latta.  Nevertheless, it’s important to know something of all the Congressional candidates, so I’m pleased that the video includes George Mays.

The State of Ohio Blogger Alliance has undertaken the task of highlighting criticisms of the Obama ticket that the in-the-tank MSM works hard to downplay or outright ignore.  The effort has been titled “Help Ohio Prevent Electing Obama Now” (HOPE ON), and, in all, 13 installments will be rolled out for blog readers to peruse and reflect upon.

Here are my recaps of Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6, and Part 7.

One Oar in the Water has the scoop on Part 8.  You can view the video here.  Obama has attempted to portray himself as the champion of the middle class, but the windfall profits taxes and the high-bracket income tax increases proposed by Obama will backfire in the form of rising unemployment as the government dampens earning power, not just of individuals, but of employers as well.  While Obama demagogues about disparities between classes, it should be noted that people have availed themselves of the ladder of upward mobility.  The middle class might be shrinking slightly, but the lower class has shrunk considerably as America is still a land of opportunity for those that reach for it.

Tom Blumer at Bizzy Blog added this audio clip to his coverage of Part 8.  It is a 2001 radio interview with Barack Obama expressing sentiments that the Supreme Court headed by Chief Justice Warren during the Civil Rights era wasn’t radical enough while lamenting that redistribution of wealth couldn’t be effectively pursued through the courts.

From the Buckeye Rino perspective:

The audio clip is the smoking gun clearly showing that Obama shares radical Marxist viewpoints with Ayers, as I surmised in Part 7.  As I noted when the bailout bill passed, welcome to the U.S.S.S.A.  The question of whether we are socialists or capitalists has apparently been answered.  This election is our last chance to step away from the madness for at least the next couple of years.

The State of Ohio Blogger Alliance has undertaken the task of highlighting criticisms of the Obama ticket that the in-the-tank MSM works hard to downplay or outright ignore.  The effort has been titled “Help Ohio Prevent Electing Obama Now” (HOPE ON), and, in all, 13 installments will be rolled out for blog readers to peruse and reflect upon.

Here are my recaps of Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, and Part 6.

Mark at Weapons of Mass Discussion has the scoop on Part 7.  The accompanying video is here.  The political career of Barack Obama was launched in the home of Bill Ayers.  As noted in HOPE ON Part 6, Obama is being elusive about defining his ideology, and, as noted in HOPE ON Part 4, when we look at his votes in the U.S. Senate, he occupies the far left endpoint of the political spectrum among his colleagues in the U.S. Senate.  While Barack Obama states that Bill Ayers is just a guy in the neighborhood, and while Obama states that he doesn’t condone the violence carried out, when Obama was 8 years old, by the Weather Underground, which Ayers belonged to, the few cryptic remarks and actions of Obama that help bring a fuzzy picture of his ideology into sharper focus may very well indicate a convergence of opinion with that of Bill Ayers.  What does Ayers believe, and has Obama ever denounced such beliefs, or, instead, has Obama endorsed such beliefs?  Obama has only denounced the terrorist violence conducted by Ayers.  That’s the full scope of Obama denunciation of Ayers.  Otherwise, Obama lauds Ayers as a well-respected professor of education.  What does Ayers advocate for in the realm of education?  Well, he’s been using non-profit organizations to engage in frequent power struggles over who controls the Chicago schools.  His education reforms are not aimed at academic goals at all.  His education reforms are aimed at control over the schools, and then aimed at social engineering by way of adopting a radical agenda, which would probably reflect his political views on government overthrow, anarchy, Marxism, disdain for religion, decriminalization of drugs, gutting the juvenile justice system, breaking ties to Israel, and abandoning all strategic interests in the Middle East (but not before establishing a Palestinian state).  Ayers has a patronizing view of African-Americans.  I’m not sure if Ayers wants to be the patron saint of African-Americans, or if Ayers wants to be their honorary leader, or mentor, or what, but I think all Americans can do just fine without Ayers at the helm.  Ayers has never let go of his ambitions to topple government and seize power for his elite alliance.  Ayers ties to the Woods Foundation go back a generation to his father.  The Woods Foundation created the grant that the Developing Communities Project used to hire 24-year-old Barack Obama as a community organizer back in 1985.  The orbits of Obama and Ayers were not so remote from each other 23 years ago.  With Obama being trusted by Ayers to distribute the funds for Ayers’ radical education reforms, one must wonder whether Obama is an Ayers apprentice.

From the Buckeye RINO perspective:

John McCain is someone I trust.  He has been transparent even when he’s been wrong.  He’s followed his own inner compass of putting his country first ever since his days as a prisoner-of-war in Vietnam, a conflict that saw Ayers supporting a communist victory.  In all of Obama’s utterances and legislative votes about education, economics, and the criminal justice system, I hear echoes of Ayers.  That doesn’t inspire my trust.

The State of Ohio Blogger Alliance has undertaken the task of highlighting criticisms of the Obama ticket that the in-the-tank MSM works hard to downplay or outright ignore.  The effort has been titled “Help Ohio Prevent Electing Obama Now” (HOPE ON), and, in all, 13 installments will be rolled out for blog readers to peruse and reflect upon.

Here are my recaps of Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, and Part 5.

Thurber’s Thoughts has the scoop on Part 6.  To access the accompanying video for Part 6 (and other videos accompanying the other installments of HOPE ON),  you can visit www.neverfindout.org.  If you scroll down the neverfindout page, you’ll see a video titled “Chicken Button” that is the one accompanying Part 6.  During Senator Obama’s stint in the Illinois State Senate, he could push one of three buttons on his desk to record his votes.  One button was red, to vote no.  One button was green, to vote yes.  One button was yellow, to vote . . . “present.”  That yellow button is the “chicken” button, and Obama used it 129 times when he could have taken a definitive yes or no stand instead.  Thurber notes that the “chicken” button was used on some of the most sensitive issues before the Illinois Senate, issues that other Illinois State Senators were happy to weigh in on with a yes or no vote, issues that would have more clearly defined Obama’s ideology.  Thurber concludes with these thoughts:

Obama and his campaign defend the ‘present’ votes as being due to concerns about certain provisions of the bill or questions about constitutionality. But a ‘no’ vote would have worked just as well – except it wouldn’t have given him political cover.

In the White House, there isn’t a yellow button, but there is something similar. A president can decide to do nothing, but that’s not leadership and such lack of decisiveness can result in disastrous consequences. This is not something I want to risk, so let’s never find out.

From the Buckeye RINO perspective:

I loved Rudy Giuliani’s speech at the Republican National Convention when he spoke of Obama’s chicken-button votes.

From his days as an adjunct law professor at the University of Chicago, students and faculty recall that while Obama would lead vigorous discussions of issues from many perspectives, Obama was always tight-lipped about his own personally held views on the topics at hand.  At the Saddleback Church forum, when asked which of the current members of the U.S. Supreme Court he would not have supported for appointment, he singled out Justices Thomas and Scalia, saying that he differed with their interpretations of the Constitution, but his answer was vague as he never elaborated on his own view of the Constitution.  That’s scary in and of itself to hear that two of the Justices who most strictly adhere to the Constitution and exercise the most judicial restraint are the two that Obama doesn’t want on the court, while shedding no light on what Obama’s real agenda is.  It almost sounds like Obama plans to run afoul of the Constitution.

I’ve written quite a bit about the MSM being in the tank for Obama.  The MSM has failed to pin down Obama and has persecuted Obama’s detractors, whether they be Sarah Palin, Pat Buchanan, Fox News Channel, or Joe the Plumber.  Obama has scoffed at the notion he’s the most liberal U.S. Senator, but where’s the proof to the contrary?  When the economy is the number one issue, why are some voters still concerned about Ayers, Rezko, and other radical and shadowy figures in Chicago machine politics?  It’s because Obama has made a conscious decision to remain an enigma as demonstrated by his vague, ever-shifting, and often contradictory rhetoric.  Obama distributed the money from the grants that were allocated to Bill Ayers’ education projects.  Ayers’ project had more to do with social engineering in the realm of education than it did with meeting academic goals.  What does that portend for education policy in an Obama administration?  I’d like to know, but Obama is not planning to elaborate during his current stealth campaign.  Obama has shifted his positions on how to achieve energy independence so much that it’s impossible to determine what he REALLY stands for.  On the most talked about foreign policy issue, that of meeting with leaders of enemy nations at the presidential level with no preconditions, he was very clear on the issue during the primaries, but lately he’s deliberately trying to distort his own message on that front and it angers me.

John McCain has clearly defined himself even when he took positions that were unpopular (positions that remain unpopular, I might add) with his own base.  At Saddleback Church, America saw the decisive John McCain, and that’s what’s kept McCain competitive through the remaining weeks of the election season.  I think late-deciders in this election are going to rightfully feel some anxiety about pulling the lever for a nebulous Obama and feel much more confident about pulling the lever for a transparent McCain.

The State of Ohio Blogger Alliance has undertaken the task of highlighting criticisms of the Obama ticket that the in-the-tank MSM works hard to downplay or outright ignore.  The effort has been titled “Help Ohio Prevent Electing Obama Now” (HOPE ON), and, in all, 13 installments will be rolled out for blog readers to peruse and reflect upon.

Here are my recaps of Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, and Part 4.

Porkopolis has the video with the scoop on Part 5.  The tally for less than 4 years of Obama in the U.S. Senate: about 100 earmarks totaling about $740 million.  The tally for 26 years of McCain in the U.S. Senate: 0 earmarks totalling $0.  Obama conveniently stopped requesting earmarks during this presidential bid.  Michelle Obama’s employer received $1 million of those earmarks, and until 2006, Michelle Obama’s employer was Barack Obama’s biggest campaign contributor.

From the Buckeye RINO perspective:

There are several reasons why my detractors call me a RINO.  Among the chief reasons is that I have publicly criticized prominent Republican officeholders in the past, particularly in Ohio’s General Assembly.  Pay-to-play politics leads to marketplace inefficiencies and distortions as legislators, more focused on re-election than they are on fundamental fairness, angle for legislation that will garner campaign donors.  Barack Obama fits the pay-to-play political profile.  So does Joe Biden.  The pay-to-play brand of politics must stop.  It’s what has led to our current financial meltdown.

John McCain’s message of reform is exactly the change that needs to be sought.  During the debates, Obama has scoffed at McCain’s pledge to eliminate the earmark process by saying that complete elimination of earmarks would save just $18 billion, a drop in the bucket compared with the total federal budget.  However, this sort of reform goes to the very heart of what is wrong with Washington, where, as Obama himself said, “It also means that investment goes to the companies that are best connected instead of the ones that are most productive.”  Washington has interfered for years upon years with the marketplace, and the best connected are the ones that have benefited from the interference.  Barack Obama doesn’t practice what he preaches.  John McCain does, and his passionate push for reform is what ignited his campaign as the Republican National Convention drew to a close.

If I were to begin to compare Biden with Palin, there really is no comparison.  Biden has been entrenched in the U.S. Senate for 29 years, and has ridden the gravy train throughout.  I’ve written several blog entries about Palin that touched upon the topic of earmarks and reform here, here, here, here, here, and most recently, here and here.

When it comes to reforming Washington, John McCain has identified the correct starting point.  Obama’s scoffing at it in favor of the status quo means that the reforms Washington needs will not be undertaken during an Obama presidency.

The State of Ohio Blogger Alliance has undertaken the task of highlighting criticisms of the Obama ticket that the in-the-tank MSM works hard to downplay or outright ignore.  The effort has been titled “Help Ohio Prevent Electing Obama Now” (HOPE ON), and, in all, 13 installments will be rolled out for blog readers to peruse and reflect upon.

My recaps of Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3.

Matt Hurley of Weapons of Mass Discussion has produced HOPE ON Part 4, complete with video.  The video points out that when our U.S. Senators are gauged along the political spectrum, the one occupying the very far left end point along that spectrum is none other than Senator Obama.  Senator Biden ranks as number 3 on the leftward end.  For some perspective, Matt Hurley points out that Senator Bernie Sanders is an avowed socialist, and he ranks as number 4 on the leftward end.

From the Buckeye RINO perspective:

Obama has publicly stated that there is no Red America, no Blue America, only the United States of America.  Are we all supposed to flock to the left-most point along the political spectrum in order to be united?  How, exactly, is Barack Obama reaching to the other side of the aisle when he votes 97% of the time with the majority of his own party?  Half the time that he doesn’t vote with the majority of the party, it’s because he took a stance even farther to the left, like he does on the abortion issue.  So only one-point-five-percent of the time he votes to the right of the majority of his party?  And even when he votes to the right, he’s likely to do so on an issue where both the Republicans and the Democrats are wrong, like a totally screwed-up system of getting warrants to wiretap.  I want my 4th Amendment rights preserved, for Pete’s sake.  From an ideological standpoint, Obama can’t even reach me.  How are we supposed to believe him when he says he can reach across the aisle to provide leadership that can unite our country?  He has a difficult enough time even appearing on Fox News or talking to ordinary reasonable people like Joe the Plumber.  For crying out loud, when I was a Republican state rep candidate in a heavily Democrat district, I’d appear at any forum, talk with any of the media, and, especially, go door-to-door and talk to voters of any political persuasion.  I made every attempt to connect, but Obama does not.  If a Joe the Plumber comes along, his character has to be assassinated.  If an anchor on Fox News wants an interview, forgetaboutit.  Obama cannot unify with the rest of the country, which is why the country cannot unify with Obama.  You can’t get there from here.

I’ve got news for Senator Obama.  I know where Blue America is, and it’s not exactly crazy about guaranteeing my First Amendment rights.  Judging by the Obama camp’s Orwellian communication tactics, I’m not optimistic that my more conservative voice will be heard during an Obama presidency.

McCain and I don’t agree on a number of issues, but there are some on which we do agree.  McCain appears before all media, in any venue, and addresses ordinary people from across the political spectrum with respect.  McCain is reaching out.  He’s even reached out as far to the left as Obama is, on occasion (the socialistic bailout bill, for example).  So, if there’s somebody that stands a chance of reaching everybody, it’s McCain, from the middle of the spectrum, not Obama, from the left end of the spectrum who has a hard time even reaching the middle (and expresses disdain while doing so), let alone those who are to the right of center, like me.

By the way, check out the additional commentary at BizzyBlog concerning what Obama might decree in the way of Executive Orders if he were President.