Obama vs McCain, South Park style

Only 23 Hours after Obama won the Election, the South Park guys had made and put to air the episode dealing with the victory. It even includes actual dialogue from the speeches of McCain and Obama.

This is the first episode, and the relevant material is about 2.30 mins in.

Obama wins and ushers in a new era

How exciting! What amazing times to be living through!
I wonder how many Americans sat up to watch the tally and see the result?

Now, repeat after me Mr Obama,

"I will not F*** it up"

From the Washington Post

Democrat Barack Obama has secured enough electoral votes to be elected the first African-American president of the United States, capping a meteoric rise for the freshman Illinois Senator whose message of change resonated with a remarkably broad cross-section of voters across the country.

Obama, 47, defeated Arizona Sen. John McCain (R) Tuesday by a convincing margin, appearing to hold every state won by Democrats in the 2004 election while making significant inroads into previously Republican states in the South, Midwest and Mountain West. His victory, along with the expansion of Democratic majorities in the House and Senate, gives the party complete control of both the executive and legislative branches for the first time since 1994.

Paris Hilton for President?!?!?

This is what happens when you try to use someone like Paris Hilton to slag off your opponent without asking her. Someone pays her bucketloads of money to make fun of you in response.

And ....Here's the original McCain ad...

Snatching defeat from the jaws of victory

This guy, crystallises and distills what I've been thinking for a while now.

Road Map to Defeat

By BOB HERBERT

Published: April 19, 2008

The Democrats are doing everything they can to blow this presidential election. This is a skill that comes naturally to the party. There is no such thing as a can’t-miss year for the Democrats. They are truly gifted at finding ways to lose....
...
Now comes 2008, a can’t-lose year if there ever was one. A united Democratic Party should be able to win this election in a walk. The economy is terrible and getting worse. The Republicans are demoralized. John McCain is no J.F.K. And the country wants to elect a Democrat.

So what are the Democrats doing? The Clintons are running around with flamethrowers, gleefully trying to incinerate the prospects of the party’s leading candidate, Barack Obama. As Bill Clinton put it last month: “If a politician doesn’t want to get beat up, he shouldn’t run for office.”

Senator Obama, for his part, seems to have lost sight of the unifying message that proved so compelling early in his campaign and has stumbled into weird cultural predicaments that have caused some people to rethink his candidacy.
...
That raucous laughter you hear in the background is coming from the likes of Karl Rove, Dick Cheney, President Bush and Senator McCain. They can’t believe their good fortune....

Read the full column from the NY Times here.

In other news, London is going to the polls soon to elect a new Mayor. Vegemite eating Ex-pat Non-blondie has provided a succinct, thought provoking (=hilarious) breakdown of the major contenders, for those of us who can't vote and want to just laugh at the campaigns of politicians in other countries. And by that, I mean she's Rating the Hotties.

Is it Blue too?

Whee! Thanks to Ms Fits of "Reasons You Will Hate Me" (aka Marieke Hardy of Triple J)

We have what Hill wore during Bill's teary confession, which we speculated about here

Interestingly, this could either be sea green, OR bad lighting and the light blue featured in the Dress Code for Shame for ladies. Damn can't see Bill's tie.
Don't they look more emotional than the two latest victims? Hillary looks really upset (and paunchy in the face)

Dress code for shame

Bowie for president?

Enough already!

Man stabbed -Obama v Clinton

If only we were ALL so passionate about our politics......

A US man stabbed his relative after an argument over the presidential credentials of Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton.

Brothers-in-law Jose Ortiz and Sean Shurelds were arguing about the fiery contest for the Democratic nomination for president at their Pennsylvania home when the dispute escalated into violence, US broadcaster CBS said.

Law and Order on Capitol Hill

Arrghh! Yay! A Tv Star has joined the candidacy for 2008 POTUS!
Fred Thompson appeared in Die Hard 2, but I know him better as Head Defence Attorney Arthur Branch, playing Jack McCoy's boss (the quintessential Law and Order lawyer-though I did like Angie Harmon, who incidentally has gone on the star in the TV adaptation of James Patterson's Women's Murder Club series which I loved as books, well now I'm off point).



See him here in L&O context....

More Presidential Playthings

The latest addition, Guiliani Girl. Created from the same people though, so not quite as bad???
And I didn't think Guiliani was running....??

The Prez

Because I don't know how to embed the video AND write, without F*king up the video, I made a new post.
*Also, does any other blogger have a problem where I've linked my blog to YouTube, to use the "Blog This" button they have, and it says "Video will appear on your blog shortly" but nothing happens? I'm still waiting for the videos I tried to upload four months ago to appear...... Or Just Me???

Anyway, I am SO glad our candidates do not inspire such scariness. The thing is though (all speculation) that the Obama video was shot and written by a girl off her own bat, but the Hilary one was commissioned and she's a real singer or something.
That's the "word" anyways.

Hott for Hill(ary Clinton)

Crush on Obama

Edwards Bloggers Quit

**Update**
The two Edwards' bloggers who I mentioned just days ago to have been kept on staff, (after Public formal apologies), have both resigned within days of each other, citing amicable splits with the campaign. I think this is sort of sad, but they felt immense pressure that their very existence now compromised the campaign for Edwards.
What I don't understand is why there was such an outcry from their opposition for them to be sacked?
All this indicates to me is that the people seeking their removal felt Edwards is a strong candidate. If you compare this to our politics; imagine the Labor party had a suspicious character on their staff, if the party chose to keep them (as Edwards did) then if you were unhappy with the decision you'd simply vote with your feet and vote for the other party, simple I would have thought? Am I off-base here?

Mormon Candidate

Well we've got them all, the woman, the black guy, the ex-mayor of New York who saved the town in the wake of September 11, and there's even a rumour of Arnie running. Now we come to the Mormon Candidate, Mitt Romney.
Romney's faith causes large hurdles for him in the campaign, as the Evangelical Protestant sector votes and many American's will not vote for a Mormon. Romney isn't concerned though, as even John F Kennedy had to address the fact that he himself was Catholic, not popular at the time, and he has been studying Kennedy's speeches on the matter closely. I'll say this though, he's no JFK, and even though Mormon's class themselves as Christians, mainstream American apparently sees them as more of a cult than anything.

****Update-Edwards' troublesome bloggers on his staff have retained their positions. Good on him I say for not bending to conservative pressure.****

Blackness?

What the hell is Blackness? I'm not sure, but apparently Barack Obama, doesn't have enough.
There is a certain sector of Americans that are claiming Obama is not black enough. What the hell people. I thought we were trying to overcome racial stereotypes, not step on people who weren't quite in the club. Is it my own personal failing that Obama looks black to me? I mean when we really get down to it, I personally don't really care what colour he is (other than a passing curiosity on how the American public would cope with a Black Prez-given their vastly over-fictionalised prejuidices) and I think that a vast majority {I admit not all} of my generation honestly doesn't see individuals in terms of colour.
So it screams to me of ridiculousness that black people in America would whinge that he wasn't black enough. I mean for godssake, make up your mind would you!
Are you trying to break down racism, or perpetuate it?
This springs apparently from the fact that Obama has a black African father, but white American mother. Well Gee whizz, I would have thought this would have helped his multicultural appeal, but no, it's hurting him instead. Bizarreness!

US Election tidbits

~ US Presidents can only serve two consecutive terms

~Usually when a Prez is leaving after two terms the Vice President will run

~ Dick Cheney, the current VP, has stated on several occassions (2001,2004) that he will never be president, and "...If nominated, I will not run; if elected, I will not serve"

~ This is the first election in 80 years where neither the Prez nor the Vice will be running (called non-incumbent or "open seat" election)

~Likely to be the most expensive election ever "estimated that the 2008 race will be a "$1 billion election," and that to be "taken seriously," a candidate will need to raise at least $100 million by the end of 2007."

~ Candidates started to emerge in 2006!!!

~Persons of interest and those registered thus far

Official candidates who have filed with the FEC

Senator Joe Biden of Delaware (Campaign Site) {Dem}
Senator Christopher Dodd of Connecticut (Campaign Site) {Dem}
Former Senator John Edwards of North Carolina (Campaign Site) {Dem}
Former Senator Mike Gravel of Alaska (Campaign Site) {Dem}
Representative Dennis Kucinich of Ohio (Campaign Site) {Dem}
Former Governor Tom Vilsack of Iowa (Campaign Site) {Dem}

Senator Sam Brownback of Kansas (Campaign site) {Rep}

John H. Cox of Illinois (Campaign Site) {Rep}

Representative Duncan Hunter of California (Campaign Site) {Rep}

Michael Charles Smith of Oregon (Campaign Site) {Rep}

Candidates who have formed exploratory committees:
Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York (Exploratory Committee) {Dem}
Senator Barack Obama of Illinois (Exploratory Committee) {Dem}
Governor Bill Richardson of New Mexico (Exploratory Committee) {Dem}

Former Governor Jim Gilmore of Virginia {Rep}
Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani (Exploratory Committee) {Rep}
Former Governor Mike Huckabee of Arkansas (Exploratory Committee) {Rep}
Senator John McCain of Arizona (Exploratory Committee) {Rep}
Representative Ron Paul of Texas (Exploratory Committee) {Rep}
Former Governor Mitt Romney of Massachusetts (Exploratory Committee) {Rep}
Representative Tom Tancredo of Colorado (Exploratory Committee) {Rep}
Former Governor Tommy Thompson of Wisconsin (Exploratory Committee) {Rep}

Candidates who have expressed serious interest:
Retired General Wesley Clark of Arkansas (WesPAC)[6] {Dem}
Reverend Al Sharpton of New York {Dem}

Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich of Georgia (Winning the Future)[10] {Rep}
Senator Chuck Hagel of Nebraska (Sandhills PAC)[11] {Rep}
Radio Talk Show Host Michael Savage of California (Savage Nation) [12] {Rep}

Other

James Gilchrist of California Constitution Party

Kat Swift of Texas (Campaign site) Green Party

Steve Kubby of California (Campaign Site)
George Phillies of Massachusetts (Campaign Site)
Christine Smith of Colorado (Campaign Site)

Doug Stanhope of Arizona (Campaign Site)

Robert Milnes of New Jersey (Campaign Site)

Steve Adams of Kentucky (Campaign Site)
Gene Amondson of Washington for the Prohibition Party (Campaign Site)
Bob W. Hargis of Oklahoma (Campaign Site)
Daniel Imperato of Florida (Campaign Site)
David A. Koch of Utah

Ken Goldstein of California (Campaign Site)
Charles T. Maxham of New Jersey (Campaign Site)

~OFFICIALLY NOT RUNNING

Senator John Kerry of Massachusetts

Senator Evan Bayh of Indiana

Senator Russell D. Feingold of Wisconsin

Mark Warner, former governor of Virginia

Senator Bill Frist of Tennessee

Source- Wikipedia

John Edwards and other updates

When I first starting searching for more material about the Presidential Campaign, I saw the name John Edwards and thought "hey ho! We've moved on from speaking to people who've Passed, to Ruling the Known World! *evil laugh*"

But It's ok people! Breathe again! That's John Edward_ (no S)

John EdwardS is actually this disgustingly All-American-without-looking-like-all-I-eat-is-pork-fat guy. And he's running for president.


The most interesting thing I've found about him is that he has two members of staff on his campaign that actually had their own blogs. Now this blog is a bit of fluff, not especially insightful, it's Pink and I write about shoes sometimes. Not your hard-hitting New York Times sort of business. But these women had their own hard-hitting type blogs and when rival staff when trawling through the old posts, they found, *dun dun dun* OPINIONS.
I know, I know, take a breath, it's hard to absorb.
But for merely making opinion known on their blogs, BEFORE they ever became members of Presidential campaign staff there was a media backlash calling for them to be dismissed! Ridiculous.

A Can o' whoopass on Capitol Hill

Now, to get all serious like *rub hands together* I'm going to be very interested to observe the progress of the coming Presidential Election. A story this good almost looks like its stepped out of Hollywood. Striding purposefully up one side of the hill is Hilary Clinton.

A WOMAN *tick*, an ex-first lady *tick*, which many believe will help her as she knows the ins and outs of presidential life. This would be a momentous event in world politics *tick*. BUT, she voted for the Iraq war, which she's now trying to do backflips on *cross*. She looks comfortable here, capable *tick*, patriotic *tick*, which I'm sure is important to them.

To her left, is Barack Obama

He looks strong *tick*, reassuring *tick*, he's BLACK *tick*. His eyes are engaging *tick*, he's BLACK people *tick tick*. This would also be a massive development and I kinda hope he wins actually.

Trailing behind the two of them, red faced and puffing, is Bill Richardson,

Who I don't fancy at all. He looks like some cheesy washed up Full House dad. Bah. He's the governor of New Mexico presently. For interest factor- he's white *cross*, he's Hispanic *tick*, he's a bit boring to look at *cross*. He looks squishy. *cross*

We'll see I guess, we've got 22 months to wait.