Do Not Get Too Cocky, Obamanaics

Imagine*…

It’s very early morning of November 5th and Democratic Senator Obama of Illinois handily won the U.S. Election ’08, defeating Republican Senator McCain of Arizona. The world cheers and breathed a sigh of huge relief. The media pronounced the death-knell of the “neo-con fascist Bush regime” and started the countdown of Bush’s departure from the White House. Obama’s supporters all over America (and the world, too) celebrated and partied like there’s no work that day. The Internet’s bandwidth traffic was clogged and jammed by peoples all over the world surfing the Net, very anxious or scared of the unconfirmed results from 1-2 states still counting votes as the media reports, fearful of a repeat of the 2000 US Election fiasco. But political and electoral experts pointedly declared Obama the victor, noting the wide margin of votes showing Obama ahead of McCain. Later, McCain made a press conference statement conceding defeat and thanking his supporters, declaring that he will not be pursuing another Presidential run in 2012, due to that he’ll be 76 by then.

The saddened supporters of McCain are finding themselves deluded with emails, messages, comments and/or phone calls from family members, friends, associates and/or anybody who supported and voted for Obama, all gloating and being overtly cocky. Presumed statements such as:

a – “Yah, Obama won! Yes, we can! McCain LOST! YAAY!!”

b – “Say hello to President Obama of the United States! I’m so thankfully that McCain is gone! No more Bush Third Term!”

c – “Hey, Republitards! We’re coming after you! Get ready for the trip to Guantanamo Bay and be prepared to be waterboarded!”

d – “I hope Obama gonna arrest and jail Bush, Cheney and the neocons and try them for the war crimes. Watch for it.”

e – “Obama is CHANGE! No more racism!”

f – “The world will finally have peace at last! I look forward to the peaceful reign of Comrade President Obama”

g – “America is ours! Obama is one of us! ALLAH AKBAR!”

Have you seen that similar kind of gloating messages from the Republicans back in 2004 when Bush defeated Kerry (few examples here, here and here) You should get the idea.

Well, I’ll be prepared come November 5th for an assumed Obama victory and a measurable amount of gloating from Obamaniacs.

As for those presumed statements above I may be expecting from them Obamaniacs? Here are my future rebuttals!

a – “Well, good for you and Obama. Too bad for McCain. End of the election. We’ll try again in 2012.”

b – “Um, McCain is not gone. He’s still a U.S. Senator and will continue in that role for as long as he can.”

c – “Not going to happen. President Bush will close down the Guatanamo Prison and move the war prisoners to the American military prisons prior to his leaving the White House.”

d – “Not very likely in the future.”

e – “Not likely. You may not like the changes 100 days after Obama sworn in after all.”

f – “There won’t be any world peace. Obama may have no choice but to retain the Bush Doctrine, after his exposure to national security briefings and high-level classified matters that President Bush would share with Obama in Bush’s final days.”

g – “What? Obama’s a Muslim?! Pray tell, how do you really know that?”

* Nevertheless, the above scenario and all that gloating stuff are just made-up and not to be perceived as admitting defeat. I enjoy creative or speculative writing every now and then.

Still, it’s less than 30 days away from the Election Day and McCain-Palin still have a very good shot in defeating Obama-Biden by then, since the prospect of America being ruled and governed by Obamaniacs is indeed frightening!

Talk about blatant lying and dishonesty from CNN, being in the tank for Obama: When CNN Lies about their Focus Group.

And whoa! Bill and Hillary Clinton and their supporters are still not pleased about this one – coming straight from Obama campaign’s website: Obama calls Bill Clinton “predatory husband” and Hillary as “worm under a rock”! It seems the Obama campaign have not bother to remove it once before or after Obama got the endorsement from the Clintons.

Maybe the Clintons might throw the election to McCain’s favor? Hmm?

So It’s Palin!

And so it ends…

The VP search ‘n’ speculation spinorama has finally come to an end, at last. Senator John McCain has selected a surprising dark horse candidate, in the person of Sarah Heath Palin, the current Governor of Alaska, to be his Vice President candidate for GOP, a historic first (and the second woman since Geraldine Ferraro, who ran as the running mate for Walter Mondale in 1984). Largely unknown, she is the first female Governor of Alaska, only 44 years old, an attractive mother of five children (one son is now with the U.S. Army), a former runner-up in the Miss Alaska pageant, a NRA and pro-life supporter, a former mayor and a known maverick for standing up to the powerful Republican Party of Alaska, which proved that she has grits and a backbone. More details about her can be founded here. She is known as the Barracuda.

She’s not the perfect choice or the alternative-to-Hillary choice to be McCain’s running mate. In fact, she’s the smart choice for McCain: he needs an outsider who would not only challenge McCain’s conventional wisdom and outlook but challenge and shake up the status quo of the GOP, the Beltway establishment, the politics of the federal government and everything else in between. I hope she’s bringing the whip this time.

This morning, a good friend, Danny B., was driving me to work (my car was being serviced at the time) and I told him that McCain would be in Dayton at noon to make an annoucement for his VP pick. We’d discussed about who is going to be – that Romney’s out, Pawlenty’s out, Lieberman’s out, and I suggested to Danny, on a firm hunch, that McCain is going to pick a woman to be VP but didn’t name this woman.

Few hours later at work, my hunch turned out to be correct as soon as I glanced up the Drudge Report website for the announcement of McCain’s VP pick.

The thing is, from my personal perspective, that the McCain-Palin team is just a perfect opposition to the Obama-Biden team: it is the insider-outsider vs. the outsider-insider, the political match of the century. Obama needs an experienced insider in Biden to compensate some of his political shortcomings; on the other hand, McCain needs someone fresh-face and non-conventional to rebuild and restore the GOP and conservative bases from scratch, all the while McCain may concentrate all of his energies as the next President, should he wins.

Before noon, I contacted my other friend about Palin and he thought Palin is a wet-behind-the-ears politician but assumed that McCain is just “shifting gears” to set up a long-term plan to win Congress for GOP in 2010 and the White House in 2012, dumping Pawlenty for Palin, purportedly seeing her as the key to win bids from women and independent voters for McCain, specifically the supporters of Hillary Clinton who are still not satisfied with Obama. Which is why I said Palin’s a smart choice for McCain.

Even better, she’s from Alaska, where there is the largest concentration of proven oil field located in the most desolate, uninhabitable area of the Arctic National Wildlife Refugee Park. Although, it has been reported that she stood up to the oil business and indifferent lawmakers for the benefit of the people of Alaska already financially crippled by high gas taxes and heating costs. She understands the energy policy issues, pointedly stressed the current energy policy is “nonsensical”.

Even best, Palin stands for ethics. She took down or fired corrupted GOP officials in Alaska and publicly demanded Sen. Ted Stevens be ousted. However, there are some questions about her inexperience in foreign policy, the direction of the U.S. economy, the political affair over her brother-in-law and a disgruntled government official in Alaska. Importantly, she has to step in for McCain, should something happens to him while in the White House.

Nevertheless, it will be a very interesting time between now and Nov. 4th for the McCain-Palin ticket against the Obama-Biden ticket. I watched Obama’s speech last night and I thought it was rousing, only offered full of lofty expectations and idealistic aspirations but short on the specifics and the details. I look forward to the debates between Obama and McCain. Who will win?

The Pros and Cons of John McCain

NOTE: This blog is not considered as an endorsement or opposition, it is only informative based on my observations, the facts stated below are for you to decide for yourself.

This is the first of 2-part blogs about the two primary national candidates for the office of the President of the United States. To begins with, I’ll go with Senator John McCain of Arizona, the Republican candidate for President. Even I’m a republican and a conservative, I have my concerns about him taking the White House, for what some may regards as a “third term” for the current President Bush, even though McCain wanted to distance himself from the Bush administration and chart his own course for America on his own terms. There are Americans who supports the maverick Senator from Arizona and will vote for McCain in November 4th without reservation. There are Americans who are either skeptical or concerned about him but willing to give him the benefit of doubt. There are Americans who think McCain is a false conservative who can talk up a good game of politics and hoodwink uninformed or ignorant voters into voting him. Heck, there are some who think McCain is the Anti-Christ. Okay, moving along.

Starting with the PROS of John McCain:

Independent-minded: he has been known to be that way for years. People who knew him regarded him as very capable of speaking his own mind like it is and not allowed party-line thinking to influence or muddle his views into a partisan arena for political benefits. Good example here: promoting fiscal responsibility.

Cautious and wary: he has to be that way – so many people wanted him for political, corporate, financial or private benefits that could make McCain look really bad later on. His involvement in the Keating scandal in the 1980s had taught him too well. It’s a big plus to be cautious and wary toward people who would ride on his coattails, which they would bring him down with them when things get sour or very badly later on.

Candor: That’s why he’s a maverick Republican. Good example here. However, he lacks it in other issues, much to annoyance or amusement from both Republicans and Democrats.

Resolute and firm: he stood up to his NVA jailers and interrogators as a prisoner of war. He stood up to President Bush and some members of the Republican and Democratic Parties for doing something that would really harm American interests. He stood up for his country and will continue to stand up for the USA as long as he breathes. 

Won’t mess up what’s really working for the U.S. economy: McCain does not seem to be the person who would try to fix up something that doesn’t needed to be fixed or tinkered with at all. He understands the economic fundamentals but, by his own admittance (a fault of his own), the economy isn’t his strong suit. His confidence in what’s really working for the U.S. economy so far, in spite of its recent problems and the declining dollar, is his hope that the ship will somehow right itself. 

Won’t budge on ground of principles: his critics lambasted or ridiculed him for abandoning his principles or being hypocritical about them, but time and time again, McCain never waver on or compromise his principles, even it could benefit him politically or the GOP. He has a history of sticking to his “guns”, so to speak.

Have extensive experiences as a political insider/player on the military, national security, and geopolitical affairs concerning the United States and the state of the world. He is well-regarded for his concerns about the current Iraq/Afghanistan veterans and the aging veterans of past US military operations (he’s a US Navy & Vietnam veteran and a former POW). He emphasizes the US to have a stronger and smarter national defense, a non-appeasing official engagement with foreign allies and enemies alike, with the specific regards to directly confront those who would harm or destroy the country militarily or otherwise. He even calls for a new League of Democracies to dismiss the inefficient and absolutely worthless United Nations. He calls for common sense, thoughtfulness and prudence in tackling climate change issues in the nation and dismissing environmental-crisis alarmist claims that the sky’s falling and the water’s rising. 

Senator McCain’s best asset is his straight-talking, non-partisan, semi-populist, maverick appeal in the public eyes.

And now for the CONS of McCain(!):

Impulsive, quick to temper or occasionally explosive: it is known that he has few enemies on the Senate floor on account of his temper. 

Brash or reactionary to something controversial, dangerous or apparently annoying.

Non-attentive and insensitive to real social, economic and health care problems affecting the lives of everyone but the wealthy: that are the most important issues he needs to work on that. He claims to be a Christian (Baptist). To be a Christian is to help the poor, the downtrodden, the infirm/elder and the oppressed in America beside the most obvious and easy Christian duties. If he cannot profess this way and by attracting only mainstreamed, wealthy and middle class voters, he not only lose his semi-populist appeal but could lose the right to be a Christian in the eyes of the poor, the downtrodden, the infirm/elder and the oppressed, including the Christians who do help them out daily.

Dismissive or ignorant of legitimate issues: such as the U.S. economy, its vast finances and problems. He claims to be a fiscal conservative but some accused him of reneging on past fiscal solutions on the Senate floor. He admitted that he knows less about the U.S. economy, except for the “fundamentals” of it. Jared Bernstein is more blunt about the potential “disaster” of McCainonomics.

His ill-considered remarks: Some of his insensitive or bad remarks are classy and crass in itself. It is a known fact that having a frequent bad temper over the years can cause one to lose the ability to think and say clearly over the time.

His age: McCain is much older to run for President than Ronald Reagan when he ran for President in 1980. If he gets the White House and ran for one term until 2012, the stress and rigors of the job can accelerate his age by 10 years, he would be much older than he looks by the end of 2012. However, history might be on his side: there’s Enrico Dandolo, the old, blinded Doge of Venice or the regarded Crusader-knight and Latin emperor John of Brienne.

Equally for good and bad, he can be low-key and secretive, especially on the military and national security affairs, because he doesn’t believe in undermining the national security abilities to defend America against all enemies, foreign and domestic. That’s the most important to consider his best Presidential prospect in this current era of terrorism, rogue powers, Islamism and climate change. His worst Presidential prospect is his lack of knowledge on the economic and health care issues in America.

So, is John McCain ready and right to be the President of the United States of America? Between now and November 4th, 2008, you decide.

My second blog of the pros and cons of Senator Barack Obama will be coming soon. Look forward to it.

McCain-Rice Ticket?

Not surprising to me that Condi Rice, the current Secretary of State, has been seriously courting Senator John McCain recently to be his potential Vice President, at least according to what Dan Senor speculated at this point now. I knew there are very few people on McCain’s short-list to be his Veep, given that McCain wanted someone much younger and quite capable to take over the role of President should a crisis arise. McCain, however, wanted to extend his interests in someone outside the Beltsway politics, someone totally unfamiliar to most Americans, if he and his campaign are willing to educate the American public about an unknown for the next couple of months prior to the Republican National Convention this late summer. If he chooses someone more familiar and experienced in governance or high-level policy affairs, whether in the state or federal level (or both), it would be less of a giant effort for the McCain campaign.

Condi Rice is, perhaps, the most logical choice to be McCain’s VP candidate. She’s smart, very experienced, have extensive knowledge of foreign policy and military affairs (such as the Surge in Iraq, as I’d learned in late 2006, was actually an inspiration of her “Stop, Clear, Rebuild” idea, triumphantly defeating the ex-Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld’s approach), and have broad relationships with high-level diplomats, power-brokers and foreign leaders. What’s more, she has Colin Powell and the former President George H. W. Bush as her significant mentors and have the personal confidence and guidance of the current President George W. Bush.

On the other hand, Condi Rice could be a wrong choice for McCain because he may not be keen to having any Bush holdover in his future administration and may wanted to remind the American people that his future administration is not going all about Bush’s policies for the future, other than a willingness to support the Bush Doctrine. McCain may also wanted someone who can be of sound economic and domestic governance backgrounds and to keep the skeptical conservatives to his side, so to maintain the leverage with the Republican supporters and mainstreamed voters across the nation and not lose significant party and support bases.

There are four candidates I have in mind to be potential McCain’s Veep, other than Condi Rice: George Allen Jr., Joseph Lieberman, Colin Powell or Mitt Romney. But these are just speculations for now. Mike Huckabee? Forget about that.

UPDATE 4.7.2008: Rob Portman of Ohio is on the list of McCain’s interested Veep picks. Seem like a very good choice, if the McCain campaign is willing to address “Portman who?” affair to the American public. We’ll see.