No More Incumbents Blog

Having kept a close eye on the Dow Jones Industrials since the global crisis officially began just weeks ago, I will be interested to see if the McCain campaign will use this latest near +950 point bounce-back to turn the electoral page from the economy to foreign policy or increasing questions about Obama’s credibility. Thus far, the election has been dominated by the epic bailout bill as well as both campaigns attempts to infuse the crisis with their knowledge and political beliefs.

– The Dow Jones closes up more than 900 points, according to early tallies — its biggest point gain in a single day ever. ~cnn

John McCain and Barack Obama meet face-to-face for their final debate before you vote. Watch the debate live Wednesday night on CNN and CNN.com. http://www.cnn.com/LIVE

It is no secret that the McCain campaign has taken a beating on this issue. In addition to his beating, I suspect he wishes he had suspended his campaign and played Backgammon in Arizona or perhaps learned to play Backgammon Online instead of rushing off to Washington, DC to take that aforementioned beating. Granted, the spin was fairly effective and didn’t cost McCain his base, but the loss of Independent voters is a really troubling situation for the campaign as Election Day draws near.

If this current economic surge remains and is able to continue through the week and toward Election Day, McCain just might see his polling numbers increase in key battleground states like Ohio, Pennsylvania and Florida. If the gains manage to continue, McCain might actually end up having the spare time to learn how to use his computer and actually play online backgammon. As we all remember, he has been down and out before and stormed back to take the nomination of the Republican Party. Could a comeback in the Presidential election be in the cards for John McCain?

This evening I watched the debate between Barack Obama and John McCain. All in all the debate seem to be a wash for me. I don’t think either person won the debate, and I think the people that actually lost with the news media that were standing by a score pad in hand hoping to see a fight and then rule a winner.

There do not seem to be much of a fight between either candidate. They definitely didn’t seem to like each other, and barely could seem to stomach the thought of looking at each other on stage. The lack of civility between both candidates actually struck me as a turnoff for both candidates.

Where I come from, even when you engage in a debate with a person, you can at least remain civil with them, and respect your adversary during the debate. Now I actually grew up in Illinois and didn’t just adopt the state. I grew up reading biographies about Abraham Lincoln who practiced law in my hometown of Metamora Illinois.

When I compare those stories and that history with two candidates I saw this evening, I realized that as a country we are in pretty rough shape. It’s true that we have traveled far and survived a great deal over the last couple hundred years. But if our evolution can be measured by the quality of the presidential candidates that we can generate, it would seem that we are regressing backwards not forwards.

There are things about both candidates that I like, but there are many things about both candidates that I do not like. This evening, I learned of a new dislike that I have for both of them, when they exhibited an inability to be diplomatic with each other on stage. When I say that, I don’t mean the barbs and insults that they tossed each other’s way.

Instead, I refer to the body language, and the fact that neither of them could look at each other and engage in a dialogue with each other face-to-face. I think this hurt their presidential appearance, and made both men look small. Furthermore, in this modern age of TV, neither candidate did very well at looking into the camera. I grew up in Metamora, just across the river from Peoria Illinois. Ronald Reagan went to college in Eureka Illinois, which happens to be in the same county as Metamora.

It’s 2008 in its 28 years since Ronald Reagan set the bar for presidential demeanor during a debate. I do not suggest that you have to agree with Ronald Reagan’s politics, however his communication skills were indeed excellent and as Americans we should demand that our candidates exhibit that same level of communication skill.

Whether Barack Obama or even John McCain who purports to consider Ronald Reagan one of his political heroes, learn that valuable lesson taught to the nation 28 years ago, the lesson that stage presence matters when you’re communicating not just to a moderator and not just to the debate opponent and not just to an audience in a university, but when you’re communicating to the entire nation of the United States and indeed the entire world watching on TV.

In this regard both candidates fail the test tonight, and this is one of the first clear signals that I’ve seen that neither candidate is prepared to be president of the United States.

I’ve been having an ongoing discussion about how to compare the candidates running for President and Vice President.  Their backgrounds are widely diverse and there is no single measurement that provides a good guide.  However, during the course of the conversation a number of people have offered very inaccurate descriptions of experience.  Some have claimed that experience is absolutely necessary for a President and others say that it is not.  Some people say that campaigning for office of President is itself experience that qualifies a person for office, which I disagree with, but would make Ralph Nader one of the more experienced candidates that the world has seen in some time.

Regardless, I put together this simple guide that shows the time of service of current candidates, plus a couple milestones of comparison that include John F Kennedy and George W Bush.  This guide only shows time spent by the candidates where they were sworn in to office to serve the Constitution or the Government.  In this regard, this includes all elected office, and military service which requires the same oath that the President of the United States takes.  JFK held up his own military experience as proof that he had experience commanding troops, and so has John McCain.  Both men were officers in the Navy, and War Heroes.

The candidates are listed in order of total days in office served (Highest Number of Days, John McCain to lowest Number of Days, George W Bush.)

There you have it.  Go forth and choose wisely or share some additional feedback on this if you have additional perspectives.  This is not intended to be an end all to this issue.  This is one of those ‘duty’ things so other than a ‘I voted sticker’ you can’t expect cute personalized gifts for doing what we all must do.  This might just give you a little more balanced perspective on where the thing are.

Here are several videos that you will want to watch in order to get up to speed on the potential of Vice Presidential Nominee and Governor Sarah Palin.

New!!   Videos Added Since Original Publication

AP Background Look at Sarah Palin

YouTube - McCain’s Running Mate Is Historic, Hardly Known

Original Videos from Original Article Follows

Sarah Palin on Glenn Beck

Subject of above video on Sarah Palin

On Tuesday, Nov. 7, 2006, former small-town Wasilla, AK mayor Sarah Palin bucked the national trend of “Black Tuesday” for Republicans to successfully be elected to be the next governor of the AK. This is one of the commercials that helped.

Sarah Palin on Larry Kudlow

Subject: governor Palin on larry kudlow show on CNBC talking about drilling, profits, and potential vice presidency

Sarah Palin Announces her Pregnancy while Governor of Alaska

Sarah Palin Interviewed by Podcaster Donny Baarns

Sarah Palin Thanking troops on Feb 2008

“We love you. We’re so thankful for you. We’re praying for you. Come home safe. Come home sound.”
From the National Governors Association winter meeting, February 23, 2008, Washington, DC.

Meet Sarah Palin and Family (from 2006 Governor Campaign ad)

More Videos Promoting Sarah Palin for VP

Early Video Promoting Sarah Palin for VP

Speculation on Sarah Palin becoming VP nod

Subject of above video:

Alaskan Governor Sarah Palin on the vice-presidency and being pregnant
March 17, 2008
Speculation continues to persist as to whom Republican presidential candidate Senator John McCain will choose as a running mate.
One person frequently mentioned in the mix is the popular Alaskan Governor Sarah Palin. Many of us feel that she would do a great job as vice-president.
Then in an interview with the Washington Post in late February 2008; “When asked about whether she would consider the number-2 spot in the country — the vice presidency… Pursing her lips, Palin calls it an ‘impossibility’ this time around, but not altogether out of the question.
Many folks did not pick up on her use of the words “impossibility this time around, but not altogether out of the question.”
In the video, carried by ABC Alaska News http://www.aksuperstation.com/, also notice the quick cameo appearance of former Maryland Governor Robert L. Ehrlich…
And do not overlook her quick take on the candidacy of Senator Barack Obama…
Then, on or about March 6th, 2008, the matter of the curious words, “impossibility” was explained. Many media outlets carried the news, including the Anchorage Daily News http://www.adn.com/ and ABC Alaska News http://www.aksuperstation.com/; which carried the second half of this video:
“Gov. Sarah Palin dropped a day-ending bombshell. She’s pregnant. Palin said Wednesday that she and her husband Todd are expecting their fifth child sometime in mid-May.”
When asked about how this new child would affect her, the Governor said, “This is one of those circumstances that has kinda shifted our way of thinking. It certainly makes me very much more so committed to even wanting to stay in Alaska, you know wanting to raise kids in Alaska and at some point in the future I don’t know how far off in the future but in some point maybe there will be other doors open.”
We certainly look forward to Governor Palin’s future national leadership; meanwhile congratulations are in order for the impending birth of her fifth child.
Kevin Dayhoff writes from Westminster Maryland USA.
www.kevindayhoff.net
E-mail him at: kdayhoff at carr.org or kevindayhoff at gmail.com
His columns and articles appear in The Tentacle - www.thetentacle.com; Westminster Eagle Opinion; www.thewestminstereagle.com, Winchester Report and The Sunday Carroll Eagle — in the Sunday Carroll County section of the Baltimore Sun. Get Westminster Eagle RSS Feed
“When I stop working the rest of the day is posthumous. I’m only really alive when I’m writing.” Tennessee Williams

Sarah Palin’s Husband Tod Palin in 2008 Iron Dog Snow Mobile Championship

Sarah Palin at various Venues

YouTube - AGIA: Gov. Sarah Palin Intro

YouTube - Governor Palin - IOGCC Midyear Meeting, Calgary 2008

YouTube - Governor Sarah Palin (R) 1 of 3

YouTube - Governor Sarah Palin

Sarah Palin (as Sarah Heath maiden name) working as a sportscaster over 20 years ago.

We’ve only chosen the videos that are serious or relevant as opposed to all the spoof videos that are filling up the inter-toobs rapidly.   If you are looking for Sarah Palin spoofs, or Palin offering up casserole recipes for moose burger, you’ve come to the wrong place.