From: "REAL NEWS" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
(Common sense, politically incorrect newsletter to 11,471 subscribers) DESPITE BARACK OBAMA'S EXTRAORDINARILY HUGE CAMPAIGN FUNDS, WHY IS JOHN McCAIN RUNNING SO CLOSE BEHIND? By Dick Morris & Eileen McGann, NewsMax.com October 22, 2008 Obama sent shock waves through political circles when he announced on Monday that he had amassed $150 million in campaign contributions in September, giving him upwards of $600 million for his campaign. While his fundraising makes a mockery of McCain's paltry $100 million in taxpayer funded campaign money, the real advantage to Obama in the election is not likely to be decisive. Obama is, of course, still the front-runner. But McCain is closing hard as the race enters its second to last week. If Obama ultimately wins, it will have a lot more to do with the Dow Jones than with his level of campaign funding. Even if we assume his October funding brings him to even more dizzying heights, the realities of modern politics will limit the advantage that will accrue to his campaign. McCain is, of course, funded not just by federal matching funds, but also by direct contributions to the Republican Party and to various independent expenditures, such as www.NationalRepublicanTrust. com. Obama and the Democratic Party will still out raise McCain, federal funds, and the Republican Party, likely by a 2-1 margin. There is, of course, still time for supporters of each candidate to redress or change that ratio. But on television, where it counts, Obama will probably have no better than a 60-40 advantage over McCain. Much of the good television time in swing states has been purchased months ago. Obama's lingering problem is that with all his money, he does not have anything new to say. He has been repeating the same mantra for his campaign over and over again ever since the spring. By now, we all know that he wants to extend health insurance to "47 million Americans" (never mind that 10 million are here illegally) and cut taxes for "95 percent of the population" (never mind that half don't pay any taxes to begin with). McCain's advertising is powering a bold new message, inspired by Joe the plumber: "Obama will use the tax code to redistribute wealth." The social populist backlash against his proposals is closing the lead that Obama opened up as a result of the financial crisis. With things calmer on Wall Street (our fingers tremble as we write this), voters have two weeks to ponder what the onset of a socialist presidency would mean for Americans. But McCain's supporters must realize that this race is far from over. There is a realistic chance that he can win. ------------------------------ ------------------------------ ------------- CHANGE IS ALSO NEEDED IN CONGRESS By Joseph H. Brown, The Tampa Tribune Now that the political conventions are over and the presidential campaign is in full swing, it's time for my quadrennial civics lesson. After listening to the two candidates' acceptance speeches, they might need a refresher course themselves. As voters hang on every word Barack Obama and John McCain say between now and Nov. 4, they must keep in mind that it takes more than a president to get things done. For instance, I received an e-mail from a Republican group warning me that Obama would boost government spending and raise my taxes. Maybe, but only if Congress goes along with him. Then there was one from a local Democrat organization telling me that McCain would do away with a woman's right to terminate her pregnancy. No he won't; the Supreme Court might, but he can't do that on his own. OTHER BRANCHES OF GOVERNMENT Candidates and voters need to remember that there are other branches of government besides the executive branch. Sometimes during their speeches these guys talk as if there were no Congress. They need to be reminded that no proposal by the nation's chief executive is simply adopted by executive fiat. As we should have learned in, say, fifth grade, legislation is proposed, then it undergoes consideration, study, debate, amending, and voting up or down in both houses of Congress. There's also the Supreme Court that makes rulings on laws' constitutionality. In short, we don't elect people to be dictators for four years. George W. Bush learned that right after he was re-elected in 2004. One of his campaign pledges going all the way back to 2000 was partial privatization of Social Security allowing Americans to have some ownership of the entitlement. Yet his proposal went nowhere, even with a Republican-controlled Congress. PAY ATTENTION TO CONGRESS Both candidates talk about change in Washington, and Americans claim to be for it. But in 2006, 94 percent of sitting members of the U.S. House who ran again for office were re-elected. That's an improvement from 2004 when 98 percent were returned to office, but it proves that Americans have a schizophrenic relationship with Congress. On the one hand Americans despise what's going on in Washington. On the other they keep sending the same people back over and over again. A good example is my dear mother who lives in Chicago in the congressional district represented by Bobby Rush. A few months ago I asked who she voted for in 2000 when Rush was challenged in the Democratic primary by a young state senator named Barack Obama, who lost big time. "Bobby Rush, of course," she answered, as if I had asked a stupid question. Why? "Because of (Rush's) clout." This is from a woman who has railed against Chicago's political machine since I was a child. John F. Kennedy once said that the president's responsibility was to present to the American people the nation's unfinished business. The bottom line, however, is if we want real change in Washington, it's going to have to come from more than the president. Capitol Hill will need new occupants, not just in the White House. ------------------------------ ------------------------------ ----------------- "Always remember that you are Americans, and it is your birthright to dream great dreams in this sweet and blessed land, truly the greatest, freest, strongest nation on Earth." -- Ronald Reagan ------------------------------ ------------------------------ ----------------- For free Politically Incorrect news ignored by the American news media, send your friends' email addresses for REAL NEWS from [EMAIL PROTECTED] --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "APFN" group. 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