Obama The Post Turtle

You may have read the one about Barack Obama as a post turtle recently on one of the political blogs. If not the tale goes something like this:

While suturing a cut on the hand of a 75-year-old Texas rancher whose hand was caught in a gate while working cattle, the doctor struck up a conversation with the old man. Eventually the topic got around to Obama and his bid to be our President.

The old rancher said, “Well, ya know, Obama is a “post turtle.”

Not being familiar with the term, the doctor asked him what a “post turtle” was.

The old rancher said, “When you’re driving down a country road and you come across a fence post with a turtle balanced on top, that’s a “post turtle”.

The old rancher saw a puzzled look on the doctor’s face, so he continued to explain. “You know he didn’t get up there by himself, he doesn’t belong up there, he doesn’t know what to do while he is up there, and you just wonder what kind of a dumb ass put him up there.”

This tale has been used for years to describe politicians in the U.S. and Canada including President George W. Bush, Bill Clinton and others. However, it is equally appropriate to describe the rapid ascent of and also to provide the definitive case against Barack Obama as President of the United States.

You Know He Did Not Get Up There By Himself

In Obama's case, that is exactly the case. Obama attended Columbia University, by all accounts a left-leaning Ivy League institution full of anti-establishment liberal professors, and had plenty of help. Admittedly, Obama was a student of limited means. He was raised by a single mother living part-time with his grandparents. So just how did a bi-racial kid from a single parent family get into the prestigious Columbia University?

According to sources, Obama received student loans to attend Columbia where he laid the foundation for his future associations. In his autobiography, "Dreams From My Father," Obama said his "affinity" for Marxists began when he attended Occidental College in Los Angeles:

"To avoid being mistaken for a sellout, I chose my friends carefully," the Democratic presidential candidate wrote in his memoir, "Dreams From My Father." "The more politically active black students. The foreign students. The Chicanos. The Marxist professors and structural feminists." Obama also described this time period as one where he sought out the radical professors and began his belief in redistributive policy in government.

After graduation from Columbia, Obama moved to Chicago and began work as a Community Organizer in poor, African-American neighborhoods. After four years in Chicago, he went to Harvard Law School. How did he get into another prestigious Ivy League school? According to sources, Obama received a letter of reference from former Manhattan Borough president Percy Sutton. Mr. Sutton told a New York cable channel that a former business partner who was “raising money” for Obama had approached him in 1988 to help Obama get into Harvard Law School.

In the interview, Sutton says he first heard of Obama about twenty years ago from Khalid Al-Mansour, a Black Muslim and Black Nationalist who was a “mentor” to the founders of the Black Panther party at the time the party was founded in the early 1960s. Sutton described al-Mansour as advisor to “one of the world’s richest men,” Saudi prince Alwaleed bin Talal.
Prince Alwaleed catapulted to fame in the United States after the September 11 attacks, when New York mayor Rudy Guiliani refused his $10 million check to help rebuild Manhattan, because the Saudi prince hinted publicly that America's pro-Israel policies were to blame for the attacks.

A videotaped recently aired by Fox News shows Mr. Al-Mansour spewing anti-white venom and saying "white people deserved the worst you could give them."

From Harvard, Obama moved back to Chicago and went to work as an attorney in the same law firm whose namesake partner was chief counsel for Mayor Harold Washington, Chicago's first African-American mayor. This is the same law firm where Obama worked for ACORN, the controversial community organizing outfit that has recently been linked with accusations of voter fraud. While in Chicago Obama sought out the unrepentant terrorist William Ayers to jumpstart his political career from his living room. He interviewed prospective pastors and eventually chose the Reverend Jeremiah Wright an activist African-American with a world view espousing the anti-American rhetoric of Black Liberation Theology. And he chose the recently convicted slumlord Tony Rezko to raise money, help buy the lot next to his house on the very same day his home closed at below market price and receive political guidance. Oh and don't forget Rashid Khalidi who has made news again recently based upon Obama's presence at a dinner with Khalidi that appeared in April in the The Los Angeles Times. Khalidi is a pro-Palestinian rights supporter and former professor at the University of Chicago and currently Professor of Arab Studies at Columbia University. He is a former spokeman for the PLO with anti-Israel leanings.

It was in Chicago that Obama cultivated his relationships with these leftist-leaning political allies who welcomed him into the Chicago political machine, gave him financial support as a fledgling political candidate and groomed him as their next political messiah.

He Doesn't Belong Up There

In Obama's case, it could not be more true. He has barely served four years in the U.S. Senate. Prior to that, Obama served as an Illinois State Senator and ran unsuccessfully as a U.S. Representative.

He has little experience in the Senate other than working on one bi-partisan bill with Republican Richard Lugar to eradicate post-Cold War nuclear weapons caches. Hardly a controversial issue. In fact, Obama has not one time stood against his own party or ever chaired a committee.

He has a socialist philosophy, learned at Columbia and honed at Harvard, to "spread the wealth around" as he told Joe the Plumber in his Ohio driveway. He wants to raise taxes on all Americans who earn over $150,000 a year and give "tax refunds" to millions of Americans who currently pay no taxes.

He wants to raise the capital gains tax and penalize American entrepreneurship.

He has no foreign policy experience and even his running mate Joe Biden recently warned supporters at a fundraiser that "mark my words" the U.S. will be tested by a manufactured international crisis to test President Obama.

He wants to increase the size of government and provide mandatory health care to all Americans. He has proposed almost $1 billion in additional spending as part of his overall plan.

He recently admitted the one Supreme Court Justice appointment he opposed was that of Clarence Thomas, the lone African-American justice, who just happens to be a pro-life conservative.

And, he opposed the surge in Iraq which he voted against and was a strong proponent of a premature withdrawal of our troops that if approved would have raised the white flag of surrender.

He Doesn't Know What to Do While He is Up There

Senator Obama gives a good speech. He is charismatic, well-educated and smart. And, he has run a well-organized and strategic campaign. However, a good candidate does not make a good President.

Senator Obama is a relatively political unknown. He has few if any close allies in the Senate. In fact, he has spent half of his time in the Senate running for President.

So we really have no idea what a President Obama will do once in the Oval Office based upon his past record. In fact, former Senator Tom Daschle of South Dakota recently claimed in a PBS documentary that he strongly urged Senator Obama to run for the Presidency because he had no record that opponents could use against him!

And, further illustrating the lack of information available on Barack Obama, Peter Nicholas of the pro-Obama Los Angeles Times reported yesterday that, "Both impressions came from a distance. A cordon of aides ensures nothing more intimate is available to the traveling press."

Although we do not know what a President Obama will do as President based upon his Senate record, we do know who he has chosen to associate with during his past political experiences. Men like the terrorist William Ayers, the anti-American spewing Reverend Jeremiah Wright, convicted slumlord Tony Rezko and the Pro-Palestinian supporter Rashid Khalidi.

Yes, men like Colin Powell have recently endorsed Barack Obama. However, coming as late in the campaign as it did, the endorsement rang hollow and was more politically expedient and cleansing for Powell than helpful to Obama.

You Just Wonder What Kind of Dumb Ass Put Him Up There

This one is easy. The American voter will be responsible for this one if they vote for Barack Obama next Tuesday.

The choice has never been clearer. John McCain is the only candidate who has fought for his country and has a stellar 25 year career serving the U.S. through some of the most tumultuous times in our history. He is an authentic man who has proven experience as a straight-talker who will fight for America and is ready to lead on day one.

John McCain is the right choice for America for Peace, Prosperity and Reform.

Say Hello to My Little Friend

In the final scene of the 1983 Brian DePalma film "Scarface," Al Pacino's character "Tony Montana" utters one of the most famous lines in movie history: "Say Hello to My Little Friend." The line was in response to the Bolivian commandos who were storming his house and the impending use of his M-16 grenade launcher he was about to blast through the door in one valiant last stand to save his life.

As the election enters its' final week, the apparent symbolism of Tony Montana's brave last act contrasts nicely with the predicament Senator John McCain appears to find himself against Barack Obama. Trailing in nearly all polls, McCain appears to be down to his last stand against Senator Obama. Having run the "Joe the Plumber" theme into the ground the last 10 days, continual attacks on Obama's William Ayers ties and hope for a resurgence in key battleground states, McCain seems to be down to the wire without much left in the tank and little movement in the polls.

Here's Jeremiah....

However, just when it appears McCain has run out of new themes to use against his democratic rival, there is a big one still lurking on the fringes that just might save his campaign--Reverend Jeremiah Wright. Yes, the same Reverend Wright who splashed onto the national scene last spring during the Democratic Primary campaign against Hillary Clinton. You remember Wright. He was the reverend at a Southside Chicago church. The same church Barack Obama was a member for 20 years. Reverend Wright came under fire for his fiery anti-U.S., anti-white and anti-establishment rhetoric from the pulpit (See my previous post from March.) Obama initially ignored the association when pressed by the media but eventually distanced himself from the ongoing controversy and finally resigned his membership in the church when the uproar would not die.

It was a speech delivered with usual applomb that Obama delivered saying he "could no more distance himself from Reverend Wright than he could his white grandmother." The speech was important and seemed to put the issue behind him as he held on against a furious comeback by Hillary Clinton to win the Democratic nomination. However, Clinton was gaining momentum in the key states needed to win the nomination at the height of the Reverend Wright controversy. She beat Obama decisively in West Virginia and in Pennsylvania. Both of these states have large white voting blocks that were sensitive to the Wright issue. These are the same voters Obama said "were bitter" and "cling to their guns and religion" in a fundraising speech in San Francisco earlier in the campaign.

Now, six months later, John McCain finds himself in a similar situation. Trailing in virtually all polls, McCain is faced with the decision whether to unleash the Wright issue on the American public in hopes of casting doubt on Obama and pulling past him in the final days. So far, McCain has taken the high road and kept the Wright issue at bay in deference to his core beliefs against negative campaigning. However, in the final days needing a come-from-behind victory, he may not have a choice if he wants to win the Presidency.

In the third and final debate, Senator McCain himself quoted Senator Clinton in saying the issue of William Ayers goes to Senator Obama's character and judgment and should be addressed. However, he has not considered the Wright issue in a similar vain presumably because of the religious ties. However, it is just as significant to Senator Obama's character and judgment as the Ayers issue. Yes, it is politically more risky and the left-leaning main stream media will jump all over McCain for using it, but it is the only issue left that has any potential to cast further doubt on Obama as voters head to the polls next Tuesday.

John McCain is a man of honor and a war hero. He has been a stalwart in the U.S. Senate for 21 years and served four more in the U.S. House of Representatives. He has a stellar career serving our country through some very tumultuous times and a great case to be our next President that is being obscured by an unforeseen economic crisis (he was leading Obama prior to the financial collapse.) He should feel no guilt by raising another legitimate issue against his opponent who has used every other issue against him.

The election outcome hangs in the balance of McCain's decision.

It Ain't Over Til It's Over

The beloved baseball philosopher Lawrence Peter "Yogi" Berra infamously said "it ain't over til it's over" in 1973 during a losing streak by his New York Mets, who trailed the Chicago Cubs by 9-1/2 games in the final months of the pennant race, when asked about his teams chances of a comeback. Don't count John McCain out just yet, either.

I know. The most recent 39 state polls show Barack Obama with a commanding 273 electoral vote lead. If the election were held today, Obama would win every state John Kerry won in 2004 plus Republican strongholds in Iowa, Colorado and New Mexico. Ball game.

However, the problem with that math is that the election is still 28 days away. And, although the liberal media is already rubbing in the Obama annointing oil, the junior Senator from Illinois has never been comfortable holding a lead thus far in this election campaign. Couldn't do it in the final months of the Democratic primary against Hillary Clinton. She clobbered him in Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Ohio, Kentucky and Indiana.

And he couldn't do it against John McCain this summer when every reputable talking-head political pundit on television surmised he should have been up by at least 10 if not 20 percentage points.

On the flip side, Senator McCain seems to revel in being the underdog. His campaign was given up for dead last year in September when his relentless passion for victory with honor in Iraq seemed to be hopeless. Defeated, broke and given up on by the political establishment, Senator McCain did what every old soldier does when the chips are down. He pulled himself up by his bootstraps and threw conventional wisdom to the wind and took his message to the folks. And guess what? The surge began working, suddenly McCain's cause did not seem so hopeless and he stormed back through the field of Republican challengers to secure the nomination in March.

Once again, Senator McCain finds himself in a tough spot. He has lost his post-convention bounce and now trails in virtually every reputable poll. Senator Obama's lead has recently been anywhere from 5% to 9% nationwide. However, look a bit closer and you will see the lead diminishing just as every national election tightens. Today's polls show Senator McCain trailing by as few as 1% in several polls. He still trails in the overall electoral map math but this election will be won district by district not via national polls or by the expressed opinion of the elite liberal media.

And, for the millions of McCain supporters, there are several significant advantages which favor John McCain:

History on His Side

The most famous example of this come-from-behind strategy occured in the 1948 Presidential election. The incumbent President Harry S. Truman was anywhere from 5% to 15% behind on election day to Republican challenger Thomas E. Dewey. Heck, even the elite liberal media declared him the winner when Life magazine ran a pre-election magazine cover story declaring Dewey "The Next President of the United States."

However, instead of capitulating to the doom and gloom forecast, Harry Truman dug in and took his message directly to the folks. And guess what? Truman scored the biggest upset in Presidential election history when he defeated Dewey by 4% of the vote. The front page photograph of a victorious Truman holding the Chicago Daily Tribune on election night declaring his opponents victory is one of the most recognizable photos in the history of presidential politics and serves as a strong motivational tool for every political underdog in the country.

The Bradley Effect

Tom Bradley was the five-term mayor of Los Angeles from 1973 to 1993. In fact, Bradley was not only just mayor but the first and only black mayor of Los Angeles and served for the longest term in office of any mayor in Los Angeles history. After several reelections, Bradley decided to run for Governor of California in 1982 against Republican George Deukmejian.

After a long, tough campaign Bradley led his Republican opponent in most polls heading into election day. And, in fact, several major news organizations declared Bradley the winner within minutes of the polls closing. However, a funny thing happened when California voters emerged from the voting booth. Many of those voters who told pollsters of their intent to vote for Bradley prior to the election, did the exact opposite on election day. The result: Bradley lost by 1.2%, or less than 100,000 votes, to his Republican opponent.

The racial dynamics that appeared to undermine his narrow and unexpected loss gave rise to the political term "The Bradley Effect." This term refers to a tendency of white voters to tell interviewers or pollsters that they are undecided or likely to vote for a black candidate then actually vote for his opponent.

The Times We Live In

These are dangerous times. We live in a world of uncertainty in our financial markets and uncertainty abroad. We are on the verge of the most significant financial crisis of our history and the most dangerous period of international affairs since the end of World War II.

In times like these, historically, Americans have chosen on the side of caution and experience in their national leaders. And, in most of these situations they have chosen Republican candidates to lead us through harm's way. As I mentioned in one of my earlier posts, Republicans have won the Presidency seven of the past ten elections in the last 40 years. We have had Republican leadership in the White House for 28 of the those 40 years. And, both Democratic victories came during relatively peaceful times.

Race

The 300-pound elephant in the room this election is the race card. I realize it is politically incorrect to mention this subject but it is true and has yet to rear its' ugly head. But just wait.

We can expect this race to get nasty in the final 28 days. Very nasty. And the lead plank of the nastiness will be the race card. Don't expect it to come from the McCain camp. Heck, Senator McCain even passed on the William Ayers and other radical Obama associations angle during last night's debate in deference to honor and civil discourse (focus group respondents also have overwhelmingly showed their distaste when either candidate goes negative and that had some impact as well.)

However, the fact that Barack Obama is black will definitely be a considerable factor in this election in the final days. This single issue will be much more impactful on the final results than a roomful of William Ayers', Reverend Jeremiah Wright's and Tony Rezko's combined.

It is a sad testament to our society that race will become the single largest issue affecting the outcome of this election but it will and is unavoidable. This is the first time an African-American has run for President of the United States. As much as we would like the outcome to be decided by a frank discussion on the issues, race will rear its' ugly head and will ultimately choose our next President.

2000 and 2004

The past two Presidential elections have come down to one state: Florida in 2000 and Ohio in 2004. And despite all the rhetoric and slogans, the electoral map for this election is basically settling into the same mold.

This race will be decided in a handful of states: Nevada, Ohio, Florida, Iowa, and Colorado. All Republican states in 2004 and in which Obama leads in virtually every poll in these crucial "swing" states.

There is still time for John McCain to get his message of Peace, Prosperity and Reform through to these folks before election day.

Summary

So sit back and hang on. The last 28 days will be a wild ride. Expect the unexpected. Expect the race to tighten. In a "change" election year, the Democrats have the advantage and lead in the polls, conventional punditry wisdom, have the support of the women of The View and Tina Fay on Saturday Night Live and the lead in the ever important electoral map. Just the type of scenario a fiesty Maverick from Arizona likes.

Oh and by the way. Yogi Berra's 1973 Amazin' Mets rallied to overcome that 9-1/2 game deficit and won the National League pennant on the next-to-last day of the season.