Obama and McCain heading in different directions

Just a thought tonight about the Presidential election. Obama likes to say McCain is more of the same and he represents new ideas, new politics.

Think about this. 18 months ago when the campaign started Obama had the most organized campaign that consistently stayed on message. He would often deflect criticism by saying something like, "We can talk about that but that's the politics of yesterday. Let's talk about change instead and solving America's problems" It was very effective and I think energized the younger voters. Over the past 2 weeks Obama has changed that tactic and has gone on the offensive and become very political. The speeches are less polished and you can see and sense his frustration. You can see the panic in the campaign and you can see it losing its discipline. So, while he was ahead he was cool, calm, in charge but in the first real challenge of his life he doesn't know quite how to respond. I'm thinking there are going to be some tougher challenges as President. He isn't doing well on this test. When he goes off script he is stumbling. He was pretty good on Letterman tonight but how much easier can it be than with a friend in Liberal Letterman.

Think about this. Obama says McCain is more of the same in Washington but when McCain chose a running mate he looked outside Washington to bring in some fresh ideas and he hit a home run with Governor Sarah Palin. What did Obama do? He picked another Washington insider, another member of the old boy's club and a guy who has been a Washington insider for longer than McCain and Obama combined. So who is more of the same?

Think about this. Over the past month McCain's campaign has gotten incredibly focused. Just when you thought he was down and out McCain continues to show his resolve and his toughness. McCain is now setting the pace and Obama is having trouble keeping up. Over the past month Obama's campaign seems off message and lost. Is this how an Obama presidency would react when facing adversity? Think about it.....this is the first real adversity he has faced and he isn't doing well against it. Can we really afford on the job training from Obama?

Think about it.

Shut up Sebelius

The Democratic rapid response team sent it's Kansas whore (someone who is paid to do unsavory things for someone else) Kathleen Sebelius out to bash Sarah Palin after her incredible speech. Jealous much Kathleen?

It is clear to all of us in Kansas that Kathleen Sebelius was really counting on being Obama's VP choice and I'm sure it hurts to see Palin get all the adoration of being chosen for McCain.

I thought it was funny to read the Sebelius comment that Palin delivered the "Bush Administration written speech" well after she failed to deliver nearly as well the Nancy Pelosi written speech for the democratic response to the last State of the Union speech. If you go back and look at the Kathleen Sebelius speech it was in a much less challenging environment....in a office with no live audience after a State of the Union speech nobody watched and she still couldn't hit a home run. She was visably nervous and had very little charisma. Funny thing was it was actually a pretty well written speech, remember....."Join us Mr. President, we want to get some work done"? No wonder when Obama considered her as a running mate he must have thought there is no way she could handle the heat of that kind of stage. My little girl could have delivered it with more emotion than our governor. I guess it is easy to see why Sebelius would be a little hurt and angry. She had her opportunity and she struck out and Sarah Palin hit a grand slam. I understand it but it is still pathetic.





It is easy to see that the democratic party's talking points keep trying to suggest that McCain is Bush. To say that Bush's speech writers wrote that speech is such a joke. They have never written a speech that great. This is McCain and Palin not George Bush. They have taken the notion that Bush isn't popular and decided that if they can tie McCain to Bush it will diminish McCain. Interesting idea but it is so transparent the American people will see right through it.


Poor Katie Sebelius.....her ticket to the ball was given to someone else and nobody is missing her at all. Hey, I have an idea. Why don't you get your ass home from Colorado and get back to Kansas and get some work done for us? That would be some real change.

Obama loves war afterall

Obama loves war afterall it just isn't the war in the Middle East. After digesting the acceptance speech of Obama at the convention I realized this guy who talked about not bringing the usual old politics of yesterday to us did just that in his speech.

He double talked about rejecting the politics of yesterday while spending most of his speech laying out typical liberal democrat boilerplate issues. Most of his speech didn't sound that much different than the speech that John Kerry and Al Gore gave at their conventions. Did you notice that Michelle Obama sat next the Teresa Heinz Kerry during the speech? Remember all the crazy stuff she said during her husband's campaign?

First and foremost he showed his love of war. Class war. This is the base play of all liberals. He has described his intention to add billions in new spending but then he said he would give "95% of all middle class Americans a tax cut". Since we know the poor don't pay income tax and he wants to increase spending then he plans to pay for it through the pocket books of the wealthiest 5% of the middle class and 100% of the upper middle class and 100% of the upper class who all together pay the most in taxes in terms of both percentage and dollars. This is the (class) war we really can't afford. This is what has always scared me most about liberals. People smarter than me have said that one of the biggest threats to democracy is when the majority exempts itself from the responsibilities of the democracy while taking all the benefits. In short, when people stop acting with enlightened self interest.....or simply put...with everyone's best self interest in mind. Our country works best when everyone feels like they need to do more than their fair share, everyday. It doesn't work when everyone feels entitled because they covet their neighbors shiny toys. This is the classic tyranny of the majority that Tocqueville wrote of in "Democracy in America". I've already heard people in the press misquote his line of the speech as a "tax cut for 95% of Americans" thus leaving out the "middle class" qualifier.

Let me help all you in Johnson County who might not know where you fall in Obama's world of class. You are RICH. I know you think he can't be talking about you.....you don't have a big savings account and private jet. If you have a mortgage, a couple cars and a 401K you are part of the problem. If you own a restaurant or a retail store or a service industry company like plumbing or heating and cooling you are part of the ownership society. You are part of the "ownership" society that Obama says gets all the benefits and you need to pay more and disproportionately than everyone else. Who else can it be? How can you give 95% of the middle class a tax cut and not raise taxes in a major way on 5% of the upper middle class and on 100% of the upper middle and rich in this country? This is simply a plan to redistribute wealth in the country from the "rich to the poor" in a way which we've never seen. "Robin Hood" Obama thinks this will work. History has shown it won't. History tells us that 5 minutes after you redistribute wealth it starts flowing back to those who have the education, capacity for hard work and a measure of good luck to earn it back. History tells us that it is this ownership society that provides all the jobs and innovation in this country and are the people who take risks.

Obama has to start this war because it is what he believes deep inside himself. He believes that people who have something must have taken it from someone else instead of earning it.

I said it months ago and I'll say it again. This is simply the most fiscally liberal candidate for President I've seen in my lifetime. This man wants change but this is the kind of change we can't afford.

Don't trust him........Jeremiah Wright

Never trust a guy who claims to speak for a whole segment of society. Reverend Wright claims to speak for black churches in America. He has taken their traditional positions on social justice and radicalized them beyond recognition. I saw Juan Williams on the news last night and he is a liberal....but a smart one and he doesn't trust him.


Here is the deal. This whole run of speeches by the Reverend Wright is a set up to try to help Obama. Here's how it works. Obama tries to support Wright early on but gets plenty of backlash when people start watching all Wright's comments on youtube. People start to get more upset when they realize that Obama was in the pew nodding in agreement during many of those sermons.

Now, Wright goes out and doesn't back off from the statements and even goes further by saying negative things about Obama and basically saying he lacks the character to say what he is saying because he must be political. Instead of Obama distancing himself from Wright, Wright distances himself from Obama. Then Obama comes out and says.....I told you this guy doesn't speak for my values and beliefs. Brillant strategy. Clinton.....and then McCain need to keep tying Obama to the cultural beliefs of Reverent Wright. For Obama to say the effort isn't coordinated is a lie.

So how does this relate to southern Johnson County? I guess I'm just commenting on what one white, republican, southern johnson countian thinks about it. I'm not sure how the other sojocoians think about it......I don't speak for them.

By the way.......did you know about this?

And......I never want to hear anyone call Bill Moyers a journalist again. That interview of Jeremiah Wright was not journalism. I don't even think you can call it an interview. It was an infomercial and at best social commentary by a liberal pretending to be a journalist. I'm glad too because others picked up on it and are seeing him for what he is......unapologetically biased. Bill Moyers is no more than a commentator and calling him a journalist is a slap in the face to any and all real journalists who take their job and role seriously enough to ask the real questions....the tough questions. Shame on you Bill Moyers.

Sebelius for Veep a bad idea for Obama.....so do it!

So, over my pot of coffee this morning I was reading a story in the KC Star speculating the opportunity of Gov. Sebelius or Senator McCaskill to be the choice Obama as a running mate.

The pundits like to point to the notion that Sebelius won a solid red state twice and that she is a woman for reasons she would be a good choice. They claim the dems hold her in awe.

For me, it is such a simplistic view. If you really look at it there are reasons, and my conservative friends would kill me for pointing them all out here, why her success in Kansas as governor wouldn't translate into Kansas going blue in the next presidential election. I won't even get into the issues, just the obvious.

Let's keep in mind the political envirnonment in which she has won twice. There is a fight in the Kansas Republican party that has been waged for several years now over who is going to control the party. The very conservative right wing who are both socially and fiscally conservative and enjoy the support of the right to life and NRA crowd groups have been losing their iron clad grip on the party to the more socially moderate republicans in the state. It has been a really bloody fight that put Sebelius in the governor's mansion and has entrenched Dennis Moore in Congress. So, the ultras control in the infrastructure of the party and thus continue to push their candidates out of the machine and out of the primaries into general elections. They are too conservative for the majority of up and down the street republicans in Kansas and they reject them in the voting booth. The Dems got wise and started putting more moderate candidates against them and as a result many moderate conservatives have crossed the line in recent years. They are still Republicans, still conservative, they just aren't as ultra conservative as those running the party. I'm still convinced that a candidate that is not as right wing....socially a little more moderate and fiscally conservative can beat Dennis Moore and win back the governor's mansion. It is all about candidates and match ups. Any fantasy football guy can tell you that.

For Kansas, the democrats haven't been winning....the republicans have been losing....er, giving it away. Pride came before the fall and we will continue to fall until we get better candidates.

So, what happens if Sebelius is picked as Obama's running mate? My prediction is that Obama still won't carry Kansas. McCain represents more of what the majority of moderate Kansas republicans in the state prefer over the populist and more liberal Obama. She has been a do nothing governor who I'm guessing the majority of Kansans wouldn't even be able to name if quizzed. In presidential politics, I think Kansas will remain a red state, regardless if Sebelius is on the ticket or not.

Then there was The Speech. The state of union dem response delivered by Sebelius. A very well written and poorly delivered speech. Would have months more of that? She was visibly nervous on the national stage. That won't work.

Of course, it is hard to imagine the impact she might have on other swing states. I would view her as more of a populist herself than a liberal. She beat ultra conservative republicans both times and the second effort by the republicans was almost non existent. They walked away from the race which I have to admit was embarrassing. Could she help win Missouri which is actually really considered a swing state? I think Obama has a strong chance of taking it anyway after the term of Boy Wonder Blunt. I think McCaskill will have more to do with Obama winning Missouri than Sebelius ever would. I think whoever whichever party wins the governor's race in Missouri also gets it for the presidential election. It also depends on how many times each person living on the north side of St. Louis gets to vote. Ohio? I don't know. Florida.....probably not. Where is the advantage? If you ask Kansans what they think about her they would tell you, "nothing"....as in they don't think of her. She is not on their mind. You have to do something to be thought of by us. She has flown below the radar for the past two terms. Very inspiring. I guess that might be what you want as a Veep.

So, I say he should definitely do it. She is perfect for you, Obama. Take her for your ticket. Maybe someone will actually start to look at what she did as governor..........and find nothing. I guess that is safe but maybe it will help us get the office back in Kansas. I'd love to see the rally of Kansans flocking to support McCain. This could work.......I'm liking the sound of it...Obama Sebelius.

And.......let's jump to the ridiculous..........Obama picks Sebelius and Obama actually wins. Eight years of Obama and then a Sebelius candidacy for President? Can you see me rolling my eyes like an eight year old being told to clean their room?