US Presidential Election 2008

[Hostels]

A couple of interesting articles about the upcoming election:

More petty arguing by Democrats -- the interesting quote in that article is where the Republicans attack Obama on his strength:

Said Tucker Bounds, a McCain spokesman: "The remark underscores that John McCain has the strength to change America and move this nation forward. Barack Obama is a new face who represents old ideas."

I think it is obvious that Obama doesn't represent old ideas.

Another article shows campaign figures:

Barack Obama raised $41 million in March and had $42 million available to spend against Democratic rival Hillary Rodham Clinton in April...Overall, Obama had $51 million in the bank at the end of March, with nearly $9 million of that available only for the general election... [McCain's] campaign reported a debt of $707,000, much of it outstanding American Express billings.

Obama had $51 million in the bank and McCain was in debt $700,000. McCain also "had said the economy isn't his strong point."

Interesting...

[santa klaus]

Obama proposes Gas-bag Holiday

After a week in which a chorus of television pundits talked about the Rev. Wright controversy ad nauseam, Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama introduced a proposal today to silence such repetitious discussions.

"I am proposing a gas-bag holiday," Sen. Obama told a capacity crowd in Indianapolis. "Under my plan, all gas-bags would go on vacation until the second week of November."

Some observers called the Illinois senator's plan a shrewd one since, in addition to the pundits, it seemed guaranteed to sideline the Rev. Wright himself for the next four months.

But within minutes of floating the idea of the gas-bag holiday, Sen. Obama came under fire from several prominent gas-bags, including MSNBC's Chris Matthews.

"This whole gas-bag holiday thing raises two important questions: how much has the Rev. Wright controversy hurt Barack Obama?" he said. "Also, how much has the Rev. Wright controversy hurt Barack Obama?"

CNN's senior gas-bag, Lou Dobbs, said that Sen. Obama's proposal of a gas-bag holiday should make Americans "question his patriotism."

"The right to be a TV blowhard is as American as wearing a flag pin on your lapel," he said. "By the way, isn't Hussein a Mexican name?"

Elsewhere, Iran "definitely has an active nuclear program," said new White House spokesperson Paula Abdul.

[Hostels]

Originally Posted by santa klaus

CNN's senior gas-bag, Lou Dobbs, said that Sen. Obama's proposal of a gas-bag holiday should make Americans "question his patriotism."

As usual, it's going to be a dirty election...

Originally Posted by santa klaus

"By the way, isn't Hussein a Mexican name?"

It's sad that they are going to go after him on this if he gets the nomination.

[santa klaus]

It´s sad that this sort of bullshit actually works.

Or that stupid "gas tax holiday". That shows perfectly how serious they take their electorate. A bid to buy votes for $ 27 each. Sadly, it seems to work. $ 27! That´s what I earn in two hours.

Gas costs € 1.50 per Liter in Germany. That´s $ 9 per Gallon. Americans, make a holiday over here and get a reality-check.

[Hostels]

Originally Posted by santa klaus

Gas costs € 1.50 per Liter in Germany. That´s $ 9 per Gallon. Americans, make a holiday over here and get a reality-check.

On my last driving trip across the US in 1999 I remember buying gas for 80 cents per gallon (21 cents per liter). Hard to believe now...

The positive side of higher gas prices in the US is that it will create more demand for better mileage cars. The cars here are wasteful compared to the smaller cars in Europe and Asia. I wish I had some photos of cars in Japan.

This is one from Greece -- there is nothing like this in the USA:



On the other hand, driving distances here are longer, and the US was "designed" for driving. Higher gas prices are going to be a burden on some people. The rich will still have their SUVs though and won't really care...

[santa klaus]

Originally Posted by Hostels

The positive side of higher gas prices in the US is that it will create more demand for better mileage cars. The cars here are wasteful compared to the smaller cars in Europe and Asia.

Frustrated owners try to unload their guzzlers

[Hostels]

"The SUV craze was a bubble and now it is bursting," said George Hoffer, an economics professor at Virginia Commonwealth University whose research focuses on the automotive industry. "It's an irrational vehicle. It'll never come back."

I hope that is an accurate prediction...

[Hostels]

Here is another one about the election:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/ariann..._b_100183.html

Looks like McCain might have voted for Kerry in the last election, and there was talk about him running as a Democrat??

Maybe I should build a separate forum about politics and world events. It's going to be a strange year

[santa klaus]

HuffPost seems to be offline... at least for me.

Strange times indeed. Have you got a clue why Hill wouldn´t drop out of the race? She´s broke and simple math demonstrates she can´t win.

Is she just out of touch with reality? Or is there a rational explanation?

BTW, since you seem to like Smarts, look at how Vienna keeps the city clean:



edited to add:

Look at that: it´s actually a pretty safe car, too:

[Hostels]

Maybe Hillary has a plan.

I didn't know they were called Smart Cars. I just looked it up and it looks like they are coming to the USA, but apparently even though they have the same engine, they have worse gas mileage than the European versions...
http://sparrowchat.com/?p=532

hmmm....