Election '08: Buying the Election

Barack Obama is openly trying to buy this election. After pledging to abide by spending limits in exchange for federal matching funds, the Illinois senator is opting out of his promise, raising record amounts of cash, much of which cannot be traced, and carpet-bombing the American people with ads and informercials. That's not a smear. It's a fact.

And he's promising everyone making less than $250,000 a tax cut-even the millions of people who pay no taxes. Oops! Make that those who make less than $200,000. Or is it $150,000? And the promised goodies just keep coming, including free health care for all.

Of course, Sen. Obama doesn't mention the fact that his numbers don't add up or that he will be using your money to "spread the wealth around." How's he going to get all that revenue to give away to those he deems are more deserving than the people who actually earned it? That's right; he's going to raise taxes.

And whatever the liberal President Obama giveth, he will more than taketh away in lost jobs, slower economic growth, and wealthy people deciding to opt out of risk-taking, thereby driving tax revenues for all these programs lower and lower.

Let's hope the American people decide that the White House isn't for sale. That's one real estate deal we must avoid.

A Hindu Christian Speaks Out

Indian Christians have been accused of offering illegal inducements for conversion. Some followers of Jesus have paid a high price indeed. An account by Anand Mahadevan, however, talks about a heart that has been strangely warmed.

When I was 19, a Christian friend with whom I used to play cricket invited me to his house for prayer. If he had invited me to a pub, or party, I would have gone too. At his home, he and his sister prayed for me. It was a simple yet delightful conversation with God that lasted all of five minutes. I don't remember it verbatim, but they articulated a prayer of blessing on my life, future, career and family. It was a simple affair—no miracles, no angels visiting. All they did was utter a deep human cry out to the creator God and His only son Jesus Christ. When they said Amen, I felt in my heart a desire to follow Jesus.

Election '08: Obama and the Politics of Crowds

There is something odd -- and dare I say novel -- in American politics about the crowds that have been greeting Barack Obama on his campaign trail.

By Fouad Ajami

Election '08: Obama on Gay Rights and Abortion

Why the Illinois senator is no moderate.

By Gregg Sangillo, National Journal

Election '98: Will the Return of Values Voters Bring Another Election Day Surprise?

Controversies regarding the future of the family aren’t a distraction from financial challenges; for most Americans, there’s an inescapable connection between economic and values issues.

By Michael Medved

Election '08: Would the Last Honest Reporter Please Turn On the Lights?

If you do not tell the truth about the Democrats -- including Barack Obama -- and do so with the same energy you would use if the miscreants were Republicans -- then you are not journalists by any standard.

By Orson Scott Card

Election '08: Obama Compared America to Nazi Germany

The audio recording of Barack Obama espousing his socialist philosophy of “redistribution of wealth” has another disturbing section.

By Littlle Green Footballs

Election '08: Palin Shows How to Transcend the Culture Wars

A society should be judged by how it treats its weakest members.

By William McGurn

Election '08: Why the Left Wants to Change America

If you ask most supporters of Sen. Barack Obama why they so fervently want him to be elected president, they will tell you about their deep yearning for "change."

By Dennis Prager

Election '08: Rick Warren on Proposition 8

Megachurch pastor says No on gay marriage.

Election ’08: Quotes

On Barack Obama
“I mean, you got the first mainstream African-American who is articulate and bright and clean and a nice-looking guy. I mean, that’s a storybook, man.”
Joe Biden

Obama is “a one-term, a guy who has served for four years in the Senate…. I don’t recall hearing a word from Barack about a plan or a tactic.’”
Joe Biden

“I think he can be ready but right now I don’t believe he is. The presidency is not something that lends itself to on-the-job training.”
Joe Biden

“I think that I stand by that statement.”
Joe Biden

“When’s the last time we elected a president based on one year of service in the Senate before he started running?”
Bill Clinton


On Saddam and Iraq
“He’s a long term threat and a short term threat to our national security… We have no choice but to eliminate the threat. This is a guy who is an extreme danger to the world.”
Joe Biden

“Saddam must be dislodged from his weapons or dislodged from power.”
Joe Biden

“Well, the point is, it turned out they didn’t [have WMDs], but everyone in the world thought he had them. The weapons inspectors said he had them. He catalogued — they catalogued them. This was not some, some Cheney, you know, pipe dream. This was, in fact, catalogued.”
Joe Biden

“My impression is [Obama] thinks that if we leave, somehow the Iraqis are going to have an epiphany” about peace. “I’ve seen zero evidence of that.”
Joe Biden

On Afghanistan
“We’ve to get the job done so that we’re not just air-raiding villages and killing civilians, which is causing enormous pressure over there.”
Barack Obama


On John McCain
“I would be honored to run with or against John McCain because I think the country would be better off.”
Joe Biden

“I know Sen. McCain has a lifetime of experience that he will bring to the White House. And Sen. Obama has a speech he gave in 2002.”
Hillary Clinton


On Gay Marriage:
“I opposed the Defense of Marriage Act in 1996. It should be repealed and I will vote for its repeal on the Senate floor. I will also oppose any proposal to amend the U.S. Constitution to ban gays and lesbians from marrying.”
Barack Obama


On When Human Life Begins
“… whether you’re looking at it from a theological perspective or a scientific perspective, answering that question with specificity … is above my pay grade.”
Barack Obama


On Abortion Reduction
“The first thing I’d do as president is sign the Freedom of Choice Act. That’s the first thing that I’d do.”
Barack Obama


On America
“For the first time in my adult lifetime, I am really proud of my country. And not just because Barack has done well, but because I think people are hungry for change. And I have been desperate to see our country moving in that direction.”
Michelle Obama

“The government gives them the drugs, builds bigger prisons, passes a three-strike law and then wants us to sing 'God Bless America.' No, no, no, God d*mn America, that's in the Bible for killing innocent people. God d*mn America for treating our citizens as less than human. God d*mn America for as long as she acts like she is God and she is supreme.”
Jeremiah Wright

“We are witnessing the phenomenal rise of a man of color in a country that has persecuted us because of our color. This young man is the hope of the entire world that America will change and be made better.”
Louis Farrakhan


On Obama’s Friends
“What I value most about Pastor Wright is not his day-to-day political advice. He’s much more of a sounding board for me to make sure that I am speaking as truthfully about what I believe as possible and that I'm not losing myself in some of the hype and hoopla and stress that's involved in national politics.”
Barack Obama

“I think that people were legitimately offended by some of the comments that he had made in the past. The fact he's my former pastor I think makes it a legitimate political issue. So I understand that.”
Barack Obama

“I feel we didn't do enough.”
William Ayers

“This is a guy who lives in my neighborhood, who's a professor of English in Chicago, who I know and who I have not received some official endorsement from. He’s not somebody who I exchange ideas from on a regular basis.”
Barack Obama

Religion is Ridiculous?

Says David G. Meyers, professor of psychology at Hope College:

Ridiculous, and worse. So say the new atheist books: In God is Not Great, Christopher Hitchens does not mince words, calling religion "violent, irrational, intolerant, allied to racism and tribalism and bigotry, invested in ignorance and hostile to free inquiry, contemptuous of women and coercive toward children." Now Bill Maher's movie Religulous lampoons the plausibility and social effects of all religion, ominously concluding that the world will end if religion does not end. But I suggest that social science data point to a different conclusion.

For the whole post, click here.


Hat tip: David G. Meyers, Sightings, and the Martin Marty Center at the University of Chicago Divinity School.

Election '08: Hatin' Palin

She's not the reason Americans can't stand their politicians.

By Daniel Henninger

Election '08: The Third Round

Last night's debate confirmed something for me: Barack Obama is a very good politician, certainly better from a technical standpoint than John McCain. Both he and McCain performed well. But Obama was able repeatedly to deflect hard-hitting criticism with a smile or an answer that sounded good. (McCain apparently lacks the verbal dexterity to ask the penetrating follow-up question.)

Though ties ordinarily go to the aggressor (which in this case would be the Arizona senator), Obama wins because he didn't lose, at least in the eyes of a public that clearly wants the Republicans out of the White House.

Barring a major tectonic change in our country over the next 19 days, Obama will win the presidency. His ascension will mean that most Americans don't care all that much about:

-- proven character and personal heroism;

-- a track record of significant accomplishment;

-- raising taxes on "the rich" during a recession;

-- a bloated government taking and redistributing even more of the nation's wealth;

-- continued high gas prices;

-- the unborn; and

-- their presidents having significant ties to convicted felons, hate-filled preachers, former domestic terrorists, and voter registration groups up to their petitions in corruption.

That makes me sad for our country. Agreed, John McCain is a flawed candidate. But I'd rather have him and his experience than the personable, smooth-talking liberal from Chicago.

Election '08: Obama's Abortion Extremism

I have examined the arguments advanced by Obama's self-identified pro-life supporters, and they are spectacularly weak. It is nearly unfathomable to me that those advancing them can honestly believe what they are saying.

By Robert George

Victory for the Disabled-and Their Parents

The President signed the Prenatally and Postnatally Diagnosed Conditions Awareness Act on October 8. The legislation aims “to increase the provision of scientifically sound information and support services to patients receiving a positive test diagnosis for Down syndrome or other prenatally diagnosed conditions.” These conditions also include dwarfism, spina bifida, and cystic fibrosis.

Recent research has indicated that 90 percent of the unborn children who are diagnosed with Down Syndrome end up as victims of abortion.

The new law aims to reinforce a culture of life by offering information and support to parents who receive a diagnosis before birth and up to a year after birth.

"This is a great victory for the culture of life we should all seek to promote," Sen. Sam Brownback, R.-Kan., said. "[The 90 percent abortion rate for unborn babies diagnosed with Down syndrome] is much too high and suggests that we as a society are not doing everything we can to protect every human life, at every stage."

For previous CT coverage on disability, see our editorial and columns by me and Al Hsu.

Election '08: Obama Distorts His Abortion Record In Third Debate

"On partial-birth abortion and on the rights of infants who survive abortions, Barack Obama's answers in the third presidential debate were highly misleading," commented Douglas Johnson, longtime legislative director for the National Right to Life Committee (NRLC), the nation's largest pro-life organization.

Election '08: The Rage That's Not On Your Front Page

When a few unruly McCain-Palin supporters show their anger at campaign rallies, it's national news.

By Michelle Malkin

Behind the Bluster, Russia is Dying

Predictions that Russia will again become powerful, rich and influential ignore some simply devastating problems at home that block any march to power.

By Murray Feshbach
Washington Post

Election '08: Taking Stock of McCain with Three Weeks to Go

With just 21 days until the election (and, incredibly, early voting already begun in many parts of the country), Sarah Palin appears to have hit her stride. Unfortunately, her running mate seems to have stumbled badly.

While the Alaska governor is out there correctly noting that the Democratic nominee has a history of "palling around with terrorists," John McCain is telling his own supporters he doesn't fear an Obama presidency-and getting booed for it. In the polls he's sliding almost as fast as the stock market did last week.

Sen. McCain says not to worry, that he is another "comeback kid" (thanks for the Clinton allusion). Stocks that go down also go up, right? The Arizona senator says he and Palin have team Obama right where they want them: overconfident. Isn't that what losers always say before the end?

McCain famously said once that he'd rather lose an election than a war. Now, however, it appears that he'd rather lose an election than win an election. Let's tick off some of the mistakes: Talking tough in ads but then appearing to weasel out of it in the campaign and during debates; hiding Sarah Palin for too long before sending her out unprepared; failing to put together a coherent economic message (though that hasn't stopped Barack Obama); and failing to challenge Obama's gaseous proposals on the facts.

Yes, he has team Obama right where they want to be: in first place, with McCain receding quickly in the rearview mirror.

Regarding the ethics investigation of Sarah Palin that concluded over the weekend, this appears to have been another trumped up frenzy with little substance. The governor broke no laws but was supposedly guilty of abusing her authority because she pressured an underling to fire a scumbag trooper. The report noted that just firing the official for insubordination would have been fine. So "Sarah Barracuda" appears to have been too nice in this instance.

Memo to Palin: Next time, just fire the guy.

Now that this brouhaha is over, it's time for the MSM to put the same energy and resources they invested into "troopergate" into investigating Obama's ties with Ayers, Wright, ACORN, Rezko, and all the rest. Voters have a right to know. The fact that the media won't do their job is the real scandal.

Election '08: The Angry Right

Some disturbing--and embarrassing--behavior by McCain supporters.

By James Taranto

My comment: There are crazies on both sides. Obama has his own collection of nutcases. There are rappers (and James Carville) who threaten violence and rioting if Obama doesn't win. And some on the Angry Left equate Bush with Hitler. We don't hear much about them because of media spin, and because Obama is winning (and therefore his side has less to rant about).

But those cranks on the right who rant about Obama being a terrorist or as someone who should be killed need to get lost. They are not part of the principled conservative movement and do nothing but discredit Republicans and conservatives. Obama has every right in our system to run for and win the presidency. Whether he'd be a good president is another matter, one for the voters to weigh carefully.

However, those who claim that people will vote against Obama because of racism need to get real. Republicans are not saying, "Gee, I'd vote for Obama except for the fact that he is black." That's absurd on its face. Under normal circumstances, principled conservatives will never vote for this liberal, no matter what the color of his skin is. We hold him to the same standards as we do anyone else. That's the antithesis of racism.

The problem is not his race; it's his character, experience, and policies. We'd be glad to vote for the right black politician, just as we would be glad to vote for the right woman (witness our excited reaction when Sarah Palin, a conservative woman, was chosen). Racism, if there is any, will be coming from the Democrats, just as it did in the primaries. If racism stops the Obama express, it will be because of Democratic, not Republican, racism.
--Stan Guthrie (updated)

Election '08: An Unprecedented Candidacy

Associations are important. They provide a significant insight into character. They are particularly relevant in relation to a potential president as new, unknown, opaque and self-contained as Obama.

By Charles Krauthammer

Election '08: Obama's Magic

Presto, change-o!

By Kimberly A. Strassel

Fireproof 1, Religulous 0

Religulous, the new anti-religion documentary by TV talker Bill Maher, is neither funny nor insightful, according to Biola's Craig Hazen:

Maher is pitching this film as mavericky—telling the truth about religion that everyone else is afraid to address. But Religulous is nothing more than filthy, nudie, druggie, and obtusey. There is little to laugh at and nothing to learn (except maybe that if you quit being religulous you get to act like Caligulous).

Nor is it all that profitable, grossing just under $4 million so far. This trails by far Fireproof, an unabashedly religious flick that has raked in about $13 million (albeit entering theaters a week earlier).

Now that's funny.

Terror in Orissa

It's time for India to start acting like the world's largest democracy.

A Christianity Today editorial

Election '08: Barack Obama and "Abortion Reduction"

Barack Obama asks prolifers to vote for him on November 4, saying he will advance a policy of "abortion reduction." While he supports Roe vs. Wade and a woman’s “right to choose,” Sen. Obama says he would create conditions that make abortion less likely. Already agreeing with Obama on how to fight poverty and respond to America’s international challenges, many who believe in the sanctity of human life think they can work with him on abortion. They say it is time to put aside partisanship on this issue.

But is it logical to vote for the most pro-choice national politician in hopes of reducing abortion? Here are some of the reasons I am skeptical—very skeptical.

In Illinois Obama repeatedly voted against the Born Alive Infants Protection Act. The act sought to mandate that hospitals provide medical care to infants that survive botched abortions. If Obama had his way, those infants would be left to die.

Obama is one of the few members of Congress who opposed the federal ban on partial-birth abortion, a grisly procedure in which the human fetus is partially extracted, feet first, from the mother’s womb, its head—still in the womb so it technically has not been “born” yet—crushed by the abortionist and then sucked out. Even supporters of legal abortion such as Daniel Patrick Moynihan have called this procedure “infanticide.”

Supporters say that Obama’s policies on poverty, family planning, and contraception availability would reduce the number of abortions. They usually neglect to mention that the numbers already have been steadily declining since the 1990s, thanks to a combination of many factors, under Republican and Democratic administrations, including public awareness and more restrictive laws. But pro-choicers haven’t given up hope.

The Freedom of Choice Act is a federal bill Obama cosponsors that the National Organization for Women says would “sweep away hundreds of anti-abortion laws [and] policies.” Last year Obama told Planned Parenthood, “The first thing I’d do as president is sign the Freedom of Choice Act. That’s the first thing that I’d do.” If he gets FOCA through a Congress controlled by the Democratic Party, the de facto party of abortion, it’s difficult to see how the numbers of abortions will continue to decline. Just the opposite, in fact.

The Democratic platform that Obama is running on supports the right to abortion, but also taxpayer funding of abortion. Obama not only supports abortion, he wants to make you pay for it. It’s hard to see how abortions will be reduced under this policy.

While many legal scholars, liberal and conservative, now agree that Roe vs. Wade is bad law, poorly decided, a President Obama would have the opportunity to cement this decision in American jurisprudence for decades. Does anyone really believe Obama, who already supports Roe, would do anything other than nominate justices who would uphold it? And if Obama is elected, the Democrats in Congress who screamed over the nominations of Samuel Alito and John Roberts will gladly give Obama what he wants.

Yes, Obama seems like a breath of fresh air to those who are tired of the Republicans and who are rightly concerned when one party seems to have the “God vote” locked up. The sanctity of human life should not be a partisan issue, they say, and they are right. (In fact, Democrats for Life estimates that 40 percent of the party’s rank and file are pro-life.)

But if we want to ensure that abortion is not a partisan issue, then Democratic Party leaders—including Barack Obama—need to come to us, not us to them. Yes, we stand ready to work with them on reducing the incidence of abortion, which Hillary Clinton recently acknowledged is a “tragic” choice. But we must not give up our principles in the bargain. We cannot countenance the continued government sanction of the destruction of innocent human life.

We can debate the merits of many issues. The sanctity of human life, however, is not one of them.

Election '08: Running Out the Clock

Last night's debate was a yawner, and that's good news for Sen. Obama, who leads in the polls and is simply trying to run out the clock until November 4. Amid dire predictions that the event might get really "negative," both men used the questions to rattle off their now tired talking points. Sen. McCain, to his credit, at least proposed something new, but he was unenergetic and uninspiring. If he's looking to come in a polite second, he accomplished what he needed to in Nashville.

Speaking of the "Straight Talk Express," here's what I wish the war hero from Arizona had said about the economy, and said forcefully:

"My opponent is a big-spending, inexperienced liberal who is up to his elbows in the current crisis. His solutions amount to finger-pointing, and nothing more. Some of his closest economic advisers and political cronies are also responsible for this mess. I and the Bush administration-yes, the Bush administration-tried to warn them more than a dozen times to do something about it before it was too late. But they resisted our every attempt, and to our shame we let the matter drop. I'm sorry we didn't do enough, and we weren't honest with you, the American people, about what was coming.

"No matter what Sen. Obama says now, and he'll say anything to get elected, this is a bipartisan mess, and it is going to take bipartisan effort to clean it up. My friends, there is only one candidate here tonight who has a track record of reaching across the aisle to the other party to get things done. There is only one candidate here who has been refined by fire. There is only one candidate who has the experience and judgment to lead our nation through this challenge. This won't be easy, and it will take a while.

"We cannot simply punish a few out-of-control CEOs on Wall Street and think the job is done. We all have had a hand in this crisis, including some of us on Main Street, and we all will have to shoulder the burden to get through it. But I promise to you tonight that I will make sure the burden is shared equally.

"As Winston Churchill once said, 'I have nothing to offer but blood, toil, tears and sweat.'" But working together we will pull through, stronger than ever. As Churchill also said, 'I take up my task with buoyancy and hope. I feel sure that our cause will not be suffered to fail among men. At this time I feel entitled to claim the aid of all, and I say, 'come then, let us go forward together with our united strength.' And they succeeded against devastating odds, and so will we.

"My friends, I offer buoyancy and hope, not finger-pointing and blame. Let's show the world that America can still meet the biggest challenges and remain a beacon of hope and freedom for all mankind. Join me, and we will see that our nation's best days are ahead of us."

Election '08: Unholy Messaging

Obama’s faith-based try vs. his positions.

By Douglas Johnson

Election '08: Lies to the 14th Power

During the heavily watched vice presidential debate, Sen. Joe Biden lied at least 14 times, according to the McCain campaign. He was evidently counting on Sarah Palin's inexperience, somnambulant moderator Gwen Ifill, and the event format to help him get away with all the prevarication. (For those who still care about facts in this election, go to http://townhall.com/columnists/AmandaCarpenter/2008/10/03/biden_tells_14_lies_during_vp_debate.) And for the most part, he did.

Biden seemingly prefaced each lie with the phrase, "God love 'im," so I guess that makes it okay. All's fair in love and political war, and all that. Wait, I thought this was a campaign of "change."

The Bailout: Real Money

The $700 billion bailout has finally passed, and the Republic is saved. I'd applaud but it's hard to clap when you're holding your nose. I'd be happier if there was less talk about greed on Wall Street and more retribution against those in Washington who let this happen. While American taxpayers are going to have to pay more than $3,000 apiece for this boondoggle, partisan hacks such as Barney Frank, Chris Dodd, and Nancy Pelosi will keep their jobs.

Oh, and by the way, the $700 billion bailout isn't. Lawmakers did the unconscionable, tacking on an extra $100 billion in incentives and goodies. You know what they say: A hundred billion here, a hundred billion there, and pretty soon you're talking real money.

Election '08: The Veep Debate

Joe Biden had a simple goal last night: Don't screw up. Sarah Palin, by contrast, had to answer questions about her competence after a couple of wobbly media interviews. They both succeeded.

Sen. Biden answered crisply and demonstrated a solid grasp of most issues. He spoke with passion at times without losing control of himself. While I disagree with his liberal politics, my estimation of him went up. Perhaps people will start listening to him on the hustings. Perhaps he wasn't such a bad choice after all.

The Alaska governor clearly has taken some of her coaching to heart: Master the key issues but don't get bogged down; don't answer the question (at least not directly); answer with the message you want to convey; and bring out the feistiness and charm.

Palin had to make people see her as a plausible vice president or (God forbid) president. If she did, perhaps the ticket can recapture some of its magic. Many people who want to vote for this hockey mom will now feel safer in doing so.

In the end, I'd call this exchange a draw. That may not be enough for the Republicans with only a month to go and their sinking poll numbers. They still need what's being bandied about as a "game changer." Something will have to happen, nationally or internationally, to snap Americans out of their Obama trance. That's a bad place to be at this point in the campaign.

A Holy Longing

Beauty is the hard to define essence that draws people to the gospel.

By David Taylor