END TIME
PROPHECY REPORTBible Prophecy in Today's News Headlines!
Covering “End Times Bible Prophecy and News, End Times Deception, Societal Collapse, Apostasy, False Teachers, Mass Hysteria, Demonic Attacks, War, Rumors of War, Famine, Pestilence, Salvation through Jesus Christ, Earthquakes, UFOs, Earth Changes, False Christs, All Roads Lead to Rome, New World Order, Conspiracies, and GMO Frankenfood.”
END TIME
PROPHECY REPORT
BRITTANY MURPHY POISONED: Why? The Conspiracy behind Brittany Murphy's DeathLAST DAYS: What does the Bible Say? Click to find out!
UFOs, DECEPTION and DISCLOSURE: When it comes to UFOs, the government is all about deception--just not the way you've been led to believe.
Political Rumors, Gossip, Allegations, Hints October 27, 2008
A round-up of chatter on all things political.
We print the following links to the stories without comment, endorsement or criticism. We trust the readers to supply their own judgment on the validity.
Unpleasant Media Questions: Obama Campaign Cancels Interview with Florida TV Station
Paul Joseph Goebbels was a German politician and Reich Minister of Public Enlightenment and Propaganda in Nazi Germany from 1933 to 1945. He was one of German dictator Adolf Hitler's closest associates and most devout followers. Joseph Goebbels
Joseph Goebbels was famous for controlling the flow of information and news in Nazi Germany. To be clear: we are not saying the Obama campaign is a Nazi organization--though comparisons between Bush and Hitler have been a favorite staple of leftie blogs for most of the Bush administration.
We're just saying: Herr Goebbels would recognize the Obama campaign's cutting media access off to those who ask unpleasant questions.
Here's a tip to the media, in case they didn't already know it: if you ask any questions of Barack Obama or Joe Biden that aren't of the "softball" variety, you can forget getting anymore access.
Biden so disliked West's line of questioning that the Obama campaign canceled a WFTV interview with Jill Biden, the candidate's wife.
"This cancellation is non-negotiable, and further opportunities for your station to interview with this campaign are unlikely, at best for the duration of the remaining days until the election," wrote Laura K. McGinnis, Central Florida communications director for the Obama campaign.
McGinnis said the Biden cancellation was "a result of her husband's experience yesterday during the satellite interview with Barbara West."
WFTV news director Bob Jordan said, "When you get a shot to ask these candidates, you want to make the most of it. They usually give you five minutes."
Jordan said political campaigns in general pick and choose the stations they like. And stations often pose softball questions during the satellite interviews.
"Mr. Biden didn't like the questions," Jordan said. "We choose not to ask softball questions."
Jordan added, "I'm crying foul on this one."
Ours may be labeled a "partisan" view. The charge will likely come from many of the same people who delighted in posting "Bushitler" images on the Internet. Campaigns do try to control the flow of news and Obama's is no different.
We just note the lack of 'outrage' from those same quarters that raised a fuss over all things George Bush.
Meanwhile, Big Media can heave a sigh of relief: there's no chance of the Obama campaign canceling any interviews with ABC, NBC, CBS, CNN, The New York Times, LA Times or MSNBC.
There's also no chance of Americans learning anything from those "news" outlets--except perhaps, Barack Obama or Joe Biden's favorite color.
Joe Biden: Elect Obama and "Watch, we’re gonna have an international crisis"
"I've forgotten more about foreign policy than most of my colleagues know, so I'm not being falsely humble with you." --Joe Biden at Seattle Fundraiser
“Mark my words,” the Democratic vice presidential nominee warned at the second of his two Seattle fundraisers Sunday. “It will not be six months before the world tests Barack Obama like they did John Kennedy. The world is looking. We’re about to elect a brilliant 47-year-old senator president of the United States of America. Remember I said it standing here if you don’t remember anything else I said. Watch, we’re gonna have an international crisis, a generated crisis, to test the mettle of this guy.”
“I can give you at least four or five scenarios from where it might originate,” Biden said to Emerald City supporters, mentioning the Middle East and Russia as possibilities. “And he’s gonna need help. And the kind of help he’s gonna need is, he’s gonna need you - not financially to help him - we’re gonna need you to use your influence, your influence within the community, to stand with him. Because it’s not gonna be apparent initially, it’s not gonna be apparent that we’re right.”
Biden also talked about his helicopter ride from Hell, but was careful to note it was due to a snowstorm--not al-Qaida.
Biden also had a "Media Clarity Moment".
After speaking for just over a quarter of an hour, Biden noticed the media presence in the back of the small ballroom.
"I probably shouldn't have said all this because it dawned on me that the press is here," he joked.
Mine, Baby Mine! Palin Joins East Ohio Crowd In Pro-Coal Chants
"Coal!...Coal!...Coal!"
Democrats and the Mainstream Media talk of a "landslide".
Funny how Sarah Palin continues to roll up crowds in the tens of thousands at campaign stops. Sunday was no different at a Palin campaign stop in Eastern Ohio, near St. Clairsville.
The outdoor venue she spoke at is normally used once a year for the Jamboree in the Hills country music festival which attracts 80,000 people a day.
Local reports describe the "shoulder-to-shoulder" crowd as being "boisterous".
Joe Biden will speak Tuesday only a couple miles from where local reports described Palin as "working the crowd into a frenzy by adopting the phrase 'Mine Baby Mine!'".
Biden will speak at Ohio University's Eastern Campus Tuesday which has a listed seating capacity of 3500.
Palin, the current governor of Alaska, addressed a shoulder-to-shoulder crowd at Brush Run Park just outside of St. Clairsville.
"Mine, baby, mine," the crowd chanted repeatedly - a variation on the "drill, baby, drill" call by Republicans who support off-shore drilling for oil.
"I've never heard that before," said an amused Palin of the coal chant. "Do you mind if I plagiarize that? I'm taking it across the U.S."
Palin had started by telling those present of how Republican presidential candidate John McCain and she will work to bring energy independence to the nation. She referenced wind, solar and nuclear technologies, but the crowd spoke over her.
"Coal ... coal ... coal ... ," they chanted.
"We'll get there, I promise," Palin assured them.
Then she got to the clean coal part of her speech.
"Coal will create jobs where they are needed most - in parts of Ohio, West Virginia and Pennsylvania," she said. "We have more coal in this country than there is oil in Saudi Arabia.
"The question is why aren't we using it?"
Palin referred to recent Biden comments and said Biden believes that "there is no such thing as clean coal"
Working the rope line in Maumee, Ohio, the Senator was asked by an environmentalist why he and Mr. Obama support "clean coal." "We're not supporting clean coal," Mr. Biden responded. Then, riffing on China's breakneck construction of new coal plants, he continued, "No coal plants here in America. Build them, if they're going to build them, over there."
Palin again:
"Whether Joe Biden approves or not, John McCain and I are going to develop clean coal technologies here at home," Palin said. "Our plans for coal would create 30,000 new jobs. And trust me, those resource development jobs are good jobs."
Many Democrats were in the crowd--some of them chanting, "Coal!"
Regardless of how many turn out to see Sarah Palin speak, the Mainstream Media will continue to its reports of "landslides" and how Palin is hurting the GOP ticket.
Thousands at her stop near St. Clairsville, Ohio Sunday may beg to differ.
McCain Campaign in Panic: Campaign Prepares for Flood of Contributions as Rich Satirists with Prep School Backgrounds Expected to Flock to Join Obama
The McCain-Palin campaign was dealt a serious setback today when author/satirist, Christopher Buckley endorsed Barack Obama.
The McCain campaign could not be reached for comment, but a guy down the street who thinks he might vote Obama told DBKP:
"Sweet!
Who?"
Sources say John McCain himself is "angry" at the news.
It is too early for Buckley's endorsement to reflect in the polls, but it's thought that Buckley's coming out for Obama might be the key to the multi-millionaire mildly-amusing vote.
Buckley cited Obama's "temperament" as one reason he was "pulling the lever for a Democrat for the first time." Buckley also mentioned "intellect", but was more guarded in his assessment on that important point.
"He has exhibited throughout a “first-class temperament,” pace Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.’s famous comment about FDR. As for his intellect, well, he’s a Harvard man, though that’s sure as heck no guarantee of anything, these days. "
DBKP contacted one source, "a former aide to the McCain campaign" and asked for his assessment of the Chris Buckley endorsement.
"Personally, I'm crushed.
You want that with cheese?"
Buckley broke with National Review, which his father, William F. Buckley, founded over the Obama pick.
Those asking what swung Buckley to Obama need look no further than Sarah Palin, "namely, that Sarah Palin is an embarrassment, and a dangerous one at that."
"President Obama will (I pray, secularly) surely understand that traditional left-politics aren’t going to get us out of this pit we’ve dug for our ourselves...And so, for the first time in my life, I’ll be pulling the Democratic lever in November. As the saying goes, God save the United States of America."
It's not known if Senator Obama and Buckley are friends or just one of the thousands of people that Obama knows.
Buckley joins Louis Farrakhan, Hamas, Jimmy Carter, the entire line-up of the Dallas Cowboys and thousands of Europeans in lining up behind Obama.
Sources indicated that the McCain campaign was hoping to offset the loss by redoubling their efforts to win over the Bennett Cerf vote.
Joe Biden's Twenty-five Greatest Verbal Hits 25 Joe Biden Quotes: What He said Then
Twenty-five Joe Biden quotes to compare and contrast with what the Delaware senator told the nation last night in the vice-presidential debate. Check back often for updates.
Did we miss any reader's favorite Joe Biden verbal moment?
If we did, readers can leave their favorites in the comments at the end of this article.
“John McCain is a personal friend, a great friend, and I would be honored to run with or against John McCain, because I think the country would be better off, be well off no matter who...” --Biden on The Daily Show - August 2 2005
“I don’t recall hearing a word from Barack about a plan or a tactic.” --Biden, New York Observer interview - 2007
"You cannot go to a 7-11 or a Dunkin' Donuts unless you have a slight Indian accent.... I'm not joking." --Joe Biden, in an address to Indian-Americans
"It's a bad idea and should be shut down and dismantled." --Joe Biden, on the Alaskan pipeline - 1973
"A tragic mistake." --Joe Biden, on the surge of troops in Iraq - 2006
"Uh, uh, Chuck Graham, state senator, is here. Stand up, Chuck, let 'em see you. Oh, God love you. What am I talking about?" --to wheelchair-bound Missouri state senator, Charles Graham - September 9, 2008
"Folk, let me be straight with you...I have a bad habit of doing that." --Biden in the Delaware Journal - September 2007
”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, on Barack Obama - 2007
“The only guy on the other side who’s qualified is John McCain.” --Biden, post-debate appearance, MSNBC - October 30 2007
“Seems to me this would be a good time to send, no strings attached, a check for $200 million to Iran." --Joe Biden, to staff three weeks after September 11, 2001
“If you want to know where Al Qaeda lives, you want to know where Bin Laden is, come back to Afghanistan with me. Come back to the area where my helicopter was forced down, with a three-star general and three senators at 10,500 feet in the middle of those mountains. I can tell you where they are.” ----Joe Biden, addressing the National Guard, Baltimore 9-22-08 about the time his helicopter had to make a landing due to a sudden snowstorm.
“We must be clear with the American people that we are committing to Iraq for the long haul; not just the day after, but the decade after.” --Biden, October 2002
“I support immediate financial assistance to the newly elected Palestinian president. Now, I don't know what those numbers will be, and I don't know how it's going to be framed.” --Biden,
"A man I'm proud to call my friend. A man who will be the next President of the United States — Barack America!" --Biden, at his first campaign rally with Obama - August 2008
"I think we should divide the country into three regions, just like we did in Bosnia." --Joe Biden, radio Interview - August 2007
“I’ve been calling for more troops for over two years, along with John McCain and others subsequent to my saying that.” --Biden, Meet the Press - November 27 2005
“My impression is [Obama] thinks that if we leave, somehow the Iraqis are going to have an epiphany” of peaceful coexistence among warring sects. “I’ve seen zero evidence of that.” --Biden, on Obama’s Iraq plan - September 13 2007
“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.” --Biden, New York Observer - 2007
“When this campaign is over, political slogans like ‘experience’ and ‘change’ will mean absolutely nothing. The next president has to act.” --Biden Iowa campaign ad - December 2007
“We can call it quits and withdraw from Iraq. I think that would be a gigantic mistake. Or we can set a deadline for pulling out, which I fear will only encourage our enemies to wait us out — equally a mistake.” --Biden at the Brookings Institution - 2005
“Sen. Obama said he would do everything possible to end the war in Iraq and emphasized the need for a political solution yet he failed to show up to vote for Sen. Biden’s critical amendment to provide a political solution in Iraq." --Luis Navarro, Biden for President Campaign Manager - September 26, 2007
“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.” --Biden about Sadaam Hussein, Meet the Press - December 26, 2002
“Well, the point is, it turned out they didn’t, but everyone in the world thought he had them. The weapons inspectors said he had them. He cataloged — they cataloged them. This was not some, some Cheney, you know, pipe dream. This was, in fact, cataloged.” --Biden, about Sadaam Hussein's Weapons of Mass Destruction, Meet the Press - 2007
“I don’t want him [my son] going there [to Iraq]. But I tell you what, I don’t want my grandson or my granddaughters going back in 15 years and so how we leave makes a big difference. There’s no political point worth my son’s life. There’s no political point worth anybody’s life out there. None.” --Biden on Iowa Radio about Barack Obama's votes against Iraq funding bills - August 2007
“I don’t think John Edwards knows what the heck he is talking about," [when he calls for immediate withdrawal of troops from Iraq.] "John Edwards wants you and all the Democrats to think, ‘I want us out of there,’ but when you come back and you say, ‘O.K., John, what about the chaos that will ensue? Do we have any interest, John, left in the region?’ Well, John will have to answer yes or no. If he says yes, what are they? What are those interests, John? How do you protect those interests, John, if you are completely withdrawn? Are you withdrawn from the region, John? Are you withdrawn from Iraq, John? In what period? So all this stuff is like so much Fluffernutter out there." --Joe Biden, Observer - February 2007
Joe Biden's Tough on America's Enemies: Biden One of Only Five Senators To Vote AGAINST the Alaskan Pipeline in 1973 A $200 Million 'No Strings Attached' Check for Iran Tomorrow's Headlines Today: Biden Big Winner in VP Debate
"If I can save just ONE caribou, it will be worth it."
Three Weeks After September 11, Biden Wants to Cut the Iranians a check for $200 Million, "no strings attached"
If a few gas lines in the South--due to the double whammy of Ike and Gustav--make readers nervous, think back to 1973 when the entire nation was one big gas line.
The Arabs, in effect, declared war on the USA for its role in helping Israel defend itself during the Yom Kippur War in October 1973. The Arab oil embargo made gas lines the only way motorists could obtain gasoline--when any was available.
What did Joe Biden do?
He voted against the original Alaskan pipeline.
Shockingly, Sen. Joe Biden was one of only five senators to vote against the first Alaskan pipeline bill in 1973. This is like having been a Nazi sympathizer during World War II. If Sarah Palin does nothing else, she has got to tie that idiotic pipeline vote around Biden's neck.
The Senate passed the 1973 Alaskan pipeline bill by an overwhelming 80-5 vote. Only five senators voted against the pipeline on final passage. Sen. Biden is the only one who is still in the Senate -- the other four having been confined to mental institutions long ago.
The stakes were clear: This was in the midst of the first Arab oil embargo. Liberal Democrats, such as senators Robert Byrd, Mike Mansfield, Frank Church and Hubert Humphrey, all voted for the pipeline.
But Biden cast one of only five votes against the pipeline that has produced more than 15 billion barrels of oil, supplied nearly 20 percent of this nation's oil, created tens of thousands of jobs, added hundreds of billions of dollars to the U.S. economy and reduced money transfers to the nation's enemies by about the same amount.
The only argument against the pipeline was that it would harm the caribou, an argument that was both trivial and wrong. The caribou population near the pipeline increased from 5,000 in the 1970s to 32,000 by 2002.
It would have been bad enough to vote against the pipeline bill even if it had hurt the caribou. A sane person would still say: Our enemies have us in a vice grip. Sorry, caribou, you've got to take one for the team. But when the pipeline goes through and the caribou population sextuples in the next 20 years, you really look like a moron. Ann Coulter Biden Secret Service Code Name: 'Assassination Insurance'
Joe Biden is the man that the Mainstream Media will declare the winner in tonight's debate with Sarah Palin. The headline are already written at the New York Times: "Biden Wins Big, Palin Doesn't Know the Square Root of 266443".
Joe Klein wrote his piece for Time sometime shortly after August 30: "Biden Steady; Palin Too Dangerous to Declare Winner".
Kathleen Parker will write a column about wanting nationalized health care because Sarah Palin aggravated Parker's near-terminal "cringe reflex"--oh, and by the way, Kathleen has a pain right here that feels like two billy goats butting their heads together.
Barack Obama picked Joe Biden because of his "experience".
That experience includes his vote against the original Alaskan pipeline. Joe Biden's a stand-up guy: when the Arabs put their foot on America's throat, Joe Biden stood up for the caribou.
Biden's experience also includes wanting to send the Iranians a $200 million "no-strings attached" check shortly after September 11.
“Seems to me this would be a good time to send, no strings attached, a check for $200 million to Iran,” Biden declares. He surveys the table with raised eyebrows, a How do ya like that? look on his face.
The staffers sit in silence. Finally somebody ventures a response: “I think they’d send it back.” Then another aide speaks up delicately: “The thing I would worry about is that it would almost look like a publicity stunt.” Still another reminds Biden that an Iranian delegation is in Moscow that very day to discuss a $300 million arms deal with Vladimir Putin that the United States has strongly condemned. --Michael Crowley, New Republic October 11, 2008 Rhetorical Question
Obama's has taken heat for wanting to negotiate with Iran without pre-conditions. Many think that is not only wrong, but counter-productive. So, maybe Barack Obama made the smart VP pick after all: at least Biden wanted to send the Iranians $200 million first.
The $200 million check to the Iranians shortly after September 11 and the vote against the Alaskan pipeline are all part of Joe Biden's record of achievement in the Senate.
Say what you will: it's a much larger record than that of his running mate, Barack Obama.
Vice Presidential Debate: VP Debate Trail Leads to Bill Ayers
In a post earlier today, I connected the dots between the location where the ROTC buildings once stood at Washington University in St. Louis to the St. Louis Athletic Complex, site of Thursday night’s vice presidential debate. In short, I reported that the St. Louis Athletic Complex, the venue for the debate, was constructed upon the same ground where ROTC buildings burned to the ground as anti-Vietnam war sentiment reached a fever pitch.
It’s important for several reasons, though one stands out. At about the same time 38 years ago, according to Discover the Networks, domestic terrorist Bill Ayers was busy carrying out similarly detestable activities:
A substantial portion of Ayers’ book Fugitive Days discusses the author’s penchant for building and deploying explosives. Ayers boasts that he “participated in the bombings of New York City Police Headquarters in 1970, of the Capitol building in 1971, and the Pentagon in 1972.” Of the day he bombed the Pentagon, Ayers says, “Everything was absolutely ideal. … The sky was blue. The birds were singing. And the bastards were finally going to get what was coming to them.”
Will the 3,100-plus members of the news media who’ve received credentials to cover the debate report on this little-known relationship between Barack Obama and Ayers, his longtime friend? Probably not — but the American people will hear about it if Sarah Palin takes my advice.
WANT more Bob McCarty, "The Ultimate Blogging Machine"? Try these recent posts:
[Every week, RightBias publishes Culture Watch, which includes an Idiot of the Week award. However, there's been so many...
TOP IDIOTS OF THE WEEK: Sept. 27, 2008
1. First place winner, hands down, is PETA, People For The Ethical Treatment of Animals. After hearing of a Swiss restaurant that started using human breast milk in their soups and sauces, PETA sent a letter to Ben & Jerry's Homemade Inc., urging them to start using breast milk in their ice cream products. Yum.
2. Unfortunately, this idiot terrorist is unable to savor his award. As he was mindlessly lobbing bombs and chanting Allah Akbar, he accidentally blew himself up. (Warning: graphic video) I wonder if he finally got those 72 virgins he was promised.
4. Also, in the eco-idiots category: Bette Midler, who cancelled her latest tour in order to save the planet. The aging 62 year-old diva felt the fleet of 14 trucks she used to ship her show from city to city caused too much pollution. I'm sure low ticket sales had nothing to do with her decision.
5. A Michigan Court of Appeals deserves a place on our list for ruling that a man who pleaded no contest to sodomizing a sheep doesn't have to register as a sex offender. Would someone please let PETA know.
6. The winner of last week's top idiot award is back. Democrat VP candidate Joe Biden stated on CBS Evening News, "When the stock market crashed, Franklin Roosevelt got on television and didn't just talk about the, you know, the princes of greed. He said, 'Look, here's what happened.'" Only problem is, FDR wasn't president during the 1929 crash, Herbert Hoover was. Oh, and there was no television in 1929. Duh.
7. Former American Idol star Clay Aiken gets our Idiot Parent of the Week award. Clay was pictured in People Magazine holding his infant son as he announced to the world that he is gay. Clay threw in some advice on parenting, stating, "I cannot raise a child to lie or hide things." Another example of idiots transforming bad behaviour into moral-self righteousness. Bravo.
8. Kudos to the idiot who managed to rack up nearly $2 million in traffic fines before being caught by Brazilian police.
9. Last, but not least, is the idiot former judge who was disbarred by the Oklahoma Supreme Court last Tuesday. His crime? He actually got caught, and served prison time, for using a sexual device while presiding over trials. Hey, maybe some lawyers just complained about how hard it was to get a rise out of him. Ya think?
Thought for the week: To err is human, but being an idiot takes something special.
[Every week, RightBias publishes Culture Watch, which includes an Idiot of the Week award. Last week, however, was so chock full of idiotic delights that we find they deserve more exposure than space allows in Culture Watch. Hence, the first:]
TOP IDIOTS OF THE WEEK AWARDS:
1. The top idiot of the week award goes, hands down, to Dem VP contender Joe Biden, who stated with a straight face that being patriotic means paying higher taxes. No doubt, some will fall for this bunk, which further explains the need for an expanded IDIOT'S list. So many idiots, so little time.
2. Narrowly losing out for first place has to be Washington Redskin's tight end, Chris Cooley, who 'accidentally' posted a photo of his genitals on the Internet. Cooley apologized, saying he was studying, in the nude, and accidentally included his genitalia in a photo of what were supposed to be notes. Right.. He as much as said it ain't no big deal.
3. A would-be robber picked the wrong bar to rob. It turned out Pooh's Corner Bar in Virginia is a cop's bar. This idiot ended up with a shot in the butt. Sometimes, life is fair.
4. Rep. Charlie Rangel, who, after being caught cheating on his taxes, penned an open letter to New Yorkers saying he is the target of a GOP "guerilla war." This, after he managed to keep his leadership post on our nation's tax-writing committee even after evidence of his tax fraud came to light.
5. A German teenager engraved a swastika into her hip and then blamed it on right-wing militants. She is currently facing trial.
6. Billionaire George Soros has made this week's list. His hedge fund lost at least $120 million bucks for his investors on the funds' Lehman Brothers holdings. Welcome, George. Hope to see you back here real soon.
7. Our 'social justice' award has to go to the group of protesters who gathered outside John McCain's Crystal City condo, demanding McCain give them his condo. Too much koolaid for those kids. What do you want to bet they're all Obama supporters?
8. Last, but not least, we must acknowledge those zany Democrat leaders who, as the world teetered on the brink of financial ruin last week, suggested issuing gas stamps to help Americans cope with high gas prices.
Feel free to forward your own contendor for next week's IDIOT AWARDS.
by Nancy Morgan Right Bias.com image: rightbias; citypages
Obama Offices Different, Separate and Apart From Democrat Party Offices Does Obama Campaign Not Trust the Democrats? Or is it Clintonistas?
Will Election 2008 be remembered as the first contest between Republicans and Obamacrats--or the first between the Obamacrats and the Democrats?
Senator Barack Obama is building a national organization separate and apart from the national Democrat Party apparatus--at least in any state where the outcome of the November election is at all in doubt.
In state after state, the Obama campaign, in a break with tradition, has opened up its own offices--which largely push Barack Obama, and only Obama--apart from the Democrat Party's own offices in those very same communities.
Obama has, literally, hundreds of these offices dotting the USA.
[ABOVE: Obama offices in Ohio--these are separate from local Democrat Party offices in the communities listed.]
The list goes on: Virginia, over forty offices; Georgia, thirty-eight; North Carolina, thirty-six; Indiana, thirty-two; Colorado, thirty; Iowa, twenty-three; Minnesota, twelve; West Virginia, six.
In states where the outcome is already pretty much decided, Campaign for Change operates few offices: one in Texas and California, for example.
Does Obama Trust the Democrats? Do the Democrats Trust Obama?
The Campaign for Change offices push one product: Barack Obama.
In our weekend visit to Obama offices, we found that local and state Democrat candidates did have a presence at the Campaign for Change offices--but not much of one.
Almost all of the usual campaign giveways were there: pencils, literature, stickers. They were all on a small table in the back of the room.
That small table represented all of the local, district and state Democrat candidates--combined. The rest of the spacious room was dedicated to Barack Obama. In almost every case, it was Obama without a meniton of running mate, Joe Biden.
The local Democrat campaign office, we were informed, was "down the street, around the corner."
One of the offices visited last weekend was in Ohio.
The Obama campaign and supporters will likely dismiss the separate offices as "smart thinking" and "targeting resources". But, each office sucks up resources: lease money, campaign materials and manpower. The Campaign for Change offices are staffed by volunteers, but a volunteer sitting behind a desk is a volunteer not knocking on doors.
But in this way, the Obama campaign is sure of one thing: the volunteer on the phone in a Des Moines Campaign for Change office will be talking about Barack Obama--not the local Democrat candidate for County Commissioner.
The Obama campaign is apparently charging fellow Democrats for Obama campaign materials. At a Democrat-sponsored booth at an event in Wheeling WV, local Democratic candidates manning the location complained about this sign of Obamaization. The booth featured many local and state Democrat candidates, but not much Obama signage or literature.
"We had to pay for them," a lady complained. "They don't give us anything."
Even Obama supporters have to pay the campaign for everything in the offices. "Al" who we spoke to at a local Obama campaign offices said he had to "pay for the lease out of my own pocket. All of the t-shirts, button, stickers here, I paid for."
So, if Obama volunteers are paying the campaign for everything and picking up the tab for leases, isn't this just a smart move?
Each Campaign for Change office becomes a cash cow: it not only pays for itself, it sends money to the national Obama campaign for campaign materials.
And, the staff isn't wasting time contacting voters about the other Democrat candidates. At Campaign for Change, it's All Obama, All of the Time.
Is there any other reasons why the Obama campaign built this network dedicated to the election of Barack Obama outside of normal Democrat Party channels?
The Spectre of Hillary Clinton
The Obama campaign may have set up all of those separate offices--in any state that might be the least bit in play--because of the woman Obama beat in the Democrat primaries: Hillary Clinton.
A Campaign for Change office is an office beyond any possible control of Clintonistas.
The preceding headlines come from the front page of PUMA08.com. They help illustrate the rift between some supporters of Hillary Clinton and the candidate that they claim was "selected, not elected" to represent the Democrats in November.
An AP-Yahoo News poll claims that Democrats who backed Hillary Clinton in the primaries are still not warming up to Barack Obama. Fifty-eight percent of Clinton supporters now back Obama.
That was the same percentage who said they backed Obamaa in a June, when Clinton called it quits and the PUMA (Party Unity My Ass) movement was born.
The poll shows that while Obama has gained ground among Clinton's supporters — 69 percent view him favorably now, up 9 percentage points from June — this has yet to translate into more of their support.
In part, this is because their positive views of Republican presidential nominee John McCain have also improved during this period. Those supporting McCain have also edged up from 21 percent to 28 percent, with the number of undecided staying constant, the survey showed.
Obama and many of his supporters haven't warmed to the Clintons.
The Clintons, and many of their supporters, haven't warmed to Obama.
It’s 44 days until the General Election as I write this and after a long and hard fought primary season the Democratic Party, and the Obama campaign specifically, are still unable to get over their terminal case of CDS. I can’t help but ask “Why”? For the uninitiated, CDS stands for Clinton Derangement Syndrome, usually defined as the uncontrollable impulse to rail against all things Clinton (Hillary, Bill, Chelsea, Hillary’s supporters, and basically anything connected to centrist positions).
Team Obama not only masterminded the overthrow of the Democratic Party to form the “New Democrats” (remember the May 31, 2008 coup when all semblance of the rules were overthrown at a behind-closed-doors meeting of the Rules and Bylaws Committee), they literally declared the nomination belonged to Obama despite the fact that:
Will Bower, of PUMA08.com, isn't buying the "Dump Biden" rumors.
"I believe that the "Dump Biden" rumor is exactly that -- a rumor."
Bower added that "I don't believe that Hillary would encourage Obama to do such a thing at this juncture. It would only serve to make him (accurately) look weak and indecisive."
Will then directed us to the following video.
The View: Bill Clinton Pretends He Wants Obama To Win
Will Obama win using his national network of Campaign for Change offices, which are separate from the local Democrat Party?
Will Obama have any coattails, helping local Democrats to victory in close local races?
Does it matter?
After all, Barack Obama--who may be described as having been in perpetual campaign mode--is building his own network of volunteers, fund-raising and organization. It's a network beholden to no one outside of the Obama campaign.
In case of an Obama win, it's a network that's already in place and can be expanded upon in 2012 for a re-election run.
In case of an Obama loss, it's a network already in place that can be expanded upon in 2012 for another run against all comers--Republican or Democrat.
Will the Obama organization supersede the Democratic Party? Or will the Clintons and their supporters be able to circumvent this looming obstacle?
2008 may be remembered as the beginning of a battle in which John McCain was only one opponent among many.
“If you want to know where Al Qaeda lives, you want to know where Bin Laden is, come back to Afghanistan with me. Come back to the area where my helicopter was forced down, with a three-star general and three senators at 10,500 feet in the middle of those mountains. I can tell you where they are.” --Joe Biden, addressing the National Guard, Baltimore 9-22-08
Joe Biden told an audience of National Guardsmen about his the time his helicopter got "forced down" while traveling in Afghanistan--and also got to reference John McCain's "Gates of Hell".
It all started yesterday when Joe Biden was addressing attendees of a National Guard conference in Baltimore. The Democratic nominee for vice president recounted a harrowing experience when he was “forced down” over the mountains of Afghanistan.
“If you want to know where Al Qaeda lives, you want to know where Bin Laden is, come back to Afghanistan with me,” Biden said. “Come back to the area where my helicopter was forced down, with a three-star general and three senators at 10,500 feet in the middle of those mountains. I can tell you where they are.”
"So there I was...Surrounded on all sides by snowballs!"
“[T]he superhighway of terror between Pakistan and Afghanistan where my helicopter was forced down…John McCain wants to know where Bin Laden and the gates of Hell are? I can tell him where. That’s where Al Qaeda is. That’s where Bin Laden is. It’s not in the country of Iraq.”
Jimmy Orr, Christian Science Monitor, points out, "In both retellings of his story, Biden seemed to have left out the part that it was a snowstorm that forced his chopper down, leading some to think that he was implying that it was brought down by hostile forces."
The McCain campaign reacted to Joe Biden being Joe Biden.
“Biden’s exaggeration of his Afghan helicopter ride is no surprise and reminds us of his daily assignment to embellish and fashion a record for Barack Obama where one simply does not exist,” said McCain spokesman Ben Porritt.
Supposedly, Biden's "health" will be used as an excuse for giving him the heave-ho. His past history with brain aneurysms has been cited as a possible excuse.
But, it might not be that difficult to ease Biden off the ticket.
