# The Presidential Race **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [May 21, 2008, 11:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-presidential-race/450083 "2008-05-21T11:12:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Biggirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biggirl/32/3294_2.png) [@Biggirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biggirl)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2008, 11:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-presidential-race/450083/1 "2008-05-21T11:12:51Z")
I was going to stick this bit of news in the fork Hillary thread but it doesn’t really belong there. And, even though I don’t want to be presumptuous, it does look as if we have our two candidates. So, with that in mind, I look ahead. Making the news so far: Bush indirectly blasts Obama’s forgein policy. The Tennessee GOP airs anti-Michelle ads. Obama responds. And the piece of news that got me to start this thread–[“McCain’s media advisor quits because he doesn’t want to work against Obama.”](http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2008/05/20/mccain-adviser-steps-down-to-avoid-working-against-obama/) That doesn’t seem like a good way to kick off a head to head campaign. ---
**Author:** ![Phlosphr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c68b51/32.png) [@Phlosphr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Phlosphr)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2008, 11:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-presidential-race/450083/2 "2008-05-21T11:27:01Z")
[QUOTE=Biggirl] I was going to stick this bit of news in the fork Hillary thread but it doesn’t really belong there. And, even though I don’t want to be presumptuous, it does look as if we have our two candidates. So, with that in mind, I look ahead. Making the news so far: Bush indirectly blasts Obama’s forgein policy. The Tennessee GOP airs anti-Michelle ads. Obama responds. And the piece of news that got me to start this thread–[“McCain’s media advisor quits because he doesn’t want to work against Obama.”](http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2008/05/20/mccain-adviser-steps-down-to-avoid-working-against-obama/) That doesn’t seem like a good way to kick off a head to head campaign. [/QUOTE] It’s not a way to kick off a head to head campaign. The republicans have said for a long while they did not want to be up against Obama in the General. Well, sorry Mr.Elephant, but here comes Obama. I’m excited more than anything about this race - did you hear Obama’s speech last night? Singing the praises of Clinton,[even mentioning his daughers in the praises] and looking ahead to the general. Trust me, David Plouffe, and the team are locked and loaded for this fight, and Obama has been doing very well so far IMHO. ---
**Author:** ![Liberal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2008, 11:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-presidential-race/450083/3 "2008-05-21T11:30:30Z")
[Fixed link for OP](http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2008/05/20/mccain-adviser-steps-down-to-avoid-working-against-obama/). ---
**Author:** ![Biggirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biggirl/32/3294_2.png) [@Biggirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biggirl)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2008, 11:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-presidential-race/450083/4 "2008-05-21T11:31:24Z")
It could be that Mr. McKinnon has seen what the McCain people have planned and wants no part. If that’s the case, then get ready for some ugly stuff. ETA: Thanks **Lib** ---
**Author:** ![Phlosphr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c68b51/32.png) [@Phlosphr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Phlosphr)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2008, 12:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-presidential-race/450083/5 "2008-05-21T12:09:49Z")
[QUOTE=Biggirl] It could be that Mr. McKinnon has seen what the McCain people have planned and wants no part. If that’s the case, then get ready for some ugly stuff. ETA: Thanks **Lib** [/QUOTE] I think we need to ask ourselves, "_How has Obama gotten this far, against all odds?_ Answering that will aid us in seeing how he will handle the General. When I allow myself to venture into that thought, I am oddly comforted in that I know Obama and his very, very well put together campaign team are ready for what the GOP is about to sling. One thing I hope they know is, the GOP likes to kick sand in your face before throwing the first punch, so look out for that… I think President Bush will help the dems win this year, because his rating are so low, and people are so fed up with his policies and behavior that the thought of another 4 years of his bullshit even from a man like McCain, is simply not acceptable to more people in the country than not. ---
**Author:** ![Biggirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biggirl/32/3294_2.png) [@Biggirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biggirl)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2008, 1:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-presidential-race/450083/6 "2008-05-21T13:55:49Z")
Do you think Obama’s lay off my wife or else response to the GOP attack ad against his wife have anything to do with Cindy McCain? I had heard the homewrecker, drug adict claims before but, [after checking out her Wiki](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cindy_Hensley_McCain) I gotta say Holy Cow! Besides being named after a Who-- she stole drugs from the American Volunteer Medical Team, was named in the Keating Five fiasco and lied on her adoption application. Certainly not a can a worms McCain wants to open up. And **Phlosphr** , I’m an Obama supporter. I think he’s the right man at the right time. But the possibility that one of the men who helped run GWB’s campaign of swiftboats and thinly-veiled lies would quit the McCain campaign because he doesn’t want to be party to that against Obama, could be a signal of some very nasty upcoming stuff. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2008, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-presidential-race/450083/7 "2008-05-21T14:08:53Z")
Lets hold out a thin line of hope here: perhaps he quit because they weren’t willing to stoop to that level. Yet. ---
**Author:** ![Phlosphr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c68b51/32.png) [@Phlosphr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Phlosphr)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2008, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-presidential-race/450083/8 "2008-05-21T14:40:41Z")
[QUOTE=elucidator] Lets hold out a thin line of hope here: perhaps he quit because they weren’t willing to stoop to that level. Yet. [/QUOTE] McCain has already said he deosn’t want to stoop to that level. Remember when that guy opened for him a few months ago kept saying , Barack HUSSEIN Obama, and McCain was pissed off he was saying that stuff to open for him. I don’t think McCain wants to go that negative. But I don’t think he will have a choice. **Biggirl** - I know you are an Obama supporter 😉 You rock! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2008, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-presidential-race/450083/9 "2008-05-21T15:14:41Z")
[New Reuters/Zogby poll shows Obama with an 8-point national lead over McCain.](http://uk.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idUKN2034087120080521) ---
**Author:** ![Phlosphr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c68b51/32.png) [@Phlosphr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Phlosphr)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2008, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-presidential-race/450083/10 "2008-05-21T15:20:32Z")
[QUOTE=BrainGlutton] [New Reuters/Zogby poll shows Obama with an 8-point national lead over McCain.](http://uk.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idUKN2034087120080521) [/QUOTE] I just posted that in the Fork thread. Like I said in that thread, once Clinton supporters begin to coalesce around Obama over the next several months we could see some big leads coming from the dems. If we get but a fraction of what has turned out to vote in the dem primaries, we could be in for a good ride to the WH. ---
**Author:** ![Liberal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2008, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-presidential-race/450083/11 "2008-05-21T15:20:48Z")
McCain indeed has said he doesn’t want to fight dirty, but the problem is he fights dirty. As one example, witness his latching onto Bush’s “appeaser” remark and saying that it opens discussion for Obama’s desire to talk to Iran. McCain was actually the first person I heard from who directly tied Bush’s remark to Obama. We’re talking about a man who had paid foreign agents on his payroll until the past few days. Some of the nations they work for are pretty skeezy. As far as I’m concerned, he’s Hillary with a penis, and will stoop to anything to win. ---
**Author:** ![Cisco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ccd318/32.png) [@Cisco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cisco)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2008, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-presidential-race/450083/12 "2008-05-21T16:06:38Z")
I must be slightly superstitious about this kind of talk because I don’t like it one bit. I still have a nagging fear that Hillary is going to pull the nomination out of her ass. It just seems like someone _that_ powerful, doing something _that_ dumb, for _that_ long, knows something we don’t. ---
**Author:** ![Flipshod](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/f19dbf/32.png) [@Flipshod](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flipshod)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2008, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-presidential-race/450083/13 "2008-05-21T16:47:57Z")
I stumbled onto a site (not reliable at all) that said the IRS was investigating the non-profit status of Obama’s church based on a speech he gave. Would the IRS publicize an ongoing investigation? Anyone know the straight dope? Yes, I’m torn between thinking Clinton’s crazy and worrying that she’s got something in her back pocket. ---
**Author:** ![dalej42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@dalej42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dalej42)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2008, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-presidential-race/450083/14 "2008-05-21T17:01:00Z")
[QUOTE=Flipshod] I stumbled onto a site (not reliable at all) that said the IRS was investigating the non-profit status of Obama’s church based on a speech he gave. Would the IRS publicize an ongoing investigation? Anyone know the straight dope? Yes, I’m torn between thinking Clinton’s crazy and worrying that she’s got something in her back pocket. [/QUOTE] There was a thread on that a couple of months ago. Obama spoke at the General Synod of the United Church of Christ and made political remarks. Much ado about nothing. ---
**Author:** ![Flipshod](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/f19dbf/32.png) [@Flipshod](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flipshod)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2008, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-presidential-race/450083/15 "2008-05-21T17:03:21Z")
[QUOTE=dalej42] There was a thread on that a couple of months ago. Obama spoke at the General Synod of the United Church of Christ and made political remarks. Much ado about nothing. [/QUOTE] Good. Thank you. But I still have a nagging wonder… ---
**Author:** ![Phlosphr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c68b51/32.png) [@Phlosphr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Phlosphr)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2008, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-presidential-race/450083/16 "2008-05-21T17:11:48Z")
[QUOTE=Flipshod] Good. Thank you. But I still have a nagging wonder… [/QUOTE] Not going to happen she’d have pulled it out before now. She’s doing the good thing and waiting until all her crows are counted after June 3rd. It won’t go to the convention. ---
**Author:** ![E-Sabbath](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e19adc/32.png) [@E-Sabbath](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-Sabbath)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2008, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-presidential-race/450083/17 "2008-05-21T17:33:31Z")
You know, I think McCain likes and respects Obama, and the opinion is mutual. They’ve worked directly together in the Senate. ---
**Author:** ![grayhairedmomma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/47e85d/32.png) [@grayhairedmomma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/grayhairedmomma)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2008, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-presidential-race/450083/18 "2008-05-21T17:50:30Z")
[QUOTE=E-Sabbath] You know, I think McCain likes and respects Obama, and the opinion is mutual. They’ve worked directly together in the Senate. [/QUOTE] I wouldn’t bet on it. From the Washington Post, [Obama, McCain Forged Fleeting Alliance](http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/03/30/AR2008033002401_pf.html) > [@](#): > > A year into his tenure on Capitol Hill, Barack Obama (D-Ill.) approached John McCain on the Senate floor to propose the two work together on a lobbying and ethics reform bill. The four-term Arizona Republican, 25 years Obama’s senior, quickly saw a willing apprentice to help shake up the way business was done on Capitol Hill. > > “I like him; he’s probably got a great future. We can do some work together,” McCain confided to his top staffer. > > Instead, what began as a promising collaboration between two men bent on burnishing their reformist credentials collapsed after barely a week. The McCain-Obama relationship came undone amid charges and countercharges, all aired publicly two years ago in an exchange of stark and angry letters. Obama questioned whether McCain sided with GOP leaders rather than searching for a bipartisan solution; McCain accused Obama of “typical rhetorical gloss” and “self interested partisan posturing” by a newcomer seeking to ingratiate himself with party leaders. > > “Please be assured I won’t make the same mistake again,” McCain wrote Obama on Feb. 6, 2006. > > It was the first, and only, time the two ever tried extensively working together. ---
**Author:** ![Shayna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shayna/32/17976_2.png) [@Shayna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shayna)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2008, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-presidential-race/450083/19 "2008-05-21T18:20:56Z")
[QUOTE=Biggirl] But the possibility that one of the men who helped run GWB’s campaign of swiftboats and thinly-veiled lies would quit the McCain campaign because he doesn’t want to be party to that against Obama, could be a signal of some very nasty upcoming stuff. [/QUOTE] That’s not what I got out of your linked article, which says, _“In a 2007 interview with Cox News, McKinnon said he would vote for McCain, but “I just don’t want to work against an Obama candidacy.” He added that if Obama were to reach the White House, it “would send a great message to the country and the world.””_ To me that says he doesn’t want to work against such a momentous opportunity for this nation and this world to heal long-held rifts with this extraordinary candidacy. I get the feeling that if he could, he would actually prefer to work _for_ the Obama campaign, as opposed to simply not working against it. And I have this gut feeling that it’ll be Obama’s name this guy punches in the privacy of the voting booth, contrary to what he publicly professes. But I admit I’m just speculating and you could, of course, be right. ---
**Author:** ![Flipshod](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/f19dbf/32.png) [@Flipshod](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flipshod)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2008, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-presidential-race/450083/20 "2008-05-21T22:13:20Z")
[QUOTE=Phlosphr] Not going to happen she’d have pulled it out before now. She’s doing the good thing and waiting until all her crows are counted after June 3rd. It won’t go to the convention. [/QUOTE] But the word is that SHE can’t push it out there without the party crumbling, but she’s waiting for the other side to figure it out. I know–it’s my worrying nature to think that if things seem to be going well politically, there must be a catch. Perhaps my days as a Clinton (the first one) supporter are haunting me. 😉 [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-presidential-race/450083.md?page=2)