The latest Fox/Rasmussen battleground polls confirm the Barack Obama surge in the battleground states of Missouri, Florida, Virginia, and Colorado. It's a virtual tie in Ohio, with John McCain up by a single point.

Here are the just-released numbers:

MISSOURI: Obama - 50% McCain - 47%

The latest Fox News/Rasmussen Reports telephone survey in the state shows Obama with 50% of the vote while McCain attracts 47%. Ralph Nader and Bob Barr pick up one percent (1%) each, and two percent (2%) are undecided.

These results are quite a change from a month ago when McCain was up by six points. However, over that month, the national trends and virtually all statewide polling has swung significantly in Obama’s direction.

Colorado: Obama- 51% McCain - 45%

In Colorado, Obama now holds a six-point advantage, 51% to 45%. Last week, Obama had a one-point edge in the state and two weeks ago McCain was narrowly ahead.

Virginia: Obama-50%  McCain - 48%

Obama continues to hold a narrow advantage in Virginia, 50% to 48%. That’s virtually unchanged from last week. However, last week was the first time Obama had moved ahead in this state that hasn’t voted for a Democrat since 1964.

Florida: Obama-  52%   McCain - 45%

Obama now leads by seven points, 52% to 45% in Florida. A week ago the candidates were tied in the Sunshine State. Two weeks ago, McCain was up five.

Ohio: Obama - 47%   McCain - 48%

Ohio is the only state where McCain has any sort of advantage. But a 48% to 47% lead is meaningless in a poll with a three percentage point margin of sampling error.

With time drawing closer to the election day, the real decay of our political process begins to present itself. The issues will now be left in the dust for a smear campaign waged by both campaigns, in equal fervor. When these ads and ractics start, it is inspiriation not to vote, to not even support our broken political system.

In a time when the country needs to unify, division will be the only thing created within this next month.

I tell ya, I have not laughed this hard in a long long time.

Thanks fellow bloggers. All of this incredible bull hockey in the political blogs has made me put away my George Carlin DVD's!

McCain this, McCain that!

Obama this, Obama that!

LMAO!!!!

ELECTION NEWS UPDATE

The following was confirmed by Obama staff.

If Obama is elected The White House will be refered to as:

The White and Black House

or

The Peoples House

I found this on Fox News.com today and I think everyone should look at and read:

WELL LET'S HERE WHAT YOU THINK?

http://www.snopes.com/politics/mccain/mccain.aspa>

HERE IS TRUTH ABOUT OBAMA

http://www.snopes.com/politics/obama/obama.aspp>

IF YOU HAVE THE GUTS LET'S HERE WHAT YOU HAVE TO SAY

Julianna GoldmanMon Oct 6, 2:16 AM ET

Oct. 6 (Bloomberg) -- Barack Obama, after attacks on his character and past associations, is hitting back by highlighting John McCain's ties to the ``Keating Five'' savings-and-loan scandal that embroiled the Republican presidential nominee in the 1980s.

David Plouffe, Obama's campaign manager, e-mailed millions of supporters on Oct. 5 directing them to a new Web site, keatingeconomics.com, dedicated to McCain's ties to the scandal. It features a 30-second Web advertisement and beginning at noon Washington time the site will also host a 13-minute documentary called ``Keating Economics: John McCain and the Making of a Financial Crisis'' produced by the campaign.

``The McCain campaign has tried to avoid talking about the scandal, but with so many parallels to the current crisis, McCain's Keating history is relevant and voters deserve to know the facts -- and see for themselves the pattern of poor judgment by John McCain,'' Plouffe wrote.

With less than a month before election day and Obama's poll numbers rising amid the financial meltdown, the Democratic presidential candidate is hoping to link McCain's approach to the current financial crisis with his role in the savings-and-loan crisis of the late 1980s. The attacks come as McCain's campaign said last week it would divert attention from the economy to focus on Obama's character.

Associations Questioned

Over the weekend, McCain's running mate, Alaska Governor Sarah Palin, repeatedly linked the Democratic presidential candidate with a domestic terrorist group from the 1970s, telling supporters Obama used to ``pal around with terrorists who targeted their own country,'' a reference to his acquaintance with Bill Ayers, a former member of the Weather Underground group that carried out a series of bombings in the early 1970s. Obama served on a charity board with Ayers and has denounced the bombings.

Obama ``is someone who sees America as imperfect enough to pal around with terrorists who targeted their own country,'' Palin, 44, told donors at a fundraiser Oct. 4 in Costa Mesa, California. ``This, ladies and gentleman, is not the kind of change that I think we should be believing in.''

McCain adviser Greg Strimple said last week that they were ``looking for a very aggressive last 30 days.''

``We're looking to turning the page on this financial crisis and getting back to discussing Mr. Obama's liberal, aggressively liberal, record and how he will be too risky for the Americans,'' Strimple told reporters on an Oct. 2 conference call.

Potentially Risky Strategy

The strategy of invoking the Keating Five scandal may prove risky, as Obama's candidacy has been built around a message of hope with the promise of a different kind of politics. Just yesterday, in response to Palin's attacks, Obama said he would ``keep on talking about the issues that matter,'' pledging to focus on the economy, health care, education and energy.

Still, Obama's advisers say McCain was the first to launch guilt-by-association attacks, and because of the relevance of the Keating Five to today's financial crisis, such attacks cut sharply against the Republican presidential candidate.

``The Keating Five involved all the things that have brought the modern crisis,'' William Black, a former deputy director of the Federal Savings and Loan Insurance Corp., says in the video. ``Senator McCain has not learned the lessons and has continued to follow policies that are going to produce a disaster.''

McCain Campaign Response

The McCain campaign responded by calling Obama dishonest.

``The difference here is clear: John McCain has been open and honest about the Keating matter, and even the Democratic special counsel in charge recommended that Senator McCain be completely exonerated,'' McCain spokesman Brian Rogers said. ``By contrast, Barack Obama has been fundamentally dishonest about his friendship and work with the unrepentant terrorist William Ayers, whose radical group bombed the Pentagon and the U.S. Capitol.''

Obama has opened up a lead over McCain, 72, in the aftermath of their first debate Sept. 26 as the economy deteriorates.

Earlier in September, a Bloomberg/Los Angeles Times poll showed more respondents said Obama would do a better job handling the financial crisis than McCain, and almost half said they believed Obama had better ideas to strengthen the economy than his rival.

During his first Senate term, Arizona senator McCain and four Democrats faced accusations of improperly intervening with federal regulators on behalf of former savings-and-loan executive Charles Keating in the 1980s savings-and-loan industry collapse. The five senators took contributions from the Arizona businessman and while the Senate Ethics Committee reprimanded McCain, it cleared him of wrongdoing.

Ethics Committee Finding

The Senate Ethics Committee, chaired by the late Alabama Democrat Howell Heflin, ultimately found that McCain had ``exercised poor judgment.'' Since then McCain has worked to reach across the aisle on legislation to strengthen ethics rules and on other issues such as immigration, where he formed an alliance with Massachusetts Democratic Senator Edward M. Kennedy.

``The point of the film and the Web site is that John McCain still hasn't learned his lesson,'' Plouffe wrote. ``And this time, McCain's bankrupt economic philosophy has put our economy at the brink of collapse and put millions of Americans at risk of losing their homes.''

While this is the first time Obama's campaign has brought up the Keating Five scandal, Obama was asked about it at a May 10 press conference in South Bend, Oregon.

Obama said he had been asked about ``a whole host of issues and associations that were a lot more flimsy than John McCain's relationship to Keating Five and what I have said is that I cannot quarrel with the American people wanting to know more about that.''

To contact the reporter on this story: Julianna Goldman in Asheville, North Carolina at

jgoldman6@bloomberg.net

CATHOLIC VOTE 2008... CLICK HERE TO VIEW VIDEO

CATHOLICVOTE.COM

THIS IS A POSITIVE MESSAGE... CERTAIN THINGS SHOULDN'T BE COMPROMISED... AND THAT IS LIFE... THE RIGHT TO LIVE... VOTE YOUR CONSCIENCE...

SUPPORT PRO-LIFE MOVEMENTS!! EVERYONE DESRVES TO LIVE.  NO LIFE IS SHOULD BE WASTED... THIS SHOULD NOT BE COMPROMISED!

It's the most wonderful time of the year. Looking out at our beautiful scenery littered with political signs.  Does anybody really vote for a person because they saw their name on a sign?   What amazes me is when you pull up to a corner and see 5 signs for candidate A and 6 signs for candidate B.  Gee....does the candidate with the most signs win?   And how about you political supporters who actually contribute money to our candidates....do you really like to see your contribution go toward billboards and signs and TV ads and flyers?  What a waste of our time and our natural resources.   We all know who is running.  The candidates have been campaigning for a year already.   Are they giving out awards for the best looking sign?   or the cleverest ad?   Has anyone ever made a decision as they walk toward the polling place and someone hands them a flyer?  I always refuse the flyer and tell them to "save a tree".  I've seen more signs for a Green Party candidate than for anyone else.  What is he gonna tell me....it's recycled paper?  Geesh. 

Just make your decision based on your views and who you think is the best candidate representing your views.  That's what it's supposed to be about, isn't it?  You vote for the person you believe represents you!  Of course we all know that they will do whatever they want to do once they get in office but at least you had a say and realize that your vote does count. 

Let's do away with the ads and signs etc.  We could all boycott this stupid practice if nobody checked off that little box on their tax return.   Maybe the 3 bucks could be put to better use. 

I spent this weekend reading the 400+ page bill just signed by the president that was supposed to fix our current financial issues.  I also spent some time watching the news and listening to comments that sounded more like excuses than answers.

Bush comment:

President Bush:  The relief from this bill will not be felt immediately

Translation:  The middle class will never see the help we loosely worded in this bill.  Only our buddies at the top will see a benefit.

McCain comment:

Sen. McCain:  This bill will not fix everything.

Translation:  We need more money...  and if I become president, I want to be able to say, "I told you so." 

Even though Section 115 allows the bill to go from 250 billion to 350 billion for the purpose of bailout, errr aaaa buying debt that is... McCain is telling you that it's still not enough.  Oh, and this increase can happen with no vote necessary. 

When it comes to what the bill will do regarding the purchase of bad debt!  It becomes very detailed and clear as to what, where, when, and how much.  However, (and you could have guessed this.) when it comes to what the bill will do for the common man, it gets very loose with the wording and uses broad brushes in many areas. 

The bill had a ton of pork!  Continued help for the gulf coast, help for the American Indians, (That was the word used in the bill...Indians), help for the railroads and much more! 

Don't make the mistake and think that now the bill has been signed that we are heading back to the good ole days!  Listen carefully America to what your leaders and want to be leaders are telling you....this bill is just the start to an economic bailout!  The worst may yet be to come and the message from our government leaders is not a happy one.

I want to know why we have heard nothing about the fact that Sarah Palin was a member of the Alaska Independence party, they tried to succede from the United States. they said it was illegally made a state. How can she talk about this great country of ours when she didnt even want to be a citizen of this country?  

"Wanted: American citizens, concerned about the United States' fate, willing to cast a vote against any member of Congress who acts first and thinks later with regard to the economy."

Strap on your spurs, pull your horse out of the corral and saddle on up — we're headed to Washington, where we'll take names and boot out the bad guys.

Already today, the Dow is headed down the pipes (below 10,000 points for the first time since 2004), but we don't have a whole lot of legislative control over that now, thanks to Congress, which, for some reason, thought it would be OK with us if it rallied around a multi-billion-dollar bailout package in under a week. 

Under a week? Is this a joke? 
Quick — name one wise decision that's been made in under a week. Now granted, certain things require fast action, and you could argue (I hope you will, if you disagree with me) that the bailout plan was one of those things.

If the Senate hadn't OK'd the bill, followed by the House's approval on Friday, things might have been over for the world economy. 

The good times, if one could say we've had them lately, would have rolled out of our hands and under the stampeding feet of stock traders on Wall Street and around the world fleeing a collapsing market.

Call me crazy, but I have a proposal: Commission Ford Motor Company to fix this, once and for all.
Already this week, the company announced that, beginning in 2010, many of its cars will have a feature that parents can use to irritate or force their children into wearing a seat belt, not going above a certain speed and not listening to music that's too loud.

We ought to force Congress to take at least two weeks to stop and consider such important decisions as an enormous bailout. 

How could there be a better solution than that?

Obama Leading McCain in

 Ohio, Pennsylvania, Minnesota Polls

Christopher SternMon Oct 6, 12:01 AM ET

Oct. 6 (Bloomberg) -- Democrat Barack Obama leads Republican presidential nominee John McCain in battleground states of Ohio, Pennsylvania and Minnesota, according to new polls.

Obama, an Illinois senator, leads 49 percent to 42 percent among Ohio voters, according to a Columbus Dispatch poll of 2,262 likely voters released yesterday.

The survey, conducted Sept. 24 to Oct. 3, shows a change from a poll by the newspaper before the parties' nominating conventions, when McCain had a single percentage-point advantage. The state is crucial to the Arizona senator's campaign, because no Republican has won the presidency without carrying Ohio.

Polls in Ohio ``are showing increased support for Barack Obama,'' because voters are paying attention to McCain's support for privatizing Social Security, backing ``job-killing trade agreements,'' and his backing of deregulation of the banking system, Ohio Democratic Senator Sherrod Brown said on ABC's ``This Week'' program yesterday.

A Minnesota poll of 1,084 likely voters published by the Star Tribune newspaper shows Obama leading 55-37 percent over McCain. The poll was conducted from Sept. 30 to Oct. 2.

Republican Governor Tim Pawlenty of Minnesota said the Star Tribune poll is ``notoriously not accurate,'' and said a separate earlier poll found McCain favored by 1 percentage point.

``Minnesota is a Democrat-leaning state, but not so much that it's implausible for a Republican to win here,'' Pawlenty said on ``This Week.''

Pennsylvania Poll

In Pennsylvania, Obama has a 50 percent to 40 percent lead over McCain, according to a Morning Call/Muhlenberg College tracking poll.

The Muhlenberg College poll surveyed 597 likely voters and was conducted from Sept. 30 to Oct. 3. The results of the three state polls were outside the margin for error.

The presidential race in Colorado remains a tie, according to a poll released by the Denver Post yesterday.

National polls also show that Obama is maintaining a lead over McCain.

Obama led McCain 49 percent to 42 percent among registered voters surveyed Sept. 27-29 by the Pew Research Center. In a mid- September poll, the candidates were in a statistical dead heat.

In a CBS News poll conducted Sept. 27-30, Obama led 50 percent to 41 percent among likely voters. The margin increased 4 percentage points from a CBS/New York Times survey a week earlier.

To contact the reporter on this story: Christopher Stern in Washington at cstern3@bloomberg.net

Travelers and wanderers in Africa must have knowledge and skill to survive the hostile environment. Often, when they go on a long journey, it is simply impossible to carry along enough provision for the entire journey. So, they will need to find water and food along the way.

I saw, on a National Geographic Special, how some have devised an ingenious method of acquiring both from foraging baboons.

All wild land animals in the world crave salt. So, instead of a huge pack, the travelers carry a pouch with chunks of salt. When they come across a lone baboon, they will toss him a small chunk of salt. That rascal will naturally just crunch it up and devour it.

Now, it doesn't take long before the thirst hits him hard. At that point, he goes to his nearest (secret) source of water, and he is so parched that he doesn't even care if he is being followed. After the ape has dug out his well and quenched his thirst, the traveler can then do the same. The traveler, however, is not to be satisfied with the water only.

Then, do you know how to catch that wild baboon??
1.) Cut a hole in a hollow gourd, just big enough for him to get his hand through.
2.) Anchor the gourd to something that he can't drag away.
3.) Place bait inside the gourd: a larger chunk of salt.
4.) Move back to a non-threatening distance and wait.
When the critter comes along and realizes there is something he wants in the gourd, he will reach right in and grab it. But, now, with the "prize" in hand, his fist is too big to fit back through the hole.
5.) You may now just walk right up to him and capture or kill him with no trouble BECAUSE HE IS JUST TOO GREEDY TO LET GO AND GET AWAY!!

The traveler has satisfied his desire at the expense of the very life of the one who wanted to get what he needed the easy way. The critter never saw it coming.

Jumpin' Jimenie!!
Do you mean that's how the Democratic Party works??
AYEP!! You got it!!
STL

A long time ago, like last year, John McCain spoke a great deal about the importance of running a civil campaign that focused on the issues important to the American people.   Now sources within the McCain campaign have been saying for several days that McCain would go REALLY NEGATIVE because changing the discussion off the economy is his only way of winning.   McCain's own campaign believes that  when the focus is on issues: OBAMA WINS!  

It also seems that the sources were right.  Shortly after this news was posted, Gov. Palin began quoting a New York Times article discussing Sen. Obama's association with 60's radical William Ayers.    "Palling around with terrorists" is how the Governor characterizes the issue.   The facts are clear.  

• William Ayers was a member of the WEATHERMEN UNDERGROUND in the 60's.  
• He was on the run for years because of the bombings done by the group.  
• He has never been convicted of a crime...his trial was thrown out for "prosecutorial misconduct".   
• He is currently a Professor of Education at the University of Illinois. 
• He has authored or edited over 15 books and is a nationally recognized authority on school reform. 
• He is consulted by the city of Chicago on school reform.   
• He did work with Sen. Obama on projects in Chicago.  
• He did host a fundraiser for Obama early in his career.  They both live in the same neighborhood.   
• Sen. Obama has condemned his past activities publicly on several occasions. 

The same news article that Palin quotes also definitely states that while Sen. Obama has "underplayed" their relationship there is NO "close connection" between the two.  

The reality is simple.   The whole idea of politics is to meet as many people as possible and to convince them to support you.   (It doesn't necessarily mean that you support them back!)  POLITICS MAKES STRANGE BED FELLOWS.   And "guilt by association" is a dangerous tact to take in a political campaign because few politicians have spotless records and all fall victim to S.B.S.

"Strange Bed-Fellows Syndrome (S.B.S.) is all about the people the candidate meets along the way.  It means Sen. McCain goes on G. Gordon Liddy's radio show proclaiming Liddy to be "an old friend".   G. Gordon Liddy has contributed frequently to John McCain's campaigns including his current one.   G. Gordon Liddy is a convicted burglar.   He has also confessed to the following:

• plotting to kill the journalist Jack Anderson
• plotting to firebomb the Brookings Institute
• developed a plan for the Nixon Administration to kidnap "leftist guerillas" (read that protestors) to keep them away from the 1972 Republican National Convention
• acknowledged his willingness to kill anyone who tried to stop him from his second break-in of a psychiatrist's office
• has on numerous occasions instructed his radio audience on how to shoot federal A.T.F. agents

Not exactly the kind of friend your Mom wanted you to hang out with when you grow up!   The difference between Obama/Ayers & McCain/Liddy is that Obama will discuss the issue and the McCain campaign ignores all requests for comment on G. Gordon Liddy and his relationship with the Senator.   Senator Obama condemns the past activities of Ayers while McCain pretends it didn't happen.

STRANGE BED-FELLOWS SYNDROME (S.B.S.) could also require asking about Sen. McCain's connection with his father-in-law whose money helped fund his first Senate campaign and who has been linked to underworld figures out west.

S.B.S. could also re-look into Sen. McCain's associations with Charles Keating and the KEATING 5!   It was a long time ago and he was only reprimanded by the Senate but hey it's still out there.  And as Sen. McCain once said, "if Americans want to talk about a subject...we should"

Governor Palin is also susceptible to S.B.S.  Her current minister is from Africa and got his start there with "witch hunts".    And we're talking real witches.   He drove a woman from his village who was casting spells on people to cause car wrecks!   Became quite famous for that episode in Africa.   Rev. Thomas Muthee has recently had a guest speaker in his church that made questionable statements on Jews from the pulpit with Palin present in the audience.  Rev. Muthee has blessed Palin's bid for Governor.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iwkb9_zB2Pg   (Notice the references to witches about 1:45 into the clip)

You could also ask why Gov. Palin was willing to address the annual convention of an Alaskan Indepencence Party  whose goal is succession for Alaska from the United States of America.  (How does this work with "Country First"?)  Maybe she addressed them because her husband was once a member.   And while it's never been PROVED that Palin was a member, several members of the group seemed to think she was!

Do ANY of these associations mean you SHOULDN'T vote for McCain/Palin?   Probably not.   The issues McCain/Palin  represent as a ticket are much more important to me than the people they have met along the way to becoming a ticket.  But it's only fair to look at them if you look at everyone that Obama has had contact with.

The truth of the matter:  The McCain campaign wants to turn your focus from policy comparisons to a referendum on the character of Sen. Obama.   And Sen. Obama is no "dirtier" than the McCain/Palin ticket.  If there was real "dirt" on Sen. Obama the Clinton Campaign would have found it and used it!!!   McCain can't argue that he's more "presidential" than Obama because the world saw how he handled the bailout crisis.   All that's left are personal attacks.   Perhaps McCain/Palin should heed the words of Christ and "let he who is without sin cast the first stone!"

As Americans it is important that we ignore the "silly" in this election cycle and instead look to the future.  When you hear the upcoming attacks & smears, when you read the chain e-mails proclaiming "Obama is a muslim, the anti-christ or even Donald Duck" the question to ask is:   Who's policies will best help our country?   Who will leave a more stable and stronger country for our children and our grandchildren?   But if you are listening to McCain/Palin question the associates of Sen. Obama, it's nothing more than "the pot calling the kettle black".