Democratic National Convention Thread (August 25-28, 2008)

My favorite part was I was just glad to see that Obama can fight back and won't take crap from the McCain folks. No more Dukakis and Kerry and even 2000 Gore.

I think by this he showed America he is tough enough to be be commander in chief.

If he doesn't flinch in the debates, he should win. I had much more doubts before tonight. I expect McCain to try to bully him in the first debate till called on it.

Every poll shows that the same ol same ol tried now proven wrong conservative themes are unpopular.

 

I agree.


Obama hates the Bush administration and is ignorant on how to do a better job.

 

There are a zillion middle grounds between Bush and Obama.

I know that it has become en vogue to say that there is no difference between Bush and McCain. How soon we forget that McCain's candidacy was in jeopardy not too terribly long ago because he was not viewed as conservative enough by the far right.

 

"He was negative. All he did was try to trash the republicans".

Um, yeah...isn't that the smart thing to do. This is an election people. The great majority vote with their emotions (i.e. most don't know the issues). Things aren't on the up and up in the country right now and folks are pissed at Bush, his regime and his party. If you want to win, why would you not remind them of that?

This is the dem race to lose. The previous 8 years screwed up things for the rep's, no matter who their candidate was going to be.

 

Just because something is unpopular doesn't mean it is entirely a bad idea.

Things my parents did when I was a kid were unpopular (to me), but it didn't mean they were wrong.

 

So what happens if we are not able to produce the technology? I am very scared of government actually mucking up the works of coming up with alternative fuel.

 

The loss of steam of the conservative revolution is largely due to the fact that their ideas were unpopular because they turned out to be wrong (Iraq, New Orleans, etc.)

 

http://www.thestar.com/News/USElection/article/487518


U.S. end to Middle East oil imports unlikely

H. JOSEF HEBERT
Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON–Barack Obama's promise Thursday to work to ``end our dependence" on Middle East oil within a decade may be good political rhetoric when Americans have been paying $4 a gallon at the gas pumps, but the goal likely would be difficult – perhaps impossible – to achieve and flies in the face of how global oil markets work.

Last year, the United States imported about 10 million barrels of oil a day, of which about 20 per cent came from the Persian Gulf states – principally Saudi Arabia, which sent 1.4 million barrels a day of crude to the United States.

Even if U.S. oil demand were to decline significantly over the next decade with more fuel-efficient automobiles and a greater use of biofuels such as ethanol, the United States, which domestically pumps 5.6 million barrels of oil a day, will continue to rely heavily on imports for decades to come, most energy experts acknowledge, with little regard to where the oil comes from.

The United States uses about 21 million barrels of oil products a day. Even if the United States cuts oil demand by about 10 percent, equivalent to Persian Gulf oil imports, it is likely to continue to rely on oil imports and make no distinction as to where it is pumped, energy experts say.

"The United States is now more dependent on foreign oil than it ever was," Amy Myers Jaffe, an energy expert at Rice University, told a congressional hearing earlier this year, adding the U.S. now imports about 60 per cent of its oil, compared to 35 per cent in 1973 at the time of the Arab oil embargo.

And over the next dozen years, the United States may become increasingly dependent on Persian Gulf supplies, said Jaffe, predicting a doubling of imports from the Persian Gulf by 2020.

Ironically, U.S. President George W. Bush in 2007 established a similar goal, dubbed the "10-in-20" energy plan in which he called for increased use of biofuels and development of more fuel efficient cars and trucks to end U.S. dependence on Persian Gulf oil.

Later, the White House explained that the plan did not envision ending Persian Gulf oil imports directly, but only that it would reduce U.S. oil demand equivalent to roughly the amount of oil supplied by the Persian gulf producers.

Obama's pledge to cut dependents on foreign oil is a key element of his overall energy policy, which envisions aggressive development of alternative fuels and technologies to improve energy efficiency.

"For the sake of our economy, our security, and the future of our planet, I will set a goal as president: In 10 years, we will finally end our dependence on oil from the Middle East," Obama declared in his presidential acceptance speech to the Democratic convention in Denver.

Among the top 15 oil exporters to the United States, three are from Persian Gulf: Saudi Arabia, Iraq and Kuwait. Saudi Arabia is the overall No. 2 oil exporter to the United States at 1.5 million barrels a day, exceeded only by Canada. Iraq exported 583,000 barrels a day and Kuwait 219,000 barrels a day during the first six months of the year, according to the federal Energy Information Administration.

The United States does not import oil directly from Iran, but some of its oil may eventually end up in the United States, anyway, because of the global nature of the oil markets.







Easier said than done... also it's important that big American oil companies suceed as well, for that you need influence and political strategic posturing ..... Bush might be an idiot to most, but he gets this. The importance of the influence in the middle east is only going to get more important with China and Russia becoming players.... don't know if Obama gets this.

 

You should probably put the bottle down now.

 

That was the song I guessed.. and the second song I guessed...

 

^ IF somebody tries to do it in 10 and it only happens in 20, that's a good thing. It's a much better thing than saying "let's just keep drilling and hope it all works out for the best!"

 

Sure, Refman, there are a zillion middle grounds between Obama and Bush. The problem McCain has is that he's sitting with Bush, staring at those zillion middle grounds as Barack Obama politically takes possession of them. During this campaign, John McCain has steadily moved to George Bush's spot in the political spectrum and occupied it, in my opinion. Barack Obama has just as steadily moved in and occupied the middle ground.

 

Chuck Todd: McCain Camp Speechless

40 seconds

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That's funny, Brian Williams and Tom Brokaw said just minutes after it was over... like at 10:01 PM Central time that the McCain rebuttal was already up, point by point, on the website.



They've already hit the hull... and she's listing to the port.

 

Wow... Barack had a truly historic speech...through out the entire 50 minutes not once was i bored .... iwas truly captivated..and that says alot

 

I often wonder how much better this country would have been had Clinton been more concerned about doing his job than getting a...nevermind.



At least Obama seems like a more sincere person. If he happens to win I hope he does everything he promises and the world is a better place. And when he doesn't Bush will get blamed for leaving him a mess he couldn't handle.

 

Whoever is elected President has been left an incredible mess to clean up by George W. Bush.

 

True. However, the conservative policies are unpopular because they have been tried and shown to be a failure, especially in the last 8 years.

 

To be very clear, it is obvious that the far right solution is not the correct one. I personally do not believe that the other end of the spectrum is going to be better. It would be different, but different does not always mean better.

I responded to glynch because he used the fact that certain policies are unpopular to support his point. Just because something is unpopular does not make it wrong.

I always feel as though the truth is somewhere in the middle. The middle is where this election will be won and lost. I just hope that the Maverick John McCain comes out for the general election rather than a guy who has sold his soul to get the nomination.