Ten Reasons Why This Election Should Be About Issues and Not Personalities (by Jim Wallis)
The presidential tickets in this election on both sides of the aisle have lots of "personality;" some of the candidates have even been referred to as "rock stars." John McCain's campaign manager Rick Davis has said that "this election is not about issues, this election is about a composite view of what people take away from these candidates." That has been widely interpreted as a prediction that the election will be about personalities more than about issues. That would be a tragedy. And some on the Obama side were perhaps hoping that their candidate's charisma and popularity would be enough. But those qualities won't be enough and shouldn't be. Here are ten reasons why.
- The economy is in grave danger. Over the weekend, two more of the nation's top investment banking firms have gone down. Lehman Brothers declared bankruptcy, and Merrill Lynch was sold to Bank of America. With the earlier demise of Bear Stearns, that's three out of the nation's top five investment banks who have not been able to weather the financial storms triggered by the subprime lending crisis. Analysts this morning say this is either the beginning of the end of the crisis or the beginning of the end. The stock market looks like it fears the second outcome. Ordinary Americans are worried about college and retirement funds and, much worse -- a downward economic spiral that affects most all of us. We need more than personalities here.
- "Poverty is now our next door neighbor." That's what a hospital administrator said to me during my annual physical last week. With foreclosures, declining housing equity and opportunity, job losses, stagnant wages, and lack of affordable healthcare, more and more people are being affected. And, of course, those at the bottom are in the worse shape of all.
- Globally, the progress we were making on international poverty has been seriously set back because of food and fuel prices. Untold numbers of people are facing starvation.
- There continue to be about 1.3 million abortions a year. Partisan shouting on both sides during election seasons has prevented our finding solutions that result in real abortion reduction.
- A broken immigration system is resulting in more and more raids on workplaces, breaking up thousands of families. How can we create reforms that are compassionate and just along with protecting our borders?
- Global warming is shrinking the polar ice cap at an unprecedented rate, more plant and animal species are endangered, and weather patterns are becoming erratic and more dangerous. How can we stop and reverse climate change?
- The war in Afghanistan has gone on for seven years now, yet the situation on the ground is getting worse by most accounts. The war in Iraq has gone on for more than five. Some claim progress and others say the underlying issues remain unresolved. Both those who want "victory" and those who say we should "end" the war must show their plans for success. There are other wars now threatening in places like Iran and Syria. How many more wars can we fight at one time? The military is severely strained, especially service men and women and their families. And those veterans who come home needing so many things are not getting them.
- We are no closer to a solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, still a critical factor in Middle East conflicts.
- The conduct of the United States' war on terrorism has taken a great toll on America's standing in the world. The use of torture, the abuse at Abu Ghraib, the treatment of detainees at Guantanamo and secret prisons around the world have all taken their moral toll. There needs to be a plan to repair the nation's moral stature.
- The great danger of nuclear proliferation continues unabated. And even the pleas of national security wise men, from both sides of the aisle, have not been heeded.
Buy Obama Waffles Mix - Stereotypes are Free
Boxes of Obama Waffles were available for sale at $10 each at the Values Voter Summit until Saturday afternoon when conference organizers shut down the booth.
Religious Right finally shows faith in John McCain
Trumpeting “faith, family and freedom”, the Religious Right has arrived in Washington convinced that the ascending star of Sarah Palin signifies a Republican presidential campaign created in their own image.
The annual Values Voter Summit gathers together many of the socially conservative leaders once dismissed by John McCain as “agents of intolerance” and who, just 12 months ago, might well have cost him the Republican nomination.
Last year’s meeting was addressed by no less than nine Republican runners and, in a later straw poll, Mr McCain finished last with support from a mere 1.4 per cent. Yesterday the mood could not have been more different at the Washington Hilton where the conference, organised by the Family Research Council, was being held with “McCain 08” badges being sold briskly in the lobby.
Asked how religious conservatives could make such an abrupt swing towards Mr McCain, the antiabortion campaigner David Daleiden replied: “I can sum it up in two words: ‘Sarah Palin’.” A fellow activist explained: “It was important for McCain to pick someone trustworthy – he put his money where his mouth was.”
Having secured this base, however, the Republican leadership is showing signs of taking it for granted. Only one of the nine presidential candidates who addressed them last year is making a return appearance – Mitt Romney, the former Massachusetts Governor who is already said to be eyeing another White House run in 2012.
Seemingly racist "Obama waffles" popular at 'Family Values' summitRAW STORY
Published: Saturday September 13, 2008
An exhibitor at the 2008 Value Voters Summit - sponsored by the Family Research Council and counting among its speakers former House Speaker Newt Gingrich and Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney has been selling seemingly racist anti-Obama waffles.
The product is pictured below. Summit security would not allow photographs to be taken inside the exhibit hall.
"I asked the 'chef'... if he was at all concerned that this might be viewed as a white man putting a black man into a frying pan," Raw Story reporter Larisa Alexandrovna wrote Saturday. "He laughed and said, 'I hope so.'"
The first image shows a gaping caricature of Obama under the words "Obama Waffles," with the tagline "Waffling the World Over." The second shows Obama in a turban with the words, "Point box toward Mecca for tastier waffles."
The waffles are also sold online at ObamaWaffles.com. The site says they are also sold at the bookstore Books-A-Million, though nothing comes up in a search at the bookseller's website.
According to the the site's blog, Lou Dobbs, who was also speaking at the convention, lauded the product Friday.
"My wife will love this," Dobbs purportedly said. A photograph of Dobbs with a box and one of the sellers is online here.
Sen. John McCain, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin and Sen. Barack Obama were invited to the conference but did not attend. A list of the summit's speakers are available here.
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