100 replies to this topic

[Christian]

No i wouldnt think that would happen. If it did it will cause disaster to the country between races. As far as mccain, i think hes a manipulative bastard who only picked sarah palin to get the female vote. He deserved to be a sore loser just like bush and his daddy.

[Silver]

Actually, McCain accepted defeat very well. His speech was nothing like the McCain we've seen for the past few months.

And Lemon, those pics are epic. Best shots of Obama I've seen so far.

[Moonbread]

then our fellow Republicans should also give him a chance to fix this country that we all live in and share.

One can only hope, though... I don't know, but... even if McCain can handle it, which earns him some good respect, can the others not be poor sports about it?

[Mitchfork]

Let's just hope it won't end like Kennedy...

Come now, Obama will have the best protection money can't buy. I think he'll be well-protected.

As for the Republicans, if Bush had about half of the Democrats approving of him before the '04 election, I think it's safe to say that a comparable number of Republicans will extend the same courtesy to Obama provided he delivers good policies.

[Zenith]

I can never figure out what to say for things like these. So all I can really say is good luck. It's gonna take a lot to turn this country around, especially after the last decade or so. And no, I'm not blaming it all on Bush, but part of it's his fault.

[Radien]

ShadowTiger:

Good ol' fashioned marketing; yes. The difference, though, is that candidates usually try to distill their ideas into very basic phrases, so usually every word says something about what they want to emphasize. They are very telling about the current issues of the populace. For instance, break down Obama's slogan:

Change - Obama emphasizes that his candidacy differs more from Bush than McCain's does.
we - he is encouraging voter involvement and unity.
can - he says we have the ability to affect the world around us.
believe in - our political system only works if we believe it can, and many people have lost that belief.

So, to some it may mean little, but it's very deliberate and not as vague as you might think.

However, I do think you deserve congratulations for expressing that in a mature way.

McCain, like you, can take a loss without going berserk over it (I hope the same can be said for Palin, I have no reason to doubt it however).

I agree; I was very happy to hear such a gracious and non-bitter concession speech. It reflects the McCain I once knew... from the time when I once said "McCain is the only Republican I would currently consider voting for in a Presidential election." I wish the last few years hadn't changed him so much, and I'm hoping the bitterness of the campaign wears off completely.

Palin, though? I may say she is totally unfit to be President, but then, so are most of us. So why hold a grudge? I'm rather indifferent about what she does from here on, provided she stays in Alaska.

The electoral math isn't finished yet, guys. North Carolina and Missouri haven't been decided yet, and they represent 26 electoral votes. It's more likely North Carolina will side with Obama and Missouri will side with McCain, but it hasn't been decided yet. The final numbers could be anything from 349-188 to 374-162.

From the looks of it, the result is almost certainly going to be Obama 364 to McCain's 174. The most narrowly-won state in the country (Missouri) should go to McCain, netting 11 votes, while Obama nabs North Carolina's 15 votes.

fivethirtyeight.com defines 370 electoral votes a "landslide," so the results fell short of an electoral landslide in Obama's favor. But let's face it: uttering the word "landslide" would be ignoring the popular vote, which was simply a "healthy lead" for Obama, so we might as well avoid using the term.

Did he write his own speech? Most people these days hire someone else to write speeches for them. Thats just how its done for the longest time.

Obama writes some of his own speeches. Certain speeches he made a point of writing completely on his own. I think his televised response to the Reverend Wright fiasco was one of them. Barack Obama can definitely write; all you need to do is read a few pages of one of his books to see that he's good with words. Some politicians use speechwriters solely to save time. Writing is time-consuming, and they've got a job to do. If you want to know which speeches Obama wrote on his own, let me know, and I'll look up some of them to find out.

This is anything but awesome. As being the most conservative member of this forum, my comment is nothing short of expected.

Let's just put it this way: I'll give him a week. Maybe a month.

Your predictions are fine by me, just so long as you actually observe results around you objectively, and don't pre-form opinions.

Here's an example: I think Reagan did a fine job dealing with the fall of the Berlin wall. And he did all right helping us to survive the Cold War. I can complain about his ideology, but I'll give credit where credit is due.

Although, giving a President a month or a week or a day just isn't enough time. Some say it takes more than two years to really make a difference.






...By the way, here's something interesting: you may not have noticed it due to the skillful camera angles, but Obama's victory speech was delivered from between two sheets of bulletproof glass.



The site I got this from called it "depressing," but I for one am glad that the Secret Service has become so much smarter since the 60s. No President in American history has ever deserved to be assassinated.

[Saffith]

Good ol' fashioned marketing; yes. The difference, though, is that candidates usually try to distill their ideas into very basic phrases, so usually every word says something about what they want to emphasize. They are very telling about the current issues of the populace. For instance, break down Obama's slogan:

Change - Obama emphasizes that his candidacy differs more from Bush than McCain's does.
we - he is encouraging voter involvement and unity.
can - he says we have the ability to affect the world around us.
believe in - our political system only works if we believe it can, and many people have lost that belief.

So, to some it may mean little, but it's very deliberate and not as vague as you might think.

Ah, marketing. Reminds me of how people try to translate Japanese names.

As quoted from the book Game Over, the kanji characters nintendo meant "Deep in mind we have to do whatever we have to do," or even "Work hard, but in the end it is in Heaven's hands."

... Yeah, not so much.

[Takuya]

Actually nintendo does mean entrust luck to heaven. Nin-ten can mean entrusted to heaven, and dou is hall/store.

So it is actually quite possible to interpret slogans, and Obama's slogan "Change We Can Believe In" actually mean just that, and the main focus of his campaign is just what Radien described above. It really is deliberate, and now that he is President-Elect, we can start that change.

[Lemon]

...By the way, here's something interesting: you may not have noticed it due to the skillful camera angles, but Obama's victory speech was delivered from between two sheets of bulletproof glass.



The site I got this from called it "depressing," but I for one am glad that the Secret Service has become so much smarter since the 60s. No President in American history has ever deserved to be assassinated.

That is really pretty cool. A bit scary, but I'd like to think if he can make it to the first day of office he should be ok. If Obama does get assassinated though, it will send a horrible message world wide, we'll end up with Biden as president (not to bad I suppose, but I voted primarily for Obama), and the nation will be in a worst feeling of depression than the recent economic crisis.

Also, it's basically a given that the guy who ran fivethirtyeight.com will be even more popular next year. Save Indiana, I believe his prediction was spot on.

Also also; Yikes. Let's impeach him before he's even done anything. People like this from both sides are why I think US Gov should be a required class for voters, or at least we should put more emphasis on education. Hopefully they will cool down and give the guy a chance... though I suppose Bush wasn't given much of one either. It's going to be fun being on the other side of politics .

Edited by Lemon, 06 November 2008 - 05:01 PM.

[Beefster]

in Minnesota it's already been illegal to smoke in bars for two years, perhaps longer.

Same thing for Colorado, except the limits are rather vague for being in public. Unfotunately, the president has little power over that sort of thing.

I think that everyone should have a basic understanding of how the government works in order to be allowed to vote. Heck, I have a lot of other opinions that I should probably leave to the debate forum. With that group on impeaching Obama: I'll at least give him a week. It really shouldn't matter what a person might do, but what they are doing at that moment.

I don't really want any official to be assassinated; I'd rather people figure it out like civilized people and actually develop a legitimate accusation and impeach the official. (or civilly overthrow) Sadly, racism still exists and, Obama probably has a reasonably higher chance of assassination than any other president in history.

[Fabbrizio]

Come now, Obama will have the best protection money can't buy. I think he'll be well-protected.

Exactly. I mean, they've successfully ousted, what, 3 attempts on his life? The score is 3 zip in favor of Secret Service.

He's in good hands. Secret Service didn't have to (or want to) try this hard for Bush.

Sadly, racism still exists and, Obama probably has a reasonably higher chance of assassination than any other president in history.

Bear in mind that this has no reflection on my current opinion of you, but I must point out that you were the one who used to run around proclaiming that Obama was a muslim terrorist (or whatever it was); I am glad you've grown out of that, and I hope other such people can, too.

EDIT: Oh that's right, you were comparing him to Hitler, then calling him Oh Bomb Us. Either way, old news. You're a different person.

Edited by Powerbracelet, 06 November 2008 - 05:52 PM.

[Saffith]

Here you go.

Actually nintendo does mean entrust luck to heaven. Nin-ten can mean entrusted to heaven, and dou is hall/store.

Yeah, but just that. People add on all this "we do the best we can" stuff, and it doesn't come from anywhere. It's just trying to make a simple, straightforward statement into something grandiose.
nin = duty, charge, tendou = Heaven. That's it.

Edited by Saffith, 06 November 2008 - 09:37 PM.

[Red Phazon]

Obama is not who I would have voted for, I admit I'm unhappy with the result, but then again I think it is still quite an event, the first black U.S. president. This does show how much things have changed. You now have one of the hardest jobs in the world, good luck President Obama.

[Radien]

That is really pretty cool. A bit scary, but I'd like to think if he can make it to the first day of office he should be ok.

I mean this in the most non-confrontational way possible, but I think you're quite wrong about that. Think about past assassination attempts. Since whackos and conniving conspirators alike are behind these attempts, some of them are at predictable, dramatic moments while others are strategically random (and later in the term).

JFK and Reagan were both victims of assassination attempts, and they both came at pretty unlikely moments, well into their first terms. Reagan got lucky and received a non-fatal wound. (Poor guy...I read a excerpts from journal entries during recovery, and it's not hard to sympathize with his thoughts.)

Anyway, my point is that even if the Secret Service is very good at appearing "secret," they're still there for a reason: to defend the President from conspirator attacks 24/7. If you managed to go to a political rally for either candidate during the campaign, you'll remember just how tight the security was. What you see on camera just doesn't do the security justice. I hope they continue to do an excellent job.

Also, it's basically a given that the guy who ran fivethirtyeight.com will be even more popular next year. Save Indiana, I believe his prediction was spot on.

It's run by two guys. And yes, I am now a big fan of fivethirtyeight.com. They are a shining example of how one can have an opinion without wearing rose-tinted glasses (or blue-tinted, in this case). They never argued their candidate was winning in cases where the data said he wasn't.

I think that everyone should have a basic understanding of how the government works in order to be allowed to vote. Heck, I have a lot of other opinions that I should probably leave to the debate forum. With that group on impeaching Obama: I'll at least give him a week.

A week? Er, yeah, you sure are giving him the benefit of the doubt, all right. What do you expect him to do in a week, dance naked on the White House lawn?

As for the impeachment group: if we go by their argument that it's impossible to be a modern president without quickly breaking the inaugural oath, that means all of their favorite modern Presidents have been equally deserving of impeachment, too. That's the unfortunate downside of making blanket statements.

Obama is not who I would have voted for, I admit I'm unhappy with the result, but then again I think it is still quite an event, the first black U.S. president. This does show how much things have changed. You now have one of the hardest jobs in the world, good luck President Obama.

Personally, I think the elation at having a black president is something that should subside pretty soon. Not that it isn't something to be proud of for African-Americans...rather, it's not Obama's most driving trait. No worries, though. News tends to follow the President, so it's pretty hard to be distracted from the bigger picture for long.

Anyway, Red Phazon, I think you made a very gracious post, regardless. It's quite appreciated.

[Lemon]

Apparently secret service is going to double the amount of employees they have, the Obama's having six guards on them at all times. Unless someone pulls a Julius Ceaser like assassination, it sounds like he's going to be the most protected man in the United States.

Also, Republican Party, wtf? Operation Leper. I think that they need to do what the Democrats did, regroup and learn from their mistakes this time around. Just as Nancy Pelosi represents all that is wrong with the Democratic party, I think Palin represents all that is wrong with the Republican party... so trying to make her the messiah of it seems ridiculous. You guys can have the white house back in eight years, but please put someone a little less crazy.

Also, I find it really amusing/sad that most of the news stations are talking about the puppy Obama is going to get for his daughters. Because nothing else is happening in the entire world.