Vanessa's blog :-)

No shock there, not anymore. But she had Obama on her show.  ?

Hey Oprah, if Sarah was Black, would she be on your show?

How disappointing. No wonder I stopped watching.

The more I read and learn about Alaska's Governor, our next Vice-President, Sarah Palin, the more I like her!

I'm so excited! And thankful to John McCain for having the courage to choose her as his V.P.

Congratulations Senator, you did good, really good.

August 2, 2008

Click here for Gallup's special roundup of July's important election polls.

PRINCETON, NJ -- Republican John McCain and Democrat Barack Obama are once again tied in the latest Gallup Poll Daily tracking presidential trial heat.

The results, based on a three-day rolling average of interviews conducted July 30-Aug. 1, show Obama and McCain each receiving 44% of the vote among registered voters. The candidates were also tied in Friday's update. Obama received a brief increase in support near the conclusion of his overseas trip last week, gaining a nine percentage point advantage in July 24-26 polling. But that bounce disappeared almost quickly as it emerged.

More broadly, Obama has enjoyed an average 3-point advantage since clinching the Democratic nomination in early June. McCain has erased that small advantage.

GO MCCAIN!

ACCRA, Ghana (CNN) -- "All I want is for my children to get the best education they can."

That statement, along with so many others, has been a consistent one that I've heard on my radio show and in discussions with parents for years, especially those whose children are stuck in inner-city schools with decrepit buildings and a lack of critical resources.

And for the past 20 years, one of the most talked-about solutions for parents stuck in dead-end, failing schools is to give them the option to use vouchers to send their children someplace where they could get a quality education.

Republicans have made vouchers a linchpin of their education overhaul initiatives. Democrats have steadfastly refused, saying it would take vital dollars out of the public school system.

This year's presidential candidates are lining up right along with their parties. Sen. John McCain, the GOP nominee, says vouchers are the right way to go to give parents an option for a better education, while Sen. Barack Obama says the GOP has talked and talked about vouchers, and it hasn't amounted to much more.

But part of the reason why vouchers have been denounced and dismissed is because Democrats have been far too obstinate on the issue, and have not listened to their constituents, especially African-Americans, who overwhelmingly support vouchers.

There is no doubt that on this issue, McCain has it right and Obama has it wrong.

The fundamental problem with the voucher debate is that it is always seen as an either/or proposition. For Republicans, it is the panacea to all the educational woes, and that is nonsensical. For Democrats, it is something that will destroy public education, and that too is a bunch of BLEEP.

I fundamentally believe that vouchers are simply one part of the entire educational pie. There simply is no one sure-fire way to educate a child. We've seen public schools do a helluva job -- I went to them from K through college -- and so have private schools, home schooling, charter schools and even online initiatives. This is the kind of innovation we need, not more efforts to prevent a worthy idea from moving forward.

Obama's opposition is right along the lines of the National Education Association, and the teachers union is a reliable and powerful Democratic ally. But this is one time where he should have opposed them and made it clear that vouchers can force school districts, administrators and teachers to shape up or see their students ship out.

It is unconscionable to ask a parent to watch as his child is stuck in a failing school or district, and ask him to bank on a politician coming up with more funds to improve the situation. Fine, call vouchers a short-term solution to a long-term problem, but I'd rather have a child getting the best education -- now -- rather than having to hope and pray down the line.

McCain and Obama have presented comprehensive education plans, and those are noble. But leaving out vouchers does a tremendous disservice to the parents who are fed up with deplorable schools, and allows school districts to operate with impunity and without any real competition.

Roland Martin says school vouchers should be an option for families with kids in dead-end schools.

Those would be the national polls that confirm that McCain is still - some say stubbornly - in the mix against Obama. And while the Illinois senator has a whopping 24-point lead against McCain in the nation's most populous state, Obama still hasn't made the convincing sale to millions of voters in heartland America.

New national polls last week gave supporters of McCain - preparing to hit Bakersfield and San Francisco today for campaign and fundraising events - a reason to believe that their man has hope, despite a political atmosphere that is admittedly toxic for the GOP, and an all-time-low approval rating for President Bush.

Perhaps at the top of the list for the GOP candidate are fresh battleground state polls from Quinnipiac University and the Wall Street Journal that suggest he is now running head-to-head with Obama in Minnesota, Michigan and Colorado.

"Either John McCain is an overachiever or Barack Obama is an underachiever," says Hoover Institution media fellow Bill Whalen. "Either McCain rises above Republican misery - or Obama's not fully caught the wave."

On his campaign plane last Friday, Obama addressed the question of why some voters may still be reluctant to embrace his candidacy.

"The point is, with change comes some risk, and I combine two things," the Washington Post quoted him as saying. Obama said one is his advocacy of new policies; the second is a biography that he said will take people time to accept. "They're going to keep their powder dry and get as much information as they can the next three months."

Whalen said McCain's drive to push hard on energy and oil drilling, standing firm on the Iraq surge success and talking up economic issues at town-hall sessions in recent weeks appear to be paying off: An NBC/Wall Street Journal national poll conducted July 18-21 put Obama just six points ahead of McCain - the same as a similarly timed Gallup Poll.

Drilling down another layer, the NBC poll showed that while Americans overwhelmingly see the Democrat as more likable, "offering hope and optimism," and better able to improve America's standing in the world, McCain leads Obama on having the "strong leadership qualities needed to be president," having more consistency and being stronger on honesty.

By a 2-1 ratio, Americans also see McCain as having the qualities of a commander in chief, and by a nearly 3-1 ratio, they view him as "being knowledgeable and experienced enough to handle the presidency."

And asked who they view as the riskier choice for president, Americans by a 55-35 ratio said Obama.

"I attribute it to the fact that the American people get it - that being president is a tough job and that experience counts when it comes to being commander in chief," said McCain backer and former state Sen. Jim Brulte.

A few things I like about McCain:

He supports us drilling here at home for our oil. I’m tired of making the Saudi’s rich.

He protects babies from late term or partial birth abortions.

He doesn’t want to give illegal immigrants drivers licenses or felons the right to vote.

He has experience, he’s prepared to lead.

He has always supported the war on terror, and shown our troops the proper respect they rightfully deserve.

I would really like to know what everyone's opinion is on this story:

McCain, Obama spar over canceled troop visit GOP campaign says Democrat shortchanged 'injured American heroes'

By DOUGLASS K. DANIEL

updated 8:21 p.m. ET, Sat., July. 26, 2008

WASHINGTON - Republican John McCain's campaign on Saturday sharply criticized Democratic rival Barack Obama for canceling a visit to wounded troops in Germany, contending Obama chose foreign leaders and cheering Europeans over "injured American heroes."

Obama's campaign called the accusation "wildly inappropriate." His spokesman has claimed that the visit to a military hospital in Germany was scrapped after the Pentagon raised concerns about political activity on a military base. Earlier, though, the campaign had said Obama decided the visit might be seen as inappropriate politicking. However, the Pentagon said the senator was never told not to visit.

A new McCain ad that began airing Saturday in selected markets also chides Obama as disrespectful for making "time to go to the gym" during his European visit while at the same time canceling the visit with wounded troops.

Why would Obama care about American troops? He's made it perfectly clear, he is a "citizen of the world." quote.

I suppose globalization is closer than I imagined. And I don’t know about the rest of you, but I’m sad.

The integration of different people who have refused to assimilate, has been the disintegration of the greatest country on earth, The United States of America.

John McCain needs a running mate, who should it be and why?

Rudy?

Condee?

Mitt?

General Powell?

His posse, aka, the media, couldn't tag along and use injured troops as a photo op, so Obama bails out on them and hits the gym instead. I’m not surprised, it is Obama after all, what did anyone expect?

By DOUGLASS K. DANIEL

WASHINGTON - Republican John McCain's campaign on Saturday sharply criticized Democratic rival Barack Obama for canceling a visit to wounded troops in Germany, contending Obama chose foreign leaders and cheering Europeans over "injured American heroes."

Obama's campaign called the accusation "wildly inappropriate." His spokesman has claimed that the visit to a military hospital in Germany was scrapped after the Pentagon raised concerns about political activity on a military base. Earlier, though, the campaign had said Obama decided the visit might be seen as inappropriate politicking. However, the Pentagon said the senator was never told not to visit.

A new McCain ad that began airing Saturday in selected markets also chides Obama as disrespectful for making "time to go to the gym" during his European visit while at the same time canceling the visit with wounded troops.

"Seems the Pentagon wouldn't allow him to bring cameras," according to the ad, which is being televised in Colorado, Pennsylvania and the Washington D.C. area. "John McCain is always there for our troops."

McCain himself joined in the rebuke, saying in an interview to be aired Sunday by ABC's "This Week" that "if I had been told by the Pentagon that I couldn't visit those troops, and I was there and wanted to be there, I guarantee you, there would have been a seismic event."

My husband and I saw Batman The Dark Knight last night and omg, it was amazing! I loved it. It was incredibly deep for being a comic book story, very well written, and everything the critics have been raving about, Heath Ledgers performance, is absolutely true. The best Batman movie ever.