The good thing about this debate - for both sides

cameragirl21 wrote: is that it didn't change a thing. No one did badly enough to ruin it for their side and both sides did well enough.
Because of our ridiculous electoral college, though, if you're a Michigan voter for McCain, your vote essentially no longer counts as McCain has already conceded Michigan to Obama. Much as I'm a left wing supporter, I do think that's wrong. Everyone's vote should count equally.
One thing I'll say for Palin--she's very lucky she didn't have to go up against Hillary...Hillary would have ripped her a new one.
Lol, can you tell I'm still just a little bitter that Hillary didn't get nominated...?

lisar replied: I dont agree with the whole Hillary thing. Hillary would have back stepped to many times making things up, like she does. Florida's majority is on McCain by a small margin so if it stays that way technically your vote wouldn't matter either right. That day I plan on voting for McCain.

cameragirl21 replied:
True, but FL usually goes blue in the end because the tri county area down here typically speaks for the state and we are blue! If Biden can appeal to the Jewish voters down here Obama will get FL, I don't think they've campaigned here yet.

lisar replied:
Thats not always true about the tri state ruling the vote.

cameragirl21 replied: Idk, that's what political pundits always say. McCain's lead is very minimal here and Obama is about to start campaigning here, I think he's got a very good shot at getting FL.
We'll see, though. I don't think FL will be as key for Obama as it will be for McCain. If Obama gets FL, he is guaranteed this election, assuming everything else stays the same and if McCain loses it, he can't win the election. Kind of nice to have that power with our votes, eh?

lisar replied:
Florida has always been a deciding state. Mainly cause we have alot of electoral votes. Heck were #4 on the list. Ca, tx, and Ny are the ones above us.
Bush won tx, and he won Fl thats the only reason he won cause he lost ca which is 55 votes.
And I just checked Obama is winning florida by 2%. But that can change. And how do they get these figures cause 1 person I know has said to anyone that gets these polls who they are in favor of, so how is that accurate? Just curious if you know.

cameragirl21 replied: I think they're doing continuous, random polling to determine who is ahead. Both parties have their own pollsters to judge how they're doing in each state. I didn't realize Obama already pulled ahead here but I realize technically that can change.
Here's the thing--South Florida's Jewish voters have a lot of influence here. Many were scared of Obama and his possible stance toward Israel. Obama was smart though, he brought on Biden who has a record of being the most pro Israel senator of all the 100 senators, literally, he is Israel's best friend in the Senate. So that will likely swing a lot (but not all) Jewish voters back toward Obama, which would help him get FL which is probably why we're seing a swing toward Obama already.
I think Sarah Palin seems like a nice person and has a lot spunk, like someone you may want to be friends with. I do wonder, after her nonstop banter about how important Israel is last night, if she could even find Israel on a map, considering she said that Alaska is close to Russia, which is why she knows so much about foreign relations.
I noticed at the end, though, that her youngest daughter, Piper, came up to her and hugged her and she mindlessly put her hands on Piper's shoulders but kept right on talking to Biden and otherwise paid no attention to Piper, who was clearly vying for her mom's attention. I do think this must be a hard choice for her and it's clearly taking a toll on her kids, not that they're not super proud of her. I think it really must be hard for women to be in politics or any position of true power as long as they have young kids at home that still need them. I felt sad for Piper, even though I know her mother loves her and I know Piper knows it too.

cameragirl21 replied: omg, Lisa, you're right, according this http://www.presidentpolls2008.com/ Obama is now up by 4% in FL. I imagine that this poll has a margin of error of 2-3% so that may not be as significant as it appears but the fact is, 3 days ago, he was only up by 2% and now he's up by 4%, wow, that's a fast turnaround.

Danalana replied: I wouldn't feel too sorry for her kids. At the end, I could hear her asking for her kids...I think you'll find that many parents sometimes have to wait a second to address their children when speaking to another adult. It doesn't mean they don't give them attention. And I can guanrantee you that she is in full support of Israel. As a Christian woman, she knows the importance of standing with israel.

cameragirl21 replied: Oh I have no doubt she is in support of Israel, I'm just wondering if she knows where it is...I somehow doubt it.
As for the kids, I realize that moms often have to make their kids wait for their full attention but in all fairness, this is not a regular job with regular hours and regular responsibilities and I got the impression, and I could be wrong of course, that her kids have not quite adjusted yet, at least not Piper.

mammag replied:
He didn't "concede" Michigan in any kind of sense that the votes won't count. He is pulling out as far as tv spots and mailings to save resources for other states. Michigan has not gone for a Republican candidate for President in 20 years. If he wins the State of Michigan, he wins and the votes will count.

cameragirl21 replied:
I realize that. What I meant by concede was that he conceded that he won't get it and that the countless amount of money he spent there on advertising were a waste.

Danalana replied:
That could certainly be true. Children often have to make adjustments in any household....a new job for one of his/her parents that takes them away for longer periods of time, starting school, etc...but children are incredibly resilient. If she loves them, and they have complete trust in that, they will be just fine.

Calimama replied:
Miabella will never adjust to having her dad leave every 9 months for 7-10 months at a time. But he chose to serve his country and we chose to support him through that.

Just as Sarah Palin is.

msoulz replied: Well I am an undecided Michigan voter and I can say it doesn't feel good to not matter. But that won't likely sway me one way or the other as I tend to tune out advertisements unless it is the actual candidate speaking about himself, and how often do we see that?

Regardless, another good thing about the debate is they were both terribly civil to each other and the others' running mate. I like that much better than when they get heated and ugly.

lisar replied:
I personally don't think anyone should cater to Jewish, catholic, or atheist people. I don't think the running for president should have anything to do with Israel mainly cause this is America. It should all be about America not whats happening in another country. It should never be about what another country is doing unless they plan on attacking the US. Just my opinion though.

Also the whole kid thing, why bring them into this, I am so sick of hearing people talk crap about that subject. She is raising her kids the best she knows how, end of story. No one is a perfect parent no matter how much they think they are. We all make mistakes and learn from them.

cameragirl21 replied:
Just for the record, I am NOT saying she's a bad mother, just saying that this must be hard on her family and her. Plenty of moms who travel and have high profile careers just like SP, not singling her out, I just felt sad for Piper, that's all.
As for Israel, they are our number one ally in the world and according to some politicians, the only true ally we have. They truly are just an extension of the US in the middle east so their interests usually are our interests, kwim?
I don't think anyone is specifically catering to anyone's votes, it's just that the Jewish voting bloc down here in the tri county area is vast and powerful and any and every presidential candidate wants it, kwim?

jcc64 replied:

You matter, hon, it's still pretty close there. Don't let that deter you from voting.
I live in NY, which absolutely always go blue, which is of course fine with me. However, I don't like the fact that once the state has gone to one candidate or another in the electoral college, we're completely marginalized. It wouldn't matter if the candidate one the state by 1 vote, or 1 million, and that is not true representational democracy. I HATE the electoral college, specifically b/c it gave us George Bush.
I heard somewhere that the electoral college was some sort of concession to slave states back in the day, but I can't begin to back that up with any intelligent information. Ed???????

lisar replied:
I know what your saying, I just think that we need to get America back on track and screw everyone and everything else until that happens.

And I know alot of mothers that travel and their kids are just fine, just when she is home with them I am sure she will spend extra time with them. And they get plenty of vacations, alot more than I do.

My2Beauties replied: The debate made me last night so honestly I can't say much about it As far as the electoral college goes.... is all I have to say! Kentucky is always a Repub state, my city is always democrat and we're the largest city here, but the surrounding areas always go Repub and I hate that, makes me feel like my vote doesn't count!