At first, I thought about what would possibly be the legacy of ‘W’:  a useless war, a failed economy, a botched response to our nations worst natural disaster, et al.  But, while those things hold true, I think that there’s a side to his legacy that many are missing, myself included who, until this morning, really didn’t give it much thought.  In fact, the more I think about it, the more I think that above all, we should be thanking George W. Bush… for it was him who delivered unto us our next President, Barack Obama.

Go with me on this:  if ‘W’ wasn’t so bad.  If he was just an OK President. If we weren’t in such bad financial shape or mired in a land war that we cannot safely get out of, would the country have rallied around Barack Obama?  Had our response to the attacks of September 11th been reasonable and limited to going after the perpetrators or Bush cut short his vacation and flown right to New Orleans to oversee the recovery personally, would the American public be clamoring for change?

I think that, when it comes down to it, George W. Bush was the catalyst.  He’s the spark that this country needed to move forward.  He gave people the ability to look beyond their petty differences and say to themselves, we need someone smart and capable, regardless of their heritage.  I really think that if George W. Bush had been the slightest bit of a good President, someone else would be standing in front of the Capitol Building being sworn in tomorrow and I’m willing to bet, dollars to doughnuts, that it wouldn’t have been a guy with the middle name of Hussein. 

So from me, and all of the other Barack Obama supporters, thank you George.  We couldn’t have done it without you.

What really caught my eye was a comment left on the article by one of it’s reader.  I’ve always thought of Obama as a smart, well spoken, hopeful and energetic person, but he’s so much more than that.  He, as this commenter so eloquently put it, is an embodiment of the American Dream and an inspiration to us all.

Barack Obama is an inspiration to my family and everyone else. Barack Obama’s story is the quintessential American story – born to black immigrant Muslim father, white atheist mom – yet he found Christianity ( I’m not religious, but I still find this commendable in America ), bi-racial, single mom, raised by grandparents – yet, inspite of these odds, he achieved something wonderful, not by quota system or depriving others, but by pulling himself up. There are 2 ways to present yourself to the American people – pull yourself up through extolling your virtues ( Obama style ) or put the other person down as you have nothing to offer ( McCain/Palin style ). Obama has run the cleanest campaign to date and he is an inspiration to all. 
We’re immigrants too ( from India ) and find him fascinating. I feel Barack Obama is America. 

Hence, we will all be firmly behind him as he takes America back to those soaring heights.  

Tuesday’s the day when you can make a difference.  It’s up to you. 

Go Obama!

Hands down, Obama won.  Even looking at it through the eyes of someone who is not a Barack supporter, there’s no denying that he looked more poised, more in control, and gave more specific details of his plan of action.  McSame, on the other hand, looked flustered and grumpy.  He spoke in mass generalities (just like Palin, what a shocker) and made absurd statements  like, “…fixing Social Security is easy.”  Oh, I see John, you’ve just been waiting for the right time to do it.  Twenty-six years in Congress and you just never got around to it.  Nice work.

After last night’s debate, and along with everything that’s happened in the last few weeks, anyone who can look at McSame and still think he’s the best man for the job is certifiably insane (or a racist).  Which actually brings up an interesting point:  I can actually understand someone not voting for Obama because he’s black better than I can not voting for him because they think McSame is better.   That’s sad.

“The poll found that, among likely voters, Obama now leads McCain by 52 percent to 43 percent. Two weeks ago, in the days immediately following the Republican National Convention, the race was essentially even, with McCain at 49 percent and Obama at 47 percent.”

“As a point of comparison, neither of the last two Democratic nominees –John F. Kerry in 2004 or Al Gore in 2000 — recorded support above 50 percent in a pre-election poll by the Post and ABC News.”

And this about Palin:

“…reaction to Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, McCain’s running mate, has cooled somewhat. Overall, her unfavorable rating has gone up by 10 points in the past two weeks, from 28 percent to 38 percent.”

Even more importantly:

“Independents, key swing voters, now break for Obama, 53 percent to 39 percent, reversing a small lead for McCain after the Republican convention.”

Finally, the crux of what this election is going to be about because guess what, it ain’t getting any better:

“In the new poll, voters once again gave Obama higher marks than McCain when it comes to dealing with the economy, 53 percent to 39 percent. Two weeks ago, Obama’s edge on the question was a narrow five points, his lowest of the campaign. Among independents, Obama’s advantage on the economy — now 21 points — is greater than at any point in the campaign.”

Doug Holtz-Eakin source

Holtz-Eakin is a formerly respected academic and government economist who has been reduced to making distortionaryarguments to paper over the massive deficit black hole McCain’s tax cuts would create.

Arthur Laffer source
Laffer is the originator of the Laffer curve, the fringe view that claims government revenue increases when tax rates are lowered. There is zero empirical evidence this is true at current tax rates. McCain has repeatedly said that he believes this foolishness, but Holtz-Eakin has said (also repeatedly) that McCain does not.

Phil Gramm source
Gramm is a lobbyist who was vice president of one of the investment houses most heavily implicated in the mortage industry scandal. As a senator he pushed for the banking deregulation that contributed to the current crisis. See more here.

Kevin Hassett source
Hassett has been widely ridiculed for writing the book Dow 36000: The New Strategy for Profiting from the Coming Rise in the Stock Market in 1999, predicting that the Dow would hit 36,000 within five years, if not sooner.

Donald Luskin source
Luskin has been repeatedly named the Stupidest Man Alive by Brad Delong. See here for an example. I can attest based on my own interaction with him a few years back that in addition to being not the sharpest tack in the box, he is also an extremely unpleasant person.

Nancy Pfotenhauer source
Pfotenhauer is a pure distilled product of Koch Industries, an oil company which funds much of the right wing message machine. See here for details.

Carly Fiorina source
Fiorina was spectacularly fired from her previous job as CEO of HP. According to the Times,

… Republicans say Ms. Fiorina is using the McCain campaign to rebuild her image after her explosive tenure at Hewlett-Packard. They also say it is hard to see why a woman widely criticized for mismanaging one of Silicon Valley’s legendary companies is advising and representing a candidate who acknowledged last year that he did not understand the economy as well as he should.

Regarding Fiorina, Jeffrey Sonnenfeld, the senior associate dean for executive programs at the Yale School of Management, says “What a blind spot this is in the McCain campaign to have elevated her stature and centrality in this way. You couldn’t pick a worse, non-imprisoned C.E.O. to be your standard-bearer.”

It’s an interesting read.  Seems like we’re on the brink in the country and McCain is putting his faith in the people that helped get us here.

From the article:

Cindy McCain
Oscar de la Renta dress: $3,000
Chanel J12 White Ceramic Watch: $4,500
Three-carat diamond earrings: $280,000
Four-strand pearl necklace: $11,000–$25,000
Shoes, designer unknown: $600
Total: Between $299,100 and $313,100

I can totally see why they would call Obama an elitist.  I mean, sure, I figured the suits that he wears cost at least a half-a-million dollars.  Right?  I’m sure he goes into his favorite haberdasher and says, “I’ll take the one with the pinstripes.  Can you break a billion?”

Seven homes and $300K outfits… real ‘down-to-earth’ folks these McCains are.

The article isn’t out yet, so I haven’t read anything and there’s no verification that this is even true.  However, it would be great if it was.  Nothing like a sinking ship.