Campaign 2008

When it comes to dismissive finger gestures, there is nothing quite like the two-handed "air quote." For pure sarcastic appeal, it beats the much more obvious middle finger every time. But beware what words you put inside those little air quotes.

ELKO, Nev. -- When Mable Kite decided to get involved in a political campaign for the first time in her life, she jumped right into the deep end. She ...

The religious right-wingers have become increasingly isolated, they have failed to understand that the rest of the country is not as conservative or fundamentalist as they are.

John McCain's official website would make it seem as if corporate taxes are somehow crippling American business. But two-thirds of the corporations doing business in the U.S. paid no taxes from 1998-2005, while collectively reporting $2.5 trillion dollars in sales.

How did our "village" go so wrong that a seven-year old girl would think a respected American senator and presidential candidate is the equivalent of the Bogey Man under the bed? Where did she get the notion that people of the Muslim faith are to be feared rather than embraced?

If McCain wins this election, the Religious Right and Sarah Palin will take the credit. The Religious Right's hold on the Republican Party will be even stronger, and the party will be pulled deeper into an extremism that serves only a small minority of Americans.

During times of extreme insecurity, people can fall easy prey to the fiery rhetoric and xenophobia of folksy characters like Sarah Palin, Huey Long, Charles Coughlin and Joe McCarthy.

For the first time in over 40 years, the state of Virginia may help put a Democrat in the White House. More important, the Democrat who will reside th...

A show called Little Mosque on the Prairie will soon appear on television in America. The show hopefully educates the public that to be Arab or Muslim does not equal being a terrorist, or being primitive or subversive. The recent events of the campaign reveal that we need such a series.

Either American living standards must continue eroding at a shocking pace, or the costs of these living standards must come down accordingly in order to give American workers a chance to compete for jobs.

The challenge for whoever is elected to the White House lies in recognizing truly moderate voices among Muslims. These are Muslims who applaud American values, as they are staunch advocates of freedom, democracy and pluralism.

We have gotten to the point where we take hideous and superior delight in the stumbles on the other side, react in anger at the latest new lies, and laugh and point fingers at angry right-wingers screaming and acting like lunatics.

At the end of the campaign day -- win or lose -- the responsibility for loosing the mob mentality beast, calling it from the depths of the sub-cranial cavern, is wholly that of John McCain. He is the commander-in-chief of his own political army.

Today's transnational communications environment is such that Obama's embrace of dialog is more likely to succeed. The days have passed when the U.S. could command enough airwaves to simply silence competing points of view.

In the last number of years, we've watched the Republicans throw their hands up in the air and bury their heads in regards to Arizona's basic issues. It's just been a do-nothing legislature that's taken a pass on even the simple needs of the state.

Paul Reagan concedes that a yard sign isn't the best means of communication, but when your house is flanked on either side by the opposition, you need to take a stand. "It's primitive," Reagan said. "It's a way of staking out territory. I feel like there must be plenty of people who aren't McCain supporters, but it's the intimidation of all those signs."

In the video of a McCain event, a small, solemn group of patriots - average age about 75 - sings a chorus of "God Bless America," as if to inoculate themselves against the idea that a "colored boy" (insert your own euphemism) might possibly defile the White House with his presence.

When Obama gets called Muslim, there are many Americans who are quick to correct the facts and make sure the public knows Obama isn't Muslim. But where are the people speaking up and saying that Muslims are not bad people? How come almost nobody is saying it's not OK to hate?

There is a decided shift in citizen rhetoric this week centered around Tuesday's debate and the decision by the McCain campaign to fully submerge itself in the gutter. Interestingly, with a comfortable padding, OTB readers seem more inclined to offer criticism of Obama as well.

Poverty carries an emotional and stigmatizing price. It's losing teeth at a young age because a $600 root canal or 50% co-pay is unaffordable. It's not being able to afford to pay a $50 fine for a traffic violation, and ending up in jail.

Without defense spending, we see the real picture of the downturn our economy is taking while boosting the military laden GDP.

Obama has said that if we were starting from scratch, he would recommend a single payer system. He's right. The current financing system is a disaster. We should scrap it and replace it with a Medicare that covers all at a price we can afford.

Infrastructure isn't sexy but it's critical to economic well-being. If McCain becomes the next president, he won't do much. Ever. His website and his public statements make no mention at all of the nation's infrastructure and its problems.