I find it very interesting that the detractors of Sarah Palin who incidenitly is running on the Vice Pesidential ticket fail to mention anything about the total lack of experience of Hussien Obama. This empty suit has been in the senate and has done nothing to distingish himself. Except if you count voting present on over a 100 different bills and running for a new job while collecting a fat paycheck on his other job that he really did not want. Not even counting the lack of experience, what about the association with a known terrorist who escaped life in prison due to a failure of the prosecuting authorities to correctly prosecute a case against him. It is very nice that Hamas the known terrorist organization who has killed thousands of innocent people is backing Hussien Obama. Nice. Just who I want running our country a person who will strip our military, tax us to death, play footsie with our enemies and take days off from work.

John McCain missed 34% of his votes according to the congressional records. He voted yes 38% of the time and voted no 23%. Obama missed 38% of his votes according to the same records. It's hard to tell what the present votes were since they are recorded as Not Voting, Excused, Absent, or Present. Maybe you have more detail than that.

If you are going to rant, at least have your facts, but it's actually more effective if you talk, not rant.

By the way, Obama's last vote, other than last week, was in June; McCain's last vote was in April. What was he doing all that time after he secured the nomination 2 months earlier than Obama? He wasn't in the Senate, and if he was, he wasn't voting.

blueseyes: another garden variety neanderthal with racist overtones ("Hussein" instead of Barack) whose tribe is responsible for the Bush-Cheney disaster. Organisms like this are just desperate for a reaction; best to ignore them until they get bored and run back their own. They're losing this time and they know it. Why they troll around Slate is anybody's guess; they obviously don't read much here.

Talk about trolling, let me tell you about some bottom feeders. In 2004, John mcCain warned congress that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were dangerous and needed regulation. Every democratic representative ignored ansd said there was no problem. See You Tube "Cover Up Fannie Mae" And by the way the top receivers(bottom feeders) from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, Rep. Barney Frank, Sen. Barrack Obama and Sen. Kerry. That' s why we're in this financial mess. And please don't try to hrow this on the Bush administration, Clinton knew and imbraced Fannie and Freddie long before.

So, even though the GOP controlled both houses of Congress and the White House in 2004, McCain wants credit for accomplishing nothing in regards to the Fannie/Freddie debacle?

Sorry, no sale.

Oh, and McCain doesn't want you to know that his campaign manager's lobbying firm was taking money from Frannie and Freddie as late as last month.

And of course the claims that Obama received more money from those firms ignores that fact that most of his money can from the rank-in-file employee while McCain recieved more money from the top management.

But hey, what's a distortion before the election, right?

I totally agree with you i mean not that I am for Mcain but: 1 Mcanin has more experience. 2 Obama can't even be seen in public with police, and doesn't have much respect for people over in Iraq that are dangering they lifes to save ours. 3 He can't even put his hand over his heart and so some respect for the country that he wants to run, I mean seriously come on now people. You really want this dude running our country, and he says that he is going to bring home our troops but I mean lets go back to reality right he is only as strong as our congress alows him to be, and I bet a lot of people want him to bring our troops home like me but I know that, that is most likly not going to be happening anytime soon so I wouldn't get your hopes up really high.

schoolchic2013:

I totally agree with you i mean not that I am for Mcain but: 1 Mcanin has more experience. 2 Obama can't even be seen in public with police, and doesn't have much respect for people over in Iraq that are dangering they lifes to save ours. 3 He can't even put his hand over his heart and so some respect for the country that he wants to run, I mean seriously come on now people. You really want this dude running our country, and he says that he is going to bring home our troops but I mean lets go back to reality right he is only as strong as our congress alows him to be, and I bet a lot of people want him to bring our troops home like me but I know that, that is most likly not going to be happening anytime soon so I wouldn't get your hopes up really high.

'First of all he does have respect for our troops in Iraq thats why he tried to get a resolution passed to bring them home. He will bring them home his plan is almost the same thing that the Iraqi goverment wants to do. The congress is mostly democrats so he will get alot done if elected it is Mcain that won't be able to get anything done if elected. The whole hand over his heart picture was taken during the playing of the national anthem. If you have ever been to a major sporting event and looked around you would notice alot of people not only without thier hands over thier hearts but walking around with hats on thier heads.

schoolchic, McCain might have more years sitting in the Senate than Obama, but that doesn't mean he heas the right kind of experience. He has voted with Bush and the GOP on practically every occasion, whether it be to shoot down legislation to grant women a better chance at equal pay, or to endanger the lives of thousands of young Americans in a war that served no purpose in protecting their families and homeland.

And seriously, are you really going to set your stall against a candidate because in one appearance he didn't put his hand over his heart during the pledge of allegiance? That's the Fox News standard for patriotism. True patriotism is about far more than symbolic gestures; it's quiet but determined, and above all about wanting better for ones nation. I think Obama has shown consistently that he wants to improve the lot of the American people, and to improve America's battered standing in the world. Interestingly, McCain has now adopted this point of view.

And yes, if Obama wants to bring the troops home then it will happen on his terms. It is a Dem Congress afterall, and on this issue at least the Legislature and potential Executive would seem to be in total agreement.

As for jakyblueeyes, why bother to respond to someone as casually racist and ignorant people?

GMD:

Talk about trolling, let me tell you about some bottom feeders.

OK! According to the Senate Lobbying Database:

Aquiles Suarez, listed as an economic adviser to the McCain campaign in a July 2007 McCain press release, was formerly the director of government and industry relations for Fannie Mae, and oversaw their $47,510,000 lobbying campaign from 2003 to 2006.

The lobbying firm of Charlie Black, one of McCain's top aides, made at least $820,000 working for Freddie Mac from 1999 to 2004.

The McCain campaign's vice-chair Wayne Berman and its congressional liaison John Green made $1.14 million lobbying on behalf of Fannie Mae for Ogilvy Government Relations. Green made an additional $180,000 from Freddie Mac.

Arther B. Culvahouse Jr., who helped John McCain select Sarah Palin, earned $80,000 from Fannie Mae in 2003 and 2004, while working for lobbying and law firm O'Melveny & Myers LLP.

In addition, Politico reports that at least 20 McCain fundraisers have lobbied for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, pocketing at least $12.3 million over the last nine years; including McCain campaign manager Rick Davis, who was president of the Homeownership Alliance, a lobbying association that included Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, real estate agents, homebuilders, and non-profits, and opposed congressional attempts at regulation of Fannie and Freddie. He stated in 2003 that no reform of the lenders was necessary, because they "are subject to an innovative and stringent risk-based capital stress test, the toughest in the financial services industry."

So if McCain can find it in his heart not only to forgive this motley crew of well-paid shills for the quick-buck industry, but to turn over to them his drive for change, including financial industry regulation, I'm sure he won't hold anything against anybody else. Especially since he's building his current campaign on government getting out of the way, as Palin so nicely put it. In fact, one might suspect that his drive for regulation 4 years ago was just part of that maverick streak of his, and he's back into the free market no regulation clubhouse where everybody around him including his veep lives.