Guest Cousin Tupelo Posted July 18, 2008 Share Posted July 18, 2008 Just got a press release from Zogby international, polling possible Obama running mates. Here's the head, deck and link: Zogby Poll: Obama/Powell Ticket Could Bode Well for Democrats Survey finds Clinton VP pick favored by nearly half of Dems; Huckabee, Romney viewed as best running mates for McCain http://www.zogby.com/news/ReadNews.dbm?ID=1530 Link to post Share on other sites
Good Old Neon Posted July 18, 2008 Share Posted July 18, 2008 Just got a press release from Zogby international, polling possible Obama running mates. Here's the head, deck and link: Zogby Poll: Obama/Powell Ticket Could Bode Well for Democrats Survey finds Clinton VP pick favored by nearly half of Dems; Huckabee, Romney viewed as best running mates for McCain http://www.zogby.com/news/ReadNews.dbm?ID=1530 If Obama picks Powell as his running mate, the same Powell who sat before the UN and made the case for the mess we are now in, well, he, Obama, should drop out of the race entirely. Link to post Share on other sites
Sir Stewart Posted July 18, 2008 Share Posted July 18, 2008 I would not vote for an Obama/Powell ticket. Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Cousin Tupelo Posted July 18, 2008 Share Posted July 18, 2008 If Obama picks Powell as his running mate, the same Powell who sat before the UN and made the case for the mess we are now in, well, he, Obama, should drop out of the race entirely.I haven't checked yet to see if the release breaks down the poll by state, but I suspect such a pairing would change the South a bloodier shade of red. Link to post Share on other sites
bjorn_skurj Posted July 19, 2008 Share Posted July 19, 2008 I don't know quite what to make of this. There is apparently a column by Joel Stein in the LA Times about how to make fun of Barack Obama. I clicked on it, and all I got was a blank page. Anyway, here's a blip from the N.Y. Times blip about the L.A. Times thing which we apparently cannot read. When I called Link to post Share on other sites
M. (hristine Posted July 19, 2008 Share Posted July 19, 2008 ^ I called this weeks ago. It ain't happening though. It would be political suicide. Link to post Share on other sites
bjorn_skurj Posted July 19, 2008 Share Posted July 19, 2008 I'll say this. If I can't make jokes about the dude, or be allowed to read jokes about the dude on the Internet, I ain't voting for him. Link to post Share on other sites
M. (hristine Posted July 19, 2008 Share Posted July 19, 2008 Well, I laughed pretty hard. Link to post Share on other sites
bjorn_skurj Posted July 19, 2008 Share Posted July 19, 2008 I will write in "M. Chris" then. Link to post Share on other sites
sweetheart-mine Posted July 19, 2008 Share Posted July 19, 2008 i haven't seen the n.y.times blip, but before reading that part of your post i assumed the l.a.times blank page itself was the joke! you can make jokes about obama. anyone can make jokes about obama. if some newspaper editor or owner is too gutless to make jokes about him, or someone is afraid it would be political suicide, isn't that their problem? i don't see how that would translate into his not deserving someone's vote. i can think of other reasons, but that one's not making any sense to me. Link to post Share on other sites
bjorn_skurj Posted July 19, 2008 Share Posted July 19, 2008 Jokes are a great leveler. I would like to believe that Barack Obama is still a mortal man, but if the culture is such that people are afraid to joke about him, Obama might start to think he is not a mortal man and that he shall not be mocked. And I really think it's a waste of his time going to Europe. Only people who would vote for him anyway care what the Europeans think of the U.S. anyway. He should stay here and start talking about health care and $4 gas and stuff like that. Link to post Share on other sites
sweetheart-mine Posted July 19, 2008 Share Posted July 19, 2008 Jokes are a great leveler. I would like to believe that Barack Obama is still a mortal man, but if the culture is such that people are afraid to joke about him, Obama might start to think he is not a mortal man and that he shall not be mocked.i agree, they are. i've seen only slight evidence that some in the media are afraid to joke about him. if that grows, and then obama starts to think "he is not a mortal man and that he shall not be mocked," then that would definitely be something to worry about. i haven't seen that in him yet, at least no more than in the other touchy politicians that have been involved in these election campaigns since they began. all of them have been too touchy, in my opinion. for example, i thought it was pretty stupid for obama to let go the adviser who called clinton "a monster." there were other stupidities on all sides. frankly, i do worry sometimes that he'll be assassinated, but i can't imagine a joke or a thousand jokes would play any part in that whatsoever. Link to post Share on other sites
MrRain422 Posted July 19, 2008 Share Posted July 19, 2008 Perhaps going to Europe is pointless electorally, but if he wins, it will help if he's already started working on those relationships. Will make the beginning of the transition a little smoother. Link to post Share on other sites
bjorn_skurj Posted July 19, 2008 Share Posted July 19, 2008 If he wins, Europe will cream themselves anyway. Focus on the winning first. Link to post Share on other sites
mountain bed Posted July 19, 2008 Share Posted July 19, 2008 Innaresting little story here - Bob says NO: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0708/11763.html Link to post Share on other sites
sweetheart-mine Posted July 19, 2008 Share Posted July 19, 2008 Perhaps going to Europe is pointless electorally, but if he wins, it will help if he's already started working on those relationships. Will make the beginning of the transition a little smoother.i think you're absolutely right about this. good and open-as-possible relations with other countries and their leaders -- any of them -- will be crucial in the next presidency, especially in the wake of the "who cares what you think, world" bush presidency. Link to post Share on other sites
bjorn_skurj Posted July 21, 2008 Share Posted July 21, 2008 Well, I guess we can read it after all! How to make fun of ObamaTips for those who find it too hard to joke about the Democratic candidate.Joel Stein July 18, 2008 I believe comedic change is possible. Since the New Yorker dropped a bum joke on its cover this week, comedians have appeared on every news outlet to whine about how hard it is to make fun of Barack Obama. Really? They have an arsenal of jokes to use against a 71-year-old ex-POW cancer survivor and Obama is too touchy a subject? I'm here to help. I called some comedian friends to compile a guide to making fun of Obama. The consensus is there's not yet one standout attribute to pound away on (McCain is old! Clinton cheats on his wife! Bush is stupid! Al Gore is a robot! John Kerry makes me feel inexplicably sad inside!), but there are areas to explore. If we just work a little harder, and sacrifice a little bit, we can achieve greatness. We are the immature jerks we have been waiting for. He's a nerd. Yes, he seems cool because he plays basketball and fist-bumps and knows about pop music. But that's because we're comparing him with other politicians, all of whom are older than our grandparents. Compare Obama with other 46-year-olds and he's Urkel. He's the kid at the Model United Nations conference who says, "Guys, guys, c'mon. Let's not make fun of Eastern Europe." And the brutal truth is, even if women faint at your rallies, you'll never feel cool inside when you have Alfred E. Neuman's ears. He's ridiculously earnest. Obama is the kind of guy who not only talked you into showing up for Hands Across America but afterward insisted that it was awesome. On "Saturday Night Live," Fred Armisen plays up Obama's weird pauses and brow furrows like he's Yogi Bear getting bad news from a doctor. Comedian Marc Maron does a really smart bit about how Obama stares out into the distance while giving a speech. "The first time you see him you're like, 'What's he looking at?' But then you're like, 'I don't know, but it's good and full of hope. And he's the only one who can see it. If we vote for him, maybe he'll take us there.' " He's black. Apparently, the differences between black people and white people can be funny. Trust, me I've seen this on HBO's "Def Comedy Jam." When I called "Simpsons" writer Matt Selman for help on Obama jokes, he came up with this: "A lot of people are worried about Obama being assassinated because he's black. The solution to that is a much blacker vice president. I'm thinking Flavor Flav." Admittedly, Selman nervously said, "Don't make me look racist!" about 20 times before and after telling me his joke. He's manorexic. No one loses weight on the campaign trail, when you're grabbing fast food and eating whatever is offered out of politeness, but this guy is always turning down doughnuts. It's like he signed up for running for president because he thought "president" was some kind of 10K race. As comedian Aisha Tyler told me, "He has the build of an ex-high school javelin thrower. He's the guy on the track team who only does that one event, and he weighs the same as the javelin." He's effete. He's well-dressed. He eats arugula -- which he buys at Whole Foods. He mocks those who use guns. He is, as we mentioned, quite thin. He may only be half-black, but he's three-quarters gay. He called his own grandmother a racist. We all have racist grandmothers, but we don't brag about it to everyone. I like to imagine that his granny wasn't that bad and that Obama was just super-sensitive. Like she would tell him it was bedtime and he'd yell, "Oh, I have to go to bed because I'm black!" Or she'd tell him to clean up his room and he'd start yelling, "Oh, clean my room, huh? My people stopped obeying the white woman 100 years ago, Grammy!" Then they'd both laugh and she'd whip him. His name is weird. The unfunny people beat us to the Osama/Obama bit, which really could have been mined. But Obama also dropped the "Barry" nickname in college. Do you remember those classmates who suddenly found their culture and had to share it with you like they were on the ninth step of AA? You just wanted to trudge through "Portrait of a Lady," but they felt compelled to sit you down in the dorm hallway and explain how they're no longer Susie, they're Mei Mei now. Then they recounted their whole journey of identity by using a lot of words that made it clear that Mei Mei was going to be a lot less fun than Susie was. His platitudes need deconstruction. "We are the people we've been waiting for"? Actually, I'm pretty sure we're the people who put all our money in Yahoo and then bought a house to flip and now are hocking everything we have. We're the people China has been waiting for. Link to post Share on other sites
Beltmann Posted July 21, 2008 Share Posted July 21, 2008 I laughed more than once. Link to post Share on other sites
sweetheart-mine Posted July 21, 2008 Share Posted July 21, 2008 my favorite part: He called his own grandmother a racist. We all have racist grandmothers, but we don't brag about it to everyone. I like to imagine that his granny wasn't that bad and that Obama was just super-sensitive. Like she would tell him it was bedtime and he'd yell, "Oh, I have to go to bed because I'm black!" Link to post Share on other sites
fatheadfred Posted July 21, 2008 Share Posted July 21, 2008 Yeah, it frightens me when either side gets so defensive about their candidate that they can't laugh at them. He is a nerd. I saw him shooting baskets on some photo op. I could take him, easy...and I'm white. Don't tell anyone I said that, ok? Link to post Share on other sites
mountain bed Posted July 29, 2008 Share Posted July 29, 2008 Bump! 99 days, kids. This thing is gonna be here before we know it. Link to post Share on other sites
Good Old Neon Posted July 29, 2008 Share Posted July 29, 2008 Bump! 99 days, kids. This thing is gonna be here before we know it. Link to post Share on other sites
LouieB Posted July 29, 2008 Share Posted July 29, 2008 Bump! 99 days, kids. This thing is gonna be here before we know it.I wish it was tomorrow.... LouieB Link to post Share on other sites
fatheadfred Posted July 29, 2008 Share Posted July 29, 2008 I wish it was tomorrow.... LouieB No kidding. Maybe this political thing is too much like the entertainment industry and we expect something new everyday. It seems rather mundane right now. Barry is taking a stroll through some rural spots of our state of MO this week. McCain is emphasizing the need to use sunscreen. Exciting, huh? Link to post Share on other sites
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