The huge Wal-Mart in Valley Stream NY usually opens at 9 am, but for black Friday the opening was set for 5 am. Crowds began building the night before, and by 3:30 am there were 2,000 people stretching across a vast parking lot. The Nassau County police were called, but one officer with a bullhorn could do little to bring order.
And then just before 5 am the crowd began pushing forward, broke down the doors, and streamed into the store. It's to bad that a temporary Wal-Mart employee was pushed over in the melee, and the crowd streaming in trampled him to death. Other Wal-Mart employees tried to reach him, and could not. No police were anywhere in sight.
Just a minute! "To bad"? What happened to the compassion of Thanksgiving, the joys of Christmas season? Evidently the lure of a few vastly underpriced Christmas presents were too great.
Blame appears to be widespread:
* Obviously the crowd that trampled Jdimytai Damou bear much of the responsibility. However, people in the middle of a raging mob have little freedom to stop it.
* Wal-Mart, in setting the stage for this crowd event, but providing minimal security arrangements, deserves most of the responsibility. This was not an accident. The lack of planning for serious crowd control made some tragedy all too likely.
* The police who came, found that they couldn't control the crowd, and then left also share responsibility.
* And the rest of us . . . are we making Thanksgiving, Christmas, and other days of spiritual celebration real days of compassionate renewal? When police tried to clear the store after Jdimytai Damou was killed, shoppers refused to leave. Getting their bargains was more important than stopping after such a tragedy.
Many people are looking to Obama for leadership in dealing with this nation's huge problems. Well, on this one, responsibility is much closer to home. Yes, Wal-Mart needs to be held accountable, but what's happened to us as a people?
We will not know if Black Friday 2008 was the success which both retailers and customers hoped it would be, but take a breath because December 1 is Cyber Monday.
Not to be outdone by the brick and mortar stores, the online merchants, and the online sites of the brick and mortar stores offer discounts on many products to kick off their season.
While it seems that Cyber Monday as been with us since the Apple II, the day was first named in 2005 and is actively promoted by Shop.org, an organization of the National Federation of Retailers (NFR). This trade group reports that 84% of online retailers will have Cyber Monday sales, up from 72% in 2007.
The NFR further predicts that nearly 56% of workers with internet access are expected to partake in the Cyber Monday sales, with men more likely to be cyber shopping than women. In the 18-34 year old buying group, 70% are projected to visit the Cyber Monday sites.
CyberMonday.com, sponsored by Shop.org, is the official promoter of the day. Subscribers to the site receive emails of just announced Cyber Monday deals. 600 retailers will have sales on Monday, the site claims. CyberMonday.com posts a merchant's ads as soon as it is available (usually Sunday, but sometimes Saturday), and serves as the portal to the merchants' websites.
Sales made through CyberMonday's "click throughs" result in a small percentage of the merchant's sale being donated to the Ray M Greely Scholarship Fund which provides scholarships to students in e-commerce. The percent donated is listed by each merchant's portal.
Cyber Monday deals typically differ from Black Friday deals in that on Cyber Monday there are few absolutely "drop dead" door busters which are very limited in quantity and are sold on a first-come, first-served.
More often, a website will have a percentage off on all sales or on a number of product lines, with a few deeply discounted items to grab the web surfer's attention.
Gottadeal.com, which is always a good site to visit to compare online deals, is currently listing online Black Friday deals at its landing, but over the weekend it would probably be a good idea to check their deals on their Cyber Monday page
While Cyber Monday is an active day for online retailers, their "big" day in 2007 and 2006 came about December 12, two weeks before Christmas and in time for the purchases to arrive.
In addition, the sales on Cyber Monday are only a fraction of the sales at bricks and mortar stores; in 2007 Cyber Monday brought in three quarters of a billion dollars in sales, less than 10% of the amount taken in on Black Friday that year.
And on a sobering note, Newsday reports that a 37 year old Wal-mart employee was killed Black Friday morning on Long Island, NY, when "A throng of shoppers . . . physically broke down the doors" and trampled the man. When the horror became apparent, store employees tried immediately to close the store but the shoppers refused to leave and continued shopping.
Below the sales circulars available of 6 AM Thursday (and 10 PM).
But, want a Sony 32" Class Bravia LCD HDTV with Digital Tuner, KDL-32L4000 for just under $500 but don't want to line up Friday morning? I list below the online ads for stores that are having Black Friday sales, and some have jumped the gun and are having online sales today..
Some of the online sales of these sites open at the same time their physical stores open Friday, so if the weather is bad on Friday, or you think the lines will be too long . . .
By the way, some of these links are to online sales only. Please read the fine print.
And as 5AM Friday get's closer, response time on some Company's website may grind to a halt.
(T) indicates that some or all items are available on line now.
Originally Published Wednesday, 11/19
Updated Friday, 11/21
As of 11/27, 755 people had read this blog entry.
Five months after purchasing their fancy new 3G IPhones, Mainers in parts of York county bordering I95 to the ocean, Cumberland County, Brunswick, Topsham, Bath, and a sliver of Auburn received 3G Network coverage yesterday, November 18.
Update: The NEW date for the switch on is Monday, 11/24, and until then 3G IPhone owners in these areas have had their data usage restricted to the the slower AT&T EDGE Network speeds and have been unable to make use of a 3G Network for many features including talking on the phone and surfing the web at the same time, accessing certain video features, etc.
This, in spite of the fact that they have been paying the same data fee as IPhone users living in areas with the speed tripling 3 G network.
When the Portland Press Herald reported on the roll out of the 3G IPhone on July 11, no mention was made in the article of the fact that there was THEN no 3G network for the new IPhone in Maine, New Hampshire or Vermont.
In fact, staff writer Rat Routhier ironically wrote of the supposed dilemma facing Emma Pope-Welch, Director of communications and marketing for the United Way of Eastern Maine in Bangor
"Pope-Welch, who bought the first version of the iPhone, also balked at the claim of faster Internet service. A map on the AT&T Web site shows that there are parts of Maine, including areas east of Bangor, that are not covered by the faster 3G cellular network.
"So in some areas it wouldn't be faster for me," Pope-Welch said."
As I wrote in an unpublished letter to the PPH editor, Pope-Welch and perhaps Routhier were apparently looking at the EDGE coverage which reveals there is no EDGE coverage east of Bangor and they failed to notice that the July AT&T 3G data map showed the very severe limitations of the 3G network when the new IPhone was rolled out.
Pope-Welch in Bangor was wise to keep her first generation phone as there is no official AT&T corporate indication on the internet as to when the 3G network will be expanded to Augusta, let alone Bangor.
Sources of mine indicate it could be 1/1/2010.
So 3G on Monday in the Southern Maine areas outlined above? We will see.
***
Now, for those of you who have asked Santa for a 3G IPhone, The Boy Genius Report confirmed just hours ago that selected Walmarts and Sam's will start selling the IPhone on December 28.
Perhaps just in time for the after Christmas sales?
Attorney General Steven Rowe says consumers should first look at their contract. Any stipulation would be in it. But, he says, consumers must remember that contract is a legal document. He explains that when you locked in to your price earlier this year, the dealer also locked in at that price. So, that's why Rowe says, dealers would be reluctant to let consumers out of their contract.
Every year an old and dear friend makes a long trip from the farmland country of Pennsylvania and the two of us head for northern Maine to spend a week in the woods hunting for deer. These trips have been ongoing since 1971, with a few gaps here and there for both of us due to 20-year military careers.
Our destinations have varied, particularly over the last few years after my cousin lost his family hunting camp following Roxanne Quimby's purchase of the land his father had leased from a timber company in the 1950's.
This year found us in The Forks, a few miles up the Kennebec River from Bingham. It was new territory for us, although we had previously spent time in the Jackman area. We were favorably impressed with the lodge at which we had made reservations and the services that they provided. Hunting, fishing, snowmobiling and whitewater rafting make this location a year-round magnet for outdoor activities and provide jobs for people in an area now depending mostly upon forest products and tourism for local employment.
I have always been puzzled by those who rail against the timber companies who own so much land here in Maine. Were it not for the stewardship and generosity of these companies, "working forests" would not be available for the public to enjoy.
There are only tiny areas of "old-stand" woodlands left here in Maine following the harvesting of timber that spread across the country to the West Coast, resulting in New England-style architecture confronting perplexed visitors in Ft. Bragg, California that were erected by itinerant loggers who could travel no further. Timber harvesting, coupled with careful replanting, results in new growth that is beneficial to wildlife of all species, compared with the "mature forests" that are devoid of underbrush and harbor far fewer animals, birds and insects. Centuries ago, wildfires caused by lightning strikes resulted in the same regenerative results.
Wildlife in the area that we spent a week in had been severely affected by the heavy snows of last winter. Our guide informed us that at one point there was at least eleven feet of snow on the ground during that period. During our five days in the forest, we saw a few tracks, but the deer residing there seemed to travel mostly at night and we experienced no live sightings.
We enjoyed ourselves immensely, however, moving about in a square mile or so of territory which provided many hours of clean air, physically challenging terrain and new things to see on a constant basis. We slept well and looked forward with anticipation to each new day.
My friend and I agreed that it was a week well spent and that we would not hesitate to return.
Some may view late fall and early winter as time of ending and anxiously await the coming of spring and a new beginning. For me, November is a time to get away from the familiar confines of southern Maine, to spend time by myself in the woods and observe its beauty and residents, to test myself physically and mentally, to enjoy the company of an old friend and to return (if only for a brief period) to a more basic way of life.
Since Ronald Regan it has been a policy of this nation and government to provide welfare to the big businesses and wealthy of our society. This is known as trickle down where it has been believed that if you make the rich richer then it benefits society as a whole. Tax benefits and direct subsidies have been steered towards those who needed it the least because of their ability to lobby and donate to the politicians on the national stage. Now we have big banks and the auto industry getting their share of welfare and groveling for more since, after all, if another business can have it then why can't we?
It's time to end the corporate welfare.
While taking billions from the public in welfare, these corporations just keep on doing business in the same old way which brought on their downfall. Billions in bonuses to be divvied up by those who make multi hundred thousand dollar basic salaries. Golf trips for salesmen of bankrupt companies because it is the normal way of doing business. Now we have most of Detroit groveling at the public trough because they refused to make the decisions necessary in good times to see them through the tough. These companies just don't get it.
I read that a bailout of these companies is necessary to prevent a total collapse of our economy and the 2nd great depression. Maybe so, but it isn't necessary to allow those whose basic incompetence brought us into this to retain the lines of command. The CEO's and most of the boards of directors should be fired to begin with and then the US government should take control of a majority of the stock of these companies through a special issue that gives the public the major value of these companies. The original stock holders should only retain secondary stock ownership that doesn't pay any dividends and is not allowed to be sold until the public stock has been repurchased with interest.
I know that there are those who will cry socialism over this but the bottom line is that these companies can simply opt out of this by running their businesses in a responsible manner and not taking billions from the public dole. They want to have their cake and eat it too.
If the bailout is for the public good then let it actually benefit the public. Let these companies know that the days of corporate welfare are over.
Running against a popular incumbent who appeals to the state's moderate political sensibilities, Tom Allen's campaign for U.S. Senate was too little, too late and too nice ... Collins, who trounced Allen 61 percent to 39 percent to win a third, six-year term Tuesday, deserves credit for running a skillful campaign that played up her strengths and minimized her vulnerabilities, say campaign leaders, political scientists and pollsters who followed the race.
Neighbors on the 7:15 commuter boat from Peaks to Portland were passing out fluted glasses each with a drink of champagne, so that we could toast to whatever. Strangers sitting on a bench in monument square couldn't and didn't hold back their sense of hope and excitement.
Portland may look the same, but it sure doesn't feel the same -- at least to this observer (and resident).
What a difference it makes to have a leader in waiting -- somebody who inspires our trust, our respect, our admiration. How grounding to have a leader whose campaign was about positive messaages, constructive visions, real accomplishments, and difficult truth telling about difficult topics such as racism, loyalty, and real diversity. And how refreshing to have a leader who isn't trying to tell us that things are okay, and who doesn't suggest that our force and might is going to be our salvation.
I've my issues with his policies, but I heard and believed his victory promise that he'd listen most intensely to those who disagree. I actually believe that, and am delighted at the prospect of having a government that feels a lot more lot our government.
It might have been normal weather for November here in Portland, but in Driggs, Idaho, at the head of the Tetons, it was a little grizzly.
The following photo comes to me courtesy of a website that will be very interesting to follow tonight, www.turnmaineblue.com which has a Google map of the Maine towns where Presidential and Maine Congressional results will be posted as they. (You can select other states or the entire Nation.)
Thanks to the site's Gerald Weinand for permission, and thanks to the photographer, Mike Zahan.
As I noted earlier today, a fact seemingly missed by most pundits (but probably not by the two campaigns) is that the first time voters most likely voted a straight ticket across much the country given that much of their enthusiasm focused solely on the Presidential race.
Thus, if Obama wins, this straight ticket voting by this group is likely to sweep in down ticket candidates simply because they have a (D) after their name.
After posting my earlier blog on this, I was informed by a Californian political science Professor that the straight ticket voting occurred in the 2004 election in those states influenced by the Rove inspired Evangelical vote.
And, while there has been much talk lately of the strong liberal turn that a Congress controlled by the Democrats would take, this fear flies in the face of the fact that many of the Democrat Representatives that were first voted in in 2006 were more conservative than the leaders of their party.
Thus, based on a thorough analysis of those likely to join the House for the first time in January, I predict that many of those will be like the 2006 class, fiscally conservative but socially liberal.
8:25 PM
As I have noted in my earlier blogs, the size of the National Presidential popular vote total and $2 will get you a small coffee at Starbucks.
It is the Electoral vote that decides the election, so basically, if you were a Democrat in Texas, a "Safe" state for McCain, your vote was wasted, it would NOT help push Obama across the line.
Likewise, if you were a Republican in New York, "Safe" for Obama, you might as well have stayed home. Your vote couldn't impact the Electoral College.
This is how the Electoral college robs people of their vote.
Because Electoral votes are (except in a few states) are "winner take all," the value of the minority party vote in each state is lost.
The race will be decided in the toss up states of Florida (27 EV), Indiana (11), North Carolina (15), Indiana (11), Ohio (20), Virginia (13) and Missouri (11).
Pennsylvania has been called for Obama which some pundits say was one Kerry state McCain had to turn Republican.
New Hampshire has been called for Obama, and although it has only 4 EV, it figured in the McCain "Electoral College Tie Plan" which saw McCain and Obama drawing even in the EC and the Electoral vote of otherwise conservative New Hampshire throwing the election to McCain.
Palin's repeated late October visits to Maine's Second District were also part of this "Electoral College Tie Plan" because Maine awards an Electoral College vote for winning each Congressional District. In a close EC vote, that one vote from the Second District could have given McCain the Presidency. (Nebraska is the other state that so allocates Electoral Votes.)
9:25 PM
Ohio has been called for Obama (CBS, NBC).
Thus, Obama has turned a 2004 Red state Democrat Blue.
The 20 EV in Ohio will be hard to make up unless McCain is able to regain them by taking several 2004 Blue states.
9:30 PM
Based on the National Presidential projections, many of the full time pundits and even a senior vice president of CBS News division stated that by this time (9:30 PM) or even earlier, the race would have been called for Obama.
As I have noted, the assumptions amongst some of these pundits appears to have been that a rising tide lifts all boats, and that somehow the 7 or 8 point lead Obama showed in the National Polls would impact the toss up states.
I explained last week:
"Let's say that California, Illinois, and New York are safe for Obama, and suppose that last week he was collectively ahead in those states by 10% (solid Democrat states). Now, if the UNDECIDEDS in those three states are polled and are deciding for Obama the vote total will go up for Obama.
Likewise, in the safe McCain states of Texas, Oklahoma, and Kentucky, let's say the pollster finds that the UNDECIDED voters are breaking for McCain.
The increase in support for Obama or McCain in these safe states contribute only to an increase in the popular vote, not to an increase in the Electoral college vote."
And each of the toss up states is comprised of a few large cities (projected to go for Obama) surrounded by rural areas that have traditionally gone Republican.
A RISING Democrat TIDE will work in those states only if the cities go heavier for Obama than they did for Kerry, and if the 2008 vote totals in the Republican rural areas are less than it was in the 2004 election.
In short, they may be paid well, but they all talk to the same people, and thus many of the full time cable pundits were simply WRONG about timing.
The key, of course will be Florida.
The senate races in New Hampshire and North Carolina have been called, and the incumbent Republicans (Sununu and Dole) have been defeated.
9:40 PM
New Mexico (5 EV), another 2004 Red state was called Blue.
It looks like when the West Coast 2004 Democrat states come in (73 EV), the Electoral College vote will be decided.
10:10 PM
Iowa has been called for Obama (Fox, ABC), another 2004 Republican state turned.
The race in Connecticut has been called, and another Republican incumbent is out: Chris Shays.
10:40
Two more 2004 Republican states, Virginia and New Mexico, have been called for Obama.
Technically, unless the continental divide splits tonight and California, Washington and Oregon fall into the sea, McCain CANNOT win this election.
In an analysis of Obama's win in Pennsylvania, The New York Times states:
"Specifically, Mr. Obama swept the suburbs, 58-41 (in 2004, Mr. Kerry won 54-46). In the Northeast, Mr. Obama won 57-42, compared with Mr. Kerry's 51-49. How to explain the sweep in the more liberal suburbs along with the sweep in the more culturally conservative Northeast? In the suburbs, the Republican ticket may have been TOO CONSERVATIVE; also, the financial collapse was an issue there because home values have been high."
[Emphasis Mine]
I think there is a real jewel in these comments, and it strengthens a line I have argued since the Republican National Convention -- by selecting Palin and by appealing to the Republican right, McCain neglected the broader Republican Party. Again the NYT comment: "the Republican ticket may have been too conservative."
The Republican Right might not have selected McCain in the primaries, but it is highly unlikely that the Republican Right would sit on their (voting) hand in this election. They would have been McCain's if he simply promised them a Supreme Court justice.
Instead, as I argued in an earlier blog, Obama/McCain -- What If?, McCain probably would have WON if he had chosen a mainstream VP and if he had directed his campaign, not to the Right, but to the Republican middle and to moderate Independents.
NO President has EVER been elected without the Independents.
With McCain's demonstrated experience (and conversely, with Obama's lack of experience), I believe that a Republican ticket of McCain Romney or Pawlenty, etc., would now be leading in the Electoral College.
With Romney's business experience, McCain would not have fallen as he did when the economy tanked.
Indeed, McCain would probably have retained the Reagan Democrats and gained Clinton's "Lunchbox Democrats" and maybe even a sizeable portion of Clinton's female army.
11 PM
Now that the West Coast has closed (but not counted), the networks have stated that Obama will win -- Crowd goes wild in Grant Park, Chicago, where one estimate states that 3/4 of a million are waiting for Obama. (I don't buy that estimate having lived in Chicago -- that many downtown, but Grant Park simply is not that big).
The AP reports that McCain has called Obama to concede.
Apparently, Obama is being polite and will wait for the West Coast to be "counted" by means of exit poll analysis before he appears.
At about 11:10 the networks called the election for Obama.
AT 11:08, The New York Times splashed this headline on its online page in what looks like 48 point text:
"Barack Hussein Obama was elected the 44th president of the United States on Tuesday, sweeping away the last racial barrier in American politics with ease as the country chose him as its first black chief executive."
Mr. Obama's election amounted to a national catharsis - a repudiation of a historically unpopular Republican president and his economic and foreign policies, and an embrace of Mr. Obama's call for a change in the direction and the tone of the country. But it was just as much a strikingly symbolic moment in the evolution of the nation's fraught racial history, a breakthrough that would have seemed unthinkable just two years ago."
The current electoral vote projection:
Obama, 338 McCain, 156 with 46 still unallocated.
At 11:57, President Elect Barack Hussein Obama appears on the stage at Grant Park with his wife and children; part of his message:
"Change has come to America -- this victory is a chance -- let us summon a new spirit -- we rise and fall as one nation, one people -- a new dawn of American leadership is at hand -- the true strength of out nation ... comes from our ideals -- America can change, our union can be perfected -- if our children should live to see the next century, what progress will we have made -- out of many we are one -- yes we can."
Oh, and yes, Oprah is deep in the mass of the crowd, just like everyone else.
I managed to pull myself away from my "Honeydo" chores and the radio long enough to buy two "Original Italians" and I overheard something I think many pundits failed to anticipate about this election.
In the store, when a first time voter was asked by a colleague making my sandwiches who he voted for in down ticket races, the first time voter stated that he could not remember, but he knew that he knew he voted for all the Democrats.
I think when the final analysis is done on this election, the biggest news will be that many of the first time Obama voters voted a straight Democrat ticket, thereby sweeping many down ticket Democrats across the country into office.
I almost learned the hard way about visible house numbers.
Several years ago we had overnight guests. When I handed one a cup of espresso in the morning, he took a single sip, turned gray, and collapsed on the floor.
All I could think was "heart attack", although I'm not a trained EMT, and didn't know the exact signs. But I did know what to do. I immediately called 911, gave the operator full information (starting with our address), and stayed on the line until she said it was okay to hang up.
Then I counted the seconds. I knew that the Peaks Island police would have to go back to their station, pick up the ambulence, and drive to our house ... but that shouldn't take long. Why no ambulance? It turns out that the ambulance was there, driving up and down our street looking for #10. Most of the officers probably knew our house and knew us, but not this pair.
That was our lesson, and now there's a big #10 on the side of our house. By the way, it turned out that our friend did not have a heart attack, regained his color just as the officers did come in, and appeared to be fine during his examination at Maine Med.
What made me think of this story was my experience last night, as my wife and I went canvassing for our candidates of choice. We had been given a list of specific addresses to visit (not just all houses on certain streets), but were able to identify only about half of them in the dark. Some had only tiny numbers, and many had no numbers at all. Others had large metal numbers that had been painted over, so that they were almost invisible.
We're lucky that Portland has well trained teams of EMT's, ready to come help us at a moment's notice. Do your part and PUT A CLEARLY VISIBLE HOUSE NUMBER IN FRONT OF YOUR HOUSE, WHERE IT CAN EASILY BE SEEN. Think of that emergency moment, and how important it is that emergency workers be able to come right to your door as quickly as possible.
I know I should be writing about all the 'what ifs' and 'what-will-be' with the election, but instead I'm thinking about how life can change so quickly. I'm in mourning, for yesterday I lost a friend. It was someone that I have shared breakfast coffee with on every Sunday for quite awhile now. We laughed at the same jokes and cried the same sad tears. I learned to look at life a bit more gently and appreciate the simpler things because of him.
We weren't even the same species, but our hearts beat together at times to that different drummer. He showed me his fears and helped me to understand mine. And he was cute - I always wanted to give him a hug, even though I never could.
He passed with such grace and dignity and even at the end he thought to give aid and comfort to the imprisoned and lowest of the low. He remembered the forgotten. And he chose his last resting place well.
I know he'll dwell in a special place in my heart and that I will see him again one day. But I will miss him and my Sunday coffee will never be as sweet or the comics as funny. Good bye Opus and Sweet Dreams.
The major media outlets continue to trumpet the national Presidential polls, Obama ahead by 7%, in another, McCain behind by 3% and closing.
Let's say that California, Illinois, and New York are safe for Obama, and suppose that last week he was collectively ahead in those states by 10% (solid Democrat states). Now, if the undecideds in those three states are polled and are deciding for Obama the vote total will go up for Obama.
Likewise, in the safe McCain states of Texas, Oklahoma, and Kentucky, let's say the pollster finds that the undecided voters are breaking for McCain.
The increase in support for Obama or McCain in these safe states contribute only to an increase in the popular vote, not to an increase in the Electoral college vote.
A rising tide may raise all boats, but Presidential races are local, and it is the candidates' standing and MOMENTUM in the 6 toss up states that are the ONLY numbers meaningful. For example, a big run up in one section of a toss up state could swing that standing of that state from one candidate to another.
Pollster.com is a website that gathers all available polls and reports the state by state standing, but more importantly the candidates' movement in the polls using all that poling data.
And although Pollster.com's averaged polling data show Pennsylvania (21) and Virginia (13) as states "leaning" to Obama, the two candidates are hotly contesting those states.
By clicking on each state above, you can see the pollster.com trend lines from January. Below the trend box are the most recent polls collected by Pollster.com. You can also access the site's National Presidential trend line.
However, for those that love the horse race of the National polls, here are the results from organizations that conduct polls (in contrast to sites that summarize polls.)
The following are polls released today or yesterday.
My prediction? In the horse race, Obama 49%, McCain 46%. But in the all important Electoral Vote, the same numbers as in my October 37th blog entitled "Landslide or Squeaker?", Obama 311 (58%) , McCain 227 (42%).
And the surprise election story NO ONE is predicting?
People will be waiting in line to vote HOURS after the polls close in certain states and the Media will be unable to call those states until Wednesday AM.
The price of Maine lobster, which accounts for 80 percent of the U.S. catch, is tanking. And it boils down to supply and demand ... Along the Portland, Maine, waterfront, seafood shops are selling lobsters for as little as $3.89 a pound -- about the price of bologna at the deli counter.
There have been some who have questioned the judgment of John McCain due to his appointment of Sarah Palin as his running mate. Whether fair or not, these questions have persisted and spilled over into other decisions that have been made during the running of the Republican presidential campaign.
I am very pleased to say that these questions have now been settled.
The other day I happened to see a little TV and who should appear on the campaign platform with McCain and Sarah but Joe The Plumber. I immediately let out a loud groan and bleated "give me a break", bringing my poor wife scurrying to see if I was in distress. Distress it was as I watched true desperation flood the airwaves.
Desperate times call for desperate measures but this goes beyond the real. John McCain has absolutely no judgment. There, I've said it. It's decided and I will cite Joe The Plumber as the fact to back it up. Joe was a nice little distraction during the debate but if McCain thinks that the American people will vote for him just because an unlicensed plumber will climb on the stage with him then the election is over and John has admitted defeat.
Even though I - as a registered Republican - don't plan to vote for McCain, I used to have a great deal of respect for him as an individual. I will try to remember McCain's past and maintain as much respect as I can during the next few days until this painful campaign comes to a close.
What if McCain had not picked Palin but had picked a centrist Republican?
Given the nearly even breakdown of Democrat/Republican voters nationally, pundits have long said that independents would determine the Presidential race, and that is what appears to BE/have happened. Polling indicated that since September 10, or a week after the end of the Republican National Convention, independents have moved gradually, then after the financial crisis, in a large mass to Obama. What if McCain had chosen a centrist and experienced person as his Vice President? For example, what if he had chosen the Governor of a battle ground state like Governor Ridge who might bring in not just Pennsylvania but Ohio? Alternately, what if he had picked a Midwest Governor like Pawlenty who would could have delivered his state and perhaps the Midwest and west states that eventually came into play? Or what if he had chosen as his VP the Governor with his highest name recognition, Governor Romney, who might only deliver New Hampshire but who would bring to the ticket the economic and business knowledge that McCain himself acknowledged he did not have. In any of these cases, it is extremely possible that the exodus of independents from McCain after 9/10 would not have happened. It is even possible that the election would have been McCain's, given the lack of any financial expertise in the Obama/Biden ticket.
What if Obama had chosen Hillary as his VP?
First, it is almost certain that McCain would not have chosen Palin, as there would been no disaffected female voters to be "stolen" from Obama. McCain's decision could would then have been a hard one, whether to turn to a candidate that would solidify his weak support with the "base" (perhaps by choosing Huckabee), or by choosing a centrist VP to counter the perceived far left wing bias of the Obama/Clinton ticket. Again, independents would have a strong role to play in many states, and while Clinton might have drawn some of those who vote for her husband but were leery of Obama in the primaries, a Romney might well have tipped the balance to McCain.
What if Clinton had voted against the Iraq War in 2002?
It is clear that Clinton entered the Senate in 2000 in order to position herself for a run for President. Insiders indicate that she was deeply torn over how to vote on the Iraq measure, but in the end, she deemed it appropriate to vote in favor of the measure least she be stuck with the "female weak on security" label. If, instead, Clinton had voted against the measure, Obama would not have had the single issue that galvanized his campaign in the beginning. Indeed, it is extremely possible that Obama would not have even entered the primaries, or if he did, his position against the war would have been negated by Clinton's actual vote against the war, and his lack of experience on the national stage would be trumped by her experience. In the end, it might have been a Clinton/Biden ticket.
What if McCain had not played to the "base?"
Did McCain actually need to devote as much effort in the general election to what is referred to as the Republican "base:" the pro-life, anti-homosexual religious right? McCain had won the primaries largely without their support, which indicates to me that using the term "base" is a misnomer when used to refer to this group. It is VERY possible that those who voted for McCain in the primaries ARE the REAL REPUBLICAN BASE, and that the religious right tail of the party is just that. Further, it is highly unlikely that this tail would have sat out the election if McCain did not play to them, knowing that IF they did sit out and if McCain lost, any gains the religious right tail made during the Bush era would be gone. Instead, if McCain had used as HIS BASE the center of the Republican Party and like thinking independents, he could have soothed the hard feelings of the tail by the promise of a Supreme Court justice. American Presidential politics is rife with the bones of Presidential candidates who have played to the fringes of their party and ignored the political middle. In fact, there is not a single President who has attained initial election by playing largely to the tail.
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