It's Official.

John McCain Concedes. President Barack Obama elect. This is a great day in American History.

One Word: CREEPY.

(Via Friendly Athest)

Oldie and Beefie.

Did you guys hear that John McCain and Arnold Schwarzenegger are having a rally in Columbus today?

Something about the couple seems...odd.

PSA From John McCain.

John McCain as a superhero--and not a President--is something I am fine tolerating. ;-)

(Via Grapefeed)

Number 303!

This is my 303rd post at Fabulously in the City! I feel rather productive. Thank you to all 13 of my dedicated readers! I would be lost without you. ;-)

To celebrate my 303rd post, Nick over at FiveThirtyEight messed with all of his statistics to put John McCain at a win percentage of 3.3%! (Ok, that's not true at all, but who cares?)

So for post #303 and McCain at 3.3%, I'm celebrating Sesame Street style! This post has been brought to you by the number 3!

McCain Prepares to Lose.

Today, for a moment (a very, very brief moment), I felt sad for John McCain. News broke that he won't even attend his own election watch party. Instead, he's going to make an address from a hotel lawn, with just a few people from the press surrounding him.

I can imagine the old man sitting in his rocker, face all gloomy as he was struggling with the decision he had to make. He really is that prepared to lose.

Sarah Palin, You Cost How Much?

I never thought I'd come to this, but I have to say it: I'm proud of Sarah Palin. Now, don't worry, that morsel of pride is immediately suffocated by the monsoon of vitriol I hold against her. But where does this pride stem from?

Since the McCain campaign never had any morals to begin with, it comes as no surprise that they were taking voters' money and using it to doll-up Sarah Palin.

The Republican National Committee has spent more than $150,000 to clothe and accessorize vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin and her family since her surprise pick by John McCain in late August.

According to financial disclosure records, the accessorizing began in early September and included bills from Saks Fifth Avenue in St. Louis and New York for a combined $49,425.74.

The records also document a couple of big-time shopping trips to Neiman Marcus in Minneapolis, including one $75,062.63 spree in early September. The RNC also spent $4,716.49 on hair and makeup through September after reporting no such costs in August.

The cash expenditures immediately raised questions among campaign finance experts about their legality under the Federal Election Commission's long-standing advisory opinions on using campaign cash to purchase items for personal use.

And this is the man who is supposed to cut spending and balance the budget? That's like saying, "Spending $100 on lunch is saving since you didn't spend it on dinner". Unless he switches from Neiman-Marcus to Payless, I doubt he doesn't even have a clue how to spell 'budget'.

But, in lieu of all of this chicanery, what makes me really proud is that the McCain spent $75,000 of their people's tax dollars...in Minneapolis! You see, in the good state of Minnesota, there is no sales tax on clothing. So after taking the voters money and spending it on important campaign matters--jackets--the campaign decided they didn't want to bother with having to pay back into the system. Why, that'd cost us even more of the tax payers money! And paying taxes is un-American! So they ran right downtown to Minneapolis, hunkered up a big shopping trolley full of clothes, and carted it back to campaign headquarters. Success!

Oh, by the way, I'm pretty sure all of that was illegal. But at least they did it in Minneapolis! For today, Sarah, you're a winner. But on November 4th it won't be what they call you!

The Debate.

This was Obama's worst debate. Did he lose? I wouldn't say so. But I wouldn't say he won, either. He was attacked vigorously from John McCain and his responses never returned with a blow back. However, when the debate looked like it was being handed to John McCain, he royally ruined it for himself with his capricious mannerisms. Rolling the eyes, rude interruptions, scoffs and sarcastic comebacks made him look horribly unpresidential. Instead, with Barack almost never flinching, he came out on top. He came out as the professional, the intellectual, the one who is truly prepared to lead on day one.

What troubled me most was what John McCain had to say about women, something that most certianly lost some votes for him: it was the comment about "the health of the mother". I understood his point, that language such as this can be construed, but that's something you bury in the back of your mind and keep quiet about. Instead, McCain came out and in effect said he wasn't concerned about the health of the mother. I wonder how many feminists and Palinists just felt trampled on by this comment? I'm a gay man, I'll never have to deal with the choice of abortion. But even to some degree I felt a bit offended. Knowing that if my sister's health was at risk and yet my President questioned the validity of her claim is not a becoming characteristic of a leader of this great nation.

Lastly, the Reds and Blues are pretty locked up by this point. From this point on, it's the Independents that matters. How did Barack speak to them, how did McCain? On this matter, I feel McCain continued to same negative attacks, silly accusations and the continued trite and banal plans to fix our economy: nothing. Barack, as always, continued to lay out his plans in a methodical and systematic approach. McCain accused him of being elegant (and this is bad?), but I wouldn't say he was elegant--I'd say he was Presidential.

No winners, but McCain should have won. He ruined it for himself though.

Pinky and...McCain?

(Via Jin Wicked)

McCain Votes Against Transit for DC.

Lordy, I can never find anything I like about "that one", John McCain. I mean, seriously. He's already old, annoying, creepy, an admitted liar and an adulterer...can't he come up with something that I find admirable? Just one? Oh God.

So today in the news, I find out he voted against promoting transportation in my hometown of Washington D.C.! Come on, John! Are you asking for me to loathe you? Jeepers!

McCain was also one of two dozen senators who voted last week against a bill that included Davis's proposal to authorize $1.5 billion in dedicated funding to Metro over 10 years. The provision was part of broader rail safety and Amtrak funding legislation.

Davis said that he was disappointed with McCain's vote but that he thinks McCain's opposition was directed more at Amtrak.

A statement from the McCain campaign, however, targeted the Metro funding as well as Amtrak. "Senator McCain strongly objects to earmarks in the bill such as a $1.5 billion earmark for the Washington . . . Metro system and questions if this money is warranted above the needs that may exist among other mass transit systems in our country," the statement says. "With the serious financial situation facing our nation, this [multibillion-dollar] commitment of taxpayers' dollars can [be] dedicated to addressing far more important national priorities." The Dulles rail issue was not addressed.

Addressed to John McCain: I agree that other transportation systems need funding. They all do. John McCain, you blind baffoon, transportation is the vehicle for production! Promoting transportation promotes a better economy! You were a military man...come on! Logistics is what makes or breaks a military operation. You should know this. (I realize you got shot down 5 times and all, but your memory shouldn't be that warped!) So why won't you support transportation efforts that would in effect fix the economic problems we're in?! It creates jobs, furthers production, increases efficiency and reduces the cost of our highways. Gosh, you old geezer, you sometimes get me so upset...!

Viva Republicanism!

Republicans: Leaving American both sick and broke! Viva Republicanism!

First "The One", Now Just "That One".

McCain is 72. To him, Barack Obama is just another pesky lil' negro. Well, I bet he had to sell drugs in order to pay for school! That kind of mentality. Is this really what we want for America?



"That One"...I wonder how many votes he last on that one?

(Via On The Fritz)

Numbers That Make Me Smile.

Change As in Spare Change!

Dubba-U-Tea-Eff?!?

What the hell? John McCain is crying and wimpering that Barack Obama is only leading because "life isn't fair"?!? Oh, God, someone get this oldy a walker or something...

Sen. John McCain jokingly said Thursday that Sen. Barack Obama's poll numbers are rising as the economy seems to sink "because life isn't fair."

"He certainly did nothing for the first few days," McCain told Fox News on Thursday. "I suspended my campaign, took our ads down, came back to Washington, met with the House folks and got on the phone, and also had face-to-face meetings."

New CNN/Time/Opinion Research Corporation polls of several key battleground states released Wednesday found Obama has made gains across the board -- either taking statistically significant leads or erasing McCain advantages -- over the past few weeks.

Since the financial crisis began in mid-September, Obama has taken and held a lead over McCain in the national CNN poll of polls.

What a load of wah-wah-bullshit. Quit your crying, you big old baby!

David Letterman, Thank You.

John McCain: you stand David up, lie to him about flying to Washington and then get on an interview with Katie Couric? What a deceptive bag of turds.

It's Like a Bad Disney Movie!

Hmph. So here's an idea. Since McCain has gone all prissy and decided to suspend his campaign (Read: "I can't win!"), how about we put the circus clown Sarah Palin to the test and just hop straight for the VP debate? As Vice President, Palin will need to step up to the plate in any kind of emergency. A debate with two days notice is nothing compared to making decisions that will effect 304 million Americans, much less the repercussions that the entire world will feel.

Piece of cake for the hockey mom, right?

It's Like Monopoly!

McCain Vs Obama: Who's Best for Cities?

(Written By Neal Peirce)

CHICAGO– Obama versus McCain, and the places we live — what difference will this election make? After the speeches, ads, debates, saturation media, are over and the voters have spoken, how will the new president work with the cities and metropolitan areas that a vast majority of us call home?

My short analysis: With Obama, we’re likely to get an activist federal government in areas from transit and infrastructure to housing. But it won’t be the Democrats’ historic center-city “urban policy.” Instead, Obama’s looking for ways to shift and coordinate federal programs to help boost the fortunes of entire metro regions.

McCain? One has to be a super-detective to discern any city-metro policy at all. We know what he’s against, starting with pork-barrel spending, particularly earmarks for politicians’ pet local projects. We know he’s for less government regulation and lower taxes for individuals, small businesses, corporations.

But do we have even a hint of a federal partnership with urban/metro America under a McCain administration? So far no. The silence could be intentional. The Sarah Palin vice presidential selection, the Republican National Convention’s celebration of small towns and invective against “cosmopolitanism” and community organizing, smacks of a calculated anti-urban message.

Chicago’s Metropolitan Planning Council, in an effort to smoke out the candidates’ positions on metro-area issues, held a public forum Sept. 8 with surrogates for the presidential contenders. State Rep. James Durkin, Illinois co-chair for John McCain, faced off against former U.S. Housing and Urban Development Secretary Henry Cisneros, representing Obama.

Durkin underscored McCain’s anti-tax, anti-regulatory positions. But when the moderator asked — “How would a McCain administration prioritize and fund transit, road and freight investments to not only help communities, but help commerce and keep our economic strong locally and internationally?” — Durkin was at a loss for answer.

Cisneros, by contrast, could cite and praise Obama’s pledge to create the first-ever White House Office on Urban Policy. With a director reporting to the president, its role would be to get the federal government’s historically “siloed” cabinet departments and agencies to work collaboratively with cities and metro regions.

For over 50 years, at least since President Harry Truman, said Cisneros, “We haven’t had a president who would be as grounded, as versed in urban and metropolitan matters” as Obama.

It’s true, Obama doesn’t campaign much on his city-metro agenda. But he committed himself clearly in June before the U.S. Conference of Mayors. Noting “crumbling roads and bridges, aging water and sewer pipes, faltering electrical grids,” Obama endorsed a new national infrastructure bank, seeded with $60 billion in federal funds over 10 years, to move road, bridge, airport, rail and other metro area projects forward.

Obama is also calling for $200 million in annual grants to spark “regional clusters” in advanced sciences or cutting edge technologies — one of several ideas germinated by the Brookings Institution’s Metropolitan Policy Program. Underscoring the forward-looking investment theme, Obama told the mayors:

“Yes, we need to fight poverty,… fight crime… But we also need to stop seeing our cities as the problem and start seeing them as the solution. Because strong cities are the building blocks of strong regions, and strong regions are essential for a strong America.”

There’s a touch of historic Democratic generosity toward cities in Obama’s promises. His list is long — for example restoring federal funds for community-oriented policing programs, full funding of Sec. 8 housing vouchers, full funding of community development block grants, increasing the minimum wage, broadband in all schools and more.

The promises do make one wonder: in times of record deficits, where will the money come from? Yet the billions to arm for the foreign policy aggressiveness McCain is espousing — especially with simultaneous tax cuts — are arguably far more worrisome.

A big McCain question is whether, if elected, he’d govern with serious domestic purpose, pleasantly surprising us as President George H.W. Bush did by picking such able Cabinet secretaries as Jack Kemp at for HUD. (A parallel current-day pick might be ex-Indianapolis Mayor Steven Goldsmith, a top urban expert).

Or would McCain be more like George W. Bush, filling his administration (especially urban policy posts) with ideologues and mediocrities?

The answer’s unknowable — a big crap shoot.

By contrast, an Obama presidency would at least aspire to deliver 21st century intellectual power, strong personal commitment to our cities and regions, and intent to appoint the most skilled administrators the country has to offer.

That alone wouldn’t clean away the detritus of the last years — the housing foreclosure mess, an ominously rising federal deficit, ending the Iraq war, catchup on global climate issues. They’ll still pose a daunting challenge. But with a youthful administration, and a Congress and president of the same party, metro America’s chances would surely be brighter.

No Way, No How, No McCain.

I am not doing enough.

There are 42 days until the election, and only 12 more days to register voters here in Ohio. Simply put, I am not doing enough for the Obama campaign. As of now I have donated money and gone to a few rallies--that's it. I haven't knocked on doors, I haven't hit up the phone banks, and I haven't gone out canvassing.

Why does it matter? Because the next twelve days will shape the next twelve years. We simply cannot allow us to barrel on in the current direction hoping the free market will fix everything. We can't continue to deregulate every Government infrastructure yet at the same time allow the Government to nationalize every single one of our industries. After the past few weeks, they own the banks, the mortgage companies, the finance companies, Wall Street and soon enough they'll roll into Detroit and nationalize Ford, too.

John McCain wants to keep this up. He doesn't believe our economy is in trouble at all. He doesn't believe our health care is in trouble. He believes everything is swell over in Iraq. And then he also believes his silly little VP is ready to run this country. This man is delusional and should be seeking psychiatry, not the presidency.

Our country is in trouble, and the world is too busy to even notice us in our free fall. John McCain doesn't have a single plan that will help Americans. What we need is a change, and Barack Obama is the only candidate who brings to the table the plans, energy and momentum to provide that change.

Starting Wednesday, I'm going to start going door-to-door. If I talk to 50 people and only get one vote, I will have accomplished something. Every vote counts here in Ohio. If you're not registered, follow this link for directions on how to register. You only have 12 days left.