Election 2008

He Has a Gun and He Votes

Mon, 27 Oct 2008 11:25:21 -0400

by Rosa Maria Pegueros

For twelve years, I lived in Sunland, in the Verdugo Hills, the foothills of the Santa Monica Mountains just north of Los Angeles. It was a white, working-class neighborhood where some folks still kept livestock; some had horses; you could hear roosters in the morning and many of the men had gun racks in their pick-up trucks.

Needed for This Election: A Great Rejection

Mon, 27 Oct 2008 09:59:40 -0400

by Norman Solomon

It could be a start -- a clear national rejection of the extreme right-wing brew that has saturated the executive branch for nearly eight years.

What's emerging for Election Day is a common front against the dumbed-down demagoguery that's now epitomized and led by John McCain and Sarah Palin.

A large margin of victory over the McCain-Palin ticket, repudiating what it stands for, is needed -- and absolutely insufficient. It's a start along a long uphill climb to get this country onto a course that approximates sanity.

Lefties for Obama: The Final Round

Mon, 27 Oct 2008 09:48:22 -0400

by Ira Chernus

My column "Lefties for Obama" evoked a storm of criticism from readers who see no real difference between the two major parties. "Lefties for Obama: Round Two," listing a bunch of issues where some real difference seems apparent, got a somewhat better reception. Since I see a trend here, and since desperate times call for desperate appeals, I'm moved to offer one last round of Lefties for Obama.

Populism Arising—but Will It Be the Killer Kind?

Mon, 27 Oct 2008 09:28:48 -0400

by Chris Hedges

The old assumptions and paradigms about capitalism and free markets are dead. A new, virulent populism, still inchoate, is slowly and painfully rising to take their place. This populism will determine the future of the country.

McCain Banking on a Confederacy of Dunces

Fri, 24 Oct 2008 11:55:35 -0400

by David Sirota

Is John McCain stupid, or does he believe we are? That's the question as he criticizes Barack Obama for allegedly trying to "redistribute the wealth" with a plan to lower taxes on the middle class and raise them on the super-rich.

2008 Is Not the Year for McKinney or Nader

Fri, 24 Oct 2008 10:35:35 -0400

by Dan Coleman

We've all had the experience: you get off the interstate looking for food and are confronted with the choice of food-like commodities at the gas station's convenience store or food-like commodities at one of several fast food joints. It's not what you want to eat but, if you're hungry enough, you'll find the healthiest option among those available.

Preying on the Right

Thu, 23 Oct 2008 12:15:30 -0400

by Sarah Wildman

Sarah Palin wants a shot at the top. I don't mean Palin for Pres 2008. I mean 2012. She's been tacking hard to the right, amping up her fiery evangelical credibility factor, paying homage to those that would back a reaction candidate against a first-term Obama administration, and drawing differences between herself and her flagging running mate.

ACORN Fights Back

Thu, 23 Oct 2008 11:56:43 -0400

by Richard Hopson

In the midst of the predictable partisan exaggerations, distortions and occasional lies that close election races generate, ACORN has become the focus of an extraordinary amount of attention over our voter-registration program. We submitted nearly 40,000 voter registration applications in San Diego and throughout California, and 1.3 million nationwide.

How to Stop the Rigging of Election '08

Thu, 23 Oct 2008 11:06:17 -0400

by Sarah van Gelder

Don't be fooled by all the accusations about ACORN. The real voting scandal is the voter suppression methods that likely swayed election results in 2000 and 2004, and are in process again as you read this.

Taking Politics Seriously: Looking Beyond the Election and Beyond Elections

Thu, 23 Oct 2008 09:25:35 -0400

by Robert Jensen and Pat Youngblood

We have nothing against voting. We plan to vote in the upcoming election. Some of our best friends are voters.

But we also believe that we shouldn't make the mistake of thinking that the most important political moment in our lives comes in the voting booth. Instead, people should take politics seriously, which means asking considerably more of ourselves than the typical fixation with electoral politics.