Republicans are stuck with a tarnished brand name at this point. They are the party of looting the national treasury. Also, they all voted in lockstep for years and years, especially for the war and for propping up foreign oligarchs in places like mainland China.

Ford is reputed to stand for "Found On Road Dead". Its brand is tarnished because previous generations of engineers designed Ford cars to have planned obsolescence, so that Ford could increase its repeat sales. GM and Chrysler have the same problem. Japanese automakers didn't do this -- old Honda Civics just keep running. So, GM, Ford and Chrysler are on corporate welfare now.

I can't say what "The Republican Party" needs to do to rehabilitate their image. Individual Republicans, if they want their jobs (except if they live in Utah, Alaska or Idaho), need to disassociate with the Republican crooks (if they can). They need to stand for a balanced budget and for ethics in Government. The tarnished brand is going to drag on them, so they can either become independents or try and rehab the brand by doing popular things for once. Or they can lose their jobs and go get a bogus corporate position.

The GOP maybe terrified of American voters, but the corporate,elite and international, bankers and financiers ( i.e. Paulson and others) that really are the ones running this country,know they have nothing to fear from the American voters. Just like my wifes very,wealthy uncle that gives to both parties to hedge his bet, the fix is always in. Vote for people of integrity and the real American patriots. Vote third party.

We the people of the United States of America have sat back on our collective asses while our government and its corporate handlers have systematically raped pillaged and destroyed this country. I am so pissed.

We the citizens of this country have no one to blame but ourselves. While we were busy wrapping ourselves in the red, white and blue shouting to the world that “we’re the greatest, strongest and richest” our leaders were dumbing us down, dividing us along racial, religious and financial lines, stealing every dime possible and plunging us into war after war for profits. Our government has done one hell of a job of turning us into paranoid little puppets of individuality and suspicion.

What did we do…we did exactly what they wanted; we shopped! We begged borrowed and stole to get what these morally and ethically bankrupt people told us to buy. We allowed ourselves to be caught up in the whole mess of credit, cause if its good for our government then it must be great for us, right?

Make no mistake about it we will pay for our lack of responsibility. As citizens of this country we have a responsibility to make sure that our politicians do what is best for us. By allowing these people to turn us into paranoid shop-a-holic individuals they have taken the one greatest control measure we had; our willpower.

Americans have become so completely spoiled. We take for granted that our elected officials have our best interest at heart, well understand this, they are Americans too and want to shop like the rest of us. Politicians are just as paranoid as us, so is it any wonder they act the way they do?

What is happening to this country and what is going to happen could have been slowed down or possibly stopped if we the people had been more diligent in keeping tabs on our political leaders and by holding them accountable.

If we had spent more time trying to get to know one another, came together as a collective group and forced, yes, forced our government to change its ways; maybe things would have turned out differently.

I hope that what is coming will eventually change us for the better.

J. Maxx – snafucentral[dot]com

The major media loves drama. It beats substance. My antennae are always up for journos who push drama. There's no "My team's gonna beat your team here!" My team isn't even playing. I would be excited if the American election actually had the possibility of producing a government that resisted the corporatocracy that the U.S. has been the foremost promoter of. But it isn't happening. I have only slightly more use for Barack Obama than John McCain.

They should be scared. Anyone see the movie V For Vendetta? That's the solution we need now. There's more of us than there are of them. If only people would wake up one day and realize this, surround the capitol and corporate headquarters and overturn all the bosses. Oh well, nice fantasy. Meanwhile, back to the phony Selection between O'bomb'em/Bite'em and McClone/Impale'em. Either way we are guaranteed more war to feed the military/industrial/corporate/congressional complex. The Repugnant Ones will use every dirty trick of voter suppression and theft they used in 2000 and 2004. Funny to hear them cry foul. Less than one hundred cases of voter fraud in last election but millions of votes suppressed by the Gang of Pirates. I hope people are out documenting the theft with their cameras. At least that way we will have a good documentary about it to show how it was done.

Tommytoons

I really don't understand the "terror" this election will bring to the GOP. I mean the GOP has been a very good steward to the American taxpayers for the past eight years! They have invested our money wisely, made sure that all of us have our healthcare needs taken care of, allowed affordable housing and education to every American, helped children in need, rescued fellow Americans after terrible natural disasters such as Hurricane Katrina, made sure our standing among other nations is one of respect and admiration in the court of world judgement. They have respected our privacy and safeguarded Our Bill of Rights to a fault.

The GOP have been leaders in the area of the environment, reducing our need for foreign oil,brought peace to a troubled world. They have provided us with a President and Vice-President whom we love and adore for their outstanding leadership ability, and brillant minds!

If you believe this what I have just written, then Sarah is the best choice for the office of Vice-President and John McCain is your man!! I hope the Gop leadeship has lots of disposible diapers available on the Night of Nov. 4th, because there is going to be lots of soiled pants among them when they see the anger the general population will serve them on election night. I hope they sh*t themselves into oblivion!!!!

A little off subject but at the same time a little on. I'm an Independent...cuz both parties tick me off, if you're curious...and never actually voted (i'm 21). Was thinking bout getting off my butt and doin' it this year though. Do I need to pick a party beforehand, or can I show up Indy and just vote? Not quite sure how it works. Plus I'm from one side of Kansas and attend school on the other, do I have to go home to vote? Thx.

The fabric of democracy has been sundered by Bush, Cheney and the Republican leadership, McCain included. The Constitution has been shredded and the Justice Department, Pentagon, FBI, CIA, NSA, DHS, TSA, FEMA, EPA et al. turned into de facto branches of the RNC.

Alex

The joke is on us.

Maybe the Republicans fear the vote of the American people, but the owners of the country, the Wall Street Banksters, have already won the election. Mr. Obama will be their man in the White House, just like the Demos have shown themselves to be the corporate elites people in the Congress after the 2006 congressional elections. The Banksters win regardless of who wins between the Repubs and Demos.

Ha,ha,ha, Suckers.

snydly
W has $100B at his discretion and has just lifted visa requirements on most of the East European countries of the former USSR. So who will arrive, and when? The election polls vary %s between the extremes: Too many votes to scam----close enough to scam.

The GOP/Dem party knows exactly what is going on. That is, if you are in the know. If you are not, oh well, no big deal. It has been 8 years of Rep terror. Time for at least 4 years of Dems Enablier to set up ANOTHER Rep Orgy. Man they got this figured out. You better FEAR another 4 years of Reps. Then we will get ANOTHER 4 years of ENABILING. Back and forth. Drain the middle class. Enrich the upper 0.5%.
Back and forth. Back and forth. When will you learn? Don't you see? Fear is your enemy and it is THAT which they project to you.

Jay Bookman: "There is no evidence of any attempt to rig or steal this election."

At least not by anybody but Republicans. Caging, purging, intimidation, major last minute court challenges on Voter ID, instigating false charges of "voter fraud," hackable electronic voting machines owned by admittedly Republican corporations using "proprietary" (secret) computer code ("black boxes"), use of the Justice Department for outright partisan political purposes. Oh, one other thing: a Federal Election Commission disabled because it lacks a Quorum (or was that Quoran?)?

Vote Roadrunner; he knows how to get out of a pickle. Or Bugs Bunny; "What's up, Doc?"

-30-

And now it looks like we might be in for a last-ditch "red-baiting" campaign by the McCain/Palin team. When nothing else works, always go with the lowest of the low, call 'em "Commies"! They've already been calling Obama a "socialist" at several stump speeches. They claim they got the idea from "Joe the -- not a small business owner after all -- Plumber." That dangerous Obama fellow is another Huey Long in waiting the way they tell it!! He wants to "spread the wealth around," -- whereas John McCain wants to keep every penny of his wife's quarter billion dollar fortune away from any taxes whatsoever. It will be interesting to see whether the red-baiting tactic gets any traction in the current environment, and coming so late. Will anyone be stupid enough to fall for it after what the financial class has just done to the country's economy? Well, never forget what P.T. Barnum said: "Nobody every lost money -- nor presumably an election -- by underestimating the intelligence of the American public."

Both parties should Beware of the Neo-Impoverished Neo-Conned.
Shall we note the yard signs while Trick-or-Treating this election year?

The Republicans are scared that if the Democrats win there will be a redistribution of wealth to that I say,the hell with them. Since Regan came into office, the Republicans redistributed the wealth upward to the richest in our country. The highest income tax brackets were reduced as well as capital gains taxes. Although they did reduce the taxes modestly at the lower end, they don’t tell you that they offset those tax reductions by increasing social security taxes to create a illusionary social security retirement surplus account. Illusionary because there is no fund, no benefits being held, only a simple accounting notation. These Social Security excess taxes are a huge source of income for the government and a debt that must be paid from further taxes upon us.

Republicans promised to balance the budget to offset the effect of lower taxes by reducing government. What a farce. Every republican administration since and including Regan created huge deficits, especially the reckless Bush administration. These deficits increase the debt of our Country. Simply put, they have been on a borrowing binge. We borrow to pay interest on the money we borrowed.

I would give the Republicans some credit for honesty in stating that reducing taxes on the rich would enable them to invest more; and the rest of us would get the benefit of a little trickle down.” Unbelievable, but yes; they were able to sell the majority in our Country on their plan “piss” on us - and that they did. While the income of our Country grew and gushed upwards, CEOs and Presidents of Corporations pocket ten to five hundred million dollar income packages and reduce salaries, terminate employees, and move jobs overseas. Its hard to have a trickle when you piss into the wind.

Not satisfied with reducing our incomes, the Republicans removed regulations and allowed banks to mine our wealth. The poor face predatory pay day loans and exorbitant check cashing fees; the middle class was hit with usury interest rates, punitive credit card fees, and adjustable rate second mortgages that so many found necessary to maintain a standard of living. They are even mining the future of our youth with college debt; compare that to other developed countries. The ultimate mining is privatization of public assets paid for by our taxes so the rich have some place to invest the immense wealth we have given them.

We put the Republicans in control of our destiny and through their greed they have failed us. They have left very little fuel in the tank to run the engine of our economy. If we don’t redistribute, we are doomed.

I hate to burst anybody's bubbles of optimism, but the Democrats are just as scared of the American voter as the Republicans and for exactly the same reason: The voters have the power to terminate their ticket on the gravy train of influence-peddling and personal wealth and power over others.

Acorn is tolerated by the Dems for now because they serve the useful purpose of helping to turn out more voters for their White House and Congressional election efforts. Once the Dems have that power (or even if they somehow don't acquire the control they seek)watch them turn up their collective noses at all grass-roots efforts as far as such groups having any meaningful input.

Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid, Rahm Emanuel, and Obama/Biden are no more your friends than Bush/Cheney, Mccain/Sarah Stupid, Boehner, or McConell.

Poet

Somewhere I saw it stated that it's when the government fears its people that democracy and justice reign. It is my fervent hope that our government quakes in its boots at the thought of election days.

Right now the GOP are clearly using Nazi tactics. I am choosing my words carefully, not the way this term is far too often used flippantly in Anglo-Saxon countries.

The GOP have been engaged in election fraud twice - unfortunately, the USA has not asked for international election observers, which they ought to have done, considering the 2 last ones, but without a country's invitation, they can't just come and observe.

But to prepare for probably the third attempt of fraud, they are crying wolf and are blaming the other side. And this is exactly what the Nazis used to do to divert attention.

You are a patient people.

Let's be honest and admit there are some people who should not have the right to vote, maybe we should tie it to lRS records and eliminate those who make less than $250,000 per year.

"...on the verge of maybe perpetrating one of the greatest frauds in voter history ... maybe destroying the fabric of democracy"

I would be very careful, considering the GOP habit of blaming the opposition for things that THEY THEMSELVES are actively doing...

"The only means of strengthening one's intellect is to make up one's mind about nothing, to let the mind be a thoroughfare for all thoughts." - John Keats

The projection dynamic includes an identifiable practice of claiming 'cause' to be 'effect' thus also claiming the right to define the terms. Demonization of policy/polity other than itself - socialism is bad if is equitable but good if it bails out the power to continue twisting the terms of the 'dialogue'.

The dynamic fetishizes conflict, division, violence, possession, - makes it 'hot'- this is the role of Sarah Palin. The cute confusion gives way to the 'heels are on and the gloves are off' is to provide an undefined mirror for the percentage of the population still reeling from outsourcing, the war on terror (like a drug), an occupation/illegal war fetish that has been going on for a long time with 'spin' doctoring. It is the dynamic of narcissistic addiction.

The article today about Seymour Hersch notes that psychoanalysis and journalism share the quality of keeping things in focus. When the focus is accurate, one cools down and is able to think, feel, respond and nurture.

The rest of the world (Iraqis and many others) is cooling down to the dynamic of the fetishized overheating of the spin doctors/ad agency, the inane claims of monoculture and irresponsibility of so many transnational corporations that poison the environment of sovereign peoples, cause mass displacement of peoples, and marginalization to sustain the profit margin of what is not of the neoliberal model(people). That marginalization of millions is the flip side sucking sound of the transnational dynamic.

We are conditioned to seek security in sameness rather than differences in the monoculture model and in this way are primed like a pump in the marginalization process - ourselves psychicly marginalized. Multi billion dollar industry to eliminate a sector of nature known as insects that serve very specific purposes within nature beyond the monoculture model, etc., 'small is beautiful' has innumerable meanings. Nature has for millions of years thrived with the intricate network of diversity. That diversity in the social sense is all who are 'marginalized' and represent some the most creative and restorative dynamics on earth. The financialization of life is in short a form of insanity best battled with standing firm and staying focused. The structures between individuals and society have fallen with fear/greed and how they are restored to functional dignity is our challenge. That will only happen from the ground up. The elections are only a point of departure from which to discover the joyous work that needs to be done for generations to come.

"There's something in the psyche of the GOP base that needs to believe they are victims of some ill-defined but clearly treacherous group plotting against them and the country."

Meanwhile the GOP IS the "treacherous group" scheming against US and the country's best interests.

If Obama can survive the final machinations of the GOP and win, I predict that, in a year or two, the mess that is America will still be there!

Americans have been gobbling at the capitalist trough for too long. They are too used to getting easy money via stock markets, driving SUVs, etc. They have embraced greed and materialism and the easy life.

And Obama comes out of the entrenched political establishment, remember? His zeal to be different will be short-lived. He is a Messiah who wears a suit!

I hope I'm wrong but the signs are not good!

www.dangerouscreation.com

In places where they treasure democracy, there's a strategy for dealing with election fraud. If the results of the election run counter to exit polls, they don't just sit and watch TV. They get up, get out their survival packs, and travel to the central square of the nearest large city. They stand there -- with banners, megaphones, or maybe in silence -- until justice is done. A day, three days, a week, a month. Whatever it takes. And yes, it's messy, scary, chaotic, and dangerous.

What will we do, if it happens here?

If 100,000 people descended on the federal building of the city nearest me, and stayed for even a few days, it would tie up the entire state very quickly.

I'm so tired of the whining. Why do we allow them to control our desires?

Expect resistance.

petr

Nietzsche

Republicans have stopped trying to pretend they are anything other than a criminal enterprise greedy for power for power's sake regardless of the means by which that power is acquired, legal or illegal, obvious or subtle, fair or foul.

Everybody knows this. What everybody does not know is that all thought is 98% unconscious and that anybody (and everybody) can be manipulated to act contrary to their own best interest, indeed against their own conscious will.

I would bet you that big business has loaned their best and brightest behavioral scientists to their toady Republican party. If this seems to be failing, rest assured that another 9/11 type terrorist attack will occur and martial law will be declared before January.

If you think the stock market is unstable, look at democracy in the USA.

The newly emerging Sara Palin Wing of the GOP is really the Old Eddie Haskell Wing in drag.

I have heard it since the Goldwater meltdown.

The First Law of the Right is: always have everything both ways.
They may have caused the Wall Street Meltdown, and are using the US Government to bail themselves out, but it really was the Democrats fault.

We are in a deep hole and McCain will dig it deeper, but that's OK. Oh, I have the great bridge in Alaska; you might want to look at.

What really terrifies the GOP (God’s Only Producers) is when people won’t buy their crap. When we don’t waste our hard earned money or hard borrowed money on worthless fad products designed to pacify us for a few weeks or days. That’s what scares the shit out of them masters of war and commerce.
Hoa binh

Incredibly, after Republicans and some conservative Democrats have left the country in ruins , McCain is closing in on Obama in the polls, 45 to 48. Nader is still polling 2%.

I've always known by the tricky and manipulative rhetoric used by republicans that they had contempt for average American voters, but I seriously doubt that they have ever feared them.

Don't count the republicans out just yet. Their big ace in the hole is white racist voters. Their ace up their sleeve is disenfranchisement of black voters, much like Florida in 2000. They can't win a fair fight but they can certainly win a fight.

-- EKATON --

Sioux Rose

IOWABLACKBIRD: In answer to your quite possibly rhetorical question, 2 answers: A. Law of karma B. The outcome depicted through the character portrayed by Gene Hackman in "The Conversation."

Who among us was not fond of the deeply thoughtful anti-war films that emerged in the 70's?, Titles like Joe, Easy Rider, Z... at that time when Vietnam proved all that was wrong with a war of senseless imperialistic exploitation, I never thought the nation would fall to the same inane rhetoric ever again. Having made it a life study to understand the repetitive cycles our inanimate yet cognizant time capsules (also known as planets) replay, it becomes clear WHY cycles of aggression and repression recur. (I will eventually complete a book on this topic, although it will utilize the astro-logos for its basis.) Humanity can only rise above its bestial inclinations by understanding them within the larger sphere of intentions to which flesh has been made heir.

MARS: Thank you for the vote of confidence. I truly appreciate it. (Using that moniker I wonder if you identify with that planet? At its best, it is THE zodiac's quintessential lover, favored consort to Aphrodite... but he is also the universal signature of war and aggression.)

Acorn should continue voter registrations permanently and refine their process. The areas targeted should be openly selected based on the number of unregistered votes in an area and leave all concern for poor and minority neighborhoods behind them. There is nobody trying to suppress rich white voters so it will work out the same anyway.

Voting should be declared a fundamental right and anybody who wrongfully denies your right to vote should be jailed. Then you couldn't afford to challenge people close to the election because if you are wrong on one you get to do some jail time. Anybody who actually votes twice should be jailed as well. Same 10 years either way per count no exceptions. Won't happen but should.

REPUBLICANS are like that unruly kid sitting at the back of the class that suddenly "rips a loud and smelly FART."
Then, when the teacher asks, "Who did that!"
He immediately "points the finger" at the kid sitting next to him and exclaims, "HE DID IT!...HONEST!!"

Since the Republicans STOLE the last 2 elections through a variety of fraudulent mechanisms, the masters of cheating are upset that they can't rig this game.

Obama hasn't won yet. Suppose every poll on Monday, November 3rd, shows him leading by 10 - 15 points and the next night McCain wins in yet another rigged election. What will then happen in this country? Will Obama concede, or tell McCain and the Republicans to eat it raw? What will ordinary people do when they suddenly realize The Big Fix is now a permanent aspect of American presidential politics? What if this coincides with a complete crash of our economy? How much more shit will Americans eat before they start taking matters into their own hands?

DUH!
that was the first thing in my mind when I spotted the title.

OF COURSE the republicons are afraid of trhe voters.
why did they stop the count in 2000 and committed fraude in 2004 in the first place?

the people running the neocon show AND a significant part of the democraticons aren't interested or motivated by voters at all. they're interested in wealth and power: both of them in significant amounts.
that is the bottom line.

everybody knows this; the voters, the senators and other politicians, the media.

the voters are still desperately trying to put their heads in the sand of the illusion that the US is still a democracy where every vote counts, while the rest of the world that doesn't suffer from memory lapse now knows for over 7 years that what really matters is who counts (or stops the counting of) the votes, not who's votes count.

the politicians are shills. no more, no less. handpuppets of corporate masters (Pelosi, Obama, mcCain etc) or corporate masters themselves (Cheney) or moved by something entirely different than the wellfare of the American voter. they might be moved by solification of power (PNAC), huge wads of dollars, a glorified Armageddon (Palin) or forgein interests (AIPAC), what they are not is interested one tiny bit in voters.
sure they're afraid of them. on the surface that is.
below that they're just spinning the wheels and laughing their asses off.

the media which has become extremely good at ignoring what matters and creating illusions for the sheeple masses with what doesn't matter at all.
and still loads of people think that this is because people in the media are somehow not good at what they should do ea their job.

yeah right.
insert rolleyes smiley

the American left should after seven years be capable of getting their collective heads out of their collective behinds and realise by now that to get out of this continuing system of a political circus run by the clowns of the industrial military complex one needs at least a civil war or even worse a revolution in the oldest tradition: one where the blood runs in the gutters and the corpses are piled high

nothing short of that will stop them. nothing.
it's just a new boss, same as the old boss

and, yes, you will get fooled again.

Maybe thats why there were no signs at the GOP convention saying "The Republican Party"? They are ashamed even in their own house.

Nixon talked about those Republican voters, un-poor, un-black, un-young, and un-student. Like Nixon and Reagan and Bush I and Bush II, McCain and the GOP assumes that they are also un-thinking. Granted, the American people behave foolishly at times, but they're not imbiciles.

The GOP has already taken the country over the precipice, and they're determined to leave it gasping and bleeding to death on the rocks of ignorance and sheer madness below. They're doing what they always do--projecting their own crimes (election theft, in this instance) onto their opponents. Once Obama is elected they'll be blaming him for all the chaos, murder and destruction Bush Co. has levelled on Iraq for 6 years, and every other crime these bastards have committed. They can't learn anything, obviously, or they wouldn't still be Republicans. In circles specializing in this kind of syndrome, they exhibit a species of retardation. Bush and McCain are their standard bearers.

Maybe the American voters have finally realized they should be terrified of the GOP? At least the neocon branch that is running it right now.

Sioux Rose

Ever notice that when someone is guilty of something they project it onto others, or presume others are hiding the same type of behavior? Since the Republicans STOLE the last 2 elections through a variety of fraudulent mechanisms, the masters of cheating are upset that they can't rig this game. These creeps have such a religious-oriented pseudo-sense of privilege that they really think the nation is theirs to divide and conquer. Reflecting neither accountability nor principles, they are enemies of democracy, but call everyone else the traitor, fallen patriot, or terrorist. Their conventions should be filled with mirrors... and someone should read Hesse novels over the loud speakers.

The Republicans wrecked America. Payback is a bitch.........