Arkansas Blog

Gallup: 48 Obama, 41 McCain

Rasmussen: 50 Obama, 43 McCain

Pollster.com: 47.5 Obama, 43 McCain

Okay, national polls don't matter too much, it's all about how the electoral college breaks down, right?

Electoral-Vote: 304 Obama, 221 McCain

USA Election Polls: The presidential matchup polls on our site have clearly shown a trend towards Obama over the past couple of months... His lead is at almost 70 electoral votes.

538: 275.5 Obama, 262.5 McCain

Obama is ahead in the national tracking polls (Gallup, Rasmussen, Pollster). He's ahead in all of the electoral college projections based on state polls (Electoral-Vote, USA Election Polls). He's ahead in a demographic based analysis (538).

As long as he doesn't get complacent, and barring a devastating October surprise, he wins. Period. I know it's too early to make statements like that, but really, I can't see it going any other way. Obama will win in November, with at least 319 electoral votes (or 328, 336, even 351 is within reach if he kicks some serious ass).

/President Obama
//Get used to it, you'll all be saying it soon.

max has a lazy eye?

Apparently the mayor of Helena is insane. The city turned the dangerous, sick dogs in their dog pound loose in the woods.

Blog post about it on the blue name.

Why vote Republican? Click on blue name.

VOTE OBAMA.

Having said that, I promised to post info about the Merle Haggard concert in Izard County and I finally have it. Billed as an "Ozark Throwdown," the event will take place Aug. 1-2 with Merle as the featured artist. On Friday night, local artists will perform, then Saturday night Merle will hit the stage at 8:00 p.m. Coolers and overnight campers welcome. Call 888-262-4502 to buy tickets.

BTW, Merle does not drink anymore. His opening act features his sons, Noel and Ben, and a newcomer Chris Malpass.

re:"Why I'm voting Republican" film:

It could have also been called: "Why I'm Voting Democratic" - especially in Arkansas. Here's your line up:
Mark Pryor, Blanche Lincoln, Marion Berry, Mike Beebe -- Some of the best friends the utilities and corporations have ever had in Arkansas. I wouldn't leave my children alone in a room with any of these morons. The Republicans suck indeed. But what sucks worse is that the Democrats pretend to be better. Vote Independent, Vote Libertarian, Vote Green.

Don't forget to click on a banner link while you're here.

Sorry, rod, I won't throw my vote away.........

Oh kizzy, do think about voting Green in Arkansas elections this November. Casting a vote for Mark Pryor is saying you love George Bush. Casting a vote for Whispering John Boozman, who really is a rubber puppet where Bush sticks his sweaty hand, is voting directly for Bush.

Voting Green in Arkansas elections is the only way to get a real Democrat this time around. So remember Rebekah Kennedy instead of Pryor, Abel Tomlinson instead of Whispering John......it's the only sane vote this time around. Maybe next time the Arkansas Democratic and Republican Party will run real state candidates.

Kennedy has my vote.

The Gateway to Astronaut Photography of Earth.

click

Hugh Mann,

I lost ALL my bookmarks. What was that free online movie link you posted a few months back?

Thanx,

To invoke the term "I won't throw away my vote" in reference to third parties and independents is to say "I have no respect for the capacity of my freedom."

To me, voting for a corporate, mainstream candidate instead of a grass roots independent is like buying a nutrient free meal from McDonalds over a free meal hunted and gathered in your own community. In 2000 and 2004 the Democrats catered to the right instead of to the disenfranchised libertarians and independents. If Obama and McCain ostracize third parties and independents they will make the same mistake as Gore and Kerry. People know real change when they see it and they haven't seen it in a long time. No, I'll not throw away my vote on spineless rhetoric.

I'm with ya, Rod.

Mojo, click on blue for "watch-movies.net".

And...

This link for "watchtvsitcoms.com" (not just sitcoms).

One or the other mysteriously vanished a couple weeks ago, but seems to be back now.

Kizzy,
How is it a waste of your vote if you vote for Green Party candidates in the Congressional elections? If nothing else, it sends a message to the incumbents that voters are not completely satisfied with their representation. It's a waste of your vote only if you have no choice at all. I realize that some people think that voters are not entitled to have any choice on the ballot, unless it's a D or an R. Even then, the label is usually irrelevant.

Did you know that all five of the Arkansas Congressional delegation had been unopposed in the November elections? Now 4 of the five have Green Party candidates preventing their free ride back into office - Marion Berry does not have an announced opponent yet. Perhaps we can change that June 21st at our nominating convention.

I'll be voting Green in Arkansas too.
Pryor is a rat....

thanks Hugh.

"and barring a devastating October surprise, he wins."

Unfortunately, there's a rather good chance of that.

I'm open to voting for Kennedy.
I probably will given Pryor's vote for the so-called
"bankruptcy reform" bill for the banking interests.
I'll also vote for Lincoln's oppositon in 2010...hopefully a Democrat.

In a CNBC interview taped Monday in Raleigh, N.C., Obama suggested that the main problem with high gasoline prices is their rapid rise, not their total of about $4 a gallon.

"I think that I would have preferred a gradual adjustment," Obama said. "The fact that this is such a shock to American pocketbooks is not a good thing." But if the government gives middle-class families tax cuts and encourages the market "to adapt to these new circumstances more quickly, particularly U.S. automakers, then I think ultimately, we can come out of this stronger and have a more efficient energy policy than we do right now."

I'm too afraid to vote Green. I remember that the people who voted for Nader in 2000 got W elected. Not crazy about the Dems, but too scared of Repugs.

And by the way, I remember an interview I did with Lendall in the 80s. Jim, you were manipulative and a brow-beater. Back then you were the director of the Crisis Center. Some things don't change.

Crude oil prices have jumped roughly 40 percent this year, hitting an all-time high above $139 last week. Commodities markets have boomed over the past six years as demand from emerging economies tests supply growth.

Oil consuming and producing nations, often at odds over the cause of the spike in prices, will meet in Saudi Arabia on June 22 to seek a solution to rising energy costs, which have sparked riots across the globe.

U.S. officials have blamed the surge in prices on fundamentals, and have called on the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries to raise output to help cool down markets.

But OPEC members blame speculators for high prices and insist they can do nothing to lower prices.

"The market fundamentals are not affecting prices. The problem is the economic crisis in the United States, which led to a fall in the dollar's value, and threats against Iran, which increased geopolitical tensions," OPEC President Chakib Khelil said, according to Algerian state news agency APS.

"Supply at present exceeds demand, and there is a surplus of around 500,000 barrels per day," Khelil said, adding that OPEC would hold its scheduled meeting on September 9 to "evaluate the market and take decisions to stabilize it."

guess I met a different Jim Lendall at the Crisis Center back in the 80s. We were a bunch of UALR students in their deaf program and he kindly opened up the use of his agency's offices for a project we were doing.

I don't see any objection to Democrats voting for Rebekah Kennedy, since her rival opposed the Democratic nominee for the Senate seat in Connecticut.

re: "I remember that the people who voted for Nader in 2000 got W elected"

I thought this rhetoric was retired in 2003.

George Bush got "elected" because:
a) Many former Democrats voted for him.
b) The Democrats offered spineless, mealy mouthed candidates
c) The Democrats did not stand up to election fraud when they had the chance
d) The Supreme Court and a predominance of the American Legal system is absolutely fucked

Please select a new argument or return to your world of programmed television.

Gore lost in 2000 because he didn't even win his home state.

However, it is true that if the Nader voters in Florida had voted for
Gore instead, he would have been president.

I'm not sure what Nader had to do with voting for Green Party candidate Kennedy though. She's running for the US Senate, and not president.

And unless something changes dramatically, Obama can't win Arkansas anyway so voting for a third-party candidate for president won't matter in Arkansas.

ahh! synchronicity... click my name for Nader on the "Don't Run" theory

The thing about every green I've ever talked to is this--they refuse to acknowledge that Gore would have made a better president than Bush. They refuse to acknowledge that, despite the war, the destruction of the Constitution, the neglect of New Orleans, the ignoring of "Bin Laden Determined to Strike within the US," the withdrawl from Kyoto, the torture, the possibility of a war with Iran, that there is a real difference between the two parties. If you can't believe them about such a fundamental thing, then why pay any attention to anything that any of them say? They're either lying or deluded, and that makes the same as any other politicians.

Archie,
Your first sentence is a complete fabrication.

In 2000, the DLC had pushed the Democrats so far to what they perceived as the "middle," their platform had become "republican-lite," de-emphasizing its traditional commitment to civil rights, labor, environmental, feminist, economic, and social issues, in order to win over the "soccer moms." At the time, what few differences that remained between the candidates were overshadowed by other factors. Among Democratic Party rank-and-file the enthusiasm was underwhelming. Gore's lack of charisma was in such sharp contrast to Clinton's that he failed to ignite the campaign. The eight-year drumbeat against Clinton had the Democrats on the defensive and wasting time in embarrassing apologies. Because of that lack of conviction, many potential Democratic voters opted out and stayed home.

The Democratic campaign was handled ineptly. In the election itself Gore failed to carry many expected states, including his home state, Tennessee. There will be perpetual debate over whether Gore should have fought harder to win the Florida debacle, but the reality is that the election should not have had to depend on the Florida situation in the first place.

After the election, when Bush's ineptitude and his administration's ruthlessness became evident, it was obvious the Gore would have been the better President. But that realization came too late. I often wonder what the results of a national poll would be if people were asked today who they voted for in 2000.

The tumble down the moral slope over the last 7 years has moved the middle so far away from moderation, that even the 2000 DLC positions seem "liberal" in comparison now. (The Democrat's VP candidate in 2000 is now a Bush loyalist.) Since the fiascoes of the Bush administration could not have occurred without the active support of many Bush-enabling Democrats, it's difficult to trust Democrats to be Democrats.

So engage in your transference of your own guilt and demonize the Greens, but the fault for the Bush-whacking of America is squarely in the laps of the Democratic Party's leaders. Mainstream Media provide opportunities for a major party to perpetuate a myth, but not for a party of less than 2% of the vote to refute the lie. Blame those who can't fight back, rather than take responsibility.

While historically I've voted for Republicans in the past, I voted the straight Green ticket in the '06 election. With the exception of the presidential ballot, where I'll vote for whoever is NOT the Republican, I'll most likely vote straight Green again.

After the past couple of years, I won't ever check a box for a Republican again, and I doubt I'll even say much of anything nice about them, either. Now, the problem is to distinguish a Republican from a Democrat without the use of DNA testing...

Oh, sure Jim. Nobody knew before the elction that Gore would make a better president than Bush. Except the majority of Americans who voted in the election. And Michael Moore, who begged Nader to ask his voters *in Florida* to vote for Gore in 2000, and Nader refused. You can pretend those things never happened. You can continue to point your finger in every direction except Nader. Many of the things you say about the Gore campaign, the DLC and the DNC are true, but the fact remains that if Nader had had one ounce of practicality, honesty, and pragmatism instead of his gigantic ego, we'd never have had a second President Gore, and anyone who didn't understand the system *before* that happened isn't smart enough to get a vote from me.

And, before I forget, thanks for proving my point!

Jim Lendall,

I don't disagree with everything you say, but you do leave one point out: Do you think Al Gore would've invaded Iraq? I don't. I do think he might have gone overboard in Afghanistan, but that's a different level of crazy than the current one.