Table of Contents 

• The Race
• What do you think
• Poll Results
• National Election Events Schedule
• Democratic Candidate Links -2008
• Republican Candidate Links - 2008
• New Text / Write module
• New Text / Write module
• New Text / Write module
• New Text / Write module
• Constitution Party Candidate Links -2008
• Green Party Hopeful Candidate Links -2008
• Libertarian Party Candidate Links -2008
• Prohibition Party Candidate Links -2008
• Socialist Party USA Hopeful Canidate Links -2008
• Politically Related Links
• US President
• Here's our guestbook
• Good Politics Radio Podcast
• Political Books on Amazon

The Race 

Obama or McCain?

Republican or Democrat

Will you vote for the Man or the Party?

The race is in the back stretch.

Start checking out the candidates

What do you think 

Poll Results 

Who would be McCain's strongest opponent?

When asked "Who would be McCain's strongest opponent?"

The response was:
14.3% Clinton
85.7% Obama
0% Not Sure

National Election Events Schedule 

Democratic Candidate Links -2008 

Barack Obama

It has been the rich and varied experiences of Barack Obama's life - growing up in different places with people who had differing ideas - that have animated his political journey. Amid the partisanship and bickering of today's public debate, he still believes in the ability to unite people around a politics of purpose - a politics that puts solving the challenges of everyday Americans ahead of partisan calculation and political gain.

In the Illinois State Senate, this meant working with both Democrats and Republicans to help working families get ahead by creating programs like the state Earned Income Tax Credit, which in three years provided over $100 million in tax cuts to families across the state. He also pushed through an expansion of early childhood education, and after a number of inmates on death row were found innocent, Senator Obama worked with law enforcement officials to require the videotaping of interrogations and confessions in all capital cases.

In the U.S. Senate, he has focused on tackling the challenges of a globalized, 21st century world with fresh thinking and a politics that no longer settles for the lowest common denominator. His first law was passed with Republican Tom Coburn, a measure to rebuild trust in government by allowing every American to go online and see how and where every dime of their tax dollars is spent. He has also been the lead voice in championing ethics reform that would root out Jack Abramoff-style corruption in Congress.

As a member of the Veterans' Affairs Committee, Senator Obama has fought to help Illinois veterans get the disability pay they were promised, while working to prepare the VA for the return of the thousands of veterans who will need care after Iraq and Afghanistan. Recognizing the terrorist threat posed by weapons of mass destruction, he traveled to Russia with Republican Dick Lugar to begin a new generation of non-proliferation efforts designed to find and secure deadly weapons around the world. And knowing the threat we face to our economy and our security from America's addiction to oil, he's working to bring auto companies, unions, farmers, businesses and politicians of both parties together to promote the greater use of alternative fuels and higher fuel standards in our cars.

Republican Candidate Links - 2008 

John McCain

John McCain has a remarkable record of leadership and experience that embodies his unwavering lifetime commitment to service. First elected to the U.S. House of Representatives from Arizona in 1982, John has led the fight for reforming Washington, eliminating wasteful government spending, and strengthening our nation's armed forces.

John McCain's reform agenda to reduce federal spending and lower taxes quickly elevated him to statewide office and he was elected to the United States Senate in 1986, after serving two terms in the U.S. House.

In the Senate, John continued to demand that Congress put an end to loopholes for special interests and fix the broken system in Washington that too often allows lobbyists to write legislation and members of Congress to waste taxpayer money. In November 2004, Senator McCain was overwhelmingly reelected with nearly 77 percent of the vote.

Constitution Party Candidate Links -2008 

Chuck Baldwin

Baldwin is a Radio Talk Show host, syndicated columnist, and pastor dedicated to preserving the historic principles upon which America was founded.

Baldwin is constitutionalist,Christian, pro-life, pro-traditional family, and patriotic. HWe support constitutional government and the Bill of Rights. He hold fast to the principles and values expressed by the Founding Fathers and the Declaration of Independence.

Green Party Hopeful Candidate Links -2008 

Jesse Johnson

Born 1959, West Virginia. Attended North Carolina School for the Arts, Marshall University and several other universities. Has worked on a seismographic ship, as an actor, a stage producer, a stand-up comic and country line dance instructor. He helped form the United Electrical Workers Union in West Virginia in 2006. He was the first gubernatorial candidate in the history of West Virginia to secure his place on the general election ballot before the primary election in 2002. Ran for US Senate in 2006.

In 2007, as Chair of the Mountain Party, he worked with Green Party co-Chair Steve Kramer to bring the Mountain Party into the world community of Green Parties, where they belong, as an affiliate of the GPUS. He continues to work toward that union, recently winning litigation in his state that now allows the GPUS to use the Mountain Party's ballot line, even as he runs for the Presidential nomination himself.

Kent Mesplay

Born and raised in Papua New Guinea (first ten years; born July 19, 1962) to Lutheran Missionary parents. Home-schooled the first three years. Grew up in a rain-forest with the same stone-age people studied by Jared Diamond (then an ornithologist). Jared is a family friend. He later entered the sciences because of Jared and other scientists like him who would visit our remote station.

He has studied Western and non-Western medicine, earning a Ph.D. in Biomedical Engineering from Northwestern University (specialty: limb prosthetics and amputee functionality). He has also informally studied Feldenkrais and Reiki and other energy methods of healing. He graduated Valedictorian from Mira Mesa High School in 1980. His undergrad degree in Engineering is from Harvey Mudd College, Claremont, CA. After graduate school He suffered through a long period of unemployment as he worked to develop a funded position for himself at the Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Long Beach, CA, before moving to La Mesa and teaching math in the Grossmont Union High School District. He began working as an Air Quality Inspector at the Air Pollution Control District, San Diego, in 2001 (current job). His experiences substitute teaching and being an environmental regulator really taught him to "think on my feet" in challenging situations. He is committed to affecting change to and through the political process.

Kat Swift

Swift is an American political activist, former co-chair of the Green Party of Texas, and spokesperson for the Green Party's National Women's Caucus. She announced her intention to seek the 2008 Presidential nomination of the US Green Party at the 2004 Green Party National Convention in Milwaukee, WI. She is one of the youngest candidates to seek the office in 2008, and will only just be of age to serve on Inauguration Day in 2009. In 2007 Swift ran for City Council, District 1 in San Antonio, Texas finishing 2nd of 3 with 1,630 votes for 29.48% of the total vote.[1]

Cynthia McKinney

I have accepted as the platform of the Power to the People Campaign, the 10-Point Draft Manifesto of the Reconstruction Movement, a grouping of Black activists who came together in the aftermath of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita to advocate for public policy initiatives that address the plight of Blacks and other oppressed peoples in this country. . . .

The people deserve an open and honest debate on these issues and more. I encourage the Democratic Party and its new presumptive nominee, Senator Obama, to embrace these important suggestions for policy initiatives.

Libertarian Party Candidate Links -2008 

Bob Barr

Bob Barr is the 2008 Libertarian nominee for President of the United States. Previously, he represented the 7th District of Georgia in the U. S. House of Representatives from 1995 to 2003, serving as a senior member of the Judiciary Committee, as Vice-Chairman of the Government Reform Committee, and as a member of the Committee on Financial Services. He now practices law with the Law Offices of Edwin Marger, and runs a consulting firm, Liberty Strategies LLC, headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia and with offices in the Washington, D.C. area. Barr works tirelessly to help preserve our fundamental right to privacy and our other civil liberties guaranteed in the Bill of Rights.

From 2003 to 2008, he occupied the 21st Century Liberties Chair for Freedom and Privacy at the American Conservative Union. Since 1997 he has served as a Board Member of the National Rifle Association. Bob is also a member of The Constitution Project's Initiative on Liberty and Security, and he served from 2003 to 2005 as a member of a project at the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University addressing matters of privacy and security. In fact, recognizing Bob Barr's leadership in privacy matters, New York Times columnist William Safire has called him "Mr. Privacy."

Bob has appeared on virtually every major cable and network television program dealing with public policy matters, and has served as a contributor for CNN. He has written a regular column for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, hosted a nationally-syndicated weekly radio show, and served as Contributing Editor for The American Spectator. Bob's writings appear in numerous academic, local, regional, national and international publications. He is the author of "The Meaning of Is, The Squandered Impeachment and Wasted Legacy of William Jefferson Clinton," published by Stroud & Hall. He is a member of the Board of Advisors for the Georgetown Journal of Law and Public Policy.

Bob has served as an adjunct professor at Kennesaw State University in Kennesaw, GA, and serves as a national officer for Tau Kappa Epsilon Fraternity.

Bob was appointed by President Reagan to serve as the United States Attorney for the Northern District of Georgia (1986-90), and served as President of Southeastern Legal Foundation (1990-91). He was an official with the CIA from 1971-78.

Barr is a speaker with the All American Speakers Bureau (www.allamericanspeakers.com). He has traveled widely and spoken to audiences across America and internationally, and has served as an official member of the U.S. delegation at several major United Nations conferences.

Prohibition Party Candidate Links -2008 

Gene Amondson

As the National Prohibition Party nominee for U.S. president, Amondson doesn't have a platform. He has a bare plank: no booze.

Socialist Party USA Hopeful Canidate Links -2008 

Brian P Moore

A graduate of Mission San Luis Rey College in California with a Master's degree in Public Administration from Arizona State University, Moore once studied in a Franciscan seminary before joining the Peace Corps in 1969. As a Peace Corps volunteer and later working for a non-profit agency, Moore was heavily involved in community development and infrastructure projects in some of the poorest neighborhoods of Bolivia, Panama and Peru. Conversant in Spanish and familiar with Brazilian Portuguese, he later helped design and implement several public health projects in other Latin American countries. He also raised $3 million for a de-worming project that successfully protected more than one million children from parasitic infections in some of the most poverty-stricken areas of Brazil, Guatemala and the Dominican Republic.

No stranger to long-shot political campaigns, Moore waged several unsuccessful bids for mayor and city council in Washington, D.C., and twice ran for the U.S. House of Representatives from Florida's fifth congressional district. Last year, he polled 19,695 votes as independent antiwar candidate against Sen. Bill Nelson and Republican challenger Katherine Harris. During that campaign, he called for the impeachment of President Bush and Vice President Cheney and traveled to Cuba to underscore his opposition to the four decades-long U.S. embargo against that island nation and to learn more about that country's national health care system and its economic development programs.

Politically Related Links 

Good Politics Radio

Good Politics Radio features podcasts/broadcasts in all areas political. We welcome all viewpoints on all political topics.

p2008 - The 2008 Presidential Campaign

2008 there will be open races for both parties' presidential nominations.
For the first time since 1952 a sitting president or vice president will not be a candidate for nomination of either major party.

US President 

Requirements, Benefits and more

US President

Qualifications:

• Must be a natural-born citizen of the United States (can be born abroad of parents who are American citizens).


• Must be 35 years of age.


• Must be a resident of the United States for at least 14 years (but not necessarily the 14 years preceding the election).

Benefits:

• A nice house


• A salary of $400,000 per year (taxable)


• Expense account of $50,000 per year (taxable)


• Travel expenses of $100,000 per year (tax-free)


• Pension, on retirement, of $63,000 per year (taxable)


• Staff support on leaving the presidency


• A place in the country - Camp David


• A personal airplane - Air Force One


• A fine chef

The Powers of the President:

According to Article II of the Constitution the President has the following powers:

• Serve as commander in chief of the armed forces


• Commission officer of the armed forces


• Grant reprieves and pardons for federal offenses (except impeachment)


• Convene Congress in special sessions


• Receive ambassadors


• Take care that the laws be faithfully executed


• Wield the "executive power"


• Appoint officials to lesser offices

Powers of the President That Are Shared with the Senate

• Make treaties


• Appoint ambassadors, judges, and high officials

Powers of the President That are Shared with Congress as a Whole

• Approve legislation

More Information:

From Project Vote Smart:

• Article II of the U.S. Constitution describes the official requirements one needs to run for President. It also describes the President's areas of power, the selection process, and the impeachment process of the President. These Constitutional Amendments are also related: Amendment 12; Amendment 20; Amendment 22; Amendment 24; Amendment 26.


• The Executive Branch Links to executive branch departments and documents.

Other Sources of Information:

• The American Presidency From Grolier's Online contains a "set of articles on the Presidents, the Presidency and American politics."


• Character Above All: An Exploration of Presidential Leadership From the PBS Online Newshour contains essays, a discussion forum, and transcripts from the broadcast of this program.


• Inaugural Addresses of the Presidents of the U.S. From George Washington to George W. Bush. Online from Bartleby.com.


• The Inaugural Classroom From PBS in association with the Presidential Inauguration Committee.


• Presidents of the United States (POTUS) Online from the Internet Public Library, this site provides background information, election results, cabinet members, presidency highlights, and some odd facts on each of the presidents. Links to biographies, historical documents, audio and video files, and other presidential sites are also included.


• The Presidents of the United States From The White House website. Pictures and descriptions of each President.


• US Presidents and Vice Presidents From the PresidentsUSA website. Detailed information about each President and Vice President. Facts and information about each President's administration, genealogy, speeches, historic sites, portraits, and biographies.

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This article is republished with the consent of Project Vote Smart. Access their website at www.vote-smart.org. Call their Voter's Research Hotline toll free 1-888-868-3762.

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Here's our guestbook 

Thanks for taking the time to visit this lens. Please take the time to sign our guestbook. Thanks.

thomasz Interesting lens. Nice info. Posted February 14, 2008

Dina10 I would like to keep up withwhat is going on. Posted August 25, 2007

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Political Books on Amazon 

The Dark Side: The Inside Story of How The War on Terror Turned into a War on American Ideals

by Jane Mayer

Amazon Price: $15.13 (as of 07/25/2008)

Fleeced: How Barack Obama, Media Mockery of Terrorist Threats, Liberals Who Want to Kill Talk Radio, the Do-Nothing Congress, Companies ... Are Scamming Us ... and What to Do About It

by Dick Morris, Eileen Mcgann

Amazon Price: $16.17 (as of 07/25/2008)

The Post-American World

by Fareed Zakaria

Amazon Price: $15.57 (as of 07/25/2008)

The Prosecution of George W. Bush for Murder

by Vincent Bugliosi

Amazon Price: $16.17 (as of 07/25/2008)

What Happened: Inside the Bush White House and Washington's Culture of Deception

by Scott McClellan

Amazon Price: $18.45 (as of 07/25/2008)