What is the most important topic that needs to be debated by the VP candidates?

It is interesting how "instant gratification" is being painted with such a broad brush.  People I know live within their means.  They may have 3-5 credit cards but rarely use them.  Most of the people you seem to be talking about here are the "new rich" or the ones who win lotteries and have no common sense.  It is these people that have caused this crisis.  Banks who lend to these type of people are at fault.  I, as a taxpayer, should not have to pay for the bad judgment, greed and stupidity of the few who got us here.

I agree with you about the easy credit and instant gratification being a problem.  The reason we have lost all of our manufacturing is that we never retooled our industries to make tham more efficent.  Instead we sent the money overseas and began importing goods from asia.  We fell behind on making ourselves more energy independent by not funding research into other energy sources.  Instead we give tax breaks to multi-national corporations who send jobs overseas and dont invest their profits back into the country.  They park their money off-shore so they dont have to pay taxes thereby letting our industry fall further behind.  The other problem we have that is that our infrastructure is crumbling we a literally decaying from the inside out.  Out railroads, airports and highways are out of date.  Instead of wasting our money on being in iraq and increasing our debt and the many other things that we waste money on outside of our country.  we need to start investing in the United States not Iraq, Pakistan, and all the other countries that we give money to.  i believe that this the only way for us to get back on top.  We need to stop outsourcing all of our jobs.

Are you allowing 1 person to dictate how you are registered or did you truely change your belief system?

Sandee. welcome to the light. I hope this means you're going to vote.  Please just don't waste your vote by not voting or worst; voting independent. 

Sorry you're wrong on that thought!  Sarah will do very well with tonight's debate and Biden will prove he can over talk about most issues.  I think what scares some people about Sarah is that she's the closest candidate we've had who's experiences and values most closely connect to most American's.

Not to mine.  She has NO idea what the average American goes through on a day to day basis.  Yes, she would like to convince us that she shares our experiences and values.  I don't believe that for one minute and I don't believe that most Americans believe that she is "THE ONE" who we can relate to.

Buff,  Palin does not reflect my families values, in fact I believe she has extreme views, experiences and beliefs.  She might connect to your America, but from where I sit, she and McCain both are out of touch with most America.  It's not that her life experiences and values scare people, it's that the women can't even string a sentence together, and has had no life outside Alaska, her entire life.  I have also lived in 1 town my entire life.  The difference is that I am not running for VP, and possibly President.  I have traveled to Europe, but I  don't claim to be experienced in foreign policy.  Palin just got her passport last year.  She has also said she had never met a foreign leader up until a week ago.  She is not ready and I quesion McCain's judgement more than ever.  I look forward to a very entertaining evening. 

But Obama's ready? i find it humorous that McCain is using an advertisement with Joe Biden slamming Obama. Palin will have her work cut out for her tonite though, there is no denying that. yes it will be entertaining!

Yes, I do indeed think Obama is ready.  He is very intelligent, and I believe that he will surround himself with intelligent people.  That will be a switch we Americans are not used to...intelligent people running our country.  McCain however will surround himself with people who helped to drive this country into a ditch.  I have to believe that Obama will bring change to America.  What else do we have, if we don't have hope? 

i guess it doesn't bother you that obama also attends a church for many years with a racist minister ( oh yes, i forgot that only happened once) and has been associated with leftist radicals and is willing to sit down with terrorists and TALK to them, the people that would kill your children in an instant. has he ever been in a war, does he know what it is like - do i want him protecting me - no thank you! one thing that you can say good about Bush ( and there is not many) that he has kept this country safe since 9/11 and for that i commend him. and what is up with that symbol obama is using? isn't the flag good enough or is that part of his "change"? i guess the thing about Obama is that i don't trust him, and the debate between he and Mcain didn't change that. at least with mccain i know he is a military person and has served and loved this country and he is a maverick and will do what is best for the country and not his party

Not just you, Sandee.  My husband was appalled when McCain picked Palin as his running mate.  As he said, "we just had eight years of a president who couldn't articulate his way through an order off of McDonalds Value Menu, are we (Republicans) gonna do it again this year?"

That being said, he's voting for Obama but he's not changing his party affilaition quite yet because he keeps hoping that Republicans will return to the party of Fiscal Responsibility not Booger Eating Morons who are more worried about what the Gays are doing instead of the economy. 

Michelle,  What you are forgetting is that Bush was made aware of the threat of an attack months before the actual attack, and he did nothing!  We are not safer now than we were before 9/11, because the world hates us for attacking a country that did not attack us.  McCain is a bumbling fool who can't remember what he thinks from one week to the next.  I do trust that Obama will be able to reforge relationships and make new allies because he is good at listening and doesn't think of himself as supreme or a Maverick, unlike McCain. 

wow...the strategist virus is spreading, we sound like the pundits on television.  Read the constitution for a little pick me up.  then ask yourself if our Palin candidate will save your backside when our ill presidential candiddate McCain succumbs to that illness in office.  then you'll be happy with ONE coherent word? The strategists are lowing your bar with all this build up...it critical thinking that matters...vp candidate isn't doing much of that!  Her responses are reported as emotional...and that she should stay there!  Raise the bar and do it with purpose...she needs to show me she can govern a nation of over 300 m.  she needs to show me now. no...she needs to spend more time learning to assess career moves based on experience, comparatively speaking, she might just choose the nuke to get to objective quicker, never even considering the real outcome, instead of the desired outcome for everyone.

just as a thought...what would our election be like if there were no independents...Obama may not have made it through Iowa...McCain, well, there is no alternative scenerio for McCain...he is self distructing, should have retired years ago.  He's done enough for his country...take it easy brother, we thank you, but its time to go. The independents may have driven us into Bushes arms, but they are just as likely to run like %#$@ from McCain in the face of our 'correction'.  Independents understand fixing a mistake.

I am right there with you on that deduction Natalie and I am wanting to know (I am sure he is going to watch for being condescending toward her tonight) but I wonder if she is going to be condescending towards him as one of her tactics...it will definitely be interesting and I personally find her to be an insult to small town Americans and Alaskans (having grown up there myself).

I coach youth basketball. From time to time, we play teams that field girls on the boys' squad. The first time this happened the kids came to me and said, "Coach what do we do?". I asked them the following questions:

Is she wearing the other team's uniform?

Is she on the court with you?

With both answers being in the affirmative, I responded, "Treat her just like any other basketball player. If she can put on a uniform and step on the court with us, we should show her no special consideration."

Same is true for Ms. Palin, she should receive no special consideration. Biden and the Democrats will rue the day, if they treat with kit gloves and she shines because of it!

As Alaskans become more aware of who Sarah Palin really is her popularity is beginning to dive, down into the 60s somewhere and falling. Washington doesn't need someone who simply is a "good moral person", they need someone who not only is a "good moral person" but has the intellectual capacity to deal with a world full of people that aren't, and who has the capacity to see beyond their own narrow point of view (which we all have) and encompass the benefits of the majority of Americans, regardless of view, in their goals of driving the country forward.

In this, Sarah fails.

Yeah ... that is what they said about George W. Bush ... twice ... we see where that got us an economy that is tanking and an unending war with thousands of young americans maimed and dead.  If we put McCain-Palin in office we get exactly what we deserve just like we deserve this mess for putting Bush in office ... not once, but twice.  God ... save us all from idiots!

Of course Alaskans love her, she sends them a big check every year.  She has never had to deal with a tough economy (80% of Alaska's is oil). Alaska gets more federal $$ per capita then any other state.  She passed dealing with other countries in an environmental organization.  And what is old fashion common sense?  Forcing rape victims to purchase their rape kit?  Having a preacher protect you from witchcraft?  Wow, that is common sense.  She has led a state of 660,000 for 20 months.  That state does not come close to mirroring the problems that exist in our country of 305 million people and the largest economy in the world.  And who is Joe six pack?  Just anybody should not be President.  A President should have certain life experiences, (meeting many people, dealing with different cultures, working different fields in communities and government) knowledge about our country (especially the history of) high level education, and global understanding because we are no longer isolated from the world.  That person can start from anywhere and that is what is great about America, but you still have to look at the life lived and I do not want Joe six pack as my president, I wouldn't want joe six pack to be my heart surgeon.  I respect Palin for what she has made of her life but McCain picking her was a slap in the face.  The thought of this woman being vp or president is scary!

JoeBuck--You make me laugh!  "You are what America has needed for such a long time. A good moral person who knows that Washington needs some good old fashioned common sense."  I think 8 years of a person who can't talk coherently is quite long enough.  Moral?  What about Trooper Gate?  I will give you old fashioned, but common sense, now that  is another story. She is obviously not ready for the platform in which she seeks to attain.  As a mother of 3, I do not look up to a woman who leaves her handicapped baby and pregnant daughter to better her career.  Good,  old fashioned common sense tells me otherwise. 

Joe-Buck

Wow! So you think Sarah has common sense??!!  I'll  say it again.. wowwwwwwwwwww!!!  Where is yours?!

I wouldnt want that woman to teach my grade school children ,let alone be in charge of anyyyyyything in this country! ..

Shes a moral person?? Really??

Where's her baby?? Who is bonding with him?? Who is up breast feeding him at night??

How can you be stumping around the nation and take care of a small baby??

How can you be counciling your young child who is now pregnant? Who is helping her?

She is only a child after all.. and must be very scared..

I've raised two children.. and believe me.. the best investment I have even made . was to not worry about my career, how much money my husband and I could make if I pursued it.. and stay home and take care of the children we had decided to bring into the world..

 I went back to work when my daughter was little..

Im not saying you have to be home forever 

 My hubby came in the door after work and I went out and worked the pm shift at a hospital .. just so I could be there for them..

I worked jobs far below my skills just so I could be there after school and there to take them to band practice and all of the other things that children need..

Believe me .. Id do the math on my paycheck and just sighhhhhhhh as I was back at square one.. making $7.00 a hr .. just so I could invest in our children..

That investment was the wisest and most important thing I have even done..

My children who are 28 and 25 now.. say that they now see what mum did to be with them..

My chidren have never been latch key kids.. and I do believe that the example I have set for them wil help them to be good parents..

Since then I have been certified as a personal trainer and yoga teacher and now make more an hour than most people..

So I say to Sarah..Stay home , raise the children you have brought into the world..especially when they are still babys .. Help your other pregnant child thru this ordeal..  

 Quite worrying about your ambitions and how much money you make and your career. 

There are a lot of woman in your party that could have stepped up to the plate and taken this job.. And from what I can tell.. a lot more intelligent women that might not be making all of us other woman cringe every time we hear you open your mouth.

In the end. ambition  isnt what helps us all..

 Raising chidren with time and love  to be good people after all , helps the whole country.. (-;

I agree that mums can work.. but they also need to stay home for a while .. bond with their child.. give them love and comfort them..

A

amen

Think of it this way, dEE, I'd rather have someone who knows something about Foreign Policy before Economics because if they blow the US off the face of the earth Economics won't really matter.  Economics is taught in high school, no big deal, anyone can learn it, even Obama. 

As for Economics, at least McCain went to Washington to address the issue.  Obama was too busy glad handing and campaigning.  Call me, if you need me.  I'll be"present".  What a loser.  He was too self absorbed in winning the campaign, then dealing with the issues.  He only came to Washington after Bush invited him because he knew he would look like a complete rube if he didnt show his face and at least act intrested.  ANd then he sat there in silence, but came out telling everyone the he and Biden said that the bailout was the most important thing and something had to be done about it immediatley. 

The guy is pulling the wool over everyone's eyes and he's not even President!

ldrdaddy, I have voted for both democrats and republicans, and base my votes on who I believe is more closely aligned with what I feel are the most important issues.  I took a test where my results were almost split between McCain (35 points) to Obama (31 points).  I actually agreed on more issues with Obama, but I agreed with McCain on the issues I felt were most important.  I invite anyone to take the test for themselves at  and see where the candidates match you.  The test will take you 2-3 minutes.

You make a very valid point about whether or not Obama is qualified to be president, as he has had less than two terms as a senator.  I believe the Democrats made an error when they compared Palin's experience with his, because they were comparing the Republican's VICE-PRESIDENTIAL candidate with their PRESIDENTIAL candidate.  The point I was trying to make with regards to the possibility of next VP ascending to the Presidency was that the Democrats didn't want Biden as their president so why should anyone.

Instead of focusing on which VP candidate is better qualified to be President, we should focus on who is actually more qualified and is running for President.  In that debate it is hands down McCain.

By the way, I am from Illinois....Obama's state.

I just noticed that the link didn't get posted. The test is at I hope it goes through this time.