Jay began writing politically themed commentary and founded his blog, Swimming Freestyle, in October 2007. Here he'll write about politics from a progressive perspective.

More Articles
Topics

The longer version, McCain and the Keating Five

Obama/McCain. How ugly will it get?

A Picture for the Day

Bin Laden's real strategy?

Palin lied about Sudan divestment too

A Picture for the Day

Status of Force Agreement

1930 British/Iraqi Treaty

Examiner Feeds

These websites were picked by the Progressive Politics Examiner as useful resources.

Experts: Half of mammals in decline

MSNBC Top Headlines - 2 hrs 31 mins ago

Bomber hits Pakistan official's home

MSNBC Top Headlines - 2 hrs 54 mins ago

Dow dips below 10,000, a first since Oct. 2004

MSNBC Top Headlines - 3 hrs ago

Hearings open on financial meltdown

MSNBC Top Headlines - 3 hrs ago

House panel grills Lehman chief

MSNBC Top Headlines - 3 hrs ago

News

Opinion

Progressive Politics Examiner Links

swimming freestyle

National Examiners

Scott Gingold
Business News Examiner
Most Recent Post
Price versus service

Elizabeth Oakes
Wedding Examiner
Most Recent Post
Bridals and booze: where to draw the line?

Leslie Cramer
Wine Examiner
Most Recent Post
Wine trends

Tony Campbell
Politics Examiner
Most Recent Post
Governor Paliin: Ignore Bill Kristol by avoiding Glass Sanctuaries

Charlie Papazian
Beer Examiner
Most Recent Post
Bell's Brewery captures the thirst of midwest beer drinkers.

John McCain's new ad is dumb

2 comments

July 21, 1:48 PM

by Jay McDonough, Progressive Politics Examiner

John McCain's new campaign ad takes aim at Barack Obama, trying to link Obama to gas prices and suggesting he's the cause for "rising prices at the pump". Here's the ad:

Here's why it's a dumb ad:

- John McCain still opposes drilling in ANWR and has, until it became politically expedient in the last month, opposed drilling on the continental shelf off the U.S. coast. So he's, in fact, one of those who said "no to drilling in America" and "no to independence from foreign oil"

- Even the most gung ho proponents of drilling acknowledge any supply from the new sites would be unavailable to the market for 8 to 10 years and have minimal impact on the price at the pump.

- Given that John McCain has been in Congress for 26 years and Barack Obama has been there all of 4 years, it raises the obvious question of who is more responsible for the current price of gasoline. Since our dependency on foreign oil is a good deal longer than 4 years, it would seem Senator McCain has alot more to answer for than Senator Obama. In fact, here's a recent quote from Senator McCain:

"Let me give you a little bit of straight talk on energy. Our dangerous dependence on foreign oil has been thirty years in the making, and was caused by the failure of politicians in Washington to think long term about the future of the country.'"

- The oil companies currently hold leases on 60 million acres of federal land that are available to them for oil drilling. They have chosen not to do oil exploration on that land and Senator McCain has done nothing to encourage the oil companies to explore U.S. land that's been available for some time. I would call that a failure on Senator McCain's part to free us from that dependence on foreign oil he professes to care so much about now.

Topics: Obama , McCain , oil

Feed

Comments

The longer version, McCain and the Keating Five

Add a Comment

October 6, 9:34 AM

The just released 13 minute version of the documentary outlining John McCain's involvement in the infamous Keating Five scandal:... Read More
Topics: McCain , Keating Five

Obama/McCain. How ugly will it get?

4 comments

October 6, 8:59 AM

The last gasp McCain offensive began over the weekend. Unable to shift the focus from the economy (and good luck with that now - the Dow is below 10,000 as I write this), the McCain campaign made it clear it will work until election day portraying... Read More
Topics: Obama , McCain , Keating Five

A Picture for the Day

Add a Comment

October 5, 7:39 PM

Stuttgart, Germany, September 24: Cacau of VfB Stuttgart celebrates a goal during his team's German Cup victory over Arminia Bielefeld (Photograph: Alex Grimm/Reuters)... Read More
Topics: A Picture for the Day

Bin Laden's real strategy?

Add a Comment

October 5, 6:24 PM

Not the first time the argument has been made. But it's particularly timely given the economic meltdown of the last couple weeks. From a commenter over at the Daily Dish:On 9/11, Al Qaeda had no expectation of a traditional military victory... Read More

Palin lied about Sudan divestment too

2 comments

October 5, 3:28 PM

Some analysts are spending nearly full time chronicling Sarah Palin lies. Here's another to add to the long list. During last Thursday's vice presidential debate, Governor Palin claimed she successfully led Alaska's efforts to divest Sudanese... Read More
Topics: Sarah Palin , Sudan

The Economist article Sarah Palin probably won't read

5 comments

October 5, 11:40 AM

I can count the number of things Sarah Palin and I agree on with one hand. And I would have a bunch of fingers left over. But we are both fans of The Economist. I suspect, though, Ms. Palin may pass over The Economist's recent... Read More
Topics: Obama , McCain , Palin , The Economist

The SNL vice presidential debate

2 comments

October 5, 8:30 AM

The McCain campaign has a deliberate strategy of isolating Sarah Palin from the media. Limited interviews, no press conferences. In the absence of any real opportunity to hear Sarah Palin outside of warmed over stump speeches full of stale... Read More
Topics: Obama , Palin , SNL , Tina Fey

John and Sarah in High School Musical 3

Add a Comment

October 4, 10:15 PM

McCain cuts a rug. I had no idea Sarah Palin could sing.... Read More
Topics: McCain , Palin , JibJab

A Picture for the Day

Add a Comment

October 4, 5:06 PM

Kolkata, India: A man pours water from the river Ganges during a prayer ceremony on the holy day of Mahalaya(Photograph: Jayanta Shaw/Reuters) ... Read More
Topics: A Picture for the Day