Today, I came across a story about McCain directly confronting Obama on the use of public financing during the general election. Evidently, early on in the race, Obama asked the FEC for guidance if it was allowable to use public financing for the general election, if he used private financing during the primaries. The goal was to use public financing if his Republican challenger would play by the same rules:

[Obama] has asked for guidance from the Federal Election Commission on whether he could reverse course if he wins the Democratic nomination and his Republican opponent accepts public money.

That plan was approved by the FEC:

Federal regulators ruled this morning that Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) will be permitted to collect money for a potential general election presidential campaign without foreclosing the possibility that he will still accept federal funds for that phase of the campaign.

I just wanted to put up quick a little diary about the Reno Gazette Journal endorsement of Barack Obama.

Up until now, I vowed to post no 'bashing' diaries. For the sake of my own dignity, I don't even consider this to be a bashing diary. In fact, the only thing I'll post is exactly what I've read in several other articles. I am a scientist, I know how to gather information while not letting it effect my emotions, and that's what I aim to do when picking a candidate. Before I even begin, I apologize unreservedly if I offend anyone.

I want to outline why I think it's a bad idea to consider throwing support John Edwards' way. Primarily, it is well known that John Edwards spent the last 4 to 4.5 years campaigning in Iowa, yet he finished far behind Obama and just barely better than Hillary. I have tried pointing that out to Edwards supporters, and frankly, some of them even go as far as denying he even campaigned that long. Second, it is also well known that Edwards heavily invested in early states, hoping to rely on momentum from early wins to propel him into later states' primaries. Finally, while they differ in their styles and campaign promises, we all know a vote for Obama is similar to a vote for Edwards in that we're voting for change. They both differ in their approach, and one of the two approaches has proven more desirable. They both, however, offer change.

At school between classes the other day, a buddy of mine asked if I'd watched the YouTube Republican debate last week. I had, so we talked about it. He asked me what I thought. I think Huckabee showed up the best, which is scary given that he has real populist ideals combined with conservative social values... a real Nazi in the making.

My buddy told me he tried to watch the last Democratic debate, but switched it off after 15 minutes because nearly all the candidates he heard speak were attacking Hillary. I'm a political junkie, so I know that at this point, they're all just trying to take Hillary down. My buddy isn't plugged in to every news source within reach, so all the arguing was too much.

Two things should be done in order for us to affect a real change in leadership.

This is just a forwarding of the latest bill restricting our rights to free speech and thought. The Patriot Act almost pales in comparison to HR 1955. The vote was cast on October 23rd this year, and passed overwhelmingly, 404-6.

H.R. 1955: Violent Radicalization and Homegrown Terrorism Prevention Act of 2007

The more I read, the more I think Kucinich is the right person for libertarian socialists to support. Wait, libertarian socialist? Click the prior links, or if you're familiar with their writings... think Noam Chomsky or Bertrand Russell (my personal favorite) (he was brilliant!) (\end flattery.sh).

So, back to Kucinich. Like all libertarians, he believes people should make their own moral choices. Ron Paul, on the other hand, does not... here is one example, and there are others.

I remember hearing on the mainstream media that Ron Paul's supporters are somehow rigging polls online in his favor, but never chose to completely believe what I'd heard. I didn't watch the last Republican debate (I know! Shame on me). Instead, I went to youtube so I could pick and choose which clips to hear. At any rate, I came upon several Ron Paul videos, and I watched them. I have several friends that are supporters of him, and while I'm not, I thought I'd listen in. After watching one video, I see this in the comments: