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美国大选将进入各党提名的实战阶段。
民主党方面，狡猾的爱得华提早退出竞选。在最后两轮辩论中，爱得华在奥巴马得势时帮奥巴马攻击希拉莉，又在希拉莉得势时批评奥巴马。爱得华退出竞选后并不宣布支持任何人，显然，他在等，看谁有可能获得提名就支持谁，自己好弄个副总统提名人。而实际上，无论奥巴马和希拉莉谁得到提名，让爱得华作副总统提名人都会对自己有好处。奥巴马可以借助他得到白人，特别是白人妇女的选票；希拉莉借助他可以得到一些工会的背书。
爱得华很聪明，知道自己被别人看好，先下后上。
共和党方面最大的变化是本来毫无希望的麦肯变成了跑在最前面的人。
麦肯是共和党的老将，越战英雄。然而，美国的保守派选民并不看好他，因为他的一些方针政策脱离了保守派的路线。比如他反对布什的减税，同情同性恋的结婚，建议非法移民合法化，都是跟保守派对着干的。坚定的保守派认为如果麦肯当选，共和党就会毁到他的手中。
纽约前市长朱力安尼本来是领先的人选，然而没有在一个州取得胜利。他把赌注押到佛罗里达州，也只拿个第三名。朱力安尼随后退出竞选，转而支持麦肯。
朱力安尼和爱得华一样，现在都是想当副总统提名人。不同的是，朱力安尼立场鲜明，退出后把自己的宝立刻押在好朋友麦肯身上，不象爱得华那样忽东忽西的。
加州州长施瓦辛格在共和党加州选举前力挺麦肯，给他撑腰。
可是，在加州生活的共和党人和保守派不会忘记，这个施瓦辛格是如何一步一步背叛他自己的竞选纲领，由一个保守派变成最大的自由派，在他的领导下，加州是如何再一次走向破产的边缘。一个自称是保守派的共和党州长竟然努力要在加州推出本属于自由派民主党的全民保险方案，结果还被民主党把持的州议会推翻，不能不说是一件令人不解又可笑的事情。
朱力安尼和施瓦辛格支持麦肯都有自己的打算。朱力安尼想当副总统，施瓦辛格想进华盛顿。他们同麦肯一样，都是有自由主义思想的共和党。虽然不断强调自己是保守派，其实他们除了在伊拉克战争上同保守派一致以外，基本上都是民主党的人了。
对于这一指责，朱力安尼说有时候要得到自己要得到的就得让别人先得到他要得到的东西，还说这是从里根总统那里学来的。
在这一点上，应该说同希拉莉是同出一辙。希拉莉在很多问题上是同共和党站在一起的，她被自由派骂成是民主党的叛徒。而奥巴马则被评为最有自由主义思想的参议员。
同民主党的奥巴马一样有自己坚定立场的共和党人是麻省州长罗姆尼。
罗姆尼唯一的缺陷是个莫门教徒。除此之外，无论在政治上，生意上，还是个人生活上，他都是最坚定的保守派。
罗姆尼竞选花的是自己的钱。他有从商从政的成功经验，曾挽救了盐湖城奥林卑克运动会，他立场坚定，旗帜鲜明，是一个说到做到的正人君子，一个好企业家和好州长。
把所有民主党和共和党的竞选人加一起，还没有一个人能比罗姆尼更能带领美国走出经济的衰退，重新建立一个健康的社会经济体系。
麦肯和希拉莉一样，都是政坛上的老油条，政治立场左右摇摆。
美国总统应该在罗姆尼和奥巴马中选出一个来。
欢迎阅览有关【美国大选】的其它文章。
［短评］进退维谷：克林顿夫妇把奥巴马逼进死胡同（文/视频）
［幽默］当希拉莉遇见奥巴马 (When Hillary met Obama) (图)
［幽默］您再靠近点儿~ (图)
［短评］来看看希拉莉是怎么样在新州反败为胜的（文/视频）
［短评］非法移民的天堂：美国还能撑多久？（文/视频） (图)
［幽默］来看看美国人是怎样拿布什总统开涮的［文/视频］
［纪实］美国大选花絮：希拉莉令人疑问的笑声［视频］
［纪实］来看看有可能成为美国第一夫人的美女们(图)
［短评］希拉里 VS 奥巴马：谁会是美国下届总统？
［政论］为什么不能选HILLARY作总统？（1) (图)
［政论］为什么不能选HILLARY作总统？(2) (图)
［政论］为什么不能选HILLARY为总统？(3) (图)
［政论］为什么不能选HILLARY作总统？（4） (图)
That's the game lawyers play all the time, don't be fooled by their smiles. Both Obama and Hillary /Clinton are lawyers .
It only means the fight is really nasty from now on.
Obama为什么等不得呢？实际上堵了自己的路。因为在党内杀的如此惨，未来赢不了共和党。
08年2月2日 星期六
本周最受欢迎的博客
1. noso： 潇洒人生路
来源: 温馨秋月 于 08-02-01 20:03:26 [档案] [博客] [旧帖] [转至博客] [给我悄悄话]
看了几个选举评论贴，忽然好奇于什么因素导致华人中尤其大陆移民中大多数人成为民主党及支持者？
感觉民主党的大方向很社会主义： 税富济贫扶弱控强；扩大政府缩小军费；对外讲和平谈判不讲战争暴力；教育要平等不能考试划等级。。。
而共和党非常资本主义：靠个人奋斗实现美国梦，不提倡或支持靠政府救济；减少政府职能，扩大军队开支；对外，人若犯我我必犯人，人不犯我也要管管；教育要考试哪个孩子也不例外。。。
民主党主张自由平等，个人自由，但却主张枪支管制；
共和党拥护法规管制，循规蹈矩，却支持个人拥有枪支的权利；
民主党pro-choice (this is consistent with chinese people's view on abortion)
共和党pro-life (but most republican are pro-death penalty because they are in favor of ORDER instead or EQUALITY)
是诸如此类的大方向导致的强大华人民主党吗？
还有，大多学术知识界的多民主党，高科技商界的多共和党，少数族裔多民主党，白人多共和党。。。对华人此概括也适用吗？
还常听人说：You are democrat when you are younger and have a heart; you are republican when you are older and have brains. 可是这点多华人不适用。
究竟究竟是什么重要因素造就了华人民主党派？
"选总统不是选老公", 所言及是。
所言及是。
这两人在政界混得太久，打着红旗反红旗，到处开空头支票，
跟ROMNEY比，他们除了一张嘴，没别的本事。
当然，MCCAIN要比希拉莉强，至少是越战英雄，对美国会在外交和国家安全上有保障。
恁看懂那篇转载的文章说的是什么含义了吗？要我说你根本就没看。呵呵。
即便见风使舵,总也好过吸毒,酗酒,乱搞15岁女孩的人渣.前者充其量叫为人圆滑,而后者犯的是原则性错误,作为总统候选人是致命的,是不可愿谅的.如果奥巴马能当选美国总统,足见美国人的道德观已沦丧到何种地步! 这将会是美国的耻辱与全世界的笑话.
成年人要善于透过现象看本质,奥巴马包装的在美丽,他也只能是衣冠禽兽,只能是只黑心的烂蘋果!请冷静下来,好好想想吧!
希拉莉先是投票支持伊战，现在又说自己被骗了（其实当时有二十多名民主党参议员投了反对票，为什么别人没被骗哪？）
麦肯先是提案立刻大赦非法移民，现在因为民愤太大，又改口说如果他做了总统，也不会签署他自己先前的提案。
两个都是见风使舵。
以为你能说出什么道道那，还不是扣扣帽子，打打棍子。老了您就歇着吧。呵呵。: D
病的不轻啊，呵呵。文革时没闲着吧，上来就大帽子，看懂了没有？
知道罗姆尼在麻州州长竞选时，把自己比的比民主党还民主党。
知道了；罗姆尼在麻州最大的市政工程出事以后先说的是由于民主党的捣乱。
为什莫在全民反战的的情况下，伊战的坚定支持者马坎到处选举领先。
算了，就别想了，累着就不合适了。
就是见不得这种“我是名奴”的态度。
小巴是有点儿大男子主义倾向。:)
对不起，一般来说，被洗过脑的都有后遗症：自己说服自己。:)
我那篇转载的是什么内容和含义估计没多少人能真正理解。
Senator Barack Obama has won the endorsement today from the membership of MoveOn.
In a vote of the group’s members, Mr. Obama outpaced Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton 70 percent to 30 percent. The political action committee of MoveOn.org has 3.2 million members across the country, including 1.7 million members who live in the 22 states with Democratic primaries or caucuses on Tuesday
The largest labor union in California, the Service Employees International Union, with 650,000 members in the state, decided Friday to endorse Barack Obama.
That endorsement, by the California state chapter of the nation’s most political potent union, will help build momentum for Mr. Obama. In addition, because of the union’s large Latino membership, the endorsement could prove important in persuading more Hispanics to vote for Mr. Obama in the California primary next Tuesday.
Right on!
That's what makes this country great.
"So far your judgment is skin deep."
那又怎样,我又不是X光机.至少我还知道要皮,如果连皮都不要,那还象人吗?
I agree that change is a better thing.
Good news is that right now he is playing with Hillary at her own game.
He has learned his lesson, he is getting smart.
: )
"美国越变越穷一是打仗打的，二就是非法移民吃的。吃得合法居民的福利都要砍了。"
well said.
(声明偶没有种族歧视啊老墨老黑都有好人)
Obama storm will sweep the country. He is winning the hearts of millions of American people who volunteer and donate whatever they have to support his candidacy. His January $32 million fundraising is from hundreds of thousands of small donors like me. I am not wealthy, but will continue to give $10, $50, whatever I can. I firmly believe he will bring the voices of the poor and the under-previliged to the White House. He will be the people's president and will stand in history among the ranks of America's greatest presidents--Washington, Lincoln,and Kennedy. I am very excited that I will witness and contribute at this historical moment.
谢谢你的评论。可见来逛文学城的有高人。: )
要投希拉莉的请看这篇《纽约时报》昨天的头版报道
After Mining Deal, Financier Donated to Clinton
By JO BECKER and DON VAN NATTA Jr.
Published: January 31, 2008
Late on Sept. 6, 2005, a private plane carrying the Canadian mining financier Frank Giustra touched down in Almaty, a ruggedly picturesque city in southeast Kazakhstan. Several hundred miles to the west a fortune awaited: highly coveted deposits of uranium that could fuel nuclear reactors around the world. And Mr. Giustra was in hot pursuit of an exclusive deal to tap them.
Unlike more established competitors, Mr. Giustra was a newcomer to uranium mining in Kazakhstan, a former Soviet republic. But what his fledgling company lacked in experience, it made up for in connections. Accompanying Mr. Giustra on his luxuriously appointed MD-87 jet that day was a former president of the United States, Bill Clinton.
Upon landing on the first stop of a three-country philanthropic tour, the two men were whisked off to share a sumptuous midnight banquet with Kazakhstan’s president, Nursultan A. Nazarbayev, whose 19-year stranglehold on the country has all but quashed political dissent.
Mr. Nazarbayev walked away from the table with a propaganda coup, after Mr. Clinton expressed enthusiastic support for the Kazakh leader’s bid to head an international organization that monitors elections and supports democracy. Mr. Clinton’s public declaration undercut both American foreign policy and sharp criticism of Kazakhstan’s poor human rights record by, among others, Mr. Clinton’s wife, Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York.
Within two days, corporate records show that Mr. Giustra also came up a winner when his company signed preliminary agreements giving it the right to buy into three uranium projects controlled by Kazakhstan’s state-owned uranium agency, Kazatomprom.
The monster deal stunned the mining industry, turning an unknown shell company into one of the world’s largest uranium producers in a transaction ultimately worth tens of millions of dollars to Mr. Giustra, analysts said.
Just months after the Kazakh pact was finalized, Mr. Clinton’s charitable foundation received its own windfall: a $31.3 million donation from Mr. Giustra that had remained a secret until he acknowledged it last month. The gift, combined with Mr. Giustra’s more recent and public pledge to give the William J. Clinton Foundation an additional $100 million, secured Mr. Giustra a place in Mr. Clinton’s inner circle, an exclusive club of wealthy entrepreneurs in which friendship with the former president has its privileges.
Mr. Giustra was invited to accompany the former president to Almaty just as the financier was trying to seal a deal he had been negotiating for months.
In separate written responses, both men said Mr. Giustra traveled with Mr. Clinton to Kazakhstan, India and China to see first-hand the philanthropic work done by his foundation.
A spokesman for Mr. Clinton said the former president knew that Mr. Giustra had mining interests in Kazakhstan but was unaware of “any particular efforts” and did nothing to help. Mr. Giustra said he was there as an “observer only” and there was “no discussion” of the deal with Mr. Nazarbayev or Mr. Clinton.
But Moukhtar Dzhakishev, president of Kazatomprom, said in an interview that Mr. Giustra did discuss it, directly with the Kazakh president, and that his friendship with Mr. Clinton “of course made an impression.” Mr. Dzhakishev added that Kazatomprom chose to form a partnership with Mr. Giustra’s company based solely on the merits of its offer.
After The Times told Mr. Giustra that others said he had discussed the deal with Mr. Nazarbayev, Mr. Giustra responded that he “may well have mentioned my general interest in the Kazakhstan mining business to him, but I did not discuss the ongoing” efforts.
As Mrs. Clinton’s presidential campaign has intensified, Mr. Clinton has begun severing financial ties with Ronald W. Burkle, the supermarket magnate, and Vinod Gupta, the chairman of InfoUSA, to avoid any conflicts of interest. Those two men have harnessed the former president’s clout to expand their businesses while making the Clintons rich through partnership and consulting arrangements.
Mr. Clinton has vowed to continue raising money for his foundation if Mrs. Clinton is elected president, maintaining his connections with a wide network of philanthropic partners.
Mr. Giustra said that while his friendship with the former president “may have elevated my profile in the news media, it has not directly affected any of my business transactions.”
Mining colleagues and analysts agree it has not hurt. Neil MacDonald, the chief executive of a Canadian merchant bank that specializes in mining deals, said Mr. Giustra’s financial success was partly due to a “fantastic network” crowned by Mr. Clinton. “That’s a very solid relationship for him,” Mr. MacDonald said. “I’m sure it’s very much a two-way relationship because that’s the way Frank operates.”
Foreseeing Opportunities
Mr. Giustra made his fortune in mining ventures as a broker on the Vancouver Stock Exchange, raising billions of dollars and developing a loyal following of investors. Just as the mining sector collapsed, Mr. Giustra, a lifelong film buff, founded the Lion’s Gate Entertainment Corporation in 1997. But he sold the studio in 2003 and returned to mining.
Mr. Giustra foresaw a bull market in gold and began investing in mines in Argentina, Australia and Mexico. He turned a $20 million shell company into a powerhouse that, after a $2.4 billion merger with Goldcorp Inc., became Canada’s second-largest gold company.
With a net worth estimated in the hundreds of millions of dollars, Mr. Giustra began looking for ways to put his wealth to good use. Meeting Mr. Clinton, and learning about the work his foundation was doing on issues like AIDS treatment in poor countries, “changed my life,” Mr. Giustra told The Vancouver Sun.
The two men were introduced in June 2005 at a fund-raiser for tsunami victims at Mr. Giustra’s Vancouver home and hit it off right away. They share a love of history, geopolitics and music — Mr. Giustra plays the trumpet to Mr. Clinton’s saxophone. Soon the dapper Canadian was a regular at Mr. Clinton’s side, as they flew around the world aboard Mr. Giustra’s plane.
Philanthropy may have become his passion, but Mr. Giustra, now 50, was still hunting for ways to make money.
Exploding demand for energy had helped revitalize the nuclear power industry, and uranium, the raw material for reactor fuel, was about to become a hot commodity. In late 2004, Mr. Giustra began talking to investors, and put together a company that would eventually be called UrAsia Energy Ltd.
Kazakhstan, which has about one-fifth of the world’s uranium reserves, was the place to be. But with plenty of suitors, Kazatomprom could be picky about its partners.
“Everyone was asking Kazatomprom to the dance,” said Fadi Shadid, a senior stock analyst covering the uranium industry for Friedman Billings Ramsey, an investment bank. “A second-tier junior player like UrAsia — you’d need all the help you could get.”
The Cameco Corporation, the world’s largest uranium producer, was already a partner of Kazatomprom. But when Cameco expressed interest in the properties Mr. Giustra was already eying, the government’s response was lukewarm. “The signals we were getting was, you’ve got your hands full,” said Gerald W. Grandey, Cameco president.
For Cameco, it took five years to “build the right connections” in Kazakhstan, Mr. Grandey said. UrAsia did not have that luxury. Profitability depended on striking before the price of uranium soared.
“Timing was everything,” said Sergey Kurzin, a Russian-born businessman whose London-based company was brought into the deal by UrAsia because of his connections in Kazakhstan. Even with those connections, Mr. Kurzin said, it took four months to arrange a meeting with Kazatomprom.
In August 2005, records show, the company sent an engineering consultant to Kazakhstan to assess the uranium properties. Less than four weeks later, Mr. Giustra arrived with Mr. Clinton.
Mr. Dzhakishev, the Kazatomprom chief, said an aide to Mr. Nazarbayev informed him that Mr. Giustra talked with Mr. Nazarbayev about the deal during the visit. “And when our president asked Giustra, ‘What do you do?’ he said, ‘I’m trying to do business with Kazatomprom,’ ” Mr. Dzhakishev said. He added that Mr. Nazarbayev replied, “Very good, go to it.”
Mr. Clinton’s Kazakhstan visit, the only one of his post-presidency, appears to have been arranged hastily. The United States Embassy got last-minute notice that the president would be making “a private visit,” said a State Department official, who said he was not authorized to speak on the record.
The publicly stated reason for the visit was to announce a Clinton Foundation agreement that enabled the government to buy discounted AIDS drugs. But during a news conference, Mr. Clinton wandered into delicate territory by commending Mr. Nazarbayev for “opening up the social and political life of your country.”
In a statement Kazakhstan would highlight in news releases, Mr. Clinton declared that he hoped it would achieve a top objective: leading the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, which would confer legitimacy on Mr. Nazarbayev’s government.
“I think it’s time for that to happen, it’s an important step, and I’m glad you’re willing to undertake it,” Mr. Clinton said.
A Speedy Process
Mr. Clinton’s praise was odd, given that the United States did not support Mr. Nazarbayev’s bid. (Late last year, Kazakhstan finally won the chance to lead the security organization for one year, despite concerns raised by the Bush administration.) Moreover, Mr. Clinton’s wife, who sits on a Congressional commission with oversight of such matters, had also voiced skepticism.
Eleven months before Mr. Clinton’s statement, Mrs. Clinton co-signed a commission letter to the State Department that sounded “alarm bells” about the prospect that Kazakhstan might head the group. The letter stated that Kazakhstan’s bid “would not be acceptable,” citing “serious corruption,” canceled elections and government control of the news media.
In a written statement to The Times, Mr. Clinton’s spokesman said the former president saw “no contradiction” between his statements in Kazakhstan and the position of Mrs. Clinton, who said through a spokeswoman, “Senator Clinton’s position on Kazakhstan remains unchanged.”
Noting that the former president also met with opposition leaders in Almaty, Mr. Clinton’s spokesman said he was only “seeking to suggest that a commitment to political openness and to fair elections would reflect well on Kazakhstan’s efforts to chair the O.S.C.E.”
But Robert Herman, who worked for the State Department in the Clinton administration and is now at Freedom House, a human rights group, said the former president’s statement amounted to an endorsement of Kazakhstan’s readiness to lead the group, a position he called “patently absurd.”
“He was either going off his brief or he was sadly mistaken,” Mr. Herman said. “There was nothing in the record to suggest that they really wanted to move forward on democratic reform.”
Indeed, in December 2005, Mr. Nazarbayev won another election, which the security organization itself said was marred by an “atmosphere of intimidation” and “ballot-box stuffing.”
After Mr. Nazarbayev won with 91 percent of the vote, Mr. Clinton sent his congratulations. “Recognizing that your work has received an excellent grade is one of the most important rewards in life,” Mr. Clinton wrote in a letter released by the Kazakh embassy. Last September, just weeks after Kazakhstan held an election that once again failed to meet international standards, Mr. Clinton honored Mr. Nazarbayev by inviting him to his annual philanthropic conference.
Within 48 hours of Mr. Clinton’s departure from Almaty on Sept. 7, Mr. Giustra got his deal. UrAsia signed two memorandums of understanding that paved the way for the company to become partners with Kazatomprom in three mines.
The cost to UrAsia was more than $450 million, money the company did not have in hand and had only weeks to come up with. The transaction was finalized in November, after UrAsia raised the money through the largest initial public offering in the history of Canada’s Venture Exchange.
Mr. Giustra challenged the notion that UrAsia needed to court Kazatomprom’s favor to seal the deal, contending that the government agency’s approval was not required.
But Mr. Dzhakishev, analysts and Mr. Kurzin, one of Mr. Giustra’s own investors, said that approval was necessary. Mr. Dzhakishev, who said that the deal was almost done when Mr. Clinton arrived, said that Kazatomprom was impressed with the sum Mr. Giustra was willing to pay and his record of attracting investors. He said Mr. Nazarbayev himself ultimately signed off on the transaction.
Longtime market watchers were confounded. Kazatomprom’s choice of UrAsia was a “mystery,” said Gene Clark, the chief executive of Trade Tech, a uranium industry newsletter.
“UrAsia was able to jump-start the whole process somehow,” Mr. Clark said. The company became a “major uranium producer when it didn’t even exist before.”
A Profitable Sale
Records show that Mr. Giustra donated the $31.3 million to the Clinton Foundation in the months that followed in 2006, but neither he nor a spokesman for Mr. Clinton would say exactly when.
In September 2006, Mr. Giustra co-produced a gala 60th birthday for Mr. Clinton that featured stars like Jon Bon Jovi and raised about $21 million for the Clinton Foundation.
In February 2007, a company called Uranium One agreed to pay $3.1 billion to acquire UrAsia. Mr. Giustra, a director and major shareholder in UrAsia, would be paid $7.05 per share for a company that just two years earlier was trading at 10 cents per share.
That same month, Mr. Dzhakishev, the Kazatomprom chief, said he traveled to Chappaqua, N.Y., to meet with Mr. Clinton at his home. Mr. Dzhakishev said Mr. Giustra arranged the three-hour meeting. Mr. Dzhakishev said he wanted to discuss Kazakhstan’s intention — not publicly known at the time — to buy a 10 percent stake in Westinghouse, a United States supplier of nuclear technology.
Nearly a year earlier, Mr. Clinton had advised Dubai on how to handle the political furor after one of that nation’s companies attempted to take over several American ports. Mrs. Clinton was among those on Capitol Hill who raised the national security concerns that helped kill the deal.
Mr. Dzhakishev said he was worried the proposed Westinghouse investment could face similar objections. Mr. Clinton told him that he would not lobby for him, but Mr. Dzhakishev came away pleased by the chance to promote his nation’s proposal to a former president.
Mr. Clinton “said this was very important for America,” said Mr. Dzhakishev, who added that Mr. Giustra was present at Mr. Clinton’s home.
Both Mr. Clinton and Mr. Giustra at first denied that any such meeting occurred. Mr. Giustra also denied ever arranging for Kazakh officials to meet with Mr. Clinton. Wednesday, after The Times told them that others said a meeting, in Mr. Clinton’s home, had in fact taken place, both men acknowledged it.
“You are correct that I asked the president to meet with the head of Kazatomprom,” Mr. Giustra said. “Mr. Dzhakishev asked me in February 2007 to set up a meeting with former President Clinton to discuss the future of the nuclear energy industry.” Mr. Giustra said the meeting “escaped my memory until you raised it.”
Wednesday, Mr. Clinton’s spokesman, Ben Yarrow, issued what he called a “correction,” saying: “Today, Mr. Giustra told our office that in February 2007, he brought Mr. Dzhakishev from Kazatomprom to meet with President Clinton to discuss the future of nuclear energy.”
Mr. Yarrow said his earlier denial was based on the former president’s records, which he said “show a Feb. 27 meeting with Mr. Giustra; no other attendees are listed.”
Mr. Dzhakishev said he had a vivid memory of his Chappaqua visit, and a souvenir to prove it: a photograph of himself with the former president.
“I hung up the photograph of us and people ask me if I met with Clinton and I say, Yes, I met with Clinton,” he said, smiling proudly.
I would agree with you on that. He does seem empty headed when it comes to issues.
No one is clean in politics. We don't have much choices here.
He is a Black Bush Jr.
I was wondering to whom that Smart518 yelled stupid at, hahahaha~~
Only you think I am 12, now who is 12? hahahaha~~~~