YOUR COMMENTS

So for those who are concerned about raising taxes on corporations - I want you to present a couple of statistics on corporate America - before you pick your candidate:
92 out of every 100 businesses in the US are SMALL Business (Source Office of Advocacy, Small Business Association)
Three of every four new jobs (on average) are created by companies with fewer than 500 employees (Source: www.salemfive.com)
These same businesses generate 39 percent of total US Sales and more than half of the nation's GDP (Source: Office of Advocacy, SBA).

So raising taxes on business - who does it hurt? Really? Where will the pain be felt? Do you honestly believe that the large corporations are going to feel all the pain?

Only 21% of US businesses fall in the "corporation" category while 73% and 6% are sole proprietors and partnerships respectively (Source: www.census.gov).

Any candidate whose answer is raise taxes on big business - has not examined the makeup of businesses in the US to understand what they are even saying to the public.

What we need is to focus on facts - not mud slinging and opinions!
- Wanda Burgamy, Nags Head, North Carolina

Brandy,

I guess we are watching a different election- as I don't restrict my news sources to only those that say what I want to hear. But hey, whatever works for you.

My main point is this: Obama is not a corrupt, racist, dishonest man. Nor is McCain for that matter. The Republican's vile and cynical strategy to trash their opponents character based on distortions and outright lies is one of the main factors that is ruining American politics. The other factor is the people who seem to get sustenance from lapping up and passing on this noxious drivel.
- Dave MacCrellish, Sandwich, NH

Wow, I tell you what Dave MacCrellish, Sandwich, NH must be watching a different election than I am. Of course I refuse to watch CNN or MSNBC so maybe that is my problem. You know Dave I had to laugh at you saying, "Please give it a rest. Here's what Obama did to deserve this scorn: do well in school; go to church every Sunday; teach law for 8+ years; work to help low-income tenants; run for elected office; and serve his state and his country as an elected representative. How terrible!". Well after the Jeremiah Wright scandal came out Obama said he only went to church maybe once a month, not every Sunday because if he had been at church every Sunday he would have heard those racist comments made by Wright. Maybe you should do some fact checking. It wasn't until college that he actually "did good in school" for in high school he was busy doing cocaine and marijuana. And yes he ran for elected office, but what has he actually done as an elected official that actually warrants a promotion to President of the United States. Nothing worth noting.
- Brandy Garza, Jacksonville, NC

James Johnson - McCain's ads claim that Obama will raise personal income taxes - which is a lie. It is this claim that have all the fact-checkers apoplectic. McCain's ads said nothing about business taxes, as far as I am aware.
- Bill Siroty, Amherst

John McCain and his campaing repeatly say Obama will raise taxes. Obama said "he would raise taxes for people who make $250,000 or more. Do some fact checking. John McCain has accused Obama of being in the middle of the Fannie and Freddie mess. McCain'a top advisers actually worked for both companies. Obama did not and did not have Raines as an advisor or have him as an advisor. Do some fact checking. John McCain accused Obama of taking jobs away from Michigan. John McCain helped to send these jobs overseas. Fact check. John McCain's VP has told so many lies, you can't count them, If you want the same as what you have for the next 4 years, then vote for McCain. If not, do yourself a favor and vote for Obama. Ask the veterans what McCain has done for them, Check his record in the Senate. Before you print your paper, you would be wise to fact check your accusations. I understand you support McCain, but telling the truth goes along way selling papers.
- maggie nash, bellows falls, vt

Bill Siroty, Amherst, it is you who has his head in the sand. If you increase taxes on businesses who pays for it in the end. The price increases will fall heaviest on the lower incomes. Their use of products and services is a greater ratio of their incomes than the higher incomes. Obama is such a liar. How can any intelligent person think this man is qualified for President?
- James A Johnson, Everett, WA

I have lived in the Chicago suburbs all my life and I can assure you that no politician who has Mayor Daley's brother Bill running his campaign along with the Mayor's Minister of Information, David Axelrod, writing his speaches, can be called "honest" with a straight face. If anyone has any doubts of the honesty of the administration that Obama has allied himself with, they need only do a web search for "Silver Shovel" or "Hired Truck".
- Paul Mack, Oak Lawn, IL

"Although personally I think it started with "sex ed to kindergarteners" (which this article makes no mention of),..."

Except for the paragraph that says "But the bill in question, which Obama supported in the Illinois state Senate, *** did indeed change state law to allow sex education for kindergarteners.***"
- Charlie Martin, Boulder, CO

The Obama campaign has enjoyed very little challenge to his qualifications or claims. His experience, in reality, is on par with the GOP VP candidate. However, he's been unable to keep his word and has demonstrated, frankly, vile campaign tactics over and over.

It's my hope people realize he's not really for "change" but for the status quo. He has a track record of dirty politics.
- Chris Norman, Corinth, TX

So McCain's campaign is pristine and honest in their claims about Obama? They don't repeatedly tell the lie (that's the word the AP and other non-partisan fact-checkers have used) that Obama will increase taxes for those making less than $250,000?

I guess Drew Cline is only reading the positive articles about McCain - not the ones that tell the truth (and Obama does it too, but not to the extent that Drew's beloved John McCain does). Stop sticking your head in the sand, Drew!
- Bill Siroty, Amherst

The reason people were initially attracted to Barack Obama's claimed "honesty," was that they were more than willing to suspend their normal sense of skepticism because he really wasn't saying anything about what he would do. There was nothing to be against. People were generally frustrated with their own current circumstances, each for their own reasons, and he simply called for "change." So people said, "Great -- that's what I want! Change!"

He declared himself "above" the political fray -- post politician as usual, post racial, and implicitly post cognominal. Because he was essentially an empty vessel, each supporter was more "invested" in their own understanding of Barack Obama, defined by their own hopes and dreams. And, he got away with it during the primaries, for long enough to build an insurmountable lead. Even today, ask a hundred people to define him, you will get 100 widely varying responses.

But ask each of them to describe what he has specifically done to earn the Presidency, or what he will specifically do, and no one could give a convincing answer.

It is the oldest political trick in the book. "I am who you want me to be, who you need. Vote for me" The fact is that he is a trained radical demagogue, right out of the Chicago "community organizer" tradition. The "change" will be what he has quietly sitting in his back pocket -- not what any of his "believers" expect.
- Steve Robbins, Lambertville, NJ

Thank you for exposing Obama.

Perhaps finally his clueless supporters will see how dangerous it would be to make an openly racist, Marxist, and now proven liar their president. This is truly a "foundation" created candidate, which means he is not his own man.

I have never met one Obama supporter who can cite one thing he stands for or one thing of merit he's done in his background to qualify him for president.

They are too mesmerized by this Hollywood Caricacture that has been created by the press.
- JaneAitken, Bedford

Once Barack Obama realized that it was a close race, he went back to the type of politics that Chicago Politicians are known for -- he went dirty, first and farther.

McCain's "mistakes" were slight exaggerations at worst -- while I don't like it, it is based in fact. The hatchet job by Obama consists of out-of-context chopped up quotes, twisted meanings, and outright lies. All to distract that what little experience he has is stained with bad associations, corrupt/extreme friends, and consistently being on the wrong side of most issues. If you don't have a record of your own, of course you have to focus on distractions and attacking the other side.
- David Every, San Jose, CA

The dishonest machinations by "The One" should come as no surprise to anyone familiar with Chicago-thuggery politics. After all, "The One" manipulated his opponents off the ballots so that he was the only contender. How very Soviet of him. Just as Soviet as his anti- Americanism. It is simply appallingly amazing that this smooth-talking thug is even a contender for the Presidency. Just goes to show what having a lot of George Soros/socialist money and a dim-witted electorate can achieve.
- Pamela Valentine, Washington NH

The choice of the headline "Obama in the mud" after the bizarre and disturbing events of the past two weeks is your own bridge to nowhere. In 40 years as a voter - all of them as a Republican - I have never seen a campaign as craven, reckless and dishonest as John McCain's. Under the circumstances, to hang Obama's campaign out to dry because it doesn't meet the very highest standards of political discourse brings to mind the old saw about not seeing the forest for the trees.
- Skip Morgan, Ossipee

The McCain campaign and it's surrogates on the right have been pursuing a systematic character assassination campaign against Barack Obama for 18 months now. We all know the general talking points, because so many commenters mindlessly echo them here every day- He's elitist, he associates with terrorists, his pastor's a racist , his wife hates America, he's an empty suit, he's the Messiah, he's uppity- and now, he's a liar.

Please give it a rest. Here's what Obama did to deserve this scorn: do well in school; go to church every Sunday; teach law for 8+ years; work to help low-income tenants; run for elected office; and serve his state and his country as an elected representative. How terrible!

The Republicans need to take responsibility for their actions, and voters need to ask themselves- if the ruthless character assassination of an intelligent, decent, hard-working and competent man is what passes for American politics, what kind of leaders do we expect to elect? More leaders like Cheney and GWB, perhaps. Great job, folks!

Obama had plenty of chances to sharpen the knives and throw mud during his primary battle with Hillary Clinton- but he showed that he was true to his word and exercised a clear restraint- and to a large degree, so did Clinton. His current opponent obviously has no such honor- it's been all-BS, all the time. If Obama didn't strike back in kind, this column would be about how he doesn't have the 'strength' or 'fortitude' to lead the nation. Unfortunately for the increasingly desperate Republicans, he has shown time and time again that he does.
- Dave MacCrellish, Sandwich, NH

John McCain as the people's champion for regulation? That's rich. Here is a quote from him in an article he wrote just this month: "Opening up the health insurance market to more vigorous nationwide competition, as we have done over the last decade in banking, would provide more choices of innovative products less burdened by the worst excesses of state-based regulation." This was not a gaffe from a speech, but is from an article he wrote after due deliberation.

Looking at McCain's record on regulation over the past 10 years, it would be fair to say he has been inconsistent. Most of the time, he is a free-marketer who pushes for little or no oversight. When the inevitable happens and the lack of regulation leads to systemic failures, he says it is the fault of a few greedy individuals and calls for action. He doesn't seem to understand that people haven't gotten greedier, we just took away the controls that regulate them.
- Michael Marsh, Greenland

There are two things one needs to consider when countering this article:

What is Obama's defense against this legitimate assertion?
What is it that's been intentionally spun out by this article?

The answer to both is McCain and the GOP. I, and everyone that has the pleasure of voting in November, was hoping that the race would never come to this. However, we secretly knew it would the entire time. Asking who started the mud slinging war is a frivolous question. Although personally I think it started with "sex ed to kindergarteners" (which this article makes no mention of), the important part is that this is a two part war.
When a campaign becomes truly popular, there is no avoiding it. Although Kerry had a lot of obstacles (both internal and external) facing his race four years ago, his real undoing was his unwillingness to play at the level of the Republican party. A level which, for reasons I still cannot comprehend, made getting a purple heart in Vietnam look like engaging in war crimes.
So, in rebuttal to the argument made by the author of this article (who, for some reason, won't place his or her name on the page), Obama's campaign is where every presidential campaign is at this part of voting season, somewhere between water and dirt. If you believe for one second that the democratic ticket is less valuable because the GOP would never do something as terrible as spin lies and hate in order to win office, I've got a bridge to sell you. Turns out, that bridge is in Alaska and goes to nowhere.
- Ted Ryan Biggins, Manchester

Thanks so much for your reasonable editorial, which points out the inconsistency between the soaring rhetoric and image Obama attempts to project, and the soiled reality. To take the words of Rush Limbaugh, who has nothing to do with McCain, twist them so they have no relation to the meaning and truth of his intent, and then attempt to adhere them to McCain is abominable. So we can put the words of Carol Fowler and Sandra Bernhard and juxtapose them with Obama now? He is playing a dangerous, racially incendiary game. Surely the real words and intent of Obama's pastor and his friends have more relevance than the distortions Obama is directing towards McCain? I think he was hoping that the sycophantic, Obama-is-the-One cheerleading media would cover for him, as they have done without hesitation for more than a year. Thanks for proving him wrong in this one instance.
- Kwen Au, Burlington, NC