Hi Rainbow Power, My children are also going to their in-laws for Thanksgiving this year and plan to be with us for Christmas. My husband and I were going to do something similar, possibly go out to a restaurant for the occasion or a quiet candle lit dinner for two at home. My sister, who has a smaller gathering point, contacted me a couple of weeks ago — we now will be having a house of twelve including my nieces and nephew, their spouses and my grand nieces and nephews. All of who I adore. My husband admits however, that he would have much preferred the quiet just us Thanksgiving this year. If you were my neighbor, I’d tell you to come off of your deck come on by and bring your special dish! We’ve had as many as 30 to our New England home for Tday dinner. I’ll bet you can make a wonderful day with your hubby, giving thanks for each other in the glow of candle lit dinner for two! A change once in a while can be wonderfully special too.

If she [Obama’s mother] lived to see her son win the election earlier this month, she would have been 64, close to turning 65. Should have been …she would have been 65, close to turning 66. The dates are correct.

By Patty E on 11/19/2008 8:45 pm Marjorie—-a little bit of math…adding and subtracting might help you here: Obama is 42 yrs old. If his mother had him when she was 20 yrs old, she would be 62 yrs old now. 2008-62=1946. Guess what? Obama’s mama COULD be a Boomer, now, wouldn;t she? I think I read somewhere that his mother was 19 when she had him—if that is true, she would still be a boomer——1947. ——- Patty, A little research helps with the math … Obama was born on August 4, 1961 (officially, within the baby boomer generation years). He is 47 not 42 (he looks young for his age). His mother was a very young 18 when she had him. This has been well noted. She was born on November 29, 1942 (officially, before the baby boomer generation years). She died on November 7, 1995 at the young age of 52. If she lived to see her son win the election earlier this month, she would have been 64, close to turning 65.

Well said, Starry.

That’s the way I read it too, DeBurca. What it all boils down to is that the Obama Camp did an excellent marketing job bringing out the best in Obama, while the McCain camp was unfocused and dysfunctional – many times coming across as mean spirited. Even today the McCain camp continues their mean spiritedness by throwing their own Sarah Palin under the bus. In the end two good men ran for president. One good man won. Once the developing issues with our economy was in the headlines the majority of voters felt more comfortable with Obama’s steadiness and ability to inspire which to them outweighed any other obstacles.

LOL. Yes Sherrie, I agree. Hopefully the Republicans have learned that what people saw in Hilary was not just that she was a woman. She is a very qualified, smart, dedicated, and educated woman with a lot of experience. As you said Sarah is the “brunette blond joke”, she is also the “guy with the nice hair”. You know the type — They make their way up the corporate ladder because they know the right people, look good and talk convincing but don’t have substance to really do the job. They get found out eventually as she did.

PRESIDENT Obama! :o)

Well done!!

That is true, but Caroline Kennedy did have this to say during primaries about feeling inspired and hopeful about America the way people did when her father was president … A President Like My Father By CAROLINE KENNEDY OVER the years, I’ve been deeply moved by the people who’ve told me they wished they could feel inspired and hopeful about America the way people did when my father was president. This sense is even more profound today. That is why I am supporting a presidential candidate in the Democratic primaries, Barack Obama. Full article: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/27/opinion/27kennedy.html?hp

Colin Powell is endorsing Senator Obama. His reasons spoken are well said and truly sum up what I and many others have been feeling. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/27265746#27265490

The wonderful thing about America is that we CAN vote for the party/candidate of our own personal choice. Then in four years — vote again. Susan, I’ve never seen name calling and bullying to work as a method to get people who don’t share ones extreme views to give up their own freedom of choice of what they feel is best for the country. Certainly, we can all find and quote literature written that expresses our views. Good for you, all the research that you do that agrees with your own point. This and your life experiences help you to make the best choice for you. God bless America! Whatever political party that woman (and men) here choose to endear; there are very decent people on both sides of the political spectrum and in-between. We should all respect that. A Socialist is a Socialist and not a Democrat. I don’t share the same conspiracy theories that you do. Democrats and Independents may not be as dumb as you think that they are. The freedom to have views of our own does not make us ignorant, it makes us American. Most of us have had our own life experiences and done our own research to bring us to our conclusions. The Democrats that I know are not sitting around looking for government hand-outs. I’m sorry if that isn’t your experience. In my own Independent experience (I have voted both Dem/Rep) my father, my husband, 3 brothers, 2 brother-in-laws, and son-in-law have all served in the military — during times of war and peace. I and my family have been involved in community volunteering time commitments. I have owned a business. My husband and I work very hard – possibly working even more hours than Joe the Plumber. We make good incomes and “pay our taxes”. We have known adapting our skills to the times as I most definitely have had to. We are both college educated. We’ve paid our own ways through college. Seeing your HS grad date, we are not too many years older than you. I do find it offensive that you seem to insist that if I don’t vote Republican this time around, I must be a freeloader and a Socialist. Whoever wins this election is going to have a big challenge ahead of him. In a perfect world, having a mixed house of congress would be ideal and balanced. Unfortunately, it doesn’t seem to be going that way. Whether the president is Dem or Rep, in simple terms it will be amazing if taxes can be cut and not raised while keeping necessities like maintained roads and bridges/ infrastructure, military security, decent education for our children, etc. so that you and I can go about with our own lives as usual. As for negative campaigning — I was leaning more toward McCain, but have come to feel more comfortable about Obama. I don’t think that McCain’s champagne staff is very good. I think that they should research their facts better, and not hype up a lot of hate and anger at Obama or toward people who feel that he may make a difference. Not that Obama is perfect, but there are a lot of the accusations going around out of the McCain staff that are misleading and plain ridiculous — people know it. If this is how McCain’s campaign staff operates, I have to wonder how staff he selects to serve under him in the White House would operate. Who is responsible for this economic mess that we are in now? From the trusted non-partisan info that I’ve seen, both parties can take some part of the blame. It’s time for our leaders to move on and focus on the repair.

By Susan Duffy on 10/16/2008 …”To start and run a business is one of the most challenging undertakings you can do. I deal exclusively with small businesses throughout the country who are either right at, the Obama line of “patriotic”, or just over it. Very few, if any, who desire to “grow” their business are not planning to add units of labor (jobs) and purchase capital goods (machinery) to accomplish that objective.” http://www.wowowow.com/cl/124676 Susan, I appreciate your points, but I think that you read a lot more into anyones pointing out that Joe the plumber may be a plant … or propaganda tool. I don’t believe that anyone has disputed the importance of starting a small business and living the American dream — But since we are on that subject — what is your take on if that small business is bought or acquired by a large corp or venture capitalist and the “units of labor” go to over seas? What is your take on the employees that had worked 12 plus hour 7 day weeks for many years helping to develop that small business? What do you feel the responsibility should be of the new owners of that developed business that are now getting much cheaper labor in some third world country?

By Susan Duffy on 10/16/2008 …”To start and run a business is one of the most challenging undertakings you can do. I deal exclusively with small businesses throughout the country who are either right at, the Obama line of “patriotic”, or just over it. Very few, if any, who desire to “grow” their business are not planning to add units of labor (jobs) and purchase capital goods (machinery) to accomplish that objective.” Susan Duffy, I appreciate your points, but I think that you greatly read a lot more into anyones pointing out that Joe the plumber may be a plant … or propaganda tool. I don’t believe that anyone has disputed the importance of starting a small business and living the American dream — But since we are on that subject — what is your take on if that small business is bought or acquired by a large corp or venture capitalist and the “units of labor” go to over seas? What is your take on the employees that had worked 12 plus hour 7 day weeks for many years helping to develop that small business? What do you feel the responsibility should be of the new owners of that developed business that are now getting much cheaper labor in some third world country?

Guess he’s not “Some Plumber” after all Joe the Plumber’ says he has no plumbing license. http://www.comcast.net/articles/news-general/20081016/Joe.the.Plumber/?c…

Susan B, Interesting finding. We should all be so lucky as to be as downtrodden as Joe the simple plumber I think. He must be some plumber! See FactCheck.org: http://www.factcheck.org/elections-2008/factchecking_debate_no_3.html It’s worth noting that while Wurzelbacher told Fox News’ Neil Cavuto that he lives “in a simple, middle class home” and portrayed himself as an ordinary working guy, Wurzelbacher’s $250,000 to $280,000 is a bit higher than “ordinary.” In 2007, the last year for which the Census Bureau has figures, the median income for a family in Toledo, Ohio, was $43,553.