NFL Bigger than the Election

By Matt:

I have always been disgusted that more people vote on American Idol on any given week than in the Presidential Election - or any election for that matter - but I am starting to see how and why this happens. In the last two weeks I have been engrossed in a topic that means nothing to the overall health of this country much like American Idol. The only political things that have perked my ears up and made me listen since the two conventions are that McCain’s numbers are continuing to rise - AWESOME news - and Obama continuing to throw the same tired old line of “do you want four more years of Bush?”

And, to make it worse, I am realizing that I have not really gone looking for news from the campaigns either.

Instead of listening to political talk radio I find myself consistently having ESPN on in the car. Instead of hearing what both candidates are saying on any given day, I’m searching out Tom Brady’s injury or what my Fantasy Football players' statuses are. And, instead of talking politics with my wife our conversations have become more focused on our 2-0 Packers.

Is that bad or are other people this intoxicated with the NFL??? Or is it that nothing is really happening on the campaign trail right now and we are all just waiting for the debates? We’ll see. Let us hope that McCain and Palin continue to rock the polls the way that the Pack has rocked the Vikings and Lions the past two weeks.

As a side note, I would like to thank Pastor Hickey for reading my post this weekend. Please don't call me "left" again. If you continue to read my blog, you'll find that it's a much more appropriate title to bestow on my counterpart.

Back From the Hood

By Matt:

I'm back. Sorry for the lack of posts. I just returned from an awesome trip to Oregon for a wedding with my wife. One of her college roommates got married in the mountains and it was incredible.

But, now I'm back, and I've got a lot to say about what has been happening while I was gone.

First, the RNC. I haven't had a chance to post a single thing on the RNC.

We left for Oregon via Wisconsin on Wednesday night. We made sure to drive my wifes car so that we could listen to her satellite radio and get both the Guiliani and Palin speeches. Much like Muhammad Ali, Guiliani came out with a rope-a-dope technique. But, he quickly turned to "stinging like a bee" using the Obama campaign as his punching bag.

Palin took her fair share of shots at the campaign as well. She was quick to point out Obama's "experience" as a community organizer, versus her job as an executive in both Wasilla and Juneau. I think she started off a bit slow, but I was more than impressed by the end of the evening.

Critics have accused both Guiliani and Palin of being too harsh or nasty. The only reason they're saying that is because the truth hurts.

So, we're in beautiful Mt. Hood, Oregon and instead of seeing some sites on Thursday, my wife and I hunkered down to watch McCain's acceptance speech marking the final night of the convention.

As expected, the McCain Speech didn't live up to the Palin home run the night before. Obviously McCain is not the most charismatic of speakers. But, he had a real opportunity to beat the Democrats with some serious strategies and policy plans... AKA a platform. This used to be one of the major purposes of these conventions. Apparently both parties find these more of a pep rally these days. I thought the McCain speech was solid. But, I do wish he would've given me a little more to sink my teeth into.

As a real short side thought (because that is all they deserve), I would like to mention my absolute disgust for the men and women who thought Senator McCain's speech was the perfect time to make a protest statement about whatever issue they think the Republicans are missing the boat on. I support free speech. But, folks, there is a time and a place.

More from the DNC!

By Mark:

Once again it was a great night to be an Obama/Biden supporter and a not so good night to be a McCain/Overmatched supporter Wednesday. In case you can’t tell, I’m a huge Joe Biden fan. When the Democratic Primaries began, Biden was who I wanted to get the nomination.

Bill Clinton followed up Hillary’s speech the previous night with another Clinton home run Wednesday night. It’s fair to say the Clinton’s owned the Pepsi Center – now we’ll see if Barack Obama can rock Invesco Field the way he said Hillary rocked the crowd inside the Pepsi Center.

President Clinton was asked to speak and warm up the crowd for Biden Wednesday, however Biden’s son, Delaware Attorney General Beau Biden, didn’t need any help setting the tone for his dad as he delivered an incredible introduction.

Beau Biden is an interesting story. As he mentioned last night, he won’t be able to see his dad become Vice President in November because he will be fighting in Iraq as he is a Captain with the Delaware Army National Guard. Though he won’t be in the U.S. for the election, I say Beau did a fine job helping his dad’s election efforts last night. It’s not easy to upstage Bill Clinton, but I thought Beau Biden did.

Matt I think you may agree with me on this one but one thing that constantly annoys the heck out of me watching the convention is the overabundance of media “experts” drawing their own conclusions about the night playing towards their own agenda.

People should watch the conventions, and in the coming months the debates, and draw their own conclusions, not adopt the conclusions the media “experts” come up with for you. After all, this is a Presidential Election, not American Idol, so I don’t think we need judges weighing in after the performances to sway the votes. No record contract at stake here, no this is for being the leader of the free world, so please make your own judgments rather than accepting Wolf Blitzer’s as your own.