Sandra made our way into Palm Beach County and made a stop at Lion Country Safari. They’ve recently celebrated 40 years at their location. We saw plenty of critters including the spring monkeys above that I sketched.

Ken Culotta wrote this one and really nails the travails McCain went through just through his days in the military. Someone who went through just this is ready to fight for anything. Obama only wishes he had been in any part of the military for any amount of time…or does he…?

I sure admit McCain is hard to draw. I was going for a more realisitic look considering the more somber tone of the message. He is tough…even to draw.

Sandra and I voted today. It’s the first time I didn’t vote on the actual voting day. I’ll be spending voting day as a poll watcher November 4th. Above is a sketch of the folks ahead of us in line.

Poor Barabra West of Orlando’s Channel 9. Her questions were tough and Biden was flummoxed. It’s been an easy ride for Biden and this was unexpected. He’s been around enough to know better and be better prepared. I thought he was better than that. I think it just shows that the Obama team is so relaxed that they’re only thinking beyond November 4th.

Though I disagree with some of his political views, I’ve always liked Joe Biden. I had thought he would have been the best choice for this season’s Democrat Presidential race. I’m trying not to judge him just on so many months of campaigning, but maybe I’ve too often ignored his off handed comments and klunky interview style.

The actions of the Obama camp to freeze Channel 9 from any further communication with the campaign is a pretty sick reaction. I hope it’s not a precursor of things to come, though Obama has been like this in the past.

I love the way West was entirely professional during the interview and kept her expression straight and focussed.

We had a Republican Rally in Ocala this evening. I drew some caricatures in the reception area as of Danielle above.

Mel Tillis came out and gave of his time with his full band. I’ve been a fan of Tillis since I was a small fellow watching him during his appearances on the Carson Show. I still have cassette tapes of Tillis on the show. There’s one song he sang on his show that never appeared on his album and to this day still wonder why that happened.

Mel Tillis and his band had just performed in Branson and gave us the full show. I’ve wanted to see him in concert for years, make that decades now. Each time the opportunity arose, something would happen and I or we couldn’t make it. His performance was terrific!

Besides Mel’s great singing, these fiddlers were outstanding!

By the way, check out my friend, Jennifer’s, recent encounter with Sarah Palin and Sean Hannity in Tampa.

A crowd showed up for the last meeting before a big Republican Victory Rally we’re holding this coming Monday in Ocala with Mel Tillis headlining. Above is a sketch of a couple folks attending.

I figured, since folks are e-mailing me about my choice for President, that I would make my stand for John McCain. Sorry for the length. I didn’t want anyone think I’ve reduced this campaign to bumpersticker soundbites.

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Beyond being a third generation Florida Republican, beyond all of the campaigns I’ve invested time in and beyond all the partisan cartoons I draw, I feel this race is not about being partisan, but being practical.The bottom line is that Barack Obama has made a lifetime of being the underachiever.

From his own revelation of drugged days in high school to his use of college as a safety net to his days as a paid community volunteer to his frog hopping in a few years up the ladder of political heights, Barack Obama has proven a lack of interest in commitment.

He learned in his college days his ability to rally the troops and has successfully gotten crowds ever since. In his many hapless endeavors his endearing charm and smooth talk has gathered hundreds and thousands to his beck and call. The odd thing is that he seems not to know what to do with them once he has them. He points them in a direction, they wander off and he then goes back to gather another crowd. Success has not been the byproduct of Obama’s ability to sell a crowd. Without Obama willing to lead the charge, to march in and get the job done the ones brought in by Obama, for whatever the supposed mission, find themselves leaderless, goalless and the projects fell apart.Unfortunately, that has been Obama’s only claim to success professionally. He can talk. At 47, most have some accomplishments to point to. But despite his mysterious time at Harvard where he supposedly came out with honors, he tromped back to Chicago to continue as a paid community volunteer/activist.

WHY? Why didn’t he want to really make something of himself? Why has he constantly ducked and run when given great opportunities? He was with the Harvard Law Review during his time at Harvard. All that exists is a brief note about his love of abortion and some such published before being named editor.

His time at Occidental College in California was brief. His time at Columbia in New York also clouded in mystery that Obama refuses to talk about. All of this schooling through to his 30^th year and he’s looking at testing that knowledge in his possible first real job as President of the United States.

This might all be different if he had pursued a career. Instead he job hopped from ’91 to ’95 when events made the opportunity for him to be an Illinois State Senator came about (That’s an unfortunate incident and amongst those that tell me he doesn’t think much about women or women in power. ).  Less than four years out of college, Obama decides to run for office. An office he must have known he had shown little skill for.

While in the State Senate he barely  distinguished himself as taking a major stand, to lead a project, to be a leader. He was credited with being a good listener.  After eight years as a State Senator, he could be credited with a few positions that he worked on: promoting abortion and  keeping guns from the public. He could also be credited with avoiding voting directly on many, many issues, like his supposed abortion beliefs. Obama is next found in the US Senate in 2004. There he quickly distinguished himself for raising money for other candidates, doing book readings and, almost immediately, running for President. The Presidential race gave him a reason not to commit again and go do what he does best: talk. His lack of direction has me concerned. It also got me wondering. Why has this happened? I dived into what past I could find. What I found was an unstable father who abandoned him, an unstable mother who also abandoned him and his mother’s parents, who Obama essentially abandoned. Obama’s grandparents were essentially Obama’s parents. This is the same grandmother who he put the spotlight on as a racist and the same one he’s dashing to Hawaii to be with, something he himself admits to avoiding.

I think all of this abandonment scarred him and left him lost and unable to focus enough to get a job done. Thus easier to get in politics, where coasting can be a breeze.  That might not be bad were it not for him running for President and making a ton of promises. He’s never fulfilled an order like the one he’s made for himself. Can he change and do it now? Looking back at his past, it seems unlikely.

What makes this worse for me is that he wants to further our war efforts. He’s talking about moving troops and escalating the war in Afghanistan. Moving troops into Pakistan. Moving troops into Darfur. Where are all of these troops coming from? A draft? What on earth is he talking about? For a guy who has trouble getting things done, he has some nerve thinking he can practice with those who have no trouble getting things done, our military. I guess it’s as with Bush, until we get Bin Laden. As they say, here we go again. 

I really see the third Bush term being Obama. There are similarities to their drives and both entered office with questionable skills. Though Bush had shown a ton more initiative than Obama has before being President.

People appear to think their voting habits are like an American Idol contest. It’s the style and not the, God forbid, the substance. Here’s a guy who’s basically been unable to follow through on anything he’s tried to do in his 47 years, except marriage, and he’s about to be put in charge of the country! If this occurs, be prepared for me to tell you in short order, ”I told you so”.

I certainly have my troubles with John Mccain and how he can lean to the liberal side. However, if this was a Hillary vs. Obama, I’d be working to get Hillary in. Not that I would ever want that to happen, but if this was a case of the only two and you had to….You know what I mean. Obama has just not proven himself to me stable or to have a concrete backbone. John McCain has proven that through his career in the Senate and his time in the Viet-Nam war. I want a leader who is much more than a zero, I want a leader who has proven himself to be a hero. I’m voting for John McCain for President.

My support for John McCain starts with his service to this great country. From his families service in the Navy and other various capacities to the service McCain, himself, accomplished in Viet-Nam. It is truly a miracle he survived past 1967, when he escaped a fire on the naval ship, USS Forrestal.

It was a mere three months later that, during a bombing mission over Viet-Nam, his plane was shot down and he was captured by the North Vietnamese. Despite his arms being broken and a leg badly damaged he survived all the while being beaten by the vermin who imprisoned him. Sometime in 1968 the bad guys dumped him in solitary confinement.

How courageous is John McCain? After being confined in terrible health for more than a year, the North Vietnamese offered to release him because his father was given command of the entire Navy. The North Vietnamese were concerned about how the media would treat them if they kept McCain imprisoned. John McCain refused, saying he would leave when the others imprisoned with him were released. How many of us, or for that matter someone like Barack Obama, risk so much making that kind of a decision? When playing Monopoly, how many of you all turn down the ‘Get Out of Jail’ card in an air conditioned room with plenty of food and all of the luxuries? John McCain was in squalid conditions and in constant pain and stood up to the cretins that held him and for the fellow American military prisoners with him.

John McCain spent a total of 5 and a half years as a captor of the North Vietnamese. With him everyday since are the scars of that confinement. Amongst those is his inability to raise his arms above his head, which prevents him from many activities. The disability also makes typing nearly impossible, which is why he can’t enjoy the use of the computer. I would guess his former captors would be laughing about that today.

After his release and the end of the war, McCain returned as a heralded former P.O.W. and extensive medical treatment. He continued in the Navy becoming a commanding officer. It was during this time that he started his involvement in politics as a liaison to the Senate.

He started his political career in the House of Representatives in 1980 until the present. Along the way he has been a stalwart in supporting indian affairs; many, many tax breaks and he’s been a supporter of the environment. He’s bucked Republicans involving the Telecommunications Act, which has the cable companies in such control and charging ridiculous rate. He’s also not been a big fan of the so-called ‘Religious Right’. He really had the right boiling with his teaming with Ted Kennedy for the immigration bill proposed last year.

Another trouble maker was teaming with Democrat Russ Feingold for campaign finance reform, which oddly enough, has a great deal to do with the troubles of his campaign.What I like about his teaming with Democrats at times and his nearly eager willingness to work with Democrats is that we need someone in the White House like that today. In times of shaky economic and foreign policy issues, we really need a team worker. Obama is saying he will do this. But there’s nor real evidence he has done it in the past. While in the Senate, he apparently did some listening, did tweak some policies, but still supported what he wanted ….or is that non-supported??? Can a President answer terrorism by saying ‘Present’?

I see John McCain as the Henry Clay of today. Someone with great strength and the ability to get everyone to work together. His list of accomplishments while in Congress can better ne partially seen on his Senate site. Apparently it’s so long, it can’t be easily listed.

THAT’S A LEADER!

THAT’S JOHN McCAIN!

That’s who I want to be my next President!

Why don’t people wonder why Chavez and Castro want Obama in? Other supporters on different levels include North Korea’s Kim Jong Il, Iran’s Ahmadinejad. Even parts of Hamas. This alone, despite Obama’s entire lack of leadership and accomplishment experience, would push me away from Obama.

After getting the editorial cartoon inked for Tuesday, I attended the Marion County Republican Executive Committee Meeting. While sitting there for the more than two hour meeting I do what I do best to listen to what is going on, I draw. I had a few sketches to work out, so I worked them out during the meeting. Here are a couple of the sketches.

On the political front, I spent about five hours both Saturday and Sunday working on going door-to-door for John McCain. It was great exercise and fun to meet so many supporters.

I just finished three books on transportatiion in Florida: The First Seventy-Five Yearws of School Transportation in Florida, The Railroad that Died at Sea and a book that was written by our friend, Bob Bass, When Steamboats Reigned in Florida.

The school tansportation book was very interesting in that the idea of helping children to school started as neighbors helping neigbors to get to school. Not long after the car was manufactured, bureaucracy set in and parents found thier children being ripped from the local school to a new consolidated community school to save money and help implement the need for bussing, The author writes as if this was all needed to be done. Overall, the book is very, very interesting and very well written for a self-published book.

The Railroad that Died at Sea is THE book on the subject of Flagler’s Folly to build a train to Key West. Les Standifrod’s version in more illustrious, but the facts are better presented in this long out of print book

Bob Bass’ new book really brings you to the indivdual steambats. Where they travelled and how they were used. He covers the Kissimmee, the Ochlawaha and the Apalchicola specifically.