Author: Tim Probst

Early adopting super geek, musician, father, resident tech guru.

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As Obama and McCain debated Friday night, it struck me as odd that McCain kept going back to how Obama has guided so much money to his home state of Illinois. As someone who proudly voted for Barack back in 2004, I can say that I am extremely happy that he was able to bring so much funding back to Illinois. My House Representative for a majority of the years I lived in Illinois, Speaker Denny Hastert, was also great at getting money for projects in my district.

When you think about it, the only people that do not like earmarks are the other representatives and senators that are not able to get such funding for their own districts and states. Spoiled sports, perhaps? As a voter, I want my representative and senators to fight as hard as possible to bring home funding for necessary and beneficial projects and services. Honestly, what’s wrong with that? I’m fairly certain that the earmark comments will not resonate with the American people right now, and if McCain harps on it in the next debate, it will fall on deaf ears. People are worried about losing their jobs, losing their homes, and going bankrupt. They’re not worried about a representative or senator bringing home money for valid and useful projects.

Come on McCain! How are you going to help me and other people like me trying to get ahead, dealing with outrageous medical bills, and raising a family? Why were you not talking to me during Friday’s debate? Barack was talking to me. Barack makes me hopeful that things will get better. Barack makes feel that I will be able to afford my family’s health care. Barack makes me think that I will once again be proud to say I am an American when I visit other countries. Unfortunately, John, you have not said a word to me, and I bet a lot of other people like me feel the same way.

Obama/Biden 2008

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Vote for Kyah

I am a very proud papa today. My daughter decided to run to represent her class in the student council. She decided on the slogan in the picture above. Other slogans in the running included “Kyah P., Changing The World Since 1999,” and “Kyah P., Way More Experience Than Sarah Palin.” I’m sure you all can figure out which slogan was my favorite. 🙂

Obama/Biden 2008

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Okay, I’ve heard just about enough about Sarah Palin, but I’ll write more about that when my mind is clear of the anger created by the RNC.

For now, let’s get a little perspective about the citizens Mrs. Palin governs. According to the July 1, 2007 U.S. Census estimates, there are 16 U.S. cities that have larger populations than the State of Alaska. So, I guess the mayors of the following cities are also ready to be a heartbeat away from being President: New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Houston, Phoenix, Philadelphia, San Antonio, San Diego, Dallas, San Jose, Detroit, Jacksonville, Indianapolis, San Francisco, Columbus, and Austin.

The Republicans cannot really be serious about this, can they? I’m just completely dumbfounded.

Obama/Biden 2008

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Let’s throw this one in the “From the Mouthes of Babes” category.

So, the family is sitting around the table enjoying dinner the other day, and somehow the conversation turns to religion. My wife jokingly asks, “What’s Jesus?” Without even thinking about it, my daughter responds immediately with the following definition:

“Jesus is a word you use when you are upset, surprised, or amazed.”

I still get a nice little chuckle every time I think about it.

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I have to admit that the Gallup Daily Tracking Poll has been driving me nuts lately. With everything that Dubya has done to the country and the world since 2001, how is it possible that John McCain is tied with my man, Barack Obama?

Some say McCain is not your typical Republican, and that may have been pretty accurate if we were watching replays of the 2000 campaign. In recent times, he has been anything but a maverick by getting friendly with the President. I actually think race is playing a lot bigger role than anyone would readily admit, but that is a whole other topic.

Regardless of why the poll is so close, the big question in front of us is whether or not the poll is accurate at all. With so many new voters registering and voting for the first time in this year’s Democratic primaries, it seems to me that all of the old algorithms and equations will not work this year.

As I have said before this election season, there is a much more accurate view of the intentions of the voters this November, and it’s a place where people put their money where their mouths are. I am talking about the Iowa Electronic Markets. Check out the current quotes for the Winner Take All market: $0.634 for the Democratic Party nominee and $0.376 for the Republican Party nominee. The voters/traders in this market are betting overwhelmingly that the Democratic nominee will win this November. As an Obama supporter, I certainly am excited by these results, and I hope they’re right.

I think it’s time for the mainstream media to keep an eye on these markets as they have in the past several presidential elections. There’s nothing quite like betting with real money that makes people be honest with themselves.

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So, I managed to talk my wife into letting me take her iPhone with me to the kids’ swimming lessons. I thought I would try out the WordPress app to see how well it works. I have to say that it is very impressive. What is even more impressive is the iPhone’s spelling checker. I haven’t been able to fool it yet with my fat thumbs. I guess I need to step up my attempts to get my company to switch from BlackBerry to iPhone. 🙂

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I have a lot more to say about MobileMe than this post, but that will need to wait for when I have more time. For those of you going through the pain of the .Mac to MobileMe transition, Apple is finally providing status updates to let us know how everything is going. There’s only one post so far so it is yet to be seen how much they’re actually going to tell us, but this is a step in the right direction.