Considering that this is about to become the only active topic, and it is one that I'm not particularly interested in, I'd like to make a suggestion: post about the economy. Clearly, Kerry, you don't think the economy is particularly troubled. Well, that itself could be your topic.

Clearly, this topic is of interest to many people right now to people of all political stripes. Dobson's room temperature embrace of McCain may have strategic relevance to the race, but most of us don't have as much stake in this topic as you.

Ultimately, you can post whatever you want. But you might want to consider why this site is slowly dying.

Speaking of the economy, since I don't give a shi'ite about what evangelicals are waiting to hear from their talking heads.......I FINALLY changed my life due to something going up in price.

I am no longer buying Emeril's roasted garlic spaghetti sauce. Friggin' things went up to $5.....so I'm back to making homemade sauces.

For some of us, the economy isn't really affecting us in a personal sense.

...and I find the notion that evangelicals are waiting around for their talking heads to tell them who to vote for both appauling and very telling of how intelligent they are as a whole.

Grow a friggin' brain and use it.

"I see....now Joe Shmoe leader says McCain's a good guy....so I'll vote for him." is just as brainless a vote as "Obama stands for hope....change....so I'm voting for him."

You may not like the influence of the evangelicals, but the fact is that it is there.

And it is very telling that the only person who can get both of them to come to the same event is Rick Warren. His influence has been gaining in the wider world lately, even while many conservative evangelicals have begun to question his humility, his politics, and his motives. This event has as much potential to make or break him as it does them.

Well, I hope Rick Warren has some hardball questions ready when the time comes. The last thing we need is another love fest where neither candidate says anything of substance and basically just panders to the crowd.

Any word on who is attending or how to get a media pass? Is the event live and will it be telecast/broadcast?

According to the Saddleback website, general information is available at (949) 609-8778, with "ticket information coming soon."

Hope that helps. Say hi to Joel McHale.

Sarge- Buy my sauce! Bam! Ya money is gone!

"For some of us, the economy isn't really affecting us in a personal sense."

You must not use a lot of gasoline. I live in NY in relative proximity to NYC and I drive quite a distance to work 5 days a week. The prices are killing me. Although, I consider oil sort of separate from the rest of the "economy" it's definetly affecting me in a personal sense.

SSE

No, I don't commute far.....only 8 miles. If Boston actually had a transportation system that could get me that 8 miles in less than the 80 minutes it takes...I'd take the train...but my driving commute's against the traffic flow and only takes me 20 minutes or so.

I still drive about 150 miles every weekend to go fishing......and generally fill my tank once a week.....about $30....used to be $20.....so I'm about $40/month over the norm. Not a big problem for me.

I understand that people commute long distances and I feel for 'em a bit, but not really. I CHOOSE to live in the city where the jobs are. They CHOOSE to live 40 miles away where the jobs are not. They also CHOOSE to not take the commuter-rail or bus into the city. They also CHOOSE to not carpool. You drive in solo in your Expedition, I don't wanna hear about it.

I refuse to listen to the whining of people living on their choices that refuse to take very simple measures that would essentially get rid of the problem. Buy a more efficient car. Car pool. Drive differently. Don't use the A/C ALL THE FRIGGIN TIME. Move closer to the job centers.

(I know you opened a new thread Kerry, but I'm responding to the previous comment)

Sarge-

Well, I commute a long distance, but choice has nothing to do with it as it’s not always as simple as that. I found an apartment that was a bit far from work but within my budget, having lower rent. When I moved in last year, the gas prices weren’t this high so it wasn’t much of an issue. I drive a Nissan Sentra, a very efficient and reliable car. I understand what you’ve said above, and you wrote it in a way addressing people in general, not specifically me. I just don’t think getting a new car, moving closer to work etc, are always available alternatives for people. Perhaps sometimes they are, but in my situation I can’t afford (especially at this time) a new car, my lease isn’t up until October, (I have been planning on moving closer at that time) and I have no coworkers at the present time whom I can carpool with. In cases like this, many Americans can feel the pinch in their wallets.

above should be "aren't always available alternatives for people"

SSE

There is another option. There are MANY existing and up-and-coming websites that will match you with a car pool from your town to the destination town.

If this economy puts you in real economic peril, think about it.

....but us Americans are spoiled as a whole and like to drive ourselves, sometimes to run errands on the way home.

As for the driving thing, my husband works 100 miles away, because that's where the job was he finally got after 2 years of nothing. Like I said, we have the most fuel-efficient non-hybrid you can get, but it would be nice if he could work from home or get a similar job here. Right now, there just aren't any. We aren't in position to sell our house and move (you would have to see the house and the market to understand why), so we just swallow the $90 or so a week in gas. My car is currently in need of a radiator, so we're saving 100% on errand-running, and even before last week, I hardly ever leave the house during the summer.

What's difficult is food prices being unpredictable from one week to the next, especially milk. There are a lot of little things that add up. And, of course, with three kids going back to school next month, August is going to be rather difficult.

Right now I work part-time from home doing transcription, but it's sporadic and not much money. In the fall, I might be able to find something I can do during the day. The goal with any job I would get would be to NOT have to pay anyone to watch my children.

Of course, since our credit is bad from those two years, we can't get a refi on the house (we aren't Countrywide, after all.) But, looking at the rates now, we probably couldn't get anythign better than what we have, which has been coming down over time.

We just move week to week, day to day, as I always have, from childhood. It's nothing new, and eventually, we plan to be financially healthy, self-insured, and kinda sorta maybe ready to retire (we got a late start on that one.)

I'm also taking the Dave Ramsey course at church, to pick up what I don't already know, and we don't have a single credit card.

So, things could be better, and eventually they will be. In the meantime, it's summer, and popsicles are cheap, and home-made iced tea is practically free. We're doing fine.

What I do NOT believe is that either Barack Obama or John McCain has MY financial future in their (his?) hands. They might change a little here, or a little there, but the only thing I see as a possibility is that McCain probably won't raise my taxes. I know Barack will.

Oh, and there is something I will NOT compromise on. I buy a certain name-brand fabric softener which is the only one I can stand the smell of. I don't care how cheap the stuff is, if the clothes don't smell good when they come out of the dryer, it's not worth saving the money.

Hey, Sarge, where are those car-pool websites? That sounds like a good idea.

Oh, now look what you made me do. All this stuff should be on the other side of the page in the "economy" comments.

Consider it moved.