Hey Ang ~

Who would have ever imagined we would meet here? Like this?

Nice to put a face to voice.

Lin

Lin,
The reason Obama (and McCain for that) matter keep getting chance after chance is because even in the autism community people do NOT know how to think outside the box where our presidential choices are concerned. Think Ron Paul....IMHO he is the ONLY option for president and the only one who will get my vote. Every state has write-in options at the polls.

Great job Ang! You're such a rock star! ;-D

And for anyone undecided who hasn't seen this:

From AAN/A-CHAMP:

Call the Obama/Biden campaign and tell them what our kids need! (McCain's Next) 1-866-675-2008
We are not Republicans...We are not Democrats -

we are Autism Advocates.

We are the Autism Political Party!

We will support the candidate who supports the kids!

The following is a Message from a mom and a true advocate for our kids:

Hello friends and fellow autism advocates,

As the election approaches, I find myself in the category of "undecided". To be honest, I like and dislike portions of each of Senators McCain and Obama's positions on various issues. That's why I think my vote will come down to the candidate who I think will make the biggest difference regarding the autism epidemic. I have read both candidates' positions regarding ways they may address this national crisis but, quite frankly, I need more. I want to get to the truth on causation so that we may truly advance medical treatments for these children and change the "standard of care". I believe the NIH, CDC and mainstream medical organizations need a "kick in the ass" for their inaction in addressing the number one disorder affecting American children today. I want unconflicted science, I want answers not excuses. I need to know that the next Administration will not operate like the the current one when it comes to dealing with this epidemic.

Today, I received a call to from the Obama camp to ask if I'd travel over to our neighboring state of Missouri and canvas over a weekend. That poor girl, I immediately expressed the dismay I felt with the Senator from my home state and plead my case for more attention to autism. I told her how I'd read the Senator's position paper on his website and submitted a comment but hadn't heard back.

I also mentioned that I'd had the opportunity to work with Sen. Obama while he was in the Illinois Senate as he served as Chairman of the Human Services Committee. I gotta hand it to this Obama campaign staffer, she listened, asked questions, and took my name and number. She even called me back directing me to Senator Obama's National Call-in Center. In case other folks may be undecided as well , I thought I'd pass that information along as we try to figure out who will give our kids the best possible shot at a better future and help prevent other children from becoming 1 in 150.

Thanks,
Laura Cellini

Barack Obama's
National Call-in hotline:
1-866-675-2008

Angela Bozich, McCain keeps saying that Obama will raise taxes, but Obama's plan would only raise taxes on those making over $250,000 per year.

For reasons I partially explained elsewhere on AoA, I will vote for Obama.

But we all need to work to continue to educate him and put pressure on him so that he realizes that there is another side of the vaccine story besides that told by agencies such as the CDC and groups such as the AAP, who constantly spew very effective propaganda.

I share AnneS's point that vaccination choice is a state issue, not a federal issue. I would like the candidates to agree with choice, but I am most interested in one who believes in science, and will not make political promises that fly in the face of the advice of his top institutions. I want someone who will push for more research when others say it is a waste of time in the absence of prior results. We need to win the science war before we can expect more support. I believe Obama showed a greater willingness to do that in the last debate:

Obama: "I do want to just point out that autism, for example, or other special needs will require some additional funding, if we're going to get serious in terms of research. That is something that every family that advocates on behalf of disabled children talk about.

And if we have an across-the-board spending freeze, we're not going to be able to do it. That's an example of, I think, the kind of use of the scalpel that we want to make sure that we're funding some of those programs."

A few lines later, McCain replied:

McCain: "But again, I want to come back to, notice every time Sen. Obama says, "We need to spend more, we need to spend more, that's the answer" -- why do we always have to spend more?

Why can't we have transparency, accountability, reform of these agencies of government? Maybe that's why he's asked for 860 -- sought and proposed $860 billion worth of new spending and wants to raise people's taxes in a time of incredible challenge and difficulty and heartache for the American families."

By McCain's own admission in June, he is computer illiterate. How informed could he possibly be on anything? I can't vote for that. I don't have time to get to every rally - I want someone who can hear my voice online.

Also, McCain is for selective everything, not just vaccines. Take your 5k voucher and get the best insurance you can find. With the coverage burden getting shifted to insurance companies on autism, I can't see how a fend for yourself insurance market will benefit families with large long term needs.

Cherri said: "Because Obama is not controlled by huge contributions from Big Pharma, and he has said that he is willing to discuss and learn, I am giving him the benefit of the doubt - as well as my vote."

The point of Obama getting a lot of pHARMa contributions has been in the news for months.

Pills and Politics
http://www.slate.com/id/2198716/

The normally GOP-friendly drug industry now favors Obama.

http://www.the-scientist.com/blog/display/54937/

Pharma's presidential picks (requires registration) "In an industry
known for backing Republicans, Sen. Barack Obama has emerged as a
surprising pharma favorite in the US presidential
election."..."According to a Bloomberg News report citing data from
the Center for Responsive Politics (CRP), pharma execs and employees
have donated $450,094 to Obama, compared to $132,575 to McCain."

I apologize in advance if this offends anyone. But....Obama is "up to speed". Entire autism organizations have worked on him for over a year and a half. He has the science. He will not go up against pharma.

It seems like everyone is begging for Obama to flip-flop on this issue. I see it here and on other sites as well. If he does then he will be no more trustworthy than McCain.

Since this issue is very important to me, I will vote for the Libertarian candidate Bob Barr. I do not expect him to win in this election, however it does not take many principled votes for the 3rd party candidates to add up to an amount that will make the major parties take notice. The recent elections have been won by less than 1% margins in some battleground states, if more than 1% of the voters in those states voted outside of the major parties, then they become the cherished "swing" voters. When the winner of the election bids for re-election he will know that he needs to win over some of those voters to repeat a victory, so the demands of these voters have a chance for being addressed in the first term.

An example of this is the Perot effect on Clinton policy. What other time in our recent history has a Democrat President been worried about controlling spending, cutting federal programs and balancing a budget? When Clinton was first elected, it was obvious that he would have to win over some of the many Perot supporters to become re-elected, so I suspect his fiscal prudence was part of the Perot platform that he adopted in order to win over swing voters during the next election.

Just my take on things.

I agree with Lin - why do we keep giving Obama another chance over and over again to answer this question? His silence is his answer - he already answered this question.

I, too, am disappointed that Obama has not given us more "up close and personal" info on his vaccination stance, other than to state that he is not in favor of selective vaccination. However, I do agree with the poster above who said that "McCain will say whatever his audiences want to hear." If you recall, Bush promised to remove mercury from vaccinations and we all know that campaign promise was broken.

Because Obama is not controlled by huge contributions from Big Pharma, and he has said that he is willing to discuss and learn, I am giving him the benefit of the doubt - as well as my vote. I truly believe that he will become better informed and educated on this topic in the not-too-distant future - especially since one of his senior staff members is the parent of a child with autism.

When Palin said recently that "her hope is to strengthen the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to make sure we're researching everything about autism and make sure we find out what causes it" my heart just sank. That is never going to happen with the NIH at the research wheel.

With Obama, at least we have a chance.

I voted yesterday. He lost my vote on this issue. I was an undecided vote leaning toward Obama but I couldn't in good conscious vote for someone who may make it harder for us to choose to not vaccinate our kids. He talked about morals in his speech last night. I hope that morally he really looks at this issue with a critical eye and doesn't just believe what the vaccine manufacturers are pushing. I can only imagine what they have been contributing to his campaign. I realize he won't touch this issue now, but his silence on this issue speaks volumes to me.

I am going to go out on a limb here and say Obama isn't going to touch this again with a 10 foot pole with only 6 days left before election day. His previous comments not very encouraging. Mccain will say whatever he thinks his audiences wants to hear on any issue, so I don't have much faith in him either.

If your state is already decided like mine is, you are not throwing your vote away with a principled vote for a 3rd party candidate like Bob Barr, Libertarian candidate. A little old, but Barr is clearly on the side of the individual when it comes to medical decisions ... http://www.bobbarr2008.com/articles/73/dont-mandate-new-vaccine/