Small Business Owners Weigh In on Obama and McCain: And It's Not Pretty

As over 4,000 small business owners weighed in on our MerchantCircle Presidential Election Survey, more than 90 comments have been left on our survey results found here. The comments show that business owners are taking a very active, and vocal role in this year's election. The arguments for or against McCain/Palin and Obama/Biden are not always pretty. In fact, some of them border on outrageous. Here are some of the commenters against Obama say:

- "I don't know how Obama (we know what his middle name is) is so high in the polls when most people I talk to say they would not vote for him. He scares me to death!!"

- "Obama hates all that America stands for, and if he is elected it will be the begining of the end of America."

Not exactly sure what Obama's middle name has to do with his character or leadership skills or how he'll help out small businesses. Some of those against McCain have also shown little restraint:

- "He's lost his soul to win an election. We don't a need vindictive, wishy washy old troll leading this country!!"

- "If you really want 4 more years of what we have had to endure, please vote for the old guy and Gov. Avon Lady...give me a break...Just more of the Bush agenda."

Not sure what age has to do with someone's ability to lead either. Not everyone has been taken away with name-calling though, there were many comments that did focus on small business and the economy:

- "98% of small businesses make under $250,000 so they would actually benefit by Obama's plan, not McCain's. Obama wants to work from the bottom up instead of the policy we have seen for the past eight years, which is to work from the top down and hope some of it trickles down - it hasn't worked."

- "Raising taxes for anyone in this economic climate would be a mistake. Anyone who thinks that those companies who bring in 250K per year and will have higher taxes hit them won't affect those companies and individuals who bring in less are sadly mistaken. If you think unemployment is bad now wait until those tax hikes hit the employers who must cut jobs to adapt."

As the election comes down to it's final two weeks - we hope that the conversation does not become as hate-filled as some of the recent negative ads directed towards both candidates. For a look at up-to-date electoral votes for each candidate, you can check here. Here's a broad look at both candidate's proposals for Taxes, Health Care, Trade, and Startup Incentives.

Sincerely,
Kevin
Community Relations

Can Joe the Plumber Buy Newell Plumbing?

Joe the Plumber may face a hurdle now that the presidential campaign has brought him to the forefront of national attention. Calls to A Newell Plumbing Repairs found off MerchantCircle went unanswered, and their voice mail box was full. Sounds like business is REALLY good - that, or a ton of journalists are calling to find out more about Joe Wurzelbacher.

Joe was brought up by Senator John McCain during the third and final Presidential debate. Joe had asked Senator Barack Obama on Sunday in Holland, OH why he should be taxed more if he bought the plumbing business he currently worked at. A Newell Plumbing apparently makes more than $250,000 a year. Senator McCain's point was that no one should be taxed more during this time of economic distress.

Joe's response to being America's 'average Joe'? "Pretty surreal" according to an interview he did with the Associated Press. Let's hope that he's already closing the deal on buying the business, because this attention will bring A Newell Plumbing Repair to the top of search engine queries.

Sincerely,
Kevin
Community Relations

Obama, McCain, Taxes, Small Business, and You

While we didn't hear much around the words "Main Street" this go around, there was plenty to do with taxes during the second of three debates between Senator Barack Obama and Senator John McCain. There seems to be more blame and misleading statements this election season than any in recent memory. To get a complete rundown of all the "mangled facts" between both candidates, check out this link from FactCheck.org. Here's an excerpt below:

• Obama said his health care plan would lower insurance premiums by up to $2,500 a year. Experts we’ve consulted see little evidence such savings would materialize.
• McCain misstated his own health care plan, saying he’d give a $5,000 tax credit to “every American” His plan actually would provide only $2,500 per individual, or $5,000 for couples and families. He also misstated Obama’s health care plan, claiming it would levy fines on “small businesses” that fail to provide health insurance. Actually, Obama’s plan exempts “small businesses.”

Both candidates had to spend the majority of their alloted time refuting what the other was saying about them, rather than answer the questions. Here a link to a KCBS5 story about each candidate's tax policies and what they mean to small business owners. Below is an excerpt:

First, on taxes: Experts say at least three out of four small businesses pay taxes through the owner's personal income tax. Under a Barack Obama administration, couples who make less than $250,000 will either see taxes stay the same - or drop. For those making more, taxes will go up. Under McCain, there would be no changes to the current tax structure. For the small remaining group of businesses that file corporate taxes, Obama proposes leaving the corporate tax rate at 35 percent. McCain would drop it to 25 percent.

With the results from our recently released 'Presidential Survey' and updates from the MerchantCircle blog, we want to make sure you can make informed decisions this election season and beyond.

Sincerely,
Kevin
Community Relations

Presidential Debate: Obama vs. McCain

With tonight's highly anticipated debate just minutes away from starting - the first of 3 - the nation will eagerly dissect who looks and sounds more presidential: Senators Barack Obama or John McCain? Chances are, the answers will be less than groundbreaking, therefore, demeanor, likability, and eloquence may sway some of the estimated 18% of voters who are undecided.

Be sure to check your email inbox for our Presidential Survey, that will help us fight for the causes that are important to you as local business owners. In the survey, we ask questions, including whether the proposed 700 billion dollar bailout will help you out.

As the nation's largest online network of local business owners, we'll work hard to make sure your voice is heard, not only in your local communities, but also in the hallways of the nation's capital.

Sincerely,
Kevin
Community Relations

P.S. You can also voice your concerns inside our MerchantCircle forums.

Presidential Candidates Obama and McCain on Small Business

While small businesses create roughly two-thirds of all new American jobs, and generate roughly 70 percent of the gross national product, it's amazing that small business issues are rarely mentioned on the campaign trail and in campaign rhetoric. Here at MerchantCircle, we'll fight to make sure you know which candidate has your best interests in mind, so that you can make an informed decision for yourself.

Over the next few days, we'll send out a questionaire to a random sampling of our 575,000 merchant members to gauge your concerns and attempt to find the answers. At the very least, we'll have a clear idea on which candidates small business owners are leaning towards (even in swing states!). After speaking with merchants in Wasilla, AK about Sarah Palin (we'll do the same with the Senator Joe Biden in Scranton, PA and Wilmington, DE), it's obvious that most merchants are not sure how the two parties will affect their business.

Here's a chart from BusinessWeek on some of Senator Barack Obama and Senator John McCain's agendas on taxes, health care and incentives:



Here's another more extensive side-by-side comparison on candidate positions from the Small Business & Entrepreneurship Council. Click here to see it. It's a really good and easy to look at chart.

Stay tuned to our blog for more posts every day this week.

Sincerely,
Kevin L.
Community Relations

Why Fred Thompson and the Gang are Must-See-Web-TV

Next year's presidential election is turning into one heck of a shindig! It's kind of like that feeling you get when you see an awesome movie trailer months before the premier and can't wait. (For me, it was Basic Instinct 2)

Who will it be and what will they say? Barack? McCain? Hillary? Giuliani? Edwards? Heck, I've even heard New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg will run as an independent with Nebraska Senator Chuck Hagel! And if that isn't enough, toss in a possible run by Al Gore (whom some insiders say is 50 - 50).

The real question is to see how crafty these candidates will be on the web. Howard Dean really set the war path - or should I say web path - in 2004, banking gobs of money on the web, when other candidates didn't even know their URL from their KFC. No doubt, they'll be on every website from Myspace to YouTube, and organize much better campaigns using web wikis. Watch out for those e-mails though, according to the Bush Administration they can be easily lost!

I've even offered John Kerry, who so far is staying out of the race, a forum to communicate to our more than 120,000 small business owners across the country - the largest network on the web. Kerry became chairman of the Senate Small Business and Entrepreneurship Committee this year. It's great they put people in charge who understand the plight of the small business owner.

I sent the e-mail a few weeks ago to two different e-mails, but didn't hear back. But it's okay, who knows what blue-collar activity he's up to?

At some point, our merchants will need to hear from the candidates, but more importantly, the candidates will need to hear from the more than 15 million small business owners in the country.

I'm certain we'll see some crafty web activity from the candidates over the next year and a half. I'm on pins and needles. But if you see Sharon Stone around, give me a heads up, so that I can hide all my sharp objects.

Sincerely,
Kevin Leu
Community Relations