Letters to the Editor
BadgerBlue
Published Letters: 190 Editor's Choice: 7
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@John762
[Read the article: Networks call Kentucky for Clinton]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I'm sure there are some of Limbaugh's ditto-heads marching to his "Operation Chaos" orders who have done exactly what you stated in Kentucky and many other states since early March at least. The Washington Spectator stated recently that it may have tipped the popular vote in Texas and I believe DAILY KOS pointed to exit polls from the IN primary showing that the number of Clinton voters who stated they planned to vote for McCain in November provided just enough for her to win the popular vote there also. So I'd say there is evidence to support your assertion at least in some of these closely contested states. Kentucky and West Virginia? I doubt the Rethugs could account for all of Clinton's sizeable leads, but I suppose as desperate as they are getting seeing as how McCain's weak fundraising shows no signs of taking off, they might be capable of anything at this point.
As for white Appalachia disliking Obama, maybe they need to join Clinton's all-too-well paid crack team of advisors in a trip back to 5th-grade math class because it appears they can't get a grip on numbers as well. You know, those numbers like Clinton's negativity ratings spiking once she went all negative all the time while piling up a campign debt of $20 million and change in the process. Another number the hillbillies might need to grasp is the one that keeps coming around showing the dumbass they rubber-stamped for occupancy at The White House two consecutive times with an approval rating around 30%. Perhaps if they understood numbers such as those, they might finally get a clue that as to why many in America have been making much different choices then they did this time around.
White mountain people from red states dislike Obama? That's all I needed to know in order to feel even more satisfaction that I voted for him back in the February WI primary.
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Dead in the water? Not quite, but he's certainly vulnerable
[Read the article: Is McCain's campaign in trouble?]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]The MSM will no doubt give McCain every break and opening possible. That said, it may not be enough to throw the contest his way by the time voting day arrives. One thing that could really box him in is what looks like his inability to raise nearly the amount of money that Obama has managed to haul in. If Obama can sustain and perhaps even build on the exitement his campaign has brought to the race so far and outraise McCain by perhaps a 2 to 1 margin or even better into the fall, McCain won't have many good options at that point. If he tries to go all-out negative, and Obama has enough cash to flood the airwaves with TV-spots pointing out the obvious distortions, that could really be bad for McCain. If Obama succeeds in denouncing negative Republican tactics on TV and McCain can't afford nearly as much advertising, McCain would run a substantial risk of being defined much the same as Clinton in the primary season in that he'd be just the latest who's only basis for running was that he'd been around for years and years and it was his place in line.
While that status-quo approach has worked many times as candidates such as Nixon, Reagan, and Bush-1 have demonstrated, those candidates won over the likes of Humphrey, Carter, and Dukakis. None of those three Dems had much if any charisma or personal warmth to offer a direct contrast with thier opponents, where as Nixon, despite having already been around a long time, lost to JFK largely due to JFK's more likeable personal appeal. And Nixon, coming off 8 years on the coattails of Eisenhower who at the time at least had some measure of respect from both parties, didn't have to run in the face of such public disatisfaction with the status quo. No such luck for McCain this time around as he's stuck with the draft evading, drunk driving, coke snorting fratboy George W. Dumbass.
By September, it wouldn't surprise me if McCain decided his chances were so bad that he flip-flops 180 degrees and decides to lead an impeachment effort against Bush in an effort to surpass Obama as the "change" candidate. We saw how quickly Clinton went into full-tilt pandering mode in an effort to hang on. Why should McCain be expected to act any different in the event that his one and only opportunity to get the prize he's been dead-set on getting for so long starts to slip away from his grasp?