Letters to the Editor
-
What's the difference between April and November, Sol Invictus?
Right now, Obama is on his way to a severe thumping at the hands of John McCain come November, and yet his supporters remain fooled by enthusiasm of a very small percentage of the overall electorate.
If the election were held today, perhaps you'd be right. But it isn't being held today, is it?
As to how "small" the "percentage" of the "overall electorate" is enthusiastic or not over Obama, the fact remains he is the presumptive Democratic nominee for the White House. That he's still engaged in a primary battle doesn't alter the fact.
In answer to my question in the subject line: seven months between today and the general election.
Seven months for him and his campaign to change those numbers. Whether that happens or not cannot be told at this moment, nor should it be inferred things will remain static between now and November.
Keep in mind the current Administration can still screw us all royally in the interim, which could either help or hinder either side's campaign. Obama himself could screw up, or be assassinated, or we could all die in a nuclear exchange.
The future is unwritten, but your caution is well taken.
Guess those of us who want a change in November still have some work to do.
Okay, a lot of work to do.
-
Please, tell us what to do.
Glenn,
Good work on Amy's this morning. Any of your readers are completely familiar with the script. The total abdication of any comprehensive, accurate and investigative journalism by the MSM is basically complete. Unfortunately, we can not replace our journalists as we can our politicians. Just look at guys like Broder, Wills, Brooks, etc. They're all in their 12th term or more and unlikely to even retire in the distant future. The perks, the cocktail parties, the adulation--all something they might miss if they had to retire. We can't fire them--their publishers won't fire them and so they'll chatter on and on doing quite a bit of damage to the average American's mind. I know the blogs are tremendously important but how can we push the envelope further? Pressure their venues? What? It's a real crisis. Journalism no longer exposes and protects the people. It shills for the government. This is exactly what happens in any authoritarian government. Help!
-
Penn Primary Polls-Clinton- Obama
Franklin+Marshall Coll. Apr. 13 49% 42%
SurveyUSA Apr. 14 54% 40%
Rasmussen Apr. 14 50% 41%
LA Times Apr. 14 46% 41%
Quinnipiac U. Apr. 13 50% 44%
ARG Apr. 13 57% 37%
Zogby Apr. 10 47% 43%
Susquehanna Polling Apr. 10 40% 37%
Temple U. Apr. 9 47% 41%
Insider Advantage Apr. 8 48% 38%
SurveyUSA Apr. 7 56% 38%
Rasmussen Apr. 7 48% 43%
Quinnipiac U. Apr. 6 50% 44%
ARG Apr. 6 45% 45%
ABT SRBI Apr. 6 49% 41%
Muhlenberg Coll. Apr. 2 51% 41%
Insider Advantage Apr. 2 45% 42%
-
"who edits them?"
That's a good one. Edit? I don't think they even read their own papers. How else would you explain that WaPo's Fred Hiatt's right wing slanted blather is usually based on "facts" that are at the very same time being debunked in the same edition of his newspaper?
-
My letter to Mr. Brooks
Mr. Brooks,
We are deeply worried that our nominee will lose in November precisely because narratives like this dominate. That was exactly the point of the outpouring of outrage over the ABC "debate." Overall, average Americans deeply resent that you and your colleagues actually believe that our values are represented in the trivialities that you flog. If we really did have values so shallow and petty, you wouldn't even be forced to write damage-control pieces like this in defense of your editorial positions.
Fortunately you can only dumb down so far before you descend into self-parody. Lines like "he bowls a 37 for crying out loud" in a Serious Analysis Piece in our Newspaper of Record indicate that you've arrived but haven't realized it yet. The enormous backlash to the ABC debacle indicates that we have.
Be prepared to hear more about what the masses believe and value. Because we plan to tell you at every opportunity until you get it.
-
sysprog
Given a 3 point moe, the short time horizon, this looks flat to me. Obama has been within the 3 point moe over the entire 6 days. Clinton arguably slightly up.
Still, wouldn't be surprised if Obama did have some drop, given the mugging. It might take a few days to dust the dirt off his jacket. Regardless, such fine detail in polling seems like such a huge waste of money.
-
Political media as paparazzi
I've noticed that the "journalists" who cover the political campaigns are similar to paparazzi in that they've collectively already made up their minds about their subjects (Britney = crazy, thus take pictures of her that make her look crazy, George Clooney = sexy and sophisticated, so take photos of him that project these attributes, etc.), and rarely, if ever, stray from these story lines. So Obama has been deemed an elitist so let's hang on his every word for quotes supporting this, McCain is a strong warrior so let's publish quotes of him being a strong warrior, Ron Paul is crazy so let's portray him as such, etc. The obvious problem is that celebrity coverage is at worst mean-spirited entertainment versus who is going to be running our country which is of deadly serious importance. They shouldn't resemble each other in the slightest bit.
-
@Iokannan in the Well
Yes, you're right, my statement does seem to assume a pretty static state of affairs, and of course a lot can happen in the next six months.
My point (not well stated) is based on Obama's trajectory (downward) and McCain's (upward), so things aren't looking so great for him. He also got a free pass from the MSM for several months, and the Republicans haven't even weighed in yet.
-
About this latte sipping
Every time I hear that accusation - including from Hillary supporters on the stump with her, which I find bizarre - I want to ask the person when they last visited Starbucks. Seriously - how many lattes does Starbucks sell every day? This is elitism?!?
-
Hahaha
Right now, Obama is on his way to a severe thumping at the hands of John McCain come November, and yet his supporters remain fooled by enthusiasm of a very small percentage of the overall electorate.
You won't know that until individual state matchup polls are done and electoral votes are calculated. There is only one red state with a large number of electoral votes, Texas, and that's not so in the bag for McCain. All the rest are 3 or 4 to 7, Georgia with 15 and Florida with 27, and Florida is iffy for McCain this year. But you would know this if you were not an idiot. McCain will not take CA, NY, Mass, Ill, Penn and Michigan. That's a swiftboatload of electoral votes. It may be close but there ain't going to be no "thumping," unless it is McCain getting thumped.
90% of the country has had enough of Bush economic policies.
http://www.eschatonblog.com/2008_04_13_archive.html#7809942911940769813