Letters to the Editor
-
Bubble is the operative word here
Joan, you hit the nail on the head. You live in a bubble, as do most of the readers of this site.
You think McCain had a bad week and Obama a good one? Dream on.
You know why the polls are so tight and getting tighter? Because Americans (and the world) are finally getting a chance to see the breathtaking arrogance of the Obama camp.
It's captured perfectly here:
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/columnists/gerard_baker/article4392846.ece
This view of Obama is more widespread than you think, and the fact that McCain is closing the gap in states that have gone blue in the previous several elections is evidence.
Get ready to have your bubble popped in November.
-
There's no there there
Obama is failing to connect in the Midwest because he has (1) failed to deliver a detailed, substantive, and UNDERSTANDABLE economic program and (2) failed to differentiate himself from the foreign and domestic policies of the present administration.
The "brilliance" Walsh hears in Obama's speeches sounds vague and deceptive to hardened voters who note the lack of specifics and testable promises, and Obama's willingness to trade principles for corporate cash.
-
it's early
i know for myself and other obama fans i know, our minds have been made up well before this week. same goes for my mccain-supporting friends. so my thinking is that the race is still early, and anyone who is on the fence is going to stay that way for a little while longer. that might explain why the polls won't budge...
-
the view of McCain as yesterday's candidate
more widespread than you think
-
Whose breathtaking arrogance?
Makes me wonder what the meaning of "arrogant" must be, for the first poster. Promising to sell people the same snake oil that we've been choking on for seven years, and assuming that they won't notice, seems slightly arrogant to me. My mistake. Call me bubbleboy.
-
polls
polls mean nothing at this point, and to focus on one poll, rather than the aggregates is ridiculous (as I'm sure you know).
Quinnipiac shows him ahead 2 in Minnesota, but Rasmussen shows him ahead 13 (with a larger margin of error). So figure he's probably ahead by about 5.
And if you do want to go strictly by the latest polls, what the heck, Gallup shows him up 6 points in the national poll, which is probably above the margin of error, and if he were to win by this amount, it would probably be a landslide.
-
I think we all oughta wait till things get closer to the wire
Before we start urging either candidate
To just give up and retire.
It's way too early to be puttin' stock in any polls
Or the mentally inbalanced tirades
Of internet trolls.
-
Polls
Broad polls don't matter all that much, its the ones that break down the Electoral College votes, and for that matter individual district races for congress. The best roll up of all these that I have found is http://www.electoral-vote.com/. Tracking it for the last few weeks, it is looking pretty damn bad for McCain.
But that isn't much of a news story, so I expect we'll get the closeness of the polls and so on for the next four months.
-
More Empty Heads
Drop dead you hate creature.
I think some people have been looking down for so long that down seems like up and up seems like down. Down with Defeatocrats....Obama is going to win, and fuck you if you don't like it.
God I wish some people would choke on their own bile.
Maybe Obama is too good for America. Maybe we deserve Bush Three. This election is the ultimate litmus test...Is Your Country Smarter Than A First Grader?
-
"Magical" was a good word choice.
Obama has magic, but refuses to condescend to substance.
Do people want another charlatan in the White House, even a "brilliant" one? I think elite Democrats are misunderstanding what many people mean by change and continuity. Old fart McCain is starting to look like the reality-based candidate, unlike Bush or Obama. Obama seems to be running for goodwill ambassador to the UN or maybe the EU. Good morning, starshine!
It would utterly unbelievable if Democrats blow this lopsided contest. But, cripes, if it starts to get close stop blaming voters and start holding Obama accountable for his magical mystery tour of a campaign.
-
Looking back, looking forward
I don't think that the left can really criticise McCain for looking back to who was in favour of the surge, when the left is so keen to look further back to who was in favour of starting the war in the first place. I think Obama is right to emphasise that the Sunni "awakening" preceded the surge.
As for why the race is so close, it puzzles me a little. I suspect the fact that Obama is black may have something to do with it, plus the lingering effect of various negatives aired during the primary: Jeremiah Wright, the "bitter" controversy, "unpatriotic" Michelle...
From where I am sitting, McCain looks like a lying, doddering old man who shouldn't be within 20 points of Obama. But I guess I am in a bubble too.
-
George W, Bush Redux
In my my mind I found it incredible that voters voted for W in 2000 and 2004. Yet I know many many affluent people who are just innately republican and they couldn't accept the ineptness and cruelty of his administration, which was so obvious to me.
And I knew quite a few average working "joes" who really feared that the democrats would "give the store away" to teen-age mothers on welfare. I never got the feeling that the war was important to either group.
This time around I think "racism" will be a hugely important factor. I experience it on an almost daily basis. It appears innate, again! There doesn't appear to be any other rational explanation. It is visceral.
It wouldn't surprise me in the least if Obama loses the election. Despite their latest gaffes Fox News is still immensely popular. Fear might just prevail.
-
My feelings before this trip even began
was that Obama may slip a bit in the polls.
Right now, foreign policy is not the main concern of voters; particularly here in the middle of America.
So while Obama is overseas, McCain is concentrating on economic issues.
Even though I thought Obama might lose some points in the process of honing his foreign policy chops, and neglecting domestic issues for a week, it was necessary for the long run to November.
He will be able to close some of the gap with McCain on foreign affairs, and once he's home and concentrating again on domestic issues the over-all gap between he and McCain will widen even more.