Sooner Be Blue

Mostly politics, a few current events, a squirt of seltzer down yer pants .. a little blog for my rambles and rants.

2008/9/9

Yeah, I know, I saw them...

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@ 10:43 AM (28 days, 7 hours ago)

The new polls are showing the race either tied or with a narrow McCain lead:
 
The new ABC/Washington Post poll gives McCain a 49%-47% lead among likely voters, with a ±4% margin of error. Two weeks ago, just before the Democratic Convention began, Obama had a 49%-45% lead with likely voters.
 
The new CBS poll has McCain up 46%-44%, with a ±4% margin of error. Two and a half weeks ago, Obama had a 45%-42% lead.
 
The new Hotline/Diageo poll has the race tied at 44% each. Two weeks ago, Obama had a 44%-40% lead.
 
Lest we forget -- McCain went out of his way to trample on the Democratic convention, the success of Obama's speech and distract everyone the morning after when he dropped his Palin bomb to dilute whatever bounce Obama got.
 
Okay, convention bounces are not permanent things...McCain's is the result of going second, bathing in the spotlight and getting positive coverage for a whole week.
 
There are still eight weeks to go. Besides, if you get a big convention bounce based on lies and distortions...maybe the harder you'll fall.
 
So, for now, his Palin bump has pulled him ahead in the polls. All those dispirited R's who were going to stay home on election day are fired up now.
 
Now, if only Obama had picked Hillary as VP like I wanted him to, he could've robbed McCain of Palin's thunder...and he would've cemented Hillary's base of women voters.
 
Of course, there is no evidence that centrist women are now flocking to Palin. Working class and Democratic women still support Obama. Most Republican women would never vote for a Democrat anyway...millions, in fact.
 
What the Democrats are losing may be enthusiasm among Democratic women, but they are not losing women. They need to put Hillary out there. And Bill is waiting in the wings...
 
It's conservative and moderate men who love Palin. Conservatives have long pined for a pro-life Maggie Thatcher type, and now they think they found one.
 
No matter who wins, I think in the end, it's these two decisions -- Hillary and Palin -- that will be analyzed for years to come.
 

2008/3/23

Is Obama's pastor disaster fading?

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@ 12:02 PM (6 months, 18 days ago)

"Gallup Daily: Obama Edges Ahead of Clinton"

After those Jeremiah Wright videos--showing Obama's former pastor giving inflammatory speeches--hit YouTube, Obama's numbers began to sink like a stone.

BTW--a lot of people thought the Clinton campaign was behind those videos being set loose on the Internet; turns out that a McCain aide, Soren Dayton, was suspended for releasing the videos. Just suspended...not fired like the Clinton worker who circulated the false email about Obama's religion.

Anyway, Obama's poll numbers dropped 10 points in just three days. Many of his supporters, especially the older ones, heard Wright's racial rants and said, 'whoa, I don't know enough about Barack Obama.'

Then he delivered his Philadelphia speech. A speech he wrote by himself in two days and two nights. A brave, uplifting and historic speech. The best I remember since the Civil Rights era--maybe the best in my lifetime--about the single most troubling issue our country has faced since its founding. Race. He told the unlovely and uncomfortable truth about racism....black racism and white racism. He didn't take sides.

And now these latest Gallup polls show that he has rallied. Democrats were asked their presidential nomination preferences...Obama reversed Clinton’s recent momentum and has edged ahead of her--48 percent to 45 percent.

So, it seems that Wright's fiery rhetoric didn't put Obama dead in the water after all. I'd like to think that after hearing his excellent Philadelphia speech people took time to mull it over, let its eloquence and fairness sink in, appreciate being talked to as an adult by a politician, before rallying behind him and turning back the tide.

Here's the latest Gallup:
"PRINCETON, NJ -- Barack Obama has quickly made up the deficit he faced with Hillary Clinton earlier this week, with the latest Gallup Poll Daily tracking update on Democratic presidential nomination preferences showing 48% of Democratic voters favoring Obama and 45% Clinton.[..]"

http://tinyurl.com/35lwoq

About those fiery speeches--does anyone think a black man grows to adulthood without being exposed to angry rhetoric from the older generation, the ones who were actually turned away from the lunch counter? Hearing others express their anger does not make one a disciple of that anger. If that were true, every single black American would be a ball of fury.

It's clear that Barack Obama does not desire to feed that anger. He's aware of it, and probably feels a measure of sympathy to those made angry, but he is obviously not caught up in the throes of that anger.

I think Sen. Obama is a decent man, who cares about all races of people. Looks like with a week's worth of hindsight and common sense, the average American voter has reached the same conclusion.

We must not forget you McCain supporters. Scroll down a bit on the Gallup report to see your guy leading both Obama and Clinton. And I know you'll enjoy this little piece of surreal performance art:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MaP9eiWuX3s

What? It's serious?.....that makes it even funnier.