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PoliGAF Interim Thread of cunning stunts and desperate punts

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Anyone down at Indiana University? Can you confirm this bullshit about voter suppression?

Some guy who knows someone at IU said:
Update from my sister in Indiana. She is the voting coordinator for Indiana University in Bloomington. Apparently there are ZERO polling locations located on the campus of 35,000 students. None. They have to travel a fair distance to city hall in order to vote. Additionally, the voter registration end date is Oct. 6. Students must live in the state 30 days before they can register and with school starting around the beginning of September, this gives them a very tiny window in which to register. Both of these things astound me. This is all aimed at depressing turnout for a reliably democratic-leaning group of voters.

Here in Madison, the University of Wisconsin maybe has half a dozen polling places all around campus. We've got about 40,000 students so not much different from IU.

More updates next time I talk to her. It would be amazing if we could turn Indiana blue.

Some guy who knows someone at IU said:
Apparently there are ZERO polling locations located on the campus of 35,000 students. None. They have to travel a fair distance to city hall in order to vote.

Some guy who knows someone at IU said:
Apparently there are ZERO polling locations located on the campus of 35,000 students. None. They have to travel a fair distance to city hall in order to vote.
 

Zeliard

Member
APF said:
No, he'd be yet another charismatic white guy with legal prospects but no shepherding, and potentially the same racist / etc pastors that people try to associate with McCain and Palin.

The controversies surrounding those, which were comparatively short-lived, were solely in response to the Jeremiah Wright issue. Hagee had made controversial comments long beforehand, and they had gone unreported.
 
Cheebs said:
He likely still would have been elected senator, somewhere, probably not Ill. since I doubt he would have gone to Chicago to create a political base if he was white. But he would have gotten into the senate one way or another based on his political ambitions/ability and his ease with being able to get political connections due to being president of Harvard law review (being president of Harvard law review more or less lets you pick any law or political career path you want).

And assuming he'd be as charismatic and have an equally strong political team advising him as a white guy he'd no doubt run for the presidency at one point still.

He would have probably stayed at Occidental College to become another useless alumni like me :lol.
 

Rur0ni

Member
New Colorado Poll

http://publicpolicypolling.blogspot.com/2008/09/colorado-poll.html

Code:
PPP
[U]Colorado[/U]
51% Obama
44% McCain
[B]+7[/B] Obama

Sarah Palin's popularity with Colorado voters over the last couple weeks has plummeted, and as it has Barack Obama has opened up his biggest lead yet in a PPP survey of the state.

Immediately after the Republican convention 41% of Coloradoans said John McCain's choice of Palin to join him on the ticket made them more likely to vote for him while 38% said it made them less likely to do so. Now the number of people saying Palin's selection makes them less likely to vote for McCain has climbed to 47% with the number of people viewing it favorably dropping to 38%.

The movement over the last couple weeks has been particularly acute with independent voters. 56% of them say that the Palin choice makes them less likely to support McCain and what was a 49-38 lead for Obama with that group is now a 58-31 advantage.

Obama's margin with Hispanics is pretty steady since the previous poll, but he has improved from a six point deficit to a one point lead with white voters.

Edit: Damn you GhaleonEB. I was putting it together. ;)
 

grandjedi6

Master of the Google Search
APF said:
No, he'd be yet another charismatic white guy with legal prospects but no shepherding, and potentially the same racist / etc pastors that people try to associate with McCain and Palin.

Cheebs said:
He likely still would have been elected senator, somewhere, probably not Ill. since I doubt he would have gone to Chicago to create a political base if he was white. But he would have gotten into the senate one way or another based on his political ambitions/ability and his ease with being able to get political connections due to being president of Harvard law review (being president of Harvard law review more or less lets you pick any law or political career path you want).

And assuming he'd be as charismatic and have an equally strong political team advising him as a white guy he'd no doubt run for the presidency at one point still.

Neither of you should assume any of that. If Barack was white perhaps he wouldn't have come back to America, perhaps he would have died, perhaps he would go into a different career, perhaps he wouldn't have even been born. Would Hillary have gone this far without Bill? McCain without Vietnam? Obama without being black? All these are pointless questions, especially in the political world.
 
I swear, it's like America entered some sort of bizarro dimension all of a sudden.
For the first time in my entire life, I've not only been told that it is a benefit - an almost unfair benefit, at that - to be a black man, but also that having an excellent education - and excelling in that environment - makes you an elitist and means you look down on the common man. I have also learned that helping the common man as a community organizer - probably one of the more noble causes there is, from what I've learned - is bad and/or a pithy thing to have done and done well.

What the FUCK. Do you people really believe that shit?
 

HylianTom

Banned
Branduil said:
That's why I think having a Democratic president over the next four years is going to better for the Republican party, in the long run.

The only thing that might rescue the Democrats electorally is demographic change. Nevada, Colorado, New Mexico, and Arizona (despite McCain's candidacy) are all in the process of becoming solidly blue states. Another four or eight years from now, these +/-29 electoral votes will, by default, be slightly leaning to towards the Democrats.
 

Agent Icebeezy

Welcome beautful toddler, Madison Elizabeth, to the horde!
2u56zj5.gif


wbz6kvsbtkoolrkqhoyijq.gif
 

APF

Member
Zeliard said:
The controversies surrounding those, which were comparatively short-lived, were solely in response to the Jeremiah Wright issue. Hagee had made controversial comments long beforehand, and they had gone unreported.
Who is talking about controversies? I'm talking about people. Would Obama have been able to pick off the AA vote from Hillary, if it was discovered he had a pastor and long-term mentor whose racially-charged sermons were posted on Youtube and broadcasted by mainstream media networks? If your answer is, "well it wouldn't have been an issue in the first place if he was white and they were white," you are in effect answering, "no, he wouldn't have been able to."


Edit: Hillary wouldn't have had anything like the same trajectory she's had, were it not for Bill. You could in fact argue she'd have a longer political career, if Bill's didn't overshadow her own ambitions. McCain would not be in the Senate, and would not be in this race, if he weren't in Vietnam, period.

Edit 2: I never said his race was a pure positive or pure negative, I said it's not an ahem black-and-white issue.
 
captmcblack said:
I swear, it's like America entered some sort of bizarro dimension all of a sudden.
For the first time in my entire life, I've not only been told that it is a benefit - an almost unfair benefit, at that - to be a black man, but also that having an excellent education - and excelling in that environment - makes you an elitist and means you look down on the common man. I have also learned that helping the common man as a community organizer - probably one of the more noble causes there is, from what I've learned - is bad and/or a pithy thing to have done and done well.

What the FUCK. Do you people really believe that shit?
Be proud: http://www.theonion.com/content/video/portrayal_of_obama_as_elitist
 

numble

Member
APF said:
Who is talking about controversies? I'm talking about people. Would Obama have been able to pick off the AA vote from Hillary, if it was discovered he had a pastor and long-term mentor whose racially-charged sermons were posted on Youtube and broadcasted by mainstream media networks? If your answer is, "well it wouldn't have been an issue in the first place if he was white and they were white," you are in effect answering, "no, he wouldn't have been able to."
Would Hillary have been in a hole if she chose to put staff in Super Tuesday caucuses and the 11 post-Super Tuesday contests?

This is the easiest what-if answer among all the other hypotheticals, and the answer is no, she probably could've won the nomination if she didn't put herself in a hole by not focusing on these contests. She spent lavishly on strategists that fought amongst each other ($4 million for Mark Penn) while Obama spent more on paid field organizers.
 

mj1108

Member
captmcblack said:
I swear, it's like America entered some sort of bizarro dimension all of a sudden.
For the first time in my entire life, I've not only been told that it is a benefit - an almost unfair benefit, at that - to be a black man, but also that having an excellent education - and excelling in that environment - makes you an elitist and means you look down on the common man. I have also learned that helping the common man as a community organizer - probably one of the more noble causes there is, from what I've learned - is bad and/or a pithy thing to have done and done well.

What the FUCK. Do you people really believe that shit?

At the rate this country is going, Obama could cure cancer and aids and people would still think he was an elitist.

Stupid fucks I swear.
 

Tamanon

Banned
mj1108 said:
At the rate this country is going, Obama could cure cancer and aids and people would still think he was an elitist.

Stupid fucks I swear.

They would just say "Obama is killing jobs in the medical markets"
 

snacknuts

we all knew her
RiskyChris said:
Anyone down at Indiana University? Can you confirm this bullshit about voter suppression?

I'm not in Bloomington, but I know a couple people down there I can send emails to ask about this. I'll post when I hear back from them.
 

Barrett2

Member
mj1108 said:
At the rate this country is going, Obama could cure cancer and aids and people would still think he was an elitist.

Stupid fucks I swear.

I think that would make him more elitist in the eyes of Repubnicks. After all, Aids is God's punishment for sinners.
 

Lemonz

Member
http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalradar/2008/09/mccain-palin-ca.html
But typically, along with cameras, there is an editorial presence-- at least one print reporter, one television reporter, and one radio reporter is standard.

However today the McCain campaign told media covering Palin's trip to New York that they would allow only one editorial person inside.

Then the campaign scaled back further, saying it will only allow a camera and no editorial presence.

The networks, including ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN, and Fox fiercely objected to the McCain campaign's apparent effort to try to shield Palin from questions. Networks voted today to not use any video coming out of Palin's meeting as a protest.

Palin has not held a news conference since being selected as McCain's running-mate, nor taken questions from her traveling press corps, frustrating journalists assigned to cover Palin for the election.
 
Tamanon said:
They would just say "Obama is killing jobs in the medical markets"

That's not even funny, because that is *exactly* what would be said. Are we that stupid? It is as if we are voluntarily lying to ourselves and we're just going to keep doing it until we die or something.
 

kevm3

Member
I mean the polls are going to be bouncing up and down... It's not just going to show Barack taking off on a perpetual upward climb. As long as he maintains some sort of lead until the debates, there shouldn't be too much to worry about.

The debates will help us really get a clear picture of where things are going.

I'm glad the media finally is deciding to not play McCain's little games. They're saying, "Oh, you don't want to give us access to Palin for interviews? Well we're not going to give her any cameratime on the terms you try to dictate." Excellent.
 

Crayon Shinchan

Aquafina Fanboy
kevm3 said:
I mean the polls are going to be bouncing up and down... It's not just going to show Barack taking off on a perpetual upward climb. As long as he maintains some sort of lead until the debates, there shouldn't be too much to worry about.

The debates will help us really get a clear picture of where things are going.

I'm glad the media finally is deciding to not play McCain's little games. They're saying, "Oh, you don't want to give us access to Palin for interviews? Well we're not going to give her any cameratime on the terms you try to dictate." Excellent.

Obama is ahead on a lot of incidental indicators as well, such as outselling McCain on halloween masks (the candidate who has had more masks sold has won in the last 20 years), been ahead on labor day (all but 2 presidents?)... anyone have anymore? It'd be interesting to see.
 
Crayon Shinchan said:
Obama is ahead on a lot of incidental indicators as well, such as outselling McCain on halloween masks (the candidate who has had more masks sold has won in the last 20 years), been ahead on labor day (all but 2 presidents?)... anyone have anymore? It'd be interesting to see.

But then again, maybe it's because White America finds a powerful (half) black man much more fright inducing than a geriatric old white dude....
 

RubxQub

φίλω ἐξεχέγλουτον καί ψευδολόγον οὖκ εἰπόν
Holy shit...

CNN just said that Alaska native or Native Americans living in Alaska have a 1 in 3 chance of being raped.

That kind of makes the rape kit thing all sorts of crazy. Apparently Palin didn't directly sign or mention anything in regards to the rape kits, so the McCain camp claims she didn't support it. Conversely, to not know about such a controversial subject in her small town of Wasilla shows that she's incompetent.
 
zesty said:
I'm not in Bloomington, but I know a couple people down there I can send emails to ask about this. I'll post when I hear back from them.

Thanks. It looks like I'll be traveling to IU to help with GOTV.
 

diffusionx

Gold Member
captmcblack said:
That's not even funny, because that is *exactly* what would be said. Are we that stupid? It is as if we are voluntarily lying to ourselves and we're just going to keep doing it until we die or something.

No, we aren't that stupid. Republicans are just staying in line to get their guy elected. These are bad faith arguments concocted by professional liars. You should read "Conservatives Without Conscience" by John Dean. He sheds some light into the Republican frame of mind nowadays.

It's worth noting that Republicans generally approve of community organizers, as they do the hard work in the poor communities in this country. Community organizers are the type of people that step in and fill the gap when government cuts funding and services to these areas (which, if Republicans had their way, government would definitely do). It's the type of private, bottom-up, grassroots work that they talk about being part of what makes America America.
 

GhaleonEB

Member
Cheebs said:
It's going to bounce all over the place for the next 42 days.

The state polling the past few days has been remarkable for Obama.

More from First Read:

Images of Palin with world leaders would likely to help boost her foreign policy credentials, but tough questions from reporters could overshadow the event. Members of the press were in the room for a total of 29 seconds during the Karzai meeting, according to the pool report.

The campaign has cautiously shielded Palin from reporters, allowing just a few interviews and preventing reporters traveling with the campaign from asking questions. She has not held a press conference since being chosen by McCain four weeks ago, and has not done the traditional local interviews when traveling into media markets.

On Sunday, Palin stopped at an Orlando ice cream shop but reporters were not told of the event so an editorial representative was not sent. Several days earlier, press aides were surprised that a pool reporter asked questions about the economic situation during a stop at a deli in Cleveland.
:lol
 

PantherLotus

Professional Schmuck
Not giving her camera time is exactly what the McCain camp wants. Less gaffes, less reminder of how incapable she is, less reminder on what a ridiculous pick she was. By doing this, they're playing right into their hands.
 

Hitokage

Setec Astronomer
PantherLotus said:
Not giving her camera time is exactly what the McCain camp wants. Less gaffes, less reminder of how incapable she is, less reminder on what a ridiculous pick she was. By doing this, they're playing right into their hands.
Not exactly, they also don't get coverage, and when the media doesn't cover something, it might as well not have happened.
 

Y2Kev

TLG Fan Caretaker Est. 2009
Don't you guys think she wants to talk to the media? She must know how extraordinary this protective shield is and it has to be personally demeaning to her.
 

Tamanon

Banned
Hitokage said:
Not exactly, they also don't get coverage, and when the media doesn't cover something, it might as well not have happened.

They still get coverage, because the media always strives to do equal time. It just gives the appearance of the media burying her.

The other thing they might be doing is projecting the image that she can't handle questions, to lower the bar even more for the debate.
 

GhaleonEB

Member
Hitokage said:
Not exactly, they also don't get coverage, and when the media doesn't cover something, it might as well not have happened.
Yup. Palin's meetings at the UN are basically one big PR blitz, designed to generate images, not words. If the media refuses to go along, it's wasted effort. I get the feeling there's a serious backlash brewing for McCain and Palin, beyond what we've seen so far.
 

TreIII

Member
PantherLotus said:
Not giving her camera time is exactly what the McCain camp wants. Less gaffes, less reminder of how incapable she is, less reminder on what a ridiculous pick she was. By doing this, they're playing right into their hands.

On the other hand, the less in the way of new material they give the press, the MORE (and longer) the press will just continue to dredge up the old stuff, because that's all they have to work with. :lol

Keeping her out of the light is definitely making it so that she won't make any new blunders until the debates, more than likely, but it isn't doing anything to help polish her image in the media. And that's still nothing good for her, or McCain's camp.
 

kevm3

Member
Not being shown on camera is in some ways beneficial to Palin, but also damaging. It means less gaffes, but it also means less Palin superstar stories. She's recently had a plate full of somewhat negative media come out about her, so that may be the stuff that sticks. Palin is at her best when she can just look good for the camera and spout out some GOP talking point. That's when she pumps up McCain's numbers... When she's invisible or when she's having to talk about actual policy, it's more of a detriment to McCain. It means it's more about McCain vs. Obama in that scenario.

Also, I think this shunning of the media is starting to get them really agitated and that they will start hitting Palin a lot harder or outright ignoring her. This hide and seek game will play well for McCain in the short term, but in the long term, it'll catch up to him. They may be a lot less likely to say, "Oh Palin did well and held her own against Joe" in the debates now. I mean, I think even these news guys are getting concerned that they may get Palin in office, after seeing all of what has happened recently. They're starting realize America is in a huge crisis, and you can't leave the country in the hands of someone who isn't even prepared to do interviews.
 
Y2Kev said:
Don't you guys think she wants to talk to the media? She must know how extraordinary this protective shield is and it has to be personally demeaning to her.
She just might not care. Maybe she's just like McCain. Willing to do anything to win.
 
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