Mumei said:And Obama should get to handing out more buttons, apparently.
:lolClevinger said:And wear a suit made of flagpins.
And polling, by and large, doesn't pick up these new voters.Agent Icebeezy said:http://my.barackobama.com/page/content/vfchome
We can send a powerful message to the special interests that dominate the old politics if millions of people get registered to vote. Recent voter registration drives have registered more than 200,000 new Democrats in Pennsylvania, more than 165,000 new Democrats in North Carolina, and more than 150,000 new Democrats in Indiana. Those numbers just scratch the surface of what's possible.
This is why I'm not worried.
speculawyer said:So here is the article you linked to:
So . . . how does that article support the innuendo you are alleging?, Mr. Hannity
Crazy conspiracy theory? Is that what you've been reduced to? That is sad.
Linked Article said:Ayers is an education professor at the University of Illinois at Chicago who in his youth co-founded the Weatherman organization, later known as the Weather Underground Organization, which espoused violence as a necessity for political change.
In the 1990s, Ayers was instrumental in starting the Chicago Annenberg Challenge, which was awarded nearly $50 million by a foundation to help reform Chicago schools.
Obama was the first chairman of the Chicago Annenberg Challenge and Republicans have been highlighting his ties to Ayers through the group.
Correct me if I'm wrong but I believe Dukakis says no.Guts Of Thor said:I remember my political science professor said that who ever was ahead in the polls after Labor Day would go on to win the Presidency and that it has only been incorrect twice I believe.
Anyone else heard something like this?
Slurpy said:I just can't fucking believe how polls show the election almost in a dead heat. It fucking blows my mind. How? It shouldn't be even close. Does America ever learn anything, EVER?
PhoenixDark said:That's the thing that has really caught my eye. Bush is one of the most unpopular presidents of all time, Obama has painted McCain as his heir...yet that entire line of attack isn't working at all.
I'm sorry . . . but you are not making much sense.siamesedreamer said:No...what's sad is that Tamanon was the only one to pick up on what I was referring to. What's even more sadderer is that even after Tamanon specifically pointed out what I was referring to and my response to Ghaleon's idiotic post, you still come in here trying to be cute. Let me point it out for you since your tiny little mind cannot grasp what's going on:
Since I don't watch Fox/Hannity, that information is new to me. I thought his only connection to Ayers was the meeting at his house the one time. Because that was a stoopit talking point, I ignored the story altogether. This chairman role, however, is completely different. It implies a completely different relationship than what I've seen Obama talk about.
Slurpy said:I just can't fucking believe how polls show the election almost in a dead heat. It fucking blows my mind. How? It shouldn't be even close. Does America ever learn anything, EVER?
Krowley said:It's easy to say that McCain is a clone of bush in terms of policy, but you'll never convince people that he's equally incompetent.
He's too experienced for that and his personal history is too compelling. Nobody believes that McCain is really anything like Bush. Nobody thinks he would handle something like Katrina in the same incompetent way.. Same goes for the war, and nearly every other issue.
Why, because he was a P.O.W.?I'm not saying that swing voters are in love with Bush's policies, but the vitriolic hatred for his presidency is more personal in nature. It's more about character and fitness to serve. You can't transfer that to another guy, particularly not someone like McCain. If Obama wants to beat McCain, he'll have to do it in a more direct fashion.
And bear in mind, it's not a dead heat. Obama is up by 2-4 points, depding on the poll. (Toss the Zogby one.)Slurpy said:I just can't fucking believe how polls show the election almost in a dead heat. It fucking blows my mind. How? It shouldn't be even close. Does America ever learn anything, EVER?
GhaleonEB said:And bear in mind, it's not a dead heat. Obama is up by 2-4 points, depding on the poll. (Toss the Zogby one.)
In electoral breakdown, that's not actuall too close. For a sanity check, I used the Washington Post interactive electoral map and matched it to Pollster's map of the race. Then toggle the toss up states in the direction each one leans, to see what it would look like if those were the results today. The result is 312 Obama, 226 McCain. And that's with their composite national tracker showing Obama with a 1.6% margin over McCain.
It's close, but not quite as close as the national polls would have you think.
The Chosen One said:So I don't know why some of you guys are acting so puzzled why the polls have gotten close. Post Obama's Euro-trip, everything has gone McCain's way. It's been a perfect storm in his favor. Gas prices have dipped slightly, the negatives of the Iraq war is drifting out of the public's mind, media wants a close horse-race, participated in a favorable townhall, and a Cold War-era style dust-up has occurred. You guys are seriously surprised the polls are tightening up???
They're easier to do, and they give the press something to talk about. Most of them are done by the media, afterall. Today's were the WSJ/NBC and the CBS/NYT. Time, CNN, Newsweek, ABC - they all do their own (often in tandem with the major pollsters) and then talk about them at length. Feed the narrative cycle.SRG01 said:Sorry to interject, but why are national polls even released when state polls are more important in most presidential races?
Yalp.quadriplegicjon said:i dont think we arent puzzled, we are just fucken depressed.. or at least i am.
SRG01 said:Sorry to interject, but why are national polls even released when state polls are more important in most presidential races?
watlaserbeam said:We see with current state polling the election is basically tied and currently slightly leaning in mccains favor.
GhaleonEB said:wat
http://www.pollster.com/
http://www.fivethirtyeight.com/
http://electoral-vote.com/
All tip Obama. Pollster is straight-up polling averages, no modeling behind them, but even the other two tip slightly Obama still.
polyh3dron said:Why, because he was a P.O.W.?
This. Absolutely agree.Krowley said:Nobody believes that McCain is really anything like Bush.
aswedc said:This. Absolutely agree.
Calling McCain more of the same as the Bush administration is just as much of a logical non starter as calling Obama out as a tax raising, economy destroying socialist. It's sad the Democratic echo chamber that is GAF buys into the former argument just as much as the small town Republicans buy into the later.
The reality is McCain and Obama have both proven themselves to be very pragmatic, pandering, and calculating politicians. McCain's political history has more than proven his current lowest common denominator campaign tactic is simply a chosen strategy, while Bush simply lacks the analytical capacity to be anything other than a one trick pony.
laserbeam said:Thats always been my issue with some around here. As politically smart as most of GAF in the PoliGAF thread are they buy into the gimmicky stuff just as easily as the "morons" many mock and despise.
People need to make up their minds on their own research not what Olbermann or Limbaugh or any other puppet says.
Political Experiance for Obama shows me he spent quite a few times in Illinois refusing to vote Yes or No on Bills which bothers me because he didnt seem to want to get a voting record on many topics
McCain its hard to know what he really stands for as well.
The Chosen One said:If you don't play hardball then I agree with the others that the "McBush" strategy won't work. The argument isn't really strong enough to stand up on its own.
As far as I am concerned...the simple fact that it was proven a while ago that Mccain is adopting a LOT of people from the Bush era (hundreds of people from the lower depths of the administration) is enough to know that things will be run in the same manner. Now if you can prove that wrong I'll listen to you. But a month or two ago I read many articles citing his reliance on that lower tier network, and as far as I am concerned they are all corrupt assholes that should be put in jail (a gross generalization, but a needed one given the importance of this election as demonstrated by a growing russian "we're going crazy threat", a growing Chinese "we're owning you through economics" threat, and a stagnating U.S. economy.laserbeam said:Thats always been my issue with some around here. As politically smart as most of GAF in the PoliGAF thread are they buy into the gimmicky stuff just as easily as the "morons" many mock and despise.
People need to make up their minds on their own research not what Olbermann or Limbaugh or any other puppet says.
Political Experiance for Obama shows me he spent quite a few times in Illinois refusing to vote Yes or No on Bills which bothers me because he didnt seem to want to get a voting record on many topics
McCain its hard to know what he really stands for as well.
RubxQub said:The media is fucking up this electoral process, and they need reform.
I had a dream last night where I pulled Barack aside after one of his townhalls and talked to him about how the media is completely fucking up, and are continually painting the race in a way that prioritizes ratings over facts. I implored him to reform the media somehow if he is able to swim through all of these troubled sees and become President.
Krowley said:It's easy to say that McCain is a clone of bush in terms of policy, but you'll never convince people that he's equally incompetent. He's too experienced for that and his personal history is too compelling. Nobody believes that McCain is really anything like Bush. Nobody thinks he would handle something like Katrina in the same incompetent way.. Same goes for the war, and nearly every other issue.
.
teruterubozu said:So more FCC watch dogs? Wonderful.
Meh.Biden's new bill would make it a federal felony to try and trick certain types of devices into playing your music or running your computer program. Breaking this law--even if it's to share music by your own garage band--could land you in prison for up to five years. And that's not counting the civil penalties of up to $25,000 per offense.
"Say I've got an MP3 collection and I buy a new nifty player from Microsoft that only plays watermarked content, and I forge the watermark to allow my legal MP3 collection to play," says Jessica Litman, who teaches intellectual property law at Wayne State University. "It is certainly the case that if I pass that around, I could be trafficking (in violation of the law)."
Crayon Shinchan said:Next to a complete subversion of your prized democratic process? Absolutely.
A lot of it has to do with Ohio switching though, which also has a lot to do with McCain dumping a ton of money into the state.laserbeam said:538 if you read their article says mccain victory is now the majority result of simulations run. The fact is Obama is slipping and losing electoral college votes in polling data.
Electoral Vote has the election as a toss up right now 264 Obama and 261 mccain. 2 weeks ago Obama was pulling 300+ Electoral College votes in most results
Diablos said:This is from 2002, but it demonstrates one little thing I don't like about Biden:
Meh.
http://news.zdnet.com/2100-9595_22-124252.html
Maybe. But I also think Obama's starting to lose some of his appeal, it seems. After the convention I might go into election blackout again. The fact that these polls are tightening up, with McCain looking to make some serious gains, is very very disturbing given the war and economy. I can't understand why McCain even has a decent chance as of right now, regardless of how many people are or aren't supposed to be paying attention at this point. Republicans should be getting owned in every single poll right now. Bush is finishing his disastrous eight years as President and McCain is very much the same. Yet he is in a really competitive position right now.typhonsentra said:A lot of it has to do with Ohio switching though, which also has a lot to do with McCain dumping a ton of money into the state.
from YahooSen. Joe Biden's emergence at the center of speculation about who will be Barack Obama's running mate may say more about Obama's challenges in the presidential race than it does about the final selection.
Obama is keeping his decision quiet, but his staff in Chicago and party activists are buzzing about Biden, in large part because he can address two of Obama's biggest weaknesses his lack of experience, especially on world affairs, and his reluctance to attack his opponent.
Obama plans to appear with his newly selected running mate Saturday, with the pick announced via text message to supporters. Obama also is believed to be considering Govs. Kathleen Sebelius of Kansas and Tim Kaine of Virginia, and Sen. Evan Bayh of Indiana.
But Biden is at the center of much speculation now. Biden, 65, first was elected to represent Delaware in 1972. Obama was 11 at the time; half the people living in the U.S. were not born when Biden arrived on Capitol Hill. He is a curious front-runner to join a ticket headed by Obama, who prevailed during the primaries by making the case that he is an outsider who can bring change to Washington.
Biden has a compelling personal story: His wife and daughter were killed in a car accident a few weeks after he was first elected, but two sons survived serious injuries in the crash. Biden commuted home to Wilmington daily to care for them, a practice he continues to this day. The oldest son, Beau, is now Delaware's attorney general and a National Guard member whose unit is being deployed to Iraq in October.
Biden got another scare 10 years ago, when two brain aneurysms kept him out of the Senate for several months.
This week Biden returned from a trip to the former Soviet state of Georgia that he made at the invitation of the embattled country's president, a well-timed reminder of the value he could bring to Obama's ticket.
Fighting between Georgia and Russia has only increased the sense that Americans will turn to the candidate they believe will be a strong international leader.
Sen. John McCain, the presumptive GOP nominee, brings a military background and a leading role on the Senate Armed Services Committee. Obama only has served three years in Washington, but Biden is chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
Polls suggest the race between Obama and McCain is tightening, and Obama is responding by stepping up his attacks in speeches and commercials targeted to key states. Obama has never been entirely comfortable going negative, but Biden is always ready for a fight.
Obama could have been describing Biden when he said in a speech Tuesday that he wants his running mate to be "somebody who is mad right now" about the state of the economy, an independent spirit who will speak out when Obama's wrong and help him through major issues.
During the Democratic primary, when he also sought the presidential nomination, Biden often made the most memorable impression in debates even though he was barely registering in the polls. He got big laughs for accusing Republican candidate Rudy Giuliani of mentioning three things in every sentence "a noun, a verb and 9/11" and also leveled barbs at Obama, questioning his experience.
He said he didn't think Obama was ready to be president yet, saying it's "not something that lends itself to on-the-job training." He offended some blacks when on the first day as an official presidential candidate he tried to compliment Obama as "the first mainstream African-American who is articulate and bright and clean."
Biden dropped out of the race after a poor showing in the Iowa caucuses.
That is only the first half of the battle. There is no point in registering all these voters if they dont end up showing up. After you register them you gotta turn out the vote.Agent Icebeezy said:http://my.barackobama.com/page/content/vfchome
We can send a powerful message to the special interests that dominate the old politics if millions of people get registered to vote. Recent voter registration drives have registered more than 200,000 new Democrats in Pennsylvania, more than 165,000 new Democrats in North Carolina, and more than 150,000 new Democrats in Indiana. Those numbers just scratch the surface of what's possible.
This is why I'm not worried.
Diablos said:And it's funny, because voting is easier than registering. You walk into the building where you vote, touch a couple buttons on a screen, and walk out. People don't see it that way, though, since it really is hard to get so many voters to turn out.
Either way... how hard is it to stand in a line and vote?VanMardigan said:Personally, it's the line that sucks. Registering takes less time than actually voting because of the lines. But I guess that depends on where you live and what the turnout is like. Sometimes, going really early or right before noon yields the shortest line.
A record is a record, you're right. But I'm interested to know how many people made calls to support the war after having been misled by the administration (vs. with their own knowledge of the war). If you factor that in, your point might lose 100% of its "oomph".Guileless said:Saddam is in material breach of the latest U.N. resolution. Yesterday's damning report by the U.N. inspectors makes clear again Saddam's contempt for the world and it has vindicated the President's decision last fall to go to the U.N. The legitimacy of the Security Council is at stake, as well as the integrity of the U.N. So if Saddam does not give up those weapons of mass destruction and the Security Council does not call for the use of
force, I think we have little option but to act with a larger group of
willing nations, if possible, and alone if we must.
--Senator Joe Biden, neocon warmonger and unilateralist (until there was no political advantage in that position)
Guileless said:Saddam is in material breach of the latest U.N. resolution. Yesterday's damning report by the U.N. inspectors makes clear again Saddam's contempt for the world and it has vindicated the President's decision last fall to go to the U.N. The legitimacy of the Security Council is at stake, as well as the integrity of the U.N. So if Saddam does not give up those weapons of mass destruction and the Security Council does not call for the use of
force, I think we have little option but to act with a larger group of
willing nations, if possible, and alone if we must.
--Senator Joe Biden, neocon warmonger and unilateralist (until there was no political advantage in that position)
Cheebs said:I want VP today please.