Here's something I thought was funny. From an article by Slate's Jacon Weisberg:

Quote :

"Barack Obama has a range of sensible economic policies. He has a team of prudent advisers with a centrist, pro-trade cast. He may even have some grasp of why the American financial system collapsed last week."

http://www.slate.com/id/2200481/

If only that were true. JW apparently sees a much more centrist candidate than I do. Everytime I hear Obama open his mouth, he is talking about "not giving tax advantages to companies that ship their jobs over seas." That's pro-trade?

And what gives JW the idea that Obama understands why the American financial system is in crisis??? He won't even say whether he thinks the AIG buy-out was a good or bad idea.

I guess this just goes to show you how perception is everything. JW sees a left-leaning centrist with a strong grasp of economic issues in the Clintonian tradition. I see a progressive repeating the same flawed arguments John Kerry used in 2004 (and really Dukakis, Mondale, and others before him).

9/22/2008 9:27:34 AM

Quote :

"He won't even say whether he thinks the AIG buy-out was a good or bad idea."

oh, right - everything in this world has to be black-or-white for you guys.
War - good or bad
Surge - worked or didn't work
Russia - evil or saint
Forget trying to weight pros and cons and coming to a nuanced position.


What's really scary, though, is that McCain is taking economic advice from guys like Phil Gramm. That thought alone should give Obama the advantage on economics

9/22/2008 10:02:00 AM

^ what do you mean "you people"?

Anyways...here are some more lies falsehoods untruths concerning statements from Obama. This time on McCain's position on social security.

Quote :

"In Daytona Beach, Obama said that "if my opponent had his way, the millions of Floridians who rely on it would've had their Social Security tied up in the stock market this week." He referred to "elderly women" at risk of poverty, and said families would be scrambling to support "grandmothers and grandfathers." That's not true. "

http://www.factcheck.org/elections-2008/obamas_social_security_whopper.html

"You know Obama wouldn't lie if he didn't have to."
- An Obama supporter from work

[Edited on September 22, 2008 at 10:14 AM. Reason : ``]

9/22/2008 10:14:12 AM

Quote :

"of course the locals don't know about it. geez"

especially the stuff I do for the state party. I guess you really don't learn about the true machinations of the democratic party until you are like Terry McAullife or James Carville.

9/22/2008 10:52:03 AM

Maybe I'm missing something here, but why is McCain in Pennsylvania about increasing trade with Ireland and getting an envoy, etc?

Like, he's really hung up on the Irish and immigration.

[Edited on September 22, 2008 at 10:54 AM. Reason : .]

9/22/2008 10:53:22 AM

McCain is what we call an idiot.

9/22/2008 11:11:13 AM

http://news.yahoo.com/page/election-2008-political-pulse-obama-race

1/3 of white democrats are racist lol

9/22/2008 12:53:46 PM

http://tinyurl.com/4u4ruz

Quote :

"At the insistence of the McCain campaign, the Oct. 2 debate between the Republican nominee for vice president, Gov. Sarah Palin, and her Democratic rival, Senator Joseph R. Biden Jr., will have shorter question-and-answer segments than those for the presidential nominees, the advisers said. There will also be much less opportunity for free-wheeling, direct exchanges between the running mates. McCain advisers said they had been concerned that a loose format could leave Ms. Palin, a relatively inexperienced debater, at a disadvantage and largely on the defensive."

It's sort of like a football team with a shitty quarterback, that wants to try and hide that fact for as long as possible.

9/22/2008 1:17:08 PM

Presidential candidate's campaign fights fire with fire.

More at 11.

9/22/2008 1:39:00 PM

fairly interesting read

Quote :

"But this paranoid view, that Roveism alone wins campaigns for the GOP, cannot fully explain a simple reality: for 40 years, Republicans have won the presidency more often than not. The GOP has won seven of the past 10 presidential elections. Republican candidates have won more than 400 electoral votes in four separate elections (Richard Nixon's re-election in 1972, Ronald Reagan's wins in 1980 and 1984 and George H.W. Bush's victory in 1988), while the Democrats' best showings came in 1992 and 1996, when Bill Clinton won 370 and 379 electoral votes, respectively"

http://www.newsweek.com/id/160083

9/22/2008 3:14:31 PM

i dont need things to get better with government involvement. obama has no clue what to do but he wants to do a lot of shit. democrats are scary. for example, i heard a clip of hillary a little while back and she suggested we have a moratorium on home foreclosures for a period of time. would there be any banks currently standing if she had her way? maybe thats what they want.

9/22/2008 4:19:05 PM

obama has no clue what to do but he wants to do a lot of shit.

9/22/2008 4:20:32 PM

Good news Obama supporters. Great statewide poll numbers just released in critical states Not the general nationwide crap.
-----

NM: Strong surge in the West for Obama. Just released and hour ago
Obama leads by 11 points in the swing state of New Mexico, PPP poll (Sept. 17-19, 1037 LV).

VA: Wow!
SurveyUSA 9/19-21; 716 LV Obama 51, McCain 45

NV: McCain will have to defend Nevada, Obama is rapidly closing the gap there.
Suffolk University
9/17-21/08; 600 LV
McCain 46, Obama 45


------------------
Folks, if Obama wins all the states Kerry wins, which is likely unless he drops NH or MI....then all he needs is New Mexico and either (Virginia or Colorado) and he wins! If he does drop NH then it'll be 269-269 and a majority of Dems in Congress would be the tiebreaker too.

It really is all about Michigan. Obama has held an advatange the entire time with 2-5 points. It's still anyone's game though....If I were McLame, I'd camp out there with the zealot for the next many weeks.

Friday's debate will be huge.

9/22/2008 4:42:09 PM

Last I heard NH actually was in play.
Though I haven't kept up with it much.

9/22/2008 4:43:39 PM

^ http://www.pollster.com is pretty good about not calling any states too early

9/22/2008 4:48:28 PM

^ nifty!

I wonder why Obama is so far behind in Mississippi. According to the 2006 American Community Survey, 37.% of Ol Miss was black, compared with only 21% in North Carolina. If race really is the entire reason Obama is ahead in NC, shouldn't he be even farther ahead in Mississippi?

My guess is that the affluent whites in the Triangle and Triad regions are making up the difference. That is if you believe that whole "demographics = destiny" bs that has become so popular this election.

9/22/2008 4:56:22 PM

^^ Well, with the only pollster being Zogby on 9/9 showing McCain up 6 with only 400 or so sampled, and the CNN poll a day before having Obama up 6 points with 900 sampled....well, it's really misleading as to what is going on there.

NH looked good for Obama for the past but I think you're right...I think it's in play. Pennsylvania is in play too for McCain but that's about as valid as saying Florida or Ohio are in play for Obama. The argument would mirror based on the data points for the underdog in each contest.

Polling is weird, and pollster is careful about doing that...although I argue how you can make Minnesota a swing state yet have FL or even NC red. Not that I think they won't go red, but I'd say it's just as much of a chance of them flipping as Minnesota.

9/22/2008 4:58:01 PM

Quote :

"I wonder why Obama is so far behind in Mississippi. According to the 2006 American Community Survey, 37.% of Ol Miss was black,"

This might be generalizing but for the 63% of whites that live there, it is a very conservative, rural, and used to be the most racially charged state of the union. I'm not pulling the race card before anyone says anything, but it's pretty plain why he'd have trouble with whites in states in the deep south is all.

9/22/2008 5:01:10 PM

^^^^Hmm... NC is the only state that shows votes for libertarian Bob Barr on mouse-over... not really consequential to this thread, but just thought that was kind of interesting.

[Edited on September 22, 2008 at 5:05 PM. Reason : .]

9/22/2008 5:04:47 PM

^Libertarians are really strong in NC

9/22/2008 5:11:13 PM

Quote :

"My guess is that the affluent whites in the Triangle and Triad regions are making up the difference. That is if you believe that whole "demographics = destiny" bs that has become so popular this election."

your guess would be right, if we can take the NC Primaries and Hillary vs. Obama to be roughly the same breakdown as McCain vs. Obama. I pulled together some maps after the NC Primaries and looked at who won county-by-county and compared that to racial make-up of the county.

here are the county-by-county results, Obama in dark-blue


And here is the percentage-white population of each county, darker-red = more white.

You can see, not surprisingly, that eastern NC was almost all Obama, and is also significantly less-white, or more-black, than the rest of the state.
The other counties/areas circled in green, though, are majority white, but also pro-Obama. They match well with education and income levels - the only "white Obama areas are" Wake/Triangle, Meckenburg/Charlotte, Winston-Salem/Greensboro, Boone, and Asheville. Arguably the top-5 most-desirable places to live in NC, as far as locality, jobs, education opportunities, etc (apart from the tourist driving coast)

[Edited on September 22, 2008 at 5:26 PM. Reason : your]

9/22/2008 5:20:37 PM

^

Quote :

"The other counties/areas circled in green, though, are majority white, but also pro-Obama. They match well with education and income levels - the only "white Obama areas are" Wake/Triangle, Meckenburg/Charlotte, Winston-Salem/Greensboro, Boone, and Asheville."

IOW: Income is positively correlated with voting Obama. Sounds like exactly what I said. You even used to the areas I mentioned specifically.

But, really, most of your post does not even address the central question of my post. Whether Obama is lagging in *Mississippi* because there are fewer affluent white folk living there. If that is the case, I personally think that turns most of the NC conversation on its head. Too many pundits focus on the fact we have a relatively large black population (compared to say lilly white Connecticut), when that clearly can't be the central motivating factor.

[Edited on September 22, 2008 at 5:27 PM. Reason : ``]

[Edited on September 22, 2008 at 5:27 PM. Reason : ``]

9/22/2008 5:24:59 PM

yes, which is exactly why i said:

Quote :

"your guess would be right"

9/22/2008 5:26:27 PM

Oh. For some reason I read "your guess would be wrong".

my bad.

9/22/2008 5:28:30 PM

I just don't see Obama winning NC. Unless he somehow manages to turnout amazing numbers and takes advantage of voting early to it's fullest...it's just a tough draw. I know the polls are trending in the margin of error...it's just unless he wipes McCain in the debates or the economy sinks to tremendows lows it isn't going to hapen.

Besides, if he wins VA which is actually at this point a probability, he won't even need NC unless something goes bad in PA or MI.

9/22/2008 5:36:53 PM

Quote :

"You can see, not surprisingly, that eastern NC was almost all Obama, and is also significantly less-white, or more-black, than the rest of the state."

I hope it did not take a sociology degree from Harvard to reach the conclusion that non-whites prefer Obama

9/22/2008 5:48:14 PM

His chances in NC increase relative to how much snow falls in the mountains on election day.

No joke.

9/22/2008 5:49:00 PM

i'm sure this was already posted somewhere today but i just wanted to share this message, brought to you by our feminist-friendly VP candidate. YAY WOMEN!

http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/09/21/palin.rape.exams/index.html

9/22/2008 6:07:22 PM

^ yuck, that's disgusting. It's freaking rape kits of all things.

9/22/2008 6:29:28 PM

i know it kind of made me feel ill

9/22/2008 7:05:56 PM

http://www.blogactive.com/2008/09/john-mccains-chief-of-staff-wins-roy.html

McCain's chief of staff is gay?

9/22/2008 7:07:36 PM

If someone like Palin enters the #2 position of our country than I will have lost all faith in our political institution.

9/22/2008 8:56:28 PM

Bush 2x wasn't enough?

9/22/2008 9:00:06 PM

I still can't believe we elected Bush twice and now we stare at a 50/50 election. If Obama loses I have lost faith in the American voter.

9/22/2008 9:10:08 PM

^^^
Aren't you voting for the McCain/Palin ticket?

9/22/2008 9:41:17 PM

Wow. Now George Will, a definite conservative and famous columnist of the Washington Post (So you can't say LIBERAL MEDIA!) just basically says in this article releasing tomorrow that McCain does NOT have the temperament to be President of the United States based on this campaign.



http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/09/22/AR2008092202583.html

Quote :

" McCain Loses His Head By George F. Will Tuesday, September 23, 2008; Page A21 Channeling his inner Queen of Hearts, John McCain furiously, and apparently without even looking around at facts, said Chris Cox, chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission, should be decapitated. This childish reflex provoked the Wall Street Journal to editorialize that "McCain untethered" -- disconnected from knowledge and principle -- had made a "false and deeply unfair" attack on Cox that was "unpresidential" In any case, McCain's smear -- that Cox "betrayed the public's trust" -- is a harbinger of a McCain presidency. For McCain, politics is always operatic, pitting people who agree with him against those who are "corrupt" or "betray the public's trust," two categories that seem to be exhaustive -- there are no other people. Conservatives who insist that electing McCain is crucial usually start, and increasingly end, by saying he would make excellent judicial selections. But the more one sees of his impulsive, intensely personal reactions to people and events, the less confidence one has that he would select judges by calm reflection and clear principles, having neither patience nor aptitude for either. It is arguable that, because of his inexperience, Obama is not ready for the presidency. It is arguable that McCain, because of his boiling moralism and bottomless reservoir of certitudes, is not suited to the presidency. Unreadiness can be corrected, although perhaps at great cost, by experience. Can a dismaying temperament be fixed? "

It's a fascinating read by someone who you just cannot say is biased. That's what makes it most effective. Of course, I predict a c-sharp illegiable and unreadable post or two, a socks''' denial and deflect, and an aaronburro completely unrelated retort to change the subject.....but the fact remains.

9/22/2008 10:53:45 PM

*crickets*...worst case scenario? mccain wins and people like me and you can go "i told ya so"

9/22/2008 11:08:51 PM

Worst Case scenario: Palin/McCain wins with a GOP congress.

Palin pushes McCain to turn USA into Jesusland and McCain gets his chance to play arm chair general for WWIII

9/22/2008 11:21:16 PM

ok actual worst case scenario

mccain wins and dies in office

9/22/2008 11:22:16 PM

^ This man talks truth

9/22/2008 11:29:50 PM

& 2008

with HUR as secretary of state

9/22/2008 11:34:57 PM

our foreign policy? USA #1

lol

9/22/2008 11:44:17 PM

http://www.economist.com/opinion/displaystory.cfm?story_id=12009710

The Economist wants the old McCain back

along with theDuke866

9/23/2008 12:46:47 AM

^ along with everyone else (except Neoconservatives).

9/23/2008 12:57:24 AM

and religious right-types

and bitter partisans

9/23/2008 12:59:19 AM

I don't think the bitter partisans would care.

But I lump the religious-right in with the neocons, since the former is usually a tool of the latter.

9/23/2008 1:01:01 AM

Kainen,

If you are actually worried about McCain because he has a short temper, then you really REALLY would not have liked Bill Clinton. This why the argument that McCain is too "unstable" always surprises me, especially comming from Democrats that claim to support BC.

I suggest reading the following:
All too Human, by George Stephanopoulos
http://www.amazon.com/All-too-Human-George-Stephanopoulos/dp/0316930164/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1222174491&sr=8-1

First in his class, by Dick Maraniss
http://www.amazon.com/First-His-Class-Biography-Clinton/dp/0684818906/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1222174533&sr=1-1

The Agenda, by Bob Woodward
http://www.amazon.com/Agenda-Inside-Clinton-White-House/dp/0743274075/ref=pd_bbs_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1222174568&sr=1-2

9/23/2008 8:58:24 AM

yeah, they both pretty famously have explosive tempers

9/23/2008 9:27:27 AM

There's a difference in being quick to rise and anger in the case of Clinton with McCain who is just plainly petulant, boxing out and off perceived opponents rashly, and most importantly - for fucks sake - being a leader in the hawkish quarter of Washington for decades.

9/23/2008 9:50:39 AM

More Statewide polls just released this morning This time from Quinnipiac and Mason Dixon/NBC.

Quinnipiac:

COLORADO: Obama 49 (44) – McCain 45 (46)
MICHIGAN: Obama 48 (46) - McCain 44 (42)
MINNESOTA: Obama 47 (46) - McCain 45 (44)
WISCONSIN: Obama 49 (50) - McCain 42 (39)

NBC/Mason-Dixon

FLORIDA: Obama 47 - McCain 45


Good news for Obama? Leading in all. Picking up serious steam in the west (Colorado, NM, and NV). Florida! And Michigan is good.

Good news for McCain? Close in Minnesota (i still think this is safe dem though) and although not shown here has made up serious ground in PA.

9/23/2008 9:54:53 AM