Obama versus McCain (versus the rest)

[Passacaglia]

That was actually pretty funny -- much better than when Palin was on.

[Radii]

Originally Posted by ISiddiqui

Saturday Night Live - McCain QVC Open - Video - NBC.com

mccain's fine gold! That is outstanding.

[larrymcg421]

Originally Posted by SirFozzie

Zogby has McCain up 1 in a one day poll which is volatile. I'm sincerely hoping this is an outlier

It was. Obama was up 10 in yesterday's sample.

[stevew]

Originally Posted by panerd

LOL, it's really sad that people are still sticking with the old "BHO". "Oh no what is he doing! He's putting on a turban and bombing American cities. How did we elect a Muslim???"

Fine, you'd rather see BO?

[Dutch]

Originally Posted by panerd

Me and my family tend to vote Republican (almost always local, often national) and every member of my family thinks the "Oh no, he's an Arab" is the dumbest election ploy ever. And to drive home the point my dad thinks he is a communist, my mom likes Sarah Palin, my brother could be JIMGA and they all think the Hussian name dropping and Obama dressed as an Arab pictures are beyond ridiculous.

So you are voting for Barak Hussein Obama to rebel against your dad?

[JPhillips]

I love how some conservatives now have a philosophy of, "whatever pisses off liberals".

[JPhillips]

Originally Posted by ISiddiqui

Saturday Night Live - McCain QVC Open - Video - NBC.com

Very funny. I am surprised he okayed the "going rogue" part.

[gstelmack]

Originally Posted by miked

I wish the no call list applied to political robocalls. I get about 8 per day from McCain, Saxby, etc. Tonight I had a message from Ann who wanted me to know she's a Joe the Plumber too and I should be concerned about my taxes and my safety. She's sure that as an "average American" I need to have the republican party look out for me.

I'm in the same boat. This is freakin' ridiculous. All they're doing is ticking me off. None from Obama yet, but Kay Hagan is hitting us as bad as Elizabeth Dole is. I got TWO identical endorsement messages from separate endorsers (Jim Hunt and Donny Harrison) for our incumbent state auditor, Leslie Merritt, telling us how great this watchdog is who mostly uses the local paper to do his leg work, and then goes after the corruption they uncover first. It's a huge mess. Both parties just blasting away phone calls at us. Sigh.

[GrantDawg]

Originally Posted by JPhillips

Very funny. I am surprised he okayed the "going rogue" part.

"I'm a true maverick...a republican without money."

Too good.

[panerd]

Originally Posted by stevew

Fine, you'd rather see BO?

No, I would rather see Obama. Let's see I can type Obama in 2 seconds and BHO in about the same. He is going out of his way to type BHO. Sorry but I don't ever type JM for McCain.

[panerd]

Originally Posted by Dutch

So you are voting for Barak Hussein Obama to rebel against your dad?

Bob Barr

[Flasch186]

Originally Posted by larrymcg421

It was. Obama was up 10 in yesterday's sample.

However this mustve been an anomalie, right? Look at how close it is@!! ROXORZ@!!!

Where is MBBF to stake his hat right on this poll where the spread is bigger than I can remember?

[Big Fo]

Originally Posted by Flasch186

However this mustve been an anomalie, right? Look at how close it is@!! ROXORZ@!!!

Where is MBBF to stake his hat right on this poll where the spread is bigger than I can remember?

He's probably waiting for Matt Drudge to post some good news.

I got a kick out of Zogby calling out Nate Silver from fivethirtyeight.com, clearly upset with his methodology being questioned.

"Remember, as I said yesterday, one day does not make a trend. This is a three-day rolling average and no changes have been tectonic. A special note to blogger friends: calm it down. Lay off the cable television noise and look at your baseball cards in your spare time. It is better for your (and everyone else's) health."

[molson]

I have a moment of clarity...

This is much better pair of candidates than Bush/Kerry. I think two years ago if, someone told you this would be the matchup, you'd think, hey, that's pretty cool. The campaigns and the bickering just turn everything to shit in the end though.

[Buccaneer]

Originally Posted by JPhillips

I love how some conservatives now have a philosophy of, "whatever pisses off liberals".

Kinda of ironic since many are doing just the opposite. There is no difference between voting to piss off the GOP/RelRight/Military and voting to piss of the Dem/Wackos/Academic-HollywoodElites.

[molson]

Originally Posted by Buccaneer

Kinda of ironic since many are doing just the opposite. There is no difference between voting to piss off the GOP/RelRight/Military and voting to piss of the Dem/Wackos/Academic-HollywoodElites.

Liberals think it's different for them because they're "correct".

If you're voting for anyone else, it must be (in their mind), for some other purpose, because it's clearly not "correct"

I'm trying to balance my respect for Obama, optimism for his presidency v. my intense hatred of Democrats (not the actual people that happen to be Democrats, but just something about that party turns them into awful, short-sighted people with no respect for the opinions of others, just when they've got politics on the brain). Disclaimer, not everybody of course.

[GrantDawg]

Originally Posted by molson

I have a moment of clarity...

This is much better pair of candidates than Bush/Kerry. I think two years ago if, someone told you this would be the matchup, you'd think, hey, that's pretty cool. The campaigns and the bickering just turn everything to shit in the end though.

That's very true.

[Swaggs]

Got my first robocall from the McCain camp yesterday, so I guess West Virginia is, at least somewhat, in play.

[GrantDawg]

Originally Posted by molson

Liberals think it's different for them because they're "correct".

If you're voting for anyone else, it must be (in their mind), for some other purpose, because it's clearly not "correct"

Many on both sides think that way.

[Swaggs]

Originally Posted by molson

I have a moment of clarity...

This is much better pair of candidates than Bush/Kerry. I think two years ago if, someone told you this would be the matchup, you'd think, hey, that's pretty cool. The campaigns and the bickering just turn everything to shit in the end though.

Agreed. And the favorable/unfavorable ratings indicate that both McCain and Obama are more liked than disliked. Almost 20% of people have a favorable opinion of Obama and 8% have a favorable view of McCain (he had been polling much higher in early September, but probably lost some with economic collapse, Palin dragging him down, and some of the negative attacks backfiring).

[Swaggs]

Dola, those figures are from RCP.

[flere-imsaho]

Originally Posted by JonInMiddleGA

Yeah, I know. I just happened to see it in the headlines & I figured I'd drop it in for anyone who wanted to argue or bitch about it.

As Big Fo pointed out, I wonder how much of the bias is simply due to the McCain-Palin lofting up softball after softball to the press for criticism. Obama, by comparison, has run a very tight, very on-message, very mistake-free campaign. It's just a lot harder to find an Obama/Biden mistake to take and run with, compared to McCain/Palin, and the press likes stories that write themselves.

Originally Posted by JonInMiddleGA

Never mind what you think of her (or even what I think of her for that matter), without the presence of Palin I doubt McCain gets even half the positive coverage he's gotten. She's been the only selling point he's had for weeks now.

I think that was true the week or two around the convention, but the sheer number of mistakes/gaffes is what's generating the "negative" press, not the message on issues she's bringing to the campaign.

Contrast this to what it might have been like had McCain picked Romney or Lieberman. No Troopergate, no crappy interviews with the 3 major networks, no not being able to answer questions from 3rd graders, etc....

I mean, what positive coverage could Palin have generated for McCain ever since the RNC-shine wore off? Her looks/age, family and stance on the issues can only generate so many stories.

Originally Posted by molson

This is much better pair of candidates than Bush/Kerry. I think two years ago if, someone told you this would be the matchup, you'd think, hey, that's pretty cool. The campaigns and the bickering just turn everything to shit in the end though.

Absolutely. In my opinion, it's probably the best couple of candidates since 1980.

[flere-imsaho]

Further summary from fivethirtyeight.com, which I think shows my last two analysis posts are still in order:

That leaves our five states in play. The victory conditions for Obama involving these five states proceed something as follows:

1. Win Pennsylvania and ANY ONE of Colorado, Virginia, Ohio, or Nevada*
2. Win Ohio and EITHER Colorado OR Virginia.
3. Win Colorado AND Virginia AND Nevada.

(* Nevada produces a 269-269 tie, which would probably be resolved for Obama in the House of Represenatives.)

Now, suppose you think that Colorado is already in the bag for Obama because of his large edge in early voting there. We can then simplify the victory conditions as follows:

1. Win Pennsylvania
2. Win Ohio
3. Win Virginia AND Nevada

[Flasch186]

Originally Posted by molson

Liberals think it's different for them because they're "correct".

If you're voting for anyone else, it must be (in their mind), for some other purpose, because it's clearly not "correct"

I'm trying to balance my respect for Obama, optimism for his presidency v. my intense hatred of Democrats (not the actual people that happen to be Democrats, but just something about that party turns them into awful, short-sighted people with no respect for the opinions of others, just when they've got politics on the brain). Disclaimer, not everybody of course.

Of course, not everybody, but it is equivalent when a certain fraction of the right views a vote for a democratic candidate, a sin and a vote for killing babies, and such.

[molson]

Originally Posted by Flasch186

Of course, not everybody, but it is equivalent when a certain fraction of the right views a vote for a democratic candidate, a sin and a vote for killing babies, and such.

Sure, all I can express is that the Democrats get under my skin far more. Perhaps because I look at hard-core Republicans like my grandparents - ignorant, and behind the times, sure, but not bad people and they'll be dead soon anyway.

Democrats claim a more tolerant, open-minded, progressive message when (some) are CRAZY over the top on the close-mindedness. Dissent from their ideal is dealt with harshly.

[GrantDawg]

Interesting that Hillary claims the chances of her running again is "almost zero." I wonder if she really means that. My guess is yes because she would not run against an incumbent Obama in 4 years (which I think she is pre-supposing). Now, if McCain pulls an upset....

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by molson

Perhaps because I look at hard-core Republicans like my grandparents - ignorant, and behind the times, sure, but not bad people and they'll be dead soon anyway.

Oh the irony ... that's roughly my take on my parents natural gravitation toward D's, even when the candidates positions are diametrically opposed to their own on more than 90% of social issues and roughly 2/3rds of other policy.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by GrantDawg

Interesting that Hillary claims the chances of her running again is "almost zero." I wonder if she really means that. My guess is yes because she would not run against an incumbent Obama in 4 years (which I think she is pre-supposing). Now, if McCain pulls an upset....

I tend to believe her on that regardless of the outcome. There's something about being stabbed in the back repeatedly that would make someone weary of the whole process.

[GrantDawg]

Originally Posted by JonInMiddleGA

I tend to believe her on that regardless of the outcome. There's something about being stabbed in the back repeatedly that would make someone weary of the whole process.

True. And she has a real shot at becoming Majority leader someday. Quite possibly soon.

[Big Fo]

Originally Posted by ISiddiqui

Saturday Night Live - McCain QVC Open - Video - NBC.com

I actually liked Ben Affleck's Keith Olbermann/Countdown sketch better. The way he kept shifting around from camera to camera was dead on, though he did screw up by throwing the balled-up paper at the camera at the wrong time.

link

[ISiddiqui]

I heard great things about it, but it wasn't online last evening .

Affleck was awesome though.

[Alan T]

Ugh.. I am so tired of all of the super-intellectual democrat supporters constantly bombarding me to make sure that I am making the "smart" choice. I am starting to think that they may have just convinced me to do the "smart" choice and vote for Barr for president instead of Obama (not that it would matter in this God forsaken super liberal state though).

I'll likely be voting democrat for the US Senator though (Kerry is up for re-election), since the libertarian candidate here is a joke, and the Republican candidate seems to be an ex-military type that is pushing everything that I dislike about the Republican party and not really hitting many of the points that i do like.

What I wouldn't give for a strong party that actually listened to and addressed the desires of the central 60% of this country, instead of the right wing telling me that I need to do the "moral thing" or the left wing telling me that I need to do the "smart thing" .. You all are all the same, just arguing a different side.

[JPhillips]

How exactly would you create a party that appealed to 60% of the country? I don't see any reason to think that any party platform would be more popular than the current ones.

[JPhillips]

The head of the American Nazi Party endorses Obama, seriously.

White people are faced with either a negro or a total nutter who happens to have a pale face. Personally I’d prefer the negro. National Socialists are not mindless haters. Here, I see a white man, who is almost dead, who declares he wants to fight endless wars around the globe to make the world safe for Judeo-capitalist exploitation, who supports the invasion of America by illegals–basically a continuation of the last eight years of Emperor Bush. Then, we have a black man, who loves his own kind, belongs to a Black-Nationalist religion, is married to a black women–when usually negroes who have ‘made it’ immediately land a white spouse as a kind of prize–that’s the kind of negro that I can respect. Any time that a prominent person embraces their racial heritage in a positive manner, it’s good for all racially minded folks. Besides, America cares nothing for the interests of the white American worker, while having a love affair with just about every non-white on planet Earth. It’d be poetic justice to have a non-white as titular chief over this decaying modern Sodom and Gomorrah.

[Young Drachma]

Originally Posted by Big Fo

I actually liked Ben Affleck's Keith Olbermann/Countdown sketch better. The way he kept shifting around from camera to camera was dead on, though he did screw up by throwing the balled-up paper at the camera at the wrong time.

link

I thought it was hilarious and dead-on, the Olbermann skit. A lot of libs hated it, but I thought it was too great for words. Over the top to be sure, but...really good.

[Big Fo]

Originally Posted by Dark Cloud

I thought it was hilarious and dead-on, the Olbermann skit. A lot of libs hated it, but I thought it was too great for words. Over the top to be sure, but...really good.

Yeah I'm liberal and a fan of the show but a good skit is a good skit. Supposedly Olbermann was on set during rehearsals and even he got a kick out of it.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by JPhillips

How exactly would you create a party that appealed to 60% of the country? I don't see any reason to think that any party platform would be more popular than the current ones.

Testify.

[Alan T]

Originally Posted by JPhillips

How exactly would you create a party that appealed to 60% of the country? I don't see any reason to think that any party platform would be more popular than the current ones.

I don't know.. maybe it is a pipedream and maybe I won't ever have any political party in this country that actually represents my viewpoints. I just feel both the Republican party and the Democrat party spend way too much time trying to make the extremist in their parties happy and ignoring the more centrist sides of their parties. I guess I just feel the majority of time spent debating "political issues" the most of the time is spent righting some wrong (or wronging some right as the case may be) for one side or the other's extremist views of the hotbutton topics.

[sterlingice]

Originally Posted by GrantDawg

Interesting that Hillary claims the chances of her running again is "almost zero." I wonder if she really means that. My guess is yes because she would not run against an incumbent Obama in 4 years (which I think she is pre-supposing). Now, if McCain pulls an upset....

I think "early on", Hillary was really hedging her bets, hoping Obama lost. I remember just after the convention, about the time Obama needed her to be out there hitting back at Palin, she was nowhere to be seen and her and Bill were both couching their words somewhat. That said, as the odds have tipped in Obama's favor, they've been more willing to help out. Kindof what you expect from the Clintons, right?

SI

[sterlingice]

Originally Posted by molson

I have a moment of clarity...

This is much better pair of candidates than Bush/Kerry. I think two years ago if, someone told you this would be the matchup, you'd think, hey, that's pretty cool. The campaigns and the bickering just turn everything to shit in the end though.

Agreed- I've been saying this all along.

SI

[ISiddiqui]

Man, I just saw McCain's weekend update... it damned hilarious too!

Saturday Night Live - Update: Sen. McCain - Video - NBC.com

The Double Maverick, lol!

[Dutch]

Originally Posted by GrantDawg

Interesting that Hillary claims the chances of her running again is "almost zero." I wonder if she really means that. My guess is yes because she would not run against an incumbent Obama in 4 years (which I think she is pre-supposing). Now, if McCain pulls an upset....

I can't imagine many scenarios where I would prefer Hillary to Obama. So an Obama win on Tuesday gives us Republicans at least that piece of mind.

[Buccaneer]

Originally Posted by sterlingice

I think "early on", Hillary was really hedging her bets, hoping Obama lost. I remember just after the convention, about the time Obama needed her to be out there hitting back at Palin, she was nowhere to be seen and her and Bill were both couching their words somewhat. That said, as the odds have tipped in Obama's favor, they've been more willing to help out. Kindof what you expect from the Clintons, right?

SI

Right.

[sterlingice]

I wasn't sure where to put this but this is the closest thread to what I saw. I was on Google, looking for Joe Posnanski's blog (great writer, covers sports for the Kansas City Star). Nowadays, as you're typing, Google fills in some likely results below you. The first two hits once I typed in "Joe":

Joe the plumber 738,000 hits
Joe the plummer 1,670,000 hits



("Me fail English? That's unpossible")

SI

[Swaggs]

I liked the Olberman skit, but it went on for way too long.

The "Sad Grandpa" made me laugh out loud.

[flere-imsaho]

Originally Posted by JonInMiddleGA

I tend to believe her on that regardless of the outcome. There's something about being stabbed in the back repeatedly that would make someone weary of the whole process.

True. Also, this was an exceptionally grueling nomination campaign.

[Big Fo]

Polling methods have been brought up a lot in this thread and on other messageboards wherever the election is discussed. Here's a graph from fivethirtyeight.com showing Obama's lead in polls that have cell-phone users included (yellow) and landlines only (grey).



It's a bigger difference than I would have guessed.

[Flasch186]

i havnt seen MBBF today so I cannot trust these polls and will wait for his.

Plus the ones above dont have any date on them so they could be from whenever.

Plus there is no link.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Originally Posted by Flasch186

i havnt seen MBBF today so I cannot trust these polls and will wait for his.

Plus the ones above dont have any date on them so they could be from whenever.

Plus there is no link.

You'll pardon the fact that I have two jobs, a 20 month old child, and a wife to deal with in my 'spare' time. I can't be here at all times.

[Mustang]

Originally Posted by Mizzou B-ball fan

You'll pardon the fact that I have two jobs, a 20 month old child, and a wife to deal with in my 'spare' time. I can't be here at all times.

Hey, the presidential election is once every 4 years, suck it up.