Comments on: Seventh electoral ratings: Veepstakes have little immediate impact

By: Ali

Ali — Thu, 11 Sep 2008 11:54:36 +0000

Check out the poll by Blankenship Enterprises on the numbers for WV. I hardly think McCain 44 Obama 39 is a sure thing for McCain. http://www.wsaz.com/political/headlines/28118604.html

By: Marv

Marv — Tue, 02 Sep 2008 18:45:38 +0000

Obama has already commented and his basic position is that this is a personal family issue that shouldn’t be part of the campaign. Very classy! It allowed him to reiterate that he believes all stuff about family and especially children have no place in political contests. He also said he would “Fire” anyone who was caught in his campaign that was engaged in such discussions. When did McCain ever say he would do that if people in his campaign talked about Obama being Muslim, or about Rev. Wright, etc.? Never!

The polls have not budged for McCain since he selected Palin; he got a slight uptick of two points on a national poll, but he still remains south of 45%, while Obama’s 49% stayed the same. I don’t think women are fooled by McCain’s crass political decision to put a woman, any woman, on the ticket, irrespective of her values, political points-of-view, and experience. Hillary and her former supporters have a right to be incensed at the pandering and insult that this selection suggests was its true motivation.

Obama still wins the election!

By: mj

mj — Tue, 02 Sep 2008 14:41:23 +0000

i got a call from someone from the Share Group talking up Obama and the DNC. When I told them I was undecided, the guy riped into me. Yelling why obama was so much better and how could I even consider mccain and where were my loyalties an how hillary was old news. if this is how obama, et el get people to come into their column - they are sadly mistaken. i am still undecided and if the share group continues to talk to voters the way they talked to me, they will talk people out of voting for obama, et el.

By: fritz

fritz — Mon, 01 Sep 2008 18:30:49 +0000

The McCain/Palin campaign has just released the news that Palin’s 17 year old daughter is 5 months pregnant as an answer to the rumor that has exploded on the net in the last 24 hours. This is a very strange development that will guarentee the story lives on into the convention. In fact I imagine the press will discuss little else. It will also allow cover for the MSM to discuss the origional rumor. There are still many questions to be answered and I can’t imagine this will go away soon.
The McCain campaign has: as expected: blamed Obama backed liberal blogs for smearing Palin. This will work in the short term but as more comes out; and I think there is more to come out; it will be very problematic for McCain.
The big problem for McCain now is that this story steps all over his message and will for days to come.
I expect the Obama campaign will not and should not have any comment on this story.

By: felipe

felipe — Mon, 01 Sep 2008 16:48:50 +0000

I liked fritz comment, and would like to know when will we have more info about voter registration, and its effect in polling and projections. That said, which state(s) is more likely to go to the Obama column due to this? My gut says VI or CO. About the ratings, I think that MI & NH should go to Lean Obama, having consistent although small leads, like NM & IA. OH and NV are more worrisome to me, and Palin’s pick might give a small but decisive edge (in OH with the conservatives, and add that to the Western factor in NV), and maybe put MO out of reach. All of this can change a lot in the following weeks but I think Obama’s campaign should put a lot of attention on these particular states in money and time.

By: fritz

fritz — Mon, 01 Sep 2008 16:33:28 +0000

As I predicted last night, the Palin internet rumor has spread to mainstream internet sources, like Drudge & Huffpost, as well as the tabloids.
McCain will need to deal with this very soon. Gustav will fill the news cycle for today but; unless, God forbid, New Orleans floods again: tomorrow we will return to the Republician convention and this rumor will be discussed; even if only has a Democratic attack.
If false it is an easy rumor to disprove and will then become a big plus for the McCain campaign who will use it to show what evil people the Dems are.
If true it means a world of hurt for the McCain campaign. It will reinforce the Palin trooper firing story and show her as unethical and willing to use her position to advance personal causes and even break the law.
McCain’s poor judgement in choosing her will be confirmed. But most importantly it will step all over McCain’s message and be the only story the press will cover until he deals with it.
I realise this is a sleezy story to read about but we have had no problem discussing Spitzer & Edwards, the Obama Muslim rumors and Reverend Wright stories so I feel it we can discuss how it affects the race without dealing with the details.

By: zoot

zoot — Mon, 01 Sep 2008 14:35:10 +0000

At Invesco in Denver, the campaign had already set up early voting/vote by mail tables. That gets the youth voter who may be less inclined to go to the polls when she’s at school; and it takez advantage of the enthusiasm generated by the convention to catch voters who are not fully committed to Obama and who might be woo’d to McCain later in the campaign. AFAIK, McCain hasn’t anywhere near the same depth of organization.

By: fritz

fritz — Mon, 01 Sep 2008 13:37:34 +0000

I’ve felt for some time now that the Obama campaign is like an iceburg. Most of it is hidden from view and what we concentrate on are the visable parts; the polls, ads, total fundraising dollars and campaign leaders tour.
Where much of the campaign activity is located is in the unseen part. The number of campaign offices in each state, the voter registation numbers, the constant drive to locate and motivate supporters and state micro-advertising, without releasing these ads to the MSM.
Many of these activities will not come into play until a few days before the vote, but a huge campaign to get out the vote is being organized at this moment.
Much of what they are doing is what Bush/Rove did in 2000 & 2004; i.e. using friends and neighbours instead of out of state volenteers; but on a much larger scale.
I would like to see the state by state comparison on some of these numbers; especially the number of campaign offices opened and the number of local volenteers by state. I think it would show just how much better organized the Obama campaign is and why I feel the polls just aren’t giving us an accurate picture of the state of the campaign.