Comments on: Zogby Reuters Poll: Obama Leads McCain By 7 Percent Amid Polling Warning Signs

By: elrod

elrod — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 03:25:36 +0000

DLS,
Thanks for the link. That was a great article. Anybody who came to Barack Obama through Andrew Sullivan will find it very reassuring. Obama supports liberal ideas but has a conservative mindset. He is pragmatic enough to succeed but not to sully all of his values.

I started supporting Obama when he ran for Senate in 2004. I lived in Evanston and Obama was a rock star there. Evanston is much like Hyde Park, though wealthier.

By: CitizenKang

CitizenKang — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 02:10:22 +0000

Am i the only person who is a bit tired of stories of the “Obama's lead only single digits: he's doomed” variety?

Is it me, but isn't it kinda amazing that a black man, raised by a single white mother, (whose middle name is Hussein for chrissake!) has any kind of lead?

By: DLS

DLS — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 23:54:45 +0000

Elrod — if you didn't read it, here's the New Yorker article. The kinds of problems and conflicts Obama has had before and lack of familiarity, defiance of the political activists when it makes sense, defying the “establishment” or the “machine” in Chicago, even, the “outreach” to others like conservatives — it's slowly being revealed as having been said or done before, not just said, but done. Obama's campaign is almost 100% surface style stuff, but there's substance underneath.

http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2008/07/21/0...

By: DLS

DLS — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 22:46:23 +0000

"The poll at the top of that Pollster.com list shows McCain at less than 40%."

Don't forget about my current speculation involving the Golden or Divine Proportion (and a true supermajority and "mandate"): Will Obama or won't he beat McCain at least 62-38?

"Possibly McCain has some problems of his own?"

He is not appealing; he has been Dem Lite and anti-GOP and even liberal at times; his campaign, at least how it has proceeded as the results have been observed, has been a mere "survival" campaign. He has to hope swing voters are repelled by Obama's liberalism (many won't be, or at least won't truly fear it) and at the same time, he has lukewarm support at best from true conservatives, the Religious Right, etc.. He is the closest we have seen since 1996 to another Dole.

He also is boosting Obama's appeal for "change" by, yes, hiring more lobbyists on his campaign staff (see today's New York Times).

Meanwhile, as the article I've posted links to elsewhere points out, Obama has

"...Sportsmen for Obama, which sounds like Facebook Users for McCain, or Linguists for Bush."

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/16/opinion/16ega...

By: ChrisWWW

ChrisWWW — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 17:06:11 +0000

Up is down… 2+2=5… Obama's lead in the polls is a bad sign for Obama

By: vwcat

vwcat — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 16:27:49 +0000

I disagree with the voices of doom.
A healthy amount says they are undecided because after a very long, bruising primary many people are burnt out. It is summer. People are worrying over bills and gas. Those who are not, are at the beach.
The Oympics is in a few weeks.
No one is really paying attention and just taking a summer break from the election.
Trust me, next week Obama is off to Europe and people will pay a bit more attention but, the bulk will only begin to focus when Conventions come.
Don't look for big sings, big margins and intense opinions.
Just like a year ago during the primaries.
I suggest all pundits and opinion people take a deep breath and chill. go to the beach and quit obsessing and looking for things that are not there.

By: GeorgeSorwell

GeorgeSorwell — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 16:25:32 +0000

The poll at the top of that Pollster.com list shows McCain at less than 40%.

Possibly McCain has some problems of his own?

Just a thought.

By: DLS

DLS — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 15:50:40 +0000

[grin] I saw that, too — stiffing K Street. That is *** WELCOME *** *** CHANGE ***.

Also noteworthy right off-hand was, yes, taking his campaign out of Rome (a place in this country that has been far too opulent, something I said in the early 1990s, as well as decadent with its celebrity culture as well as corruption, having too much money and powered centered there) and running it out of his old home in the provinces (even if Chicago is an outpost of “civilization” and isn't quite Flyover Country). (In fact, Hyde Park is quite elegant and desireable to visit and quite civilized; it even has a branch of Powell's, probably the nation's best bookstore.)

By: elrod

elrod — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 15:41:44 +0000

DLS,
Sometimes I wonder if the Beltway writers who post that stuff realize that their “criticisms” actually make Obama look more favorable. Stiffing K Street? Oh, the horror. Moving the campaign out into the country? What could he be thinking?

By: DLS

DLS — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 15:01:17 +0000

Rather than worry about the poll of the day or the hour, how about the alienation Obama is risking among his fellow Democrats by pursuing what really looks like change?

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0708/11750...