If you read the first post in this topic you would see that I made a point of mentioning the swing states and how the election would be won or lot there. Its a huge part of the point in this topic. Further, you need to dump that realclearpolitics site and start reviewing pollingreport.com. Its WAY more comprehensive then that site you linked minus the opinion.
Couldn't find an electoral map on that site. All that data collection and stuff that pollingreport did is neat I suppose. But it doesn't seem to mean a lot without being compiled into a hard, collaborative picture. And where are all these opinions on RCP you're talking about? Seems pretty straight-forward to me. I won't be dumping it anytime soon, but thanks.
The polls will likely fluctuate but Palin has helped change the dynamic of the campaign. Dems are focusing on her and not McCain. That is undeniable. The polling numbers indicate a huge swing nationally, in several battle ground states, among women, among first time voters, among Reagan democrats, among Hillary voters, and these are scientific polls. Rasmussin is claiming a 40%+ sampling of dems and only a 37% sampling of repubs, with the balance being independent voters. It's dangerous to think they can't change in Obama's favor in the next 50 days, but it is very foolish to suggest they mean nothing today. The dems have not figured out exactly how to handle her yet. They can't sit back and let her tune up the numbers for McCain and yet most of their attacks are backfiring. Her record is fair game but the personal attacks(real or imagined) are capturing the headlines. Leave it to the media to focus on crap, but that is what the majority of people remember. Little sound bites capture a lot of votes on both sides. You don't meet many voters that can discuss both sides extensively. As to Biden shredding Palin in the debates, that absolutely won't happen. She appears perfectly capable of handling herself and Biden is well known for his own gaffs. Yesterday he claimed Hillary would have been a better pick for vp. He is a total idiot that has been wrong about most foreign policy issues, and has been rejected twice by the American people. Obama should have picked Hillary or Richardson. Hillary would have gotten more votes and Richardson would have supported him better. Biden was a step back from the "change" Obama has been selling and I never understood it myself. I wished he had picked Richardson. It would have been more consistent with his message. Added to that, Biden will have to walk a fine line while challenging her or he will appear to be a bully. However, she appears perfectly capable of sticking it to the other guy. As to coaching, that stands to reason as she was not running for prez to begin with. How much "coaching" is Obama getting from all those foreign relations specialists? I have heard he has 300, but that number is probably inflated. Gonna be an interesting two months to be sure.
This is the week of Palin, her 15 minutes of fame. Attention is going to shift back to McCain quickly . . . and if it doesn't, the GOP has a problem. Biden is likely to own her in the VP debate.
As are Republicans and the media. I think once the debates begin Palin's newness will have somewhat worn off. I expect she'll be able to handle herself, but I am definitely interested to see how the debates go. I watched the entire presidential forum last night and I liked both candidates responses, for the most part. Still a lean toward Obama - I like the way he carries himself a little better. I didn't like that the entire forum was focused on service. I wasn't real concerned where either stood on that subject. I don't know. I imagine a lot of white folk wouldn't have considered him simply based on the race-race or race-sex aspect of the ticket. A large segment of Clinton's supporters I imagine will chose party over sex. Another large segment might give more consideration to Obama because he chose a white guy. I also expect large segments of Clinton's supporters to consider McCain because he is not black and because his VP is a woman, though. I think McCain is trying very hard to present himself as a reasonable unifier now, and I think he is doing a pretty good job, so far. I think his real test will come in the debates. Yep.
No he did not. It was the news media and the bloggers. If he has come out and said that was a sexist remark, that was a mistake on his part. But the media and the bloggers started the whole mess.
Their careers may have started at the same time, but her career has been as the chief administrative officer of a small town and as governor of a state. Executive positions both. It has nothing to do with how long they have been in office, but the nature of the office they held. The dinosaur remark was from a blog that was immediately identified as a hoax. We'll see which one cries first.
First...let me say it's good to see you all survived Gustav and that you're all here safe and sound. I'm glad to be back in my own bed again! Now...on to politics. Palin is more articulate and a better public speaker that Obama, McCain, and Biden combined. I think she'll hold her own against Biden because he has a habit of sticking his foot in his mouth. For the presidential candidate to attack the VP candidate tells me that Obama is worried. His arrogant attitude was evident in his recent comments. Whether it's because he considers himself black or because he's very liberal, he has been given a free pass from the media and elevated to rock star status. Now that he has pressure for the first time, let's see if he can maintain his cool. He started to crack a little before the party reeled him in. I think it's funny... Palin has no experience...yet Obama does. :huh: McCain doesn't represent change...yet Biden does. :huh: Hillary had everything going for her and knew she had the presidency locked down. Out of the blue came Obama and Hillary's bubble burst. One month ago Obama had it locked down. Let's see if his bubble bursts. Maybe the Democrats will start to realize that they didn't win all these recent elections because people liked what they stood for...but more due to they didn't like what the Republicans were doing. At this rate I can see the power continue to shift because many people don't care for either party right now.
