I am worried. Should I be worried?

[Bicoastal]

It appears Obama is having trouble clearing a statistical hurdle, because unlike other candidates for president, there seem to be a significant number of people in this country who refuse to even LIKE him, much less vote for him. Racism, xenophobia, bitterness, gullibility, whatever you call it--they will not vote for him even if it means electing someone they can barely stand.

Everyone is offering reasons not to vote for Obama, while nobody is offering up ONE good reason to vote for McCain. McCain has been negative, awkward, and wrong over the last week or so--and yet he's still close in the polls. And the media isn't doing a good job of devoting equal time to both candidates' strengths and weaknesses, surprise surprise. And I'm getting worried.

Any words of reassurance?

[TwilightGardener]

1. None--until I start seeing signs that the "high road" is over and the low road

kicks in for the Obama team. They need to get moving, they need to redefine McDairy, because his default definition right now is still that of honorable maverick with integrity--which we all know is false.

[polichick]

7. You're right about "his default definition" - the campaign has to change that...

Unfortunately, Obama and his surrogates feed into it by consistently calling him honorable.

[cliffordu]

32. "....Running a dishonorable campaign....."

Every spokesperson for Obama has said just that phrase for two days now- "an honorable man running a dishonorable campaign."

Its a perfect insult - it gives subtle kudos to honorable service (one of McCains main themes) turned dishonorable by what...?


Well....

Axlerod asked "who is running the campaign??? This does not sound like the John McCain we used to see..." (paraphrased) ....

Look for "Honorable, Dishonorable, who is running his campaign??" to be memes for a while.


Just until the MSM divulges that it's Rove's idiot protege that is pulling the strings.

[polichick]

34. I like that they've started to use the "honorable, dishonorable" thing...

But for months now, they've praised McCain as an honorable person, war hero, etc. just like Clinton did. Dems have played up that myth as much as Republicans have.

[graywarrior]

2. They claim McCain is close in the polls.

I stopped listening to all of it. I can't believe a thing on the news anymore.

[Whisp]

17. I don't believe that close poll news at all.

it's made up and fudged to make McCane look not as useless as he is.

I'm hoping that the Obama campaign has their own polling and is gathering data. I'm sure they are up on all the dirt and won't be blindsided by this media manipulation - I'm just wondering how they will do it, as in make a talking point on the reliability of polls or how they will deal with this.

I was a bit nervous yesterday with all the negativety toward the Obama campaign, both here and on the mess media. but the campaign has proven many times over they are a force to be dealt with and don't just sit around taking hits, although it may appear that way, something is afoot in the camp and I think it'll please us all - well all of us rooting for Obama that is.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x6554257
H2O man has a great thread on counter punches. required reading for the sometimes nervous ninnies like myself.

[BonnieJW]

24. I think the "close" polls are simply to make it easier

to try to steal another election. You can't steal a landslide.

[Whisp]

26. Very true and I agree.

I'm just wondering how it will be dealt with This Time. Gore and Kerry were taken down by fraud, I'm thinking that Obama has wised up to that.

Not This Time.

Just curious how he will do it, because I'm fairly certain if there is a way he will find it.

[WeDidIt]

3. I worried about Obama vs. Clinton

My worry was unfounded. Obama proved me wrong to worry.

[writes3000]

4. Obama has been in the lead, stayed in the lead and leads overwhelmingly in the electoral race

Historically, when a candidate has this kind of consistently lead for this long, this close to the election, they almost always win.

It will seem close at times. It will tighten at times. But Obama is far, far ahead in most realistic measures.

We have to volunteer, donate and fight though.

[polichick]

5. Well, there's no coverage of the ground game so what we're seeing isn't the whole picture.

[soleft]

6. Vegas odds are ovewelmingly in Obama's favor

Those guys don't mess around.

[patrice]

8. McCrash is sitting on the Veterans' records that would reveal

what he actually told his captors.

The reason they create such a huge fuss anytime anyone sniffs around this question is that even looking at it will create the understanding that WE HAVE NO IDEA WHO JOHN MCCAIN IS.

[sandnsea]

9. Cut taxes and kill terrorists

There really are people who believe in what Bush has done. That's why it's important to frame Bush's policies as regular Republican policies and get off of impeachment at this point. We have to connect Bush to Republicanism to failure to McCain.

[highplainsdem]

10. It's going to be a close election, simply because there are so many Republicans,

self-identified conservatives, and right-leaning independents or moderates. And no matter how much we call McCain McSame, they apparently don't hold him responsible for Bush's failings, or think his first term would be Bush's third term. His approval rating is more than double the chimp's approval rating.

The best thing that could happen at this point, to assure a Democratic victory in the GE, would be for Obama to name Clinton as his running mate, uniting the party. If he doesn't do that, then I'm worried, too.

[sharp_stick]

11. I'm not

Obama is leading pretty nicely in the electoral races where it really counts. I think if he can carry a 5% national edge it's a landslide. I really don't know why polling companies, the media and the citizens pay so much attention to a national poll when the race for President isn't a national race.

I hate to see all the negative crap McLames advisors are putting out there and the competitor in me wants to loose Begala and friends in a negative response that focuses all kinds of shit on McCain. I don't know how right or wrong I am but I still think that one of Kerry's undoings was not pounding shrubbie a lot more.

I'm out on a limb and predicting an Obama landslide, it's the dog day's of summer and the media are bored.

[gblady]

15. I agree with the bored part....

think it's happening here on DU also...
so many threads about Obama needed to do more, get down and be dirty..

..think the natives are restless, and bored, and jonesing for a fight.

[DevonRex]

12. One thing I do is whenever I get worried, I send out a few emails

that are either pro-Obama or anti-McCain.

The only thing we can control is ourselves and what we do. We can fight hard, campaign hard. We don't have any control over what McCain does or what the media does.

With the media, we can at least email them and call them on their bullshit, like with The View today.

Another thing is that republicans will vote republican and democrats will vote democratic. That's the way it has always been and probably always will be. The independents go whichever way the wind blows and they're the ones we need to send emails to. Plus the older, probably a bit more racist democrats (remember Geraldine). They need to know the facts about McCain that make him impossible to vote for.

If each one of us here is active in even a small way, we can be the game changers. Remember that when you get down.

[JackORoses]

13. I just don't understand all the hairpulling and rending of garments. Has Obama failed us yet?

NO.

In fact, he has surpassed our wildest expectations.

He and his team have proven to be masters of political chess.
They defeated a Heavyweight Champion in the Clintons.
McCain is a Flyweight comparatively.

What should be obvious is that McCain has had to go extremely negative, extremely early.
Usually all this ammo would have been saved for after the Conventions.
That should be a key indicator of the desperation the McCain Camp finds themselves in.
They are already using their Afterburners, and they still cannot keep up.

By the time of the election, McCain's fuel will be gone. Crash and burn, yet again.

[Gman]

14. Yes we should be very worried, sweating bullets and terrified

this thing is FAR from over. Just like it doesn't matter which horse is ahead at each turn of a race, the polls here don't matter. Even if voters start to reject McCain, the GOP has control of far too many states for any kind of comfort with the credibility of elections. That's the biggest reason why polls don't matter.

Remember this: This bunch of felons outright and in plain daylight stole 2 presidential elections. Therefore, by definition they are capable of literally anything and they've shown before that they will literally do whatever it takes. This election should be approached with the idea that they intend to steal it, again. I personally think the chances are damn good they will get away with it because they've gotten away scott free with stealing the last two elections.

Be afraid. Be very afraid. DOn't assume anything will work according to what you learned in civics class. That era is long gone now. We live under an illegal junta that arose from a very real right wing revolution that succeeded beyond their wildest dreams. So be very, very afraid.

[fasttense]

16. The most common form of propaganda used in the third world

by the CIA and other operatives to defeat third world nation's efforts to run their own governments is to publish fake and misleading polls. Only in the US did the exit polls supposedly Not identify the successful campaigns of the bushes.

The Polls are trying to convince you you are out of touch and to give up and go with the majority.

[Teaser]

18. what the fuck are you talking about?

What statistical hurdle? What fucking hurdle?

The one where he leads every goddamn poll taken? That fucking hurdle?

Damn, that's a tough hurdle, to be consistently ahead in every major survey.

How the fuck can we hope to overcome a hurdle that high?

What will we do? We can't win if we're ahead all the time, people

We have to work real hard and start showing up *behind* McCain in every goddamn poll taken.

Only then will we have any hope at all.

[grantcart]

19. Until Nove 4th we should all be worried

but not panicked.

Forget the national polls


Here is what the same polling companies say when it comes state by state.



McCain is going to have to go a long ways to catch up and then pass him.

We have a smarter team, a better candidate and more money.

The key to putting it away is voter registration. If you can help there it would be great.

go here everyday to calm your news and give it a kick.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=132&topic_id=6559053&mesg_id=6559053

[AndyA]

20. This is something ALL Democrats should have considered a long time ago.

Racism isn't dead in this country.

This is an important year for the Dems to win back the White House and increase their numbers in Congress. We should have looked for a candidate that wouldn't have been controversial, but no...we had to pick the two most controversial people we could possibly come up with.

A female...strike one.

A female with the last name of Clinton...strike two.

A black man...strike three.

Making history isn't nearly as important to me as fixing this country. And I think our chances of that happening aren't as good today as they could have been.

I'm not suggesting anyone else specific, I'm just surprised that I still see posts from people dismayed over the fact that the Dem isn't going to get a fair chance in this country. Add anything controversial to that, as well as a little election fraud, and you've got a recipe for failure.

I hope Barack gets the White House, but I fear he has a lot of obstacles to overcome before that happens, and I'm not certain he'll be able to do it.

And yes, I understand that anyone the Dems nominate would be controversial...if there wasn't anything there, the GOP would create something, but we could have given them less to work with. :(

[SeaLyons]

28. I think if he puts Hillary

on the ticket, we can worry less. If she's on the ticket, the enthusiasm in the party will be re-ignited. I know Hillary is not a popular word on DU, but I really think she and her 18 million voters bring more to a sure Obama win than anything else.

[AndyA]

30. I'm not sure how I feel about that.

I see your point, but I also know that Hillary will ignite the GOTV effort for the GOP, because for God's sake her husband got a blow job while he was in the White House!

The typical Repuke ignoring the fact that their superstar Newt cheated on his wife while she was in the hospital with cancer, and their presumed nominee McSame also cheated on his first wife. Quite the upstanding bunch. I guess they figure both men only cheated on their wife in the missionary position, so it's somehow OK. :eyes:

I can see where Hillary would be a huge asset in some ways, and another obstacle in others. I hope whoever it is, Barack makes the right choice, because the VP might make or break this election.

[SeaLyons]

31. hahaha...

yea, I know...(blow job) - the GOTV effort would have a hay day, but I still think Hillary would bring tremendous energy to the party.

[Kokonoe]

21. Its very uphill, we should all be worried.

Its now time to make the difference.

[NYC_SKP]

22. Turnout Turnout Turnout.......turnout will overcome the challenge.

We're stuck with a lot of voters who just aren't going to vote for a black guy named Obama.

Trying to enlighten them will help but won't make nearly as much difference as registering new voters and getting people to turn out to vote.

The recent rash of voter disqualifications in many states indicates how scared the Republicans are, knowing that if we come out in numbers they won't have a chance.

:patriot:

[DevonRex]

23. Yep. Registration, registration, registration. And then...

help get voters to the voting booth or to the mailbox. We must have an organized effort to help people vote, whether it's young people at college or older folks who don't drive anymore.

If each one of us made sure that 1 person voted who otherwise wouldn't or couldn't have, we will win.

[NYC_SKP]

25. I'm hoping to find a way to drive groups of elderly voters to their polling place.

On election day.

Wouldn't that be fun?!

[my2sense]

27. I'm worried as well

because we have so many ignorant folks in this country that willingly accept the MSM bullshit. We still have folks in the country who simply will not vote for Obama based upon his race. I hope he gets in, but I won't be surprised if we end us with McShame. SMDH

:evilfrown::evilfrown::evilfrown:

[crankychatter]

29. is "racism" a reassuring word? nt

[debbierlus]

33. You should be worried - there is a LOT of silent prejudice AND we have corrupted elections

Damn right, you should be worried.

[Phoonzang]

35. Yes...you should be worried.

I still give Obama a less than 50 percent chance of winning. The GOP and media have yet to truly get started.

[Teaser]

36. the oddsmaker has spoken

.