November 2008: Narrow Republican victory surprises pollsters

[philly_bob]

Lagging in the polls during the whole campaign, the McCain/Romney Republican ticket came from behind to eke out a narrow victory over the Obama/Biden Democrat ticket.

Democrats squawked over twelve-point discrepancies between exit polls (61-39 for Obama) and election machine results (51-49 for McCain), but McCain staff reminded voters that the losing party had also complained in 2000 and 2004. "It's just typical Democrat sour grapes. They're so out of touch with the voters that they don't understand that Americans want security and victory, not socialism and defeat. Everybody knows people don't tell the truth to exit pollsters."

The Republican campaign had a few early stumbles -- a rash vice-presidential selection and the "McCain Meltdown" during a debate -- but managed a storybook, last-minute surge. Analysts pointed to three factors: (1) the well-funded nationwide Religious Right Get-Out-the-Vote program, (2) patriotic anger at the sinking of an American aircraft carrier in the Persian Gulf, blamed on the Iranians, and (3) voters' unwillingness to vote for an African-American.

Officials of both parties argued over an audio recording, released by a whistle-blower, in which a Republican campaign official told a state party conference: "Look, don't get discouraged. We just have to stay close. Don't worry about the polls. All you have to do is put together a plausible story for media consumption about why our team won. On election day, I'll see that we win." Democrats said the recording was proof of election cheating, but Fox News analyst Karl Rove said the official was merely referring to grass roots voter education efforts.

Police were able to control scattered protests over the outcome.

- Edited to fix numbers.

[A-Schwarzenegger]

1. Actually it would be a 24-point discrepancy.

[amborin]

2. yes, but leading academics already predict this, and NOT b/c of fraud

you want to blame fraud

but that's not the probable cause

rather, rethugs have a gullible electorate and a treasure trove of rovian tactics

you mentioned the most crucial ones

when combined with the bradley effect (ballot box racism), these can easily lead to your 'hypothetical' scenario

[amborin]

3. p.s.

someone earlier asked if du-ers are in some kind of bubble, detached from the larger world

the answer is: yes

how many of you have read rethug blogs?

overheard rethug conversations?

read some of the chain emails?

rethugs don't need election fraud, they just need the current electorate to win handily

[Nostradammit]

4. b.s.

I'm quite involved in the larger world

the answer is: no

Even the most die-hard republicans I know, and I know some red-neck mother fuckers, are
down on the republican party. They are ashamed and they know they should be.

Election fraud is the only thing they have going for them and this time We the People aren't
going to sit still for it.

[A-Schwarzenegger]

5. LOFL.

A-S.

[melody]

6. What the hell were we doing being all hopeful and such? I mean, really.

May as well pack it all up now ... the cynics know best.

[philly_bob]

7. Pack it up? Not at all. Only a massive Obama vote can defeat election cheating.

Keep singing a happy song, Melody; indeed things do look pretty good for the Obama/Biden ticket to attract more voters than a McCain/Palin ticket right now.

I'm just saying the neocon Republicans, desperate now, are probably going to pull SOMETHING in 2008, and I think election machine hacking and foreign policy trickery are the most likely scenarios.

[amborin]

9. they've already engineered foreign policy trickery

in Abkazia and S. Osettia

US advisors were working in Georgia for months, allegedly to train them to fight against radical operatives

but at the very least, we emboldened the corrupt and authoritarian and despotic pseudo-dem Georgian prez to invade those areas.....where Georgia has a brutal history of invasion and slaughter

all this gave McCain the opportunity to talk his scary, totally wrong, war mongering talk, worse than Cheney himself

and folks here think dems should rest content?!

[WeDidIt]

8. WE'RE DOOMED I SAY, DOOOOOOOMED!!!!

Buck up, soldier.