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Counterpoint.
A sure way for Obama to lose, if it isn’t already inevitable, would be to follow this advice. Sonia is operating on a couple of different false premises when she gives advice like, “Stop obsessing about Sarah Palin…stop trying to tie McCain to Bush…start talking about gas prices…start talking about immigration,” and, “Don’t run the general election like you have run your primary elections.”
Here is the deal; prior to the Republican convention Obama’s polls were headed down for two reasons, and two reasons only. The number one reason was over exposure. Everyone I asked about the election from around last April till the Conventions had a variation of one of two reactions, “So it’s going to be Hillary against Barack, and “I’m sick of seeing Obama every where I turn.” The Democratic primaries were so intensely fought and subsequently covered by the media that more than one person I asked thought Hillary and Barack were already the nominees of two opposing parties, it was as if McCain didn’t even exist and the whole election hinged on whether or not Obama was to much of a risk. It was pure over exposure, and Barack’s European tour was the tipping point. There is nothing his campaign has done smarter than send him on vacation to Hawaii and prominently feature the Clintons in Denver. Killed two birds with one stone.
The second issue that lead to Barack Obama’s drop in the polls was the muddying of his message. No, not the “change” message. The other stuff. This I can only speak to from a personal perspective, but week after week, throughout July and August, hearing reports of position changes on Iraq, nuclear power, off-shore drilling, and a host of other topics drove me fucking nuts and made me throw up my hands and shout what’s the fucking point?!
The thing that’s baited me back into caring just a little bit again is Sarah Palin. Beyond the fact that she seems to have been picked after a weak vetting process in some cynical political ploy to attract Hillary Clinton voters, besides that, she is one the most dangerously unqualified people you could have picked to be Vice President for someone who, if elected, will be the older than any other Chief Executive at beginning of their term in office than in the whole 219 year history of Presidents.
The one point I agree on with Sonia is that the Obama camp must throw the base some red meat. Look what the nomination of Palin and the GOP convention did for the Republicans. They must tie Palin to Cheney, putting their abuses of office side by side just as they must continue to put McCain in juxtaposition with Bush. There is no difference, this is not a case of apples and oranges. The tired narratives that people like Sonia operate by and strive to reinforce can not stand. This is not an election the Republicans can be allowed to win.
-Cross posted at GFA51
Afterward
Yesterday the Culture Ghost posted a piece playing off something he and the rest of us “Guys from area 51″ had batted around through e-mail correspondence:
…late last night, I entertained a very peculiar thought…if one truly had contempt and disdain for this country, such as I harbor, wouldn’t a vote for McCain be the most destructive thing one could do under the circumstances? This sentiment was confirmed for me this afternoon by one of my blogging cohorts who is of the opinion if you want to bring the whole mess crashing down, vote for McCain.
So here I am considering the possibility of helping wreck this country by casting a vote for someone I can’t stand.
Irony can be so delicious sometimes.
I’m just not at that point yet. If McCain wins then the wheels have been set to turn without me. “The cure for decadence is hardship.”
9 Responses to “Counterpoint.”
Leave a Reply
September 13th, 2008 at
I get a kick out of the discussion at Sonia’s blog. Next to nothing about actual policy discussed. Sonia’s blog is not the only place, where the race, is talked about superficially.
Obama is ahead in the electoral college. He is content not to lose, rather than fight to win.
When Obama spoke, at the same building where the RNC took place, there was 33,000 people inside, and a line for three blocks outside. What does that tell you?
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September 13th, 2008 at
Allots changed since then:
Convention rejuvenates GOP
Battle for Congress Suddenly Looks Competitive
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September 13th, 2008 at
This is why I don’t get why Dems think it’s in the bag.
I’m not at the ‘fuck it, let Rome fall’ point myself, but that percentage of me increases with each day.
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September 13th, 2008 at
Its not in the bag by a long shot. Obama needs to have at least an 8 point lead in the polls to be considered even with McCain. 8 points is the average difference between polling support for African American candidates to elected office compared with what they actually receive when the public is in that booth all alone.
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September 13th, 2008 at
I’m about 50% ‘fuck it, let Rome fall’ right now.
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September 14th, 2008 at
I reached that “fuck it, let Rome fall” point many years ago, except that my “Rome” was the Soviet Union…
There is just one flaw in your arguments. First you argue that Democrats are just like the Republicans. And then you argue that “Rome” will fall under the Republicans, but not under the Democrats.
As Beamish has said, leftists are incapable of rational thought…
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September 14th, 2008 at
Sonia, it’s a matter of now or latter. Pick the Republicans again, and you get a party that doesn’t believe in Government, doesn’t know how to lead, and is letting the infrastructure of this Nation fall to pieces. Pick the Democrats and you get the complete opposite, a party that loves bureaucracy and empire, and will do anything to maintain it. Empires don’t last forever, in fact they are meant to fall. What we are saying is that we revel in the irony that the party that is all about god and country is putting that country on a path to failure even quicker than us evil hippie leftist bastards that piss on the bible, burn the flag, and have hot homo sex all before noon.
Beamish is, was, and always will be a fucking tool.
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September 15th, 2008 at
Frederick,
Pick the Democrats and you get the complete opposite
Yours is a minority opinion on the far left. Most leftists believe (and rightly so) that Dems and GOP are Dweeledee and Dweedledom…
The only major policy differences between Obama and McCain are: Iraq (but not Iran or Afghanistan), abortion, gay marriage and stem-cell research. They are certainly not “complete opposite” on immigration, taxes, Israel, campaign finance, trade or welfare reform… In fact, their positions are either identical or very fuzzy (when was the last time Obama spoke about environment ?).
And if you want someone to dismantle “the Empire”, then vote for Buchanan (and guess which VP candidate used to support Buchanan in the 1990’s. Hint: she isn’t from Delaware…)
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September 15th, 2008 at
Ooups, I made a mistake. Obama and McCain’s positions are identical even on stem-cell reasearch…
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