Counterpoint: 8 reasons Obama will win »
Posted By gamahuche 1 year, 1 month ago in Political NewsIn Tuesday's column, I offered '08 reasons John McCain might still pull off an upset in next week's '08 presidential election.
Today I offer '08 reasons Barack Obama will nevertheless win handily:
1. Obama's supporters are more energized.
Obama draws enormous crowds wherever he goes and has energized young and first-time voters in a way that will surprise pollsters relying on traditional turnout models. A recent USA Today/Gallup poll found 74 percent of Obama voters saying they are more enthusiastic about voting this time than in previous elections. Only 48 percent of McCain voters said the same.
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gamahuche
"I would rather be a square peg than fit in a pigeon hole" -
an essay which won me the "Lamb Essay Prize" at the Religious ...
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gamahuche1 year, 1 month ago
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This is the last of a series of three articles.
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The first described how, through an extraordinary and highly unlikely combination of circumstances McCain MIGHT, just, be able to pull it off. The second explained how, through an equally unlikely conjunction of mis-steps Obama could sabotage his chances and this one which makes it VERY clear that the force is with Obama and that nothing other than an act of God or something much worse from the other end of the spectrum will stop him becoming the Democratic President of the United States. Whereupon the whole pf the democratic western world will shout with joy and the internal opposition within the US will immediately get over it, metaphorically shake hands with the worthy winner of a hard-fought but - so far - generally fair fight and the American people will pull together because that is the only way that the US can EVER find any inner peace as a nation and return to its deserved place amongst the leaders of the free world.
I hope that you all agree - and especially that those who have been mortifying on the "other side" will accept the people's choice.
If the US does NOT manage to become one nation then all I can say is G_d help us all!-
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Beau78901 year, 1 month ago
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The author, Eric Zorn, has been my favorite local columnist in the Tribune for several years now. Unfortunately, the Trib was recently bought and gutted by a real estate magnate with no previous experience in journalism, and who's trying to drastically cut costs and increase ad revenue. The foreign bureaus no longer exist and their correspondents have been dismissed. The editorial page and op-ed commentary have been halved, and it keeps getting lost--a few days since the paper's content was reduced, I even saw editorials and op-eds behind the classifieds!
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I think it's only a matter of time until most of their local columnists are gone, and I'd guess Zorn will be one of them.
Sorry for the longish digression; I just wanted to mention to gama that he found my favorite columnist in what I (used to) consider the most credible local paper.
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Here's something more pertinent to the article:
Despite predictions like this and polls looking better every day for Obama, DON'T get overconfident and neglect to vote (iif you haven't already in states that have early balloting). Obama will need every single vote in order to defeat the scads of legal challenges and recount requests that will certainly be filed November 5.
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bubba21 year, 1 month ago
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I have been taking notice of the differences in the numbers of supporters at the candidates' campaign stops.
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Obama consistently has a much larger audience at his campaign stops than either McCain or Palin. I had always thought that this was a big indication of the amount of support Obama will get at the polls. -
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willottica1 year, 1 month ago
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This was a great series of four articles:
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08 reasons why Obama will run for president in 2008
08 reasons why Barack Obama will win the Democratic nomination
08 reasons Barack Obama might lose next Tuesday
08 reasons Barack Obama will win next Tuesday
Especially interesting are the comments on the first article... Two and half years later, they seem downright nutty and naive.
Then there's this prediction that I also really enjoyed:
Those who like to remind us that “Obama rhymes with Osama” will also prove to be useful idiots.
I think that will be my new response, rather than pointing out the inherent fearmongering that such a statement exhibits, I'll just tell the poster: "You're a useful idiot."-
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gamahuche1 year, 1 month ago
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'I'll just tell the poster: "You're a useful idiot."'
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I like that!
I still have a somewhat different take on the components of that series of articles - but not to start a war about!
Ultimately what I found much the most important aspect was the very first reason that the author gives:
Its all about ENERGY.. McC does NOT have it.
Actually he He reminds me of an old overworked carthorse, bravely struggling on but ready to die in his traces.
Borrowing the energy from his running mate didn't work too handily either, making him look even MORE of a relic and presenting the terrifying prospect of a loony at the wheel of the ship of state should McC nod off permanently while he was supposed to be the captain.
FTA
In Tuesday's column, I offered '08 reasons John McCain might still pull off an upset in next week's '08 presidential election.
Today I offer '08 reasons Barack Obama will nevertheless win handily:
1. Obama's supporters are more energized.
Obama draws enormous crowds wherever he goes and has energized young and first-time voters in a way that will surprise pollsters relying on traditional turnout models. A recent USA Today/Gallup poll found 74 percent of Obama voters saying they are more enthusiastic about voting this time than in previous elections. Only 48 percent of McCain voters said the same.
These jazzed Obama supporters don't see their vote as the weary, defensive choice of the lesser of two evils, but as an exciting chance to create a brighter future.
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sinophil491 year, 1 month ago
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I found the last point that Obama has been lucky an interesting comment. Every election, every historical era, every political or economic upheaval creates a need for a suitable person to handle the new oncoming problems. A politician who might be the best choice for the presidency in one era may not be the best choice for another era, a different set of problems.
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If it were only the Iraq war, the iranian truculence, the Afghanistan conundrum, the al Qaida and Osama bin Laden that we had to concern ourselves about, it can be validly argued that an aggressive, military-oriented president would be most suitable for this election.
However, with the huge economic collapse, the credit and mortgage crunch, the record national debt, the loss of confidence, and the threatening global depression, I think the country senses that we need a calming hand, a steady personality to calm the nation's fears. As FDR said - The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.
In this historical moment, we do NOT need a fiery personality who can act forcefully perhaps, but erratically. The Republican party has made a huge issue of raising the fear level in our nation for the sake of national security; but that is not what our country needs right now.
So the main point I would emphasize is not that Obama is lucky. Rather it is that this historical moment needs a personality like Obama's rather than McCain's.-
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Beau78901 year, 1 month ago
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Obama has been lucky in every race he's run, with the exception of his first campaign for a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives in 2000. (He was defeated in the primaries that time by a better-known ex-Chicago alderman.) Every other time, the opposing candidates have self-destructed. Happened this time too.
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On the other hand, maybe that hasn't been luck...
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CHAM1 year, 1 month ago
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Gamma. Excellent series of posts. And especially this last one. I sure do agree with Beau7890 in his last sentence in your first comment Beaux that there is still one more pitfall for Obama, the November surprise.
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I have been concerned by the incessant utterances of talking heads that McCain is narrowing the gap and he still has a good chance of winning on the 4th.
They may know something we don't. But with the polls showing what they show, including the one yesterday that by 59% to 40% Obama is winning the exit poll drawn from early voters, it would take more than a miracle for McCain to win.
It would take a vote count subterfuge to elect McCain. Whether the Republicans can pull it off or not is up for debate but my question is does anyone out there think they won't try?
The next President needs to call a Constitutional convention so the public can end this vote fraud prevalence now in America with new means to control fraud and sure and swift penalties for bringing voting fraud. -
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