It's been a hard 24 hours for me. Why? Because a lot of the places I like to go and review the state of the race and the current events are all up in arms, from concern, to sheer panic, to I give up. Not only reading this is depressing, but to be honest - I'm blindsided.
How did we go from jumping for joy over the absolute tidal wave that was the Democratic National Convention to this Pit of Despair (hat tip to the "Princess Bride) The only thing missing is the raspy voiced albino.
Is this all b/c of one poll from Gallup/USAT? One which may be an outlier seeing as none of the other polls show a sudden 10 point lead for McCain while all the others show that it is basically tied. Realclearpolitics, pollster and 538 all show a distinct Obama advantage in the electoral college race - The Only Race That Matters. Do we honestly believe b/c McCain has now declared himself a reformer and added an inexperienced Governor to the ticket, that he got a 17 point swing in a matter of days, even though Palin has high negatives, that polling shows many independents were turned off by her attacks, and that she is going to have a limited effect among women?
Let's regroup here.
Things we need to remember:
- THE GROUND GAME, THE GROUND GAME, THE GROUND GAME - All through this thing we have talked about two things: 1. The registering of new voters; and 2. the extensive network that the Obama Campaign has put together. Both of those projects are going very well and nothing has changed on that front.
- Aggression - We have been happy with the late charge of agression coming out of the Obama camp about calling it like it is, and that hasn't changed. Those calling for more action are not paying attention to what is going on.
This from Bill Burton with the Obama Campaign
"Despite being discredited over and over again by numerous news organizations, the McCain campaign continues to repeat the lie that Sarah Palin stopped the Bridge to Nowhere," he said.
You may want to notice the key word "lie" dropped by Burton.
From Obama himself:
"I know the governor of Alaska has been saying she's change, and that's great," Obama said Saturday. "She's a skillful politician. But, you know, when you've been taking all these earmarks when it's convenient, and then suddenly you're the champion anti-earmark person, that's not change. Come on! I mean, words mean something, you can't just make stuff up."
Barbara Boxer taking Kay Bailey Hutchinson to task has already been diaried and linked multiple times on Kos, and she is keeping up this theme by attacking McCain on his anger issues and Palin on her extremism, all of which can be found at the JedReport and Vodpod
Hillary is still strong, appearing in Florida, repeating that the choice is clear on the economy, on health care, on foreign policy that the choice is "Clear" She adapts her speech and ends with "No Way, No How, No McCain, No PALIN!"
Biden just did a good job in answering the question concerning how hard it will be to debate Palin in responding that the hardest part will be finding out what her views are, and this is great - "I assume they are the same as McCain's" The emphasis is mine. A great way to point out that the Republican's Eliza Doolittle is still being taught.
- The Republican Stance is Unstable - It is pissing everyone off that the Republicans are able to go on TV and just lie. The problem with that is that once challenged, it really is indefensible. Even our cowardly lion media is starting to put some chinks in that armor.
Her own hometown paper is calling her out.
ADN Thanks but No Thanks Is Bunk
And even bitch boy Fournier's AP is getting in on the action, with two articles out about the lies of Sarah Palin:
And we haven't even hit the debates yet. It will be hard for the Republicans to defend their positions when Obama and Biden crack down.
Let's also not forget that Caribou Barbie is not even 2 weeks old yet in this thing, and look at all the mess that has already spilled out about her.
Today experts and media have gotten a hold of her misunderstanding of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, as her statements indicate that she thinks they are taxpayer funded. Now, nobody is going to go ape over this, b/c most Americans have no clue what these institutions do and it will be spun. But let's not negate the buzz this is going to create among policy wonks and the media. They're scared to act, but the incentive is there and building to call her out and flavor their commentary on her. The main point is that you can't cram to be Vice-President like it's a midterm exam. If you don't know your stuff, as her running mate can attest to, it will be apparent. Look for more of this in the future.
Finally, look to intangibles, such as The Daily Show. I know its only a comedy show, but its popular, and they have been KILLING McCain and Rove over the last week. The word is out there, and once the excitement dies down, it will find a place to land.
Unlike John McCain on Iraq in 2002, I am not here to tell you that this will be easy. We have to do the grunt work, not only of bringing in those voters but volunteering to watch the polls to make sure the Republicans don't try to negate votes again and disenfranchise our constituency. What I am saying is that we are letting Gore, Kerry and Dukakis get into our collective psyche based on an outlier. We can't keep going from ecstacy to despair everytime a new poll comes out. Johnathon Singer over at MYDD has information on the other polls.
Diageo/Hotline Daily Tracker Poll
John McCain (R): 44 percent (40 percent) Barack Obama (D): 44 percent (46 percent)
CNN/ORC Poll
John McCain (R): 48 percent (48 percent) Barack Obama (D): 48 percent (49 percent)
Rasmussen Reports
John McCain (R): 48 percent (48 percent) Barack Obama (D): 47 percent (48 percent)
New Survey USA came out with the news on Virginia, still tied:
New Survey USA Virginia Poll/Sept. 5-7/717 LV/MOE 3.7 (August Poll in parantheses) Presidential Race John McCain (R) 49 % (48) Barack Obama (D) 47 % (47) Other 2 % Undecided 2 %
No. Change.
Shout out to Obamafan on mydd for posting this, who gives more intesive discussion should you want to go check it out.
We knew there would be a McCain bounce, and there it is.
Is it going to be tough? Hell yeah! I wouldn't have it any other way. Do you think getting the first black president into the White House was going to be a breeze? Hell, no! That's why it is historic. If it was easy to do the Republicans would do it.
Do not stop, make the calls, donate, volunteer, canvass, email and write the media with your complaints. We ain't got time to bleed. FIGHT! FIGHT! FIGHT!
For those Clinton people out there, this is for you.
"If you hear the dogs, keep going!"