Tag: election 2008

Categorieën
US elections Voorpagina

Obamaians, don’t get your hopes up (too much)

It was mid-October 1992, and Bill Clinton led George HW Bush with 16 points in the polls. In the end, Clinton won the elections by 6 points. In 1999, Al Gore led George W Bush 51 to 40 points in at least one poll. In 1973, Jimmy Carter led Gerald Ford in one poll by 13 points; Carter finally won by just 2.

All this is meant to convey one message: Democrats, don’t you get your hopes up too much just yet.

Lees verder “Obamaians, don’t get your hopes up (too much)“
Categorieën
US elections Voorpagina

The Grey Lady must show her cards

So The New York Times accused senior John McCain campaign aide Rick Davis of being a paid lobbyist for a company, and still being on the payroll on the company’s Freddie Mac account, right up to last month, just before the mortgage lender was nationalised. The Grey Lady, on who the McCain campaign declared war on Tuesday, based its accusation on oral information it got from sources who remained anonymous.

Lees verder “The Grey Lady must show her cards“
Categorieën
US elections Voorpagina

McCain’s velcro economy message

John McCain is desparately trying to neutralize the economy as the dominant issue in the presidential election campaign. To that end, he changes tack whenever the winds of opportunity demand it.

Two weeks ago on Monday, he said that the government should not bail out AIG. But Wednesday, after Barack Obama more or less came out in support of the bailout, McCain suddenly supported it.

Lees verder “McCain’s velcro economy message“
Categorieën
US elections Voorpagina

QUICK: Ohio no longer in play. Not really

Ohio used to be a ‘swing state’. It is still called that by almost every news organisation and polling company and sure enough, polling aggregates everywhere are showing a so-called neck-and-neck race between Barack Obama and John McCain.

Don’t believe the hype. Ohio is a Republican state. And Team Obama knows it. But… *whispers* they don’t want anybody else to know that they know…! SHHH….*

Oh, and forget Florida, too.

Michigian. Minnesota. Wisconsin. Iowa. Colorado. New Mexico. New Hampshire. That’s right, the states that are turning ever more blue these past months is where Obama’s Army is at.

Categorieën
US elections Voorpagina

Race does matter

Many a time have I been scolded for assuming publicly that the colour of Barack Obama’s skin would play its part in the upcoming election. Many a times have I been warned that racism in America is on the wane. Many a times have I been scolded for being prejudiced about Americans.

Well, they were right: not all Americans are prejudiced towards black people. Not all, just many.

Categorieën
US elections Voorpagina

QUICK: McCain going after Obama strong suit – again

They failed in their quest to attack one of Barack Obama’s strong suit — his image — and so they’re trying something else: Team McCain is now attacking Obama’s signature issue, his strongest, er, strong suit, which is the economy. It’s the single main issue on which Americans trust Obama more than McCain.

And so Team McCain has once again switched to Bush Mode: identify your opponent’s main strength, attack it, weaken it, then take it and slam him with it.

Categorieën
US elections Voorpagina

Polls? Big Black Holes!

I don’t believe the guys over at Fivethirtyeight.com, the people who say that they “do polls right”. I also don’t believe the aggregate of the polls at Realclearpolitics.com. Or Pollster.com. I don’t think neither of those companies or websites is correct, due to the Big Black Holes in this particular election.


Lees verder “Polls? Big Black Holes!”
Categorieën
US elections Voorpagina

Oh ye of low intelligence…

Every four years in America, somebody takes out a cattle prod and slams it up the bum of approximately half the population. Those are the ones who go out to vote during presidential elections. Suddenly, they wake up, pull their heads from the sand, and in their naivete expect the political campaigns to inform them about the candidates and their positions.

Like I said, every four years. But this year’s voter vintage seems exceptionally stupid.

Lees verder “Oh ye of low intelligence…”
Categorieën
US elections Voorpagina

Are You Experienced?

A new Wall Street Journal / NBC poll (opens as Acrobat .pdf document) out today shows that a majority of voters questioned is comfortable with the idea of having Sarah Palin in the White House as vice-president, despite a “national debate” on whether she’s experienced enough for the job.

That’s very interesting. Because polls have for months been showing that voters are somewhat concerned over Barack Obama’s lack of experience. It is the very reason why Team McCain has from the start been highlighting Obama’s perceived “lack of experience”.  Obama selected Joe Biden, a Senator with 33 years of experience in foreign affairs, to be his running mate. That’s a lot of experience, but it hardly made a difference in the polls.

So what can we conclude from this? That experience is something that only troubles Obama? Or is experience simply not that important to voters?

Lees verder “Are You Experienced?”
Categorieën
US elections Voorpagina

Quote of the day

‘John McCain. Change we can fear.’

(Seen on an ABC News message board.)

Hilarious.