2008 US Presidential Race, Obama vs McCain

[monsoon]

So two days ago John McCain has a rally in Denver and his people said 4,000 showed up.

Obama was in Denver today and he again pulled down a 100,000 person crowd according to the police.

The national news media continues to bill these as equivalent events.

[tombarnes]

The Handwriting Is On the Wall

Even die-hard Republicans know that the presidential race is lost at this point. it's likely that the House and Senate may go down as well. This article in the Washington Post by David Frum speaks volumes. This could be a smashing victory for Democrats across the board. Somehow, I'd still like to see a balance somewhere.

The Washington Post

[krazeeboi]

These huge crowds Obama keeps pulling are just unbelievable. I can't wait to see the poll numbers after he essentially seals the deal with his Oct. 29 broadcast during prime time.

I found a pretty interesting article on the Washington Post's website: The High Rise of the First Metropolitan Candidate; this is UrbanPlanet after all. It asks:

Is Obama's ascent a further sign -- on top of volatile gas prices, plummeting home values in the exurbs and recent population upticks even in Baltimore and Newark -- that our cities are back and that the country is making peace with its non-agrarian side? And would a big-city president address as never before the problems of our urban cores -- blighted housing, shoddy public transit, dismal schools?

Obama partisans answer both questions in the affirmative -- with a key qualifier. The Democratic nominee, they say, should be viewed less as the first urban candidate in a long time than as the first metropolitan candidate -- a semantic distinction suggesting that the urban resurgence has a ways to go.

[Neo]

McCain is really starting to lose it IMO. Check out this video of McCain making a huge flubber in a speech in PA:

[ChiefJoJo]

These huge crowds Obama keeps pulling are just unbelievable. I can't wait to see the poll numbers after he essentially seals the deal with his Oct. 29 broadcast during prime time.

I found a pretty interesting article on the Washington Post's website: The High Rise of the First Metropolitan Candidate; this is UrbanPlanet after all. It asks:

It's a pretty good read.

[Justadude]

^ I hope that this is a resurgence of the "traditional" Democratic, New Deal mentality. The concept of "public works" has been fused with the concept of "pork projects" in the past 30 years, and that has been a bad turn for our nation politically and socially. There's a startlingly obvious lack of high-quality infrastructure in this country, and it's becoming much more serious as we see levees and bridges failing.

Here in Tennessee the TVA projects of the New Deal era represented a major leap forward into the 20th Century, both in terms of economics (jobs, cheap energy, new residential areas and even new cities in some cases) and in terms of the quality of life in the South (electricity, dams, bridges, safe power plants, etc.). If Obama's plan to use energy projects as a jobs measure is successful, green power could have the same effect on states like Ohio and Michigan which have not moved smoothly into the 21st Century. This, rather than divisive social issues, should be the focus and legacy of the Democrats in the next decade.

[Yankee Fan]

Huh? Obama turning his back on Michigan? How so? If he did pull out of Michigan, it would be because of McCain pulling out and the state safely leaning blue. So if Michigan is safely leaning blue and Obama would have no competition to deal with other than third party candidates (which are a wast of time voting for because they have snowball's chance in hell at ever becoming president), then it would be prudent to spend resources in states still up for grabs.

Also we are talking about the president. The economic problems here in Michigan as bad as they are here are a part of the greater economic problems effecting the nation so whom ever will be president can't just focus on Michigan alone. They are just more acute in Michigan because of the states heavy dependance on a deteriorating industrial base. The president has to focus on the nation as a whole by laying the ground work to point the nation in the right direction. As for Michigan, the state is going to need that right direction. But its going to take state and local governments to carry the ball the rest of the way in order to get Michigan's economy back on track.

[monsoon]

^Given that you have chosen to question the credibility of the people who have responded to your post I will say this in return.

I don't believe there really was any question that you would ever vote for Obama given your past comments on UrbanPlanet, here and in the Michigan forum. Now that you have rolled out the rhetoric such as "typical democratic response" to the things you have posted, that is confirmed.

So now you are left with McCain or nobody. I can see where you are trying to rationalize that bad choice by attempting to give equivalency to McCain vs Obama but anyone looking honestly at the differences between these two candidates, their campaigns, what they stand for, and most importantly on if they are trying to include everyone or divide people, knows these two candidates are not equivalent.

If you are going to cast out all future democrats because of what one democratic governor has done or not done, then I assume that you will never vote for a Republican again given what George Bush, John McCain and the GOP have done to this country on a national level since 1994. The results speak for themselves. Of course I don't believe that you intend to do this either since you are really looking for a reason to rationalize why you won't vote for a democrat or Obama. We have all heard it before.

[Yankee Fan]

^Given that you have chosen to question the credibility of the people who have responded to your post I will say this in return.

I don't believe there really was any question that you would ever vote for Obama given your past comments on UrbanPlanet, here and in the Michigan forum. Now that you have rolled out the rhetoric such as "typical democratic response" to the things you have posted, that is confirmed.

So now you are left with McCain or nobody. I can see where you are trying to rationalize that bad choice by attempting to give equivalency to McCain vs Obama but anyone looking honestly at the differences between these two candidates, their campaigns, what they stand for, and most importantly on if they are trying to include everyone or divide people, knows these two candidates are not equivalent.

If you are going to cast out all future democrats because of what one democratic governor has done or not done, then I assume that you will never vote for a Republican again given what George Bush, John McCain and the GOP have done to this country on a national level since 1994. The results speak for themselves. Of course I don't believe that you intend to do this either since you are really looking for a reason to rationalize why you won't vote for a democrat or Obama. We have all heard it before.

[monsoon]

..... I am socially liberal and fiscally conservative. Can you imagine, being those two things, how it would be hard to pick one of these guys?! Each one is 50% of what I believe. That is a rough spot to be in. When I voted for Clinton, I shared a majority of his views.

You give too much credit to my post by calling portions of it rhetoric, especially if you look at some of the other posts on this subject.......

[Lowerdeck]

I couldn't imagine a McCain presidency being fiscally conservative. The last eight years of GOP rule have been fiscal suicide... and I can't see anything changing in the next 4-8 years no matter who gets elected.

[erdogs]

It also looks as if the majority of these people are going to vote for Obama because if there is change to be made in the government, he is the only one running that can pull it off. It's certainly not coming from McCain and that airhead Palin.

[krazeeboi]

My point: the guy that most people on this board have adopted as their supreme commander removed himself from the ballot in the Michigan primary, has stopped campaigning here, and has shown me that we are only as important to him as our electoral votes. The same for McCain on the latter point.

[krazeeboi]

Obama hasn't been much of a change as a Senator, he voted for the bailout and he voted for the FISA bill he said he was against. He sounds just like your average politician to me.

[monsoon]

Obama hasn't been much of a change as a Senator, he voted for the bailout and he voted for the FISA bill he said he was against. He sounds just like your average politician to me. ....

[ChiefJoJo]

On their records, certainly McCain has an edge in experience (26 years will do that for you), but judgement trumps experience for me as Obama (1) opposed the war in Iraq when it was VERY unpopular to do so, and (2) made a smart pick for VP. Conversely, McCain voted wholeheartedly for the war, and in the most critical choice any Prez. candidate makes, he chose a totally unqualified person in Palin. I did not even mention that Obama's campaign & organizational performance has been consistently stellar, beating back the Clinton machine when she was supposedly inevitable, and has outflanked McCain as well. Then there's the issues: the economy (not McCain strong suit), progressive tax policy (helping the stagnant middle class), Afghanistan, climate change/energy (or drill baby drill?), immigration (where McCain flipped flopped), etc.

I will concede McCain was right on the surge, and he should get credit for that. I liked McCain a lot in 2000, but on the biggest decisions he has made in recent years, he has sold out the Maverick for the Bush position and adopted the kitchen sink Karl Rove GOP strategy, hoping for a win.

Obama: judgement + issues + hope + action = change.

[Lowerdeck]

Concerning voting for a third party candidate, it is certainly your choice and is something that I definitely respect. However, the way it shakes out practically with our dominant two-party system, a vote for a third party candidate is pretty much a vote for the person who's ahead.

[monsoon]

....

I will concede McCain was right on the surge, and he should get credit for that. ...

[krazeeboi]

Not really.

You can see a third party vote as a statement, being either for the candidate being better... or being sick of both parties and their shenanigans.

[M. Brown]

I will be voting for Obama on the 4th.

[krazeeboi]

^Were you previously undecided?

[M. Brown]

^Were you previously undecided?

[ChiefJoJo]

I will be voting for Obama on the 4th.

[suburban george3]

Why wait? Early voting is where it's at. The lines on election day could be VERY long. Go here to find out where you can vote early. The deadline here in NC is Saturday, so check ASAP.

[monsoon]

I will be voting for Obama on the 4th.