[Verginius Rufus]

Obama still has two important things going for him--wholehearted support by the media, and the potential of manufacturing an "October surprise."

In 1980 Carter had less gung-ho support from the media--even though he is a Democrat, the media elite could never forgive him for being a Southern white male or for having sincere religious beliefs. John Anderson was there to siphon off liberal Democrats who were fed up with Carter.

Carter's rhetoric got pretty shrill just before the election. Of course, with Obama, the rhetoric has been shrill all the time.

[Vigilanteman]

John Anderson was there to siphon off liberal Democrats who were fed up with Carter.

Correct. And Reagan played that masterfully. Remember the first debate when Reagan and Anderson debated with an empty chair for Jimbo?

Then, having shown his gentlemanly sense of fair play by supporting Anderson's inclusion in the first debate, Reagan went on to clean Carter's clock in the next two.

Nevertheless, even if Jimbo had picked up every vote for John Anderson, it would not have even come close to changing the election results. At best, Jimbo would have picked up 2 or 3 more New England states.

[luvbach1]

Obama still has two important things going for him--wholehearted support by the media, and the potential of manufacturing an "October surprise."

He has one more: Race riots if he is dumped.