Posted on 08/10/2008 9:33:52 AM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet
Why is it so close? That’s been the chatter after these past two weeks in the three-month run of the Obama-McCain smackdown. The Obamaphiles are nervous that their man has stalled in the polls after what, objectively, was a successful trip overseas. The McCainites, terrified of a Democratic wave, are taking solace in the failure of Barack Obama to break away. The straggling Clintonites are busy preparing their told-you-sos.
There are any number of theories offered for the tightness. One is that Obama is too temperamentally aloof for most Americans. According to the columnist Maureen Dowd, he is the Mr Darcy of American politics, too proud, while Americans are still a little too prejudiced. Or maybe Obama is too popular with Germans for his own domestic good (he’s lucky he didn’t hold a rally on the Champs Elysées). Or is his orthodox liberalism in many areas seeping through, while America remains a centre-right country? Others posit that the only halfway normal Americans who focus on the campaign in early August are the elderly, and they are demographically more in tune with John McCain.
Who knows for sure? My view is that McCain was always the most appealing Republican in the current atmosphere and Obama is, for many people, a less well-known and riskier bet. But two factors are undervalued. The first is Iraq. It’s easily forgotten but Obama’s candidacy would never have gained the slightest traction were it not for his opposition to the war from the start. It’s what distinguished him from Hillary Clinton and, in the midst of apparent chaos and drift in Mesopotamia, his campaign gave voice to those who simply wanted to cut American losses and move on.
However, there’s a difference between Iraq in mid2006 and Iraq in mid2008.
(Excerpt) Read more at timesonline.co.uk ...
Sullivan can’t imagine why a crack-smoking homosexual like Obama wouldn’t be cruising to a landslide victory.
But but but...
he’s clean and articulate!
Sorry, but the elderly that I know are all in the Obama camp. They love him because they think he's going to give them freebies. This was, after all, the generation that raised the boomers and grew up under Roosevelt, and to them, there's nothing better than government intervention.
ROTFLMAO!!
Not really. Darcy was too reticent to mention his good deeds.
Obama pretends to have accomplished more than he really has.
Yeah, McCain should be way out in front.
I could not get all the way through this article
If Sullivan wrote a puff piece on egobama, I’d suggest the two should star in a movie called barackback mountain.
You obviously don’t know many of us. Despite what you children thing, we ARE NOT an entire generation of deadbeats.
Maureen Dowd and I cannot even agree on Mr Darcy’s attributes!
The first black candidate ever to be that way, according to Joe Biden.
Black? Wha...? Oh, I didnt’ notice.
By the way, did you know John Kerry was in VietNam?
I think most of those elderly are finally dying off. The current generation of “elderly” is probably more likely from the Eisenhower/Kennedy/Johnson years.
Sorry, but the elderly that I know are all in the Obama camp. They love him because they think he's going to give them freebies. This was, after all, the generation that raised the boomers and grew up under Roosevelt, and to them, there's nothing better than government intervention.
Well, I live in Central Florida, often called God's Waiting Room, and I'm a senior, and most of my friends and neighbors are for McCain. That's because most of us crafted a retirement lifestyle not based upon Roosevelt, but rather on conservative principles, since the government has never given us much, but rather has taken a lot.
The liberal leanings of Clinton and Obama are a put off to a generation that has worked hard all their lives and now want to live their lives out in contentment.
I’m 69 - - you don’t know what you’re talking about - - haven’t got a clue.
Well, my very first vote was for Eisenhower - my last one for our POTUS...
that said, I don't know's I care for your "those elderly are FINALLY dying off."
Sounds like some kind of delayed duty...
And my turn must be coming up?
Remember, barring unforeseen circumstances, you too will, one day be lucky to be, 'elderly'
Hello, Maureeen!!
How about this: he is TOO DAMN LIBERAL.
LOL, sorry to be unclear. My post definitely didn’t come out right. I was referring to the FDR welfare crowd. My first vote was for Nixon, so I’m no spring chicken, believe me.
I hope you live to be a hundred.
FRegards,
LH
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