Posted on 11/07/2008 6:28:12 PM PST by rabscuttle385
Republicans are consoling themselves by telling anyone who will listen that we still live in a "center-right country." They're right. That's the good news. The bad news is that they've lost the center.
According to exit polls, Barack Obama won moderates by a whopping 21 points on Tuesday, 60-39 percent. That more than doubled John Kerry's nine-point margin over George W. Bush among moderates in 2004.
The ideological composition of the electorate was remarkably unchanged from 2004. The percentage of self-identified conservatives and moderates -- the center-right -- held steady. Conservatives were 34 percent of voters and moderates 44 percent, with liberals the smallest slice of the electorate at 22 percent. John McCain underperformed Bush by six points among conservatives, but getting trounced in the country's great middle doomed him.
(Excerpt) Read more at sltrib.com ...
This year's race involved two morons who had no chance in hell of winning a presidential election -- except they were running against each other.
"It's the economy stupid"
Not that shit again.
bttt
In many places, McCain underperformed down-ticket Republicans. The number of votes McCain lost from the base exceeded anything the PUMAs were expected to do; I don't know how you could tell whether the PUMAs showed up or not.
If he were running to the right he would have thrown red meat about the following:
1) Franklin Raines, Jamie Gorelick, Barney Frank, Rohm Emmanuel and their ties to Fannie and Freddie;
2) Tying Obama to Pelosi/Reid;
3) "No child left Alive" in Illinois;
4) Obama's plans to cut the military and start a civilian force as well funded as the military:
5) William Ayers;
6) Obama's missing years at Columbia;
7) Reverend "God D#mn America" Wright;
8) Obama's VAST inexperience to lead the ticket OR the country;
9) Obama's ties to Rezko;
10) Obama's attendance at Muslim schools in his youth and his quote about the beauty of the Muslim declaration of faith;
11) his gaffe to Stephanopouos about "my Muslim faith");
12) The unspeakable trashing of Sarah Palin and her family;
13) Obama's plans for drastic cuts in nuclear weapons;
14) His overt socialism;
15) Tying Obama to the subprime mess and bailout (3rd most $$ from lobbyists)
16) The Thug tactics used during the Dem caucuses.
17) The Birth Certificate
...none of which featured prominently from McCain at all.
Nice try, though.
"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." - Manuel II Palelologus
That's ok, Obama's ability to run an administration will be even worse THAN Jimmy Carter.
I pray the country survives.
His absence.
That's who he is.
That's why he lost.
According to exit polls, Barack Obama won moderates by a whopping 21 points on Tuesday, 60-39 percent. That more than doubled John Kerry's nine-point margin over George W. Bush among moderates in 2004.
And yet Bush was widely recognized, even reviled, as "too conservative". More conservative than McCain, for the most part, esp. on social issues.
So what's up with McCain underperforming a more conservative campaign with the centrist voters?
Sounds to me like the writer doesn't understand the question.
Bull. More conservative campaigns got their votes.
Try another idea.
I disagree with Obama's being a "moron". I think he's scary-smart, well-trained (by Communists), very rational, very detached, and therefore extremely dangerous.
His personality reminds me a little of what I've read about Lincoln, who was very patient and rational and always played extremely close to the vest, as Obama is doing. Lincoln was very unrevealing of his intentions at every critical juncture, whether it was commencement of the war or promulgation of the Emancipation Proclamation or the complete abolition of slavery (he ran on a plank that said the Republicans would not interfere with slavery where it existed -- funny thing happened along the way to Gettysburg, though).
Obama has yet to articulate an agenda, and I don't think we will ever see one clearly propounded. He will pursue it behind cloaks and veils.
And in case you don't think Lincoln was dangerous to his adversaries, count the Civil War dead -- 620,000 on the battlefield, nearly a million overall. Then ask yourself, would Obama scruple at such a holocaustic piling-up of dead, in pursuing his policy objectives? Which man do you think more innately scrupulous -- Lincoln or Obama?
He lost because moderates were afraid of Governor Palin.
He lost because of the financial meltdown.
He lost because of his coziness to SoCons. While the gay initiatives passed, the life initiatives didn't.
He lost the young vote to the democratic version (for now) of Reagan. A man who could communicate to the masses.
The people who didn’t vote for McCain/Palin weren’t interested in red meat. They did throw some around with Palin doing the most of it. It didn’t work.
Always said you need the moderates to win. McCain tried to run to the right and cozy up to the people he has always been least comfortable with. SoCons.
Turned the middle off big time.
I refuted this, in post 67, by showing all the red meat to the right NOT persued by McCain.
You replied:
The people who didn’t vote for McCain/Palin weren’t interested in red meat. They did throw some around with Palin doing the most of it. It didn’t work.
So first you say he ran to the right. I show all the ways he DIDN'T. Your response is to change the subject and repeat your erroneous claim.
So -- I checked your posting history -- and to judge from the following
here,
here,
here,
here,
and here, to name just a few, you appear to be a troll.
Look, I supported McCain. But I didn't support his move to the right. It looked cheap. I didn't support his Palin pick because she was weak. She may be an effective governor, but she wasn't ready for the task that she accepted.
I didn't support her use of red meat issues when other issues were more pressing. Beside red meat issues are like peeing in your pants. You feel all warm and smug for about two second and then your left wet and soggy and miserable. But some conservatives like a dirty diaper.
I do believe that she saw this as an opportunity to tune up her chances for something later at the expense of McCain.
I do have the ability to discern. McCain was the better of the two candidates. Frankly, McCain was much better in 2000. But he was running with an anchor of his own party from that campaign around his neck. His own party has been conditioned the past 8+ years to hate him from friendly fire from his own people. He's lucky he did as well as he did.
I can differentiate the things I was unhappy about with this campaign and still have supported the ticket.
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