Obama/Biden vs. McCain/Palin

[Fat Strat]

Strat, correct me if I'm wrong, but weren't the Democratic attacks on McCain regarding his general aloofness on things like the economy, his houses, his sameness with George W. Bush? I don't remember Joe Biden putting Cindy McCain down. I don't recall Hillary Clinton basically making a mockery and laughing hysterically at a certain aspect of McCain's life that helped make him who he is like they did to Barack Obama's community organizing.

And McCain has not distanced himself, unless I missed a press release where he denounced all the really [expletive] and uncalled for things said by Romney and Palin.

But, again, what are the democrats going to say? Can they really attack McCain because Guiliani thinks that Obama's inexperienced? Romney lied about such and such? Neither of those guys are running for office so it doesn't make their comments any different than any comments that any democrat has made against McCain at any point in recent history.

And just because Clinton didn't make a mockery of McCain's life doesn't mean that the republicans would have been able to turn that around against Obama either.

Frankly, and imo, that's what made this a sound strategy for a convention. It riles up the base and it allows other people to do the dirty work while McCain comes out pretty much clean.

[UK]

This is all coming down to the political map. To me, there are 4 states that are battling it out as far key voting states (NV, MT, VA and OH), the rest have likely been decided and others are locks at this stage.

http://www.electoral-vote.com/

You could add Colorado, NC, and maybe Florida.

Indiana is hugely conservative, but they also have a lot of industries tied to the auto industry. If Obama can play that angle up, there's a small chance he could pull a coup there.

Colorado will likely to go Obama and NC to McCain, I suspect Florida will end up with McCain as well. This election is coming down to MI and PA.

[planet planet]

This is all coming down to the political map. To me, there are 4 states that are battling it out as far key voting states (NV, MT, VA and OH), the rest have likely been decided and others are locks at this stage.

http://www.electoral-vote.com/

You could add Colorado, NC, and maybe Florida.

Indiana is hugely conservative, but they also have a lot of industries tied to the auto industry. If Obama can play that angle up, there's a small chance he could pull a coup there.

Thanks for the link, Popeye. I thought in past elections, MO was more of a swing state than showed there? That's disappointing.

[Popeye_Card]

And to be fair, some in the press and some Democrats were basically saying Palin's mayor/city council gig amounted to nothing, and she was getting hammered all week. I don't think it's a big qualification, but if Obama's going to put community organizer on his resume, then her early work ought to count for something. So I think they were trying to retaliate a little and show her being able to dish it out as well as take it.

But they weren't really comparing apples to apples. Obama was a "community organizer" out of undergrad, when he was 22 years old. What was Palin doing then? Then he went to law school (where he had very fine credentials, at possibly the most respected school in the nation), then he practiced law, and taught.

Then we get to a point where we can start comparing. Obama's state senate stint (where he probably had "actual responsibilities"), and Palin's mayoral stint. Obama's US senate tenure to Palin's governorship. But then again, we're comparing a presidential candidate to a VP candidate (though the VP could become president at any time, so that should be kept in mind when selecting one--we don't get to vote again on it).

I thought the "present" votes thing was silly too. Legislators do that all the time. If you look at both McCain's and Obama's senate voting since campaigning started, you see a ton of "no votes" for both of them. During the time our country's economy has gone off the cliff and into the toilet, both of these guys have been busy campaigning instead.

[Socnorb11]

I've got no problem if you want to vote for McCain.

My question was about what you heard Wednesday night that made you want to vote for McCain. In my view, we didn't hear anything new about McCain on Wednesday night. I think everyone agrees that it was almost entirely a mud-slinging festival by Guiliani and Palin, and not much else. That's why I'm wondering what you saw that I didn't.

I guess i kind of liked how the mud was slung. It wasnt the typical way, it was more of a smart ass going after obama then a doom and gloom. If you vote for mccain,obama well all die tone i seem to get from most mud slinging.

Im sure i also got cought up in how the palin speech was delivered cause i think that she did and excelent job of giving her speech, this is also how i think obama gets many of his supporters because he is a good speeker.

I get all of that. But to me, those are more votes "against Obama" rather than "for McCain". What I'm hearing is that you like that McCain's people don't mind being inflammatory, derogatory, etc. And it's certainly your right to admire that. It's just a different stance than what I'm used to hearing.

[UK]

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26558445

More focus will (hopefully) be on the economy over the next few weeks.

[sighyoung]

This is all coming down to the political map. To me, there are 4 states that are battling it out as far key voting states (NV, MT, VA and OH), the rest have likely been decided and others are locks at this stage.

http://www.electoral-vote.com/

You could add Colorado, NC, and maybe Florida.

Indiana is hugely conservative, but they also have a lot of industries tied to the auto industry. If Obama can play that angle up, there's a small chance he could pull a coup there.

Colorado will likely to go Obama and NC to McCain, I suspect Florida will end up with McCain as well. This election is coming down to MI and PA.

I think MI and PA will likely go for Obama. OH is a toss-up, although I would imagine VA would go for McCain.

I'll be shocked if either MT or IN go for Obama. Drop-dead shocked if Indiana does.

[Popeye_Card]

This is all coming down to the political map. To me, there are 4 states that are battling it out as far key voting states (NV, MT, VA and OH), the rest have likely been decided and others are locks at this stage.

http://www.electoral-vote.com/

You could add Colorado, NC, and maybe Florida.

Indiana is hugely conservative, but they also have a lot of industries tied to the auto industry. If Obama can play that angle up, there's a small chance he could pull a coup there.

Thanks for the link, Popeye. I thought in past elections, MO was more of a swing state than showed there? That's disappointing.

They've voted for the winner in all but like 2 elections since 1900. That's probably what you're thinking of.

Anyway, according to their polling, if you just count up the strong and weak Obama states, he's up to 260. It takes 270. Right now, Ohio is the biggest prize that Obama needs to secure, just like it was for Kerry. Kerry couldn't do it. I think Obama has a better shot.

[UK]

This is all coming down to the political map. To me, there are 4 states that are battling it out as far key voting states (NV, MT, VA and OH), the rest have likely been decided and others are locks at this stage.

http://www.electoral-vote.com/

You could add Colorado, NC, and maybe Florida.

Indiana is hugely conservative, but they also have a lot of industries tied to the auto industry. If Obama can play that angle up, there's a small chance he could pull a coup there.

Colorado will likely to go Obama and NC to McCain, I suspect Florida will end up with McCain as well. This election is coming down to MI and PA.

I think MI and PA will likely go for Obama. OH is a toss-up, although I would imagine VA would go for McCain.

I'll be shocked if either MT or IN go for Obama. Drop-dead shocked if Indiana does.

Agreed 100%. If MI or PA go to McCain, Ohio will have already been there. McCain will win if he gets either PA or MI given how those two states are leaning towards Obama equating to other swing states shifting towards McCain. Obama can win w/out Ohio, VA, and FL but can't without PA and MI.

[ghostrunner]

Indiana is hugely conservative, but they also have a lot of industries tied to the auto industry. If Obama can play that angle up, there's a small chance he could pull a coup there.

We're considered "in play" by Obama's people. Particularly if Obama maintains a lead or it's a tie in the national polls.

The national polls are getting a lot of talk, but has anyone broken down the state by state polls, and then added up the delegates? Obama's people have mentioned it, but they don't really have to lead the national polls. They need to lead the big delegate states, where I imagine they're doing fairly well.