2008 U.S. Presidential Campaign Discussion Thread-Part 11

[anitram]

California GOP today filed a complaint against Obama and his campaign - talk about the worst timing ever.

Obama for America violated federal law by converting its campaign funds to Senator Obama's personal use. Senator Obama recently traveled to Hawaii to visit his sick grandmother...Therefore, the Obama Campaign violated the FEC's ban on "personal use" of campaign funds when it paid over $100,000 for the Campaign's charter to fly to Hawaii without obtaining reimbursement from Senator Obama.

I mean, honestly.

[Lila64]

[martha]

Desperate times call for desperate measures.

[anitram]

Originally Posted by martha

Desperate times call for desperate measures.

But what about family values??

[toscano]

New polls showing McCain slightly ahead in NC, FL, OH.

Too early to panic yet, but i won't believe it until it happens......

You know the Mormon and Catholic churches are spending way too much money on their bigot-fest when they're buying up so many ads on even THIS website......

[angelordevil]

Originally Posted by corianderstem

Oh, man. Please please please please please please please let this all end well.

And by 'well' I mean Obama wins by wide enough a margin that there isn't another 2000.

I'm feeling anxious.

That's my biggest fear--that we get a deja vu of 2000. The numbers are frightenly close in some of the key areas.

It's so sad that Obama's grandmother won't be able to watch it all unfold.

[joyfulgirl]

My stomach hurts.

[Irvine511]

Originally Posted by toscano

New polls showing McCain slightly ahead in NC, FL, OH.

Too early to panic yet, but i won't believe it until it happens......

You know the Mormon and Catholic churches are spending way too much money on their bigot-fest when they're buying up so many ads on even THIS website......

which polls?

[deep]

I don't believe this will happen.

Can Obama win popular vote but lose election?




WASHINGTON – It's a nightmare scenario for Democrats — their nominee Barack Obama winning the popular vote while Republican John McCain ekes out an Electoral College victory. Sure, McCain trails in every recent national poll. Sure, surveys show that Obama leads in the race to reach the requisite 270 electoral votes to win the presidency.

Sure, chances of Republicans retaining the White House are remote.

But some last-minute state polls show the GOP nominee closing the gap in key states — Republican turf of Virginia, Florida and Ohio among them, and Democratic-leaning Pennsylvania, too.

If the tightening polls are correct and undecided voters in those states break McCain's way — both big ifs — that could make for a repeat of the 2000 heartbreaker for Democrats that gave Republicans the White House.

In 2000, Democrat Al Gore narrowly won the popular vote by 537,179 votes. But George W. Bush won the state-by-state electoral balloting that determines the presidency, 271 to 266. The outcome wasn't clear until a 36-day recount awarded Florida, then worth 25 electoral votes, to Bush by just a 537-vote margin.

Before the 2000 election, political insiders had speculated just the opposite, that perhaps Bush would win the popular vote but lose the presidency to Gore.

One day before the 2008 election, Obama sat atop every national poll.

Enthusiastic by all measures, the Illinois senator's Democratic base was expected to run up the score in liberal bastions of party strongholds such as New York and California.

But the race appeared to be naturally tightening in top battlegrounds that each candidate likely will need to help them reach the magic number in the Electoral College, electoral-rich Florida, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Virginia among them.

To win, McCain must hold on to most states that went to Bush in 2004, or pick up one or more that went to Democrat John Kerry four years ago to make up for any losses. McCain's biggest target for a pickup is Pennsylvania, which offers 21 votes and where several public polls show Obama's lead shrinking from double digits to single digits.

McCain faces a steep hurdle. Obama leads or is tied in a dozen or so Bush-won states, and has the advantage in most Kerry-won states.

The Republican's campaign argues that as national surveys tighten, McCain's standing in key states also rises and that, combined with get-out-the-vote efforts, will lift McCain to victory in Bush states and, perhaps, others.

"What we're in for is a slam-bang finish. ... He's been counted out before and won these kinds of states, and we're in the process of winning them right now," Rick Davis, McCain's campaign manager, said Sunday.

Obama's team is awash in confidence.

"We think we have a decisive edge right now" in states Bush won four years ago, said David Plouffe, Obama's campaign manager.

There's still another possibility, perhaps more improbable than the first — that McCain wins the popular vote while Obama clinches the White House.

True, Democrats have been fired up all year.

But, why the f*ck do we even have the Electoral College????


It is the stupidest concept in any election process.

[yolland]

Rasmussen for NC and OH (really a tie in OH), haven't seen that FL result myself.

[anitram]

Originally Posted by deep

But, why the f*ck do we even have the Electoral College????


It is the stupidest concept in any election process.

I don't see how you'll get rid of it.

Maybe if someday you have a candidate who wins by 8-10 points and loses the electoral college, you will see an immense shift. But mathematically speaking, such an outcome is unlikely.

And you will always find 13 states who will never and I mean NEVER agree to an amendment in this regard.

[yolland]

anitram's right, I don't expect it in our lifetimes.

[toscano]

Originally Posted by Irvine511

which polls?

RealClearPolitics - Election 2008 - Latest Polls

[deep]

Originally Posted by yolland

anitram's right, I don't expect it in our lifetimes.

Originally Posted by anitram

I don't see how you'll get rid of it.

Maybe if someday you have a candidate who wins by 8-10 points and loses the electoral college, you will see an immense shift. But mathematically speaking, such an outcome is unlikely.

And you will always find 13 states who will never and I mean NEVER agree to an amendment in this regard.

forget those 13 states

we only need 11 or 12 States to drive a stake through the heart of the Electoral College



National Popular Vote -- Electoral college reform by direct election of the President

[skjuls]

I'm watching Obama's rally in Virginia!

Watch Live: Obama's Final Pre-Election Rally

[JOFO]

[sue4u2]

Originally Posted by JOFO

I love this.
Tried to make this my signature yesterday but discovered I'm not allowed to have a sig. Bummer.

*wonders if I will be allowed to read the latest Rolling Stone magazine in line in the morning. It has a picture of Obama on the front.*

[Pop Artist]

Man, the Republican PACs are really hammering with the attack ads tonight...

[anitram]

Dixville Notch the little town in NH that votes at midnight went Democratic for the first time in 40 years and only the 2nd time ever.

15-6 for Obama. (It went 19-7 for Bush in 2004 and 20-5 for Bush in 2000)

[coolian2]

Originally Posted by anitram

Dixville Notch the little town in NH that votes at midnight went Democratic for the first time in 40 years and only the 2nd time ever.

15-6 for Obama. (It went 19-7 for Bush in 2004 and 20-5 for Bush in 2000)

Presumably Fox News are predicting a landslide win to McCain on those figures.