Obama up 8 in NBC/WSJ poll conducted Saturday and
Sunday

post from AMERICAblog News| A great nation deserves the truth on 03 November 2008 03:16:00 AM. © AMERICAblog News| A great nation deserves the truth

Chuck Todd told me about the new NBC/Wall Street Journal poll during the first half hour of the TODAY Show this morning. It's the kind of news we want to hear the morning before election day. The key thing about this one is that it was "conducted Saturday and Sunday" so it should have caught any late movement:

Sen. Obama's lead, reflected in other national and battleground state polls as well, has been in place since September, when the financial crisis reset the presidential contest. Sen. McCain's advisers were gunning for a come-from-behind victory, noting that he did it before to capture the Republican nomination.

The new Wall Street Journal poll, conducted Saturday and Sunday, found 51% of likely voters favored Sen. Obama, versus 43% who favored Sen. McCain. Six percent remained undecided, with a third of those saying they were leaning toward a third-party candidate. The poll's margin of error was plus or minus 3.1 percentage points.

"The poll shows some slight movement for McCain. But with just 48 hours left, it's going to be a challenge to make up the rest of the difference," said Neil Newhouse, a Republican pollster who conducts the survey with Democrat Peter D. Hart.

McCain can't make up the difference if Obama gets out his vote. That's the whole focus now: Get Out The Vote.

And, check out this finding from the poll:

Fully 58% of those polled said they would be optimistic and confident or at least satisfied and hopeful if Sen. Obama were to be elected, compared to 46% who said that about a McCain victory. The Obama figure exceeds President Bush's on the eve of his twin victories and Bill Clinton's level just before he was re-elected.

Americans are ready for Obama to be our president.

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-conducted.html

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John McCain:Leader - A Case Study

post from Librocrats - Designed Intelligent on 03 November 2008 03:10:00 AM. © Librocrats - Designed Intelligent

1) Palin Goes Rogue, McCain can't stop her.2) McCain Says "No Reverend Wright." 2 Republican groups spend over 3 million of Rev Wright ads.3) McCain wants clean campaign. Supporters discuss murdering Obama at his rallies. McCain doesn't stop them.4)[...]

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How Keep Your Own Score on Election Eve

post from The Strange Death of Liberal America on 03 November 2008 03:06:01 AM. © The Strange Death of Liberal America

During the primary season one of the major attractions of this site were the “Make Your Own Predictions” score sheets developed to help you analyze various races.If you have ever sat in on a campaign headquarters on election night, this is exactly what they do. Most candidates know if they have won or lost before [...]

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eep-your-own-score-on-election-eve.html

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Presidential Forecast, 11/3: 44 Hours Left

post from Open Left - Front Page on 03 November 2008 03:00:00 AM. © Open Left - Front Page

Electoral College: Obama 291, McCain 160 Toss-up 87 (270 to win, 269 to tie)National popular vote:[...]

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Sunday Night Trackers Continue To Show Obama
Gaining

post from MyDD on 03 November 2008 02:56:45 AM. © MyDD

Both Gallup and Zogby released their latest tracking poll results including interviews conducted Sunday. Notice a trend? Gallup -- RVs Obama 53 (52, 52, 52, 50, 51, 50...) McCain 40 (41, 41, 41, 42, 42, 43...) Gallup -- LVs (Traditional) Obama 53 (51,[...]

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Question of the Day: The First Black President in
U.S. History

post from My Left Wing - Front Page on 03 November 2008 02:47:43 AM. © My Left Wing - Front Page

Although I have been admonishing people not to count (or fuck) their chickens, it looks quite possible that the next President of the United States will be Barack Obama. The polls have him in good shape and many people, including Maryscott, seem to think this is a done deal. It may very well be.

There are many, many people throughout the left political blogs, however, who are highly dissatisfied with Obama. As everyone here knows, Barack ran his primary campaign in a more lefty-like direction and then tacked toward the right during, if not before, the general election campaign. This is to be expected, but one example that bothered me considerably was Barack's support for the FISA legislation that granted immunity to telecommunication companies that, apparently, violated 4th amendment guarantees of freedom from "unreasonable searches and seizures." But this was just one bit of legislation wherein Barack disappointed many of us. There were others and, collectively, they represent why so many people on the left are either cool to this candidate or reject him outright. Certainly on these pages, and throughout left blogostan, there have been any number of people who flatly reject Barack Obama.
I am not one of them. I am looking forward to voting for Barack tomorrow and I will be deeply disappointed if he does not win.

What resides at the core of many of these criticisms, however, is the idea that the system is rigged. Barack cannot bring about real change, not structural change, because if he was the type of person who might be so inclined then he could not be the type of person who could rise in the system. The idea, of course, is that anyone who does rise to national prominence in our political system must already be compromised and, thus, unwilling to foster a true progressive agenda. Otherwise they would never have gotten on the ballot to begin with.

In the minds of such leftists and liberals Barak is just another pol. He supports the Bush trademarked "War on Terrorism," supports continued U.S. aggression in the Middle East, supports the 700 billion dollar Bush bailout of filthy rich people, and should, for those reasons among others, not be considered a change-agent. I'm afraid that the people who make such arguments have a point. Barak Obama is an establishment candidate. Barack Obama will lead no charge to usher in socialism of any sort. And it is questionable the degree to which he will undermine an international economic system... neo-liberal globalization... that sucks jobs from the United States to poverty-stricken countries in Asia and Central and South America.

Ultimately, of course, we do not know what he will do as President, if elected. He will be a better president than John McCain because he will be less likely to pursue military options throughout the world and will be more likely to usher through domestic economic policies that favor the poor and middle-class.

This is why he has my vote, in any case.

Barack, tho, could prove to be a great president. He might put forth bold initiatives on energy independence or universal health care or global warming or foreign policy, including I/P; but he also may turn out to be a mediocre president, perhaps even a poor president. Anything is possible,

But, ya know what? I don't care. Obviously, I would like for Barack to be a great president who does great things for the United States and for the world. But... and here, at long last, is my point... even if the Obama Administration turns out terribly, I will still be very pleased with one thing:

The people of the United States elected a black man to be President of the United States.

The importance of this cannot be underestimated. There has actually been relatively little discussion, either in the MSM or in the whitey-sphere blogs, of the significance of Americans electing a black person to the presidency. But this is what we are on the verge of doing.

After centuries of slavery, decades of Jim Crow, and short, hot outbreaks of Civil Rights and Black Nationalism, here we are in 2008 on the verge of electing a black man to the highest office.

If Barack wins, I think the American people have every right to be proud of themselves, no matter what happens.

A toast!

To an Obama presidency and to the American people who make it happen.

So, here are my questions:

What might an Obama presidency mean for race-relations in the U.S.?
How might the fact of a non-white U.S. president influence world opinion on the U.S.?
And what snacks do you intend to consume as you watch MSNBC on Tues night!
Or, really, anything else you might want to say.

Cheers! (Glug. Glug.)

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Obama upbeat as campaign enters final hours.

post from The Osterley Times on 03 November 2008 02:40:00 AM. © The Osterley Times

As we enter the final hours a buoyant Obama camp are predicting that they will break the traditional pattern of US politics to take long-established Republican states.

The McCain camp are making claims that this is way too close to call and that, according to Rick Davis, "What we are in for is a slam bang finish."

I don't believe that for a second and I don't believe Rick Davis believes that either.

Every person who has traditionally supported the Democrats knows only too well how it feels to have one's hopes cruelly dashed. We remember well the debacle of 2000 and the heartbreaking feeling in 2004 when, against all the odds, Bush retained the White House. But, on both of those occasions, the polls had warned that the result would go to the wire.

That is not the case this time. And some Democrats are being brave enough to voice it.

The Democratic senator Chuck Schumer told CBS television: "Wednesday morning Dems are going to be very happy."

David Axelrod, Obama's chief strategist, was also optimistic, telling CBS he was cheered by the surge in early voting which favoured Democrats. "The edge is pretty substantial in our favour," Axelrod said.

In Colorado, a once-Republican state where Obama now leads, some 46% of the electorate have turned out for early voting. North Carolina, an even more strongly Republican state, is also showing heavy early voting in favour of the Democrat.

"We feel good," Axelrod said. "It is not just the polls. It is the early voting ... These figures are are coming in strong for us, reversing the traditional patterns."

The Obama campaign manager, David Plouffe, said it had deployed a record number of volunteers over the weekend to knock on doors trying to get supporters to the polls on Tuesday.

Fred Thompson has been trying to rally the Republican base by saying, "John's a closer. He always has been." But I'm not sure even he really believes this. The polls are simply too strongly in favour of Obama for anyone to think that he is not going to take this thing decisively.

However, last minute polls provided little evidence to support Davis's claim that the race was tightening. McCain has been behind Obama in all of the more than 250 polls conducted since late September.

Karl Rove, who masterminded Bush's campaign in 2000 and 2004, was less optimistic than the McCain team's public pronouncements. McCain has "a very steep hill to climb", Rove told Fox.

The most recent poll, conducted yesterday by NBC/WSJ gives Obama a 51-43 lead over McCain:

Of all the polls out late tonight -- and I do hope to have some sort of midnight update to the polling thread -- the one that ought to give Democrats the most reassurance is the new poll out from NBC and the Wall Street Journal, which gives Barack Obama a 51-43 lead.

What's to like about this particular survey? Firstly, all of the interviewing was conducted today (Sunday) and yesterday, so it's about the freshest set of data that we have. Secondly -- and this is an underrated factor -- the NBC/WSJ poll always behaves intuitively. It goes up when the other polls go up, and goes down when the other polls go down.

McCain will finish the campaign defending states which have traditionally voted Republican, which tells me that he's worried he might lose on his own turf.

Obama, meanwhile, held a rally on Saturday in Springfield, Missouri, one of the mostly staunchly conservative corners of a state won comfortably by George Bush in 2004.

He was campaigning in Ohio today, with appearances in Cincinnati, Cleveland and Columbus. After stops tomorrow in Florida and North Carolina, he plans to end his campaign with a huge rally in northern Virginia, a traditionally Republican state that is one of his top targets on Tuesday.

We can't afford to take anything for granted, but all the signs are that change is coming to the US.

Click title for full article.

Tags: Obama, McCain, US election 2008

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http://the-osterley-times.blogspot.com/2008/11/obama-upbeat-as-campaign-enters-fi
nal.html

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Election Protection

In Wisconsin this means our attorney general and the Republicans.

But protecting voters from corrupt officials like Van Hollen is a nationwide effort.
---
We all know how crucial these final two days are.

Voters must know where to turn to if their right to vote is being hampered or outright denied on Tuesday or if they need any assistance whatsoever:
? For immediate assistance, call the nonpartisan 866-OUR-VOTE hotline
? To report problems to Election Protection?s state teams through Twitter, use these guidelines: http://www.866ourvote.org/page?id=0057.

Also, these resources will allow you and your readers to track our breaking news as it happens on Election Day:
? OurVoteLive.org (http://OurVoteLive.org) ? A live map and full database of all the reports received through the hotline
? OurVoteLive Blog (http://blog.ourvotelive.org) ? Breaking news and analysis on the state of the vote
? 866OurVote Twitter account (http://twitter.com/866ourvote) ? Breaking news and reports as they happen

Read The Full Article:
http://malcontends.blogspot.com/2008/11/election-protection.html

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Our hearts and minds

They say one?s family shapes one?s views. They say. I disagree. Could it possibly be that[...]

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http://www.everydaycitizen.com/2008/11/our_hearts_and_minds.html

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Our Hearts and Minds

They say one?s family shapes one?s views. They say. I disagree. Could it possibly be that[...]

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http://www.everydaycitizen.com/2008/11/our_hearts_and_minds.html

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