Newseek: Palin May Cost McCain a Win in Florida

Florida's Jewish voters are not happy with Sarah Palin, and many who thought they might vote for McCain have now decided otherwise.

As one Jewish voter, Jamie Erenreich, puts it:

She finds so much about Palin objectionable that she almost doesn't know where to begin. There's the abortion issue, for one. Palin "wouldn't want anyone to have an abortion even for rape or incest," says Jamie. "Who is she to judge by telling me how to live my life and overturning the things women have worked so hard for?"

Equally disconcerting is Palin's seeming shallowness on some of the most pressing matters facing the country. "She doesn't know what she is talking about and makes it up as she goes along," says Jamie. "The fact that she had to be coached for two weeks [to prepare for the vice presidential debate] tells me she doesn't know anything. She just talks in circles."

Political scientists and polling data explain. [More...]

Many Florida Jews who had previously been open to McCain appear to share the couple's aversion to Palin, according to political scientists, polling data and anecdotal reporting. "She stands for all the wrong things in the eyes of the Jewish community," says Kenneth Wald, a professor at the University of Florida.

Among the examples he cites: Palin seems to disdain intellectualism, she's a vociferous opponent of gun control and she attended a fundamentalist church that hosted Jews for Jesus, which seeks to convert Jews to Christianity.

As to how the Jewish vote could cost McCain the state:

Such rejection of Palin could prove decisive on November 4. The Sunshine State has emerged once again as a key battleground, and "in a close election, Florida Jews could tip the scales," says State Rep. Adam Hasner, co-chair of McCain's Jewish steering committee there. Though Jews account for only 5 percent of Florida voters, they turn out reliably on election day.

Palin's deficit was apparent before the Katie Couric interview:

An American Jewish Committee poll taken in the weeks after Palin was picked found that 54 percent of respondents disapproved of her selection, compared to 37 percent who approved. And that was before the onslaught of withering criticism of her interviews with CBS's Katie Couric.

...The AJC poll showed only 57 percent of Jews nationwide supporting Obama, with 30 percent backing McCain and 13 percent undecided. "There's no question that Obama came into this election with probably less going for him than most Democratic nominees," says Wald. But the Palin pick "probably blunted any gains the Republicans had made."

Obama has been working hard for the Jewish vote. He's been making gains -- but much more so since Palin was added to the ticket. Here's another voter, Hannah Handler Hostyk, who explains how Palin on the ticket has convinced her to vote Democratic -- for the first time:

....Palin was the deciding factor. "I was shocked," she says. "I watched some of the speeches at the [Republican] convention and some of the debates. Each time, I was more and more appalled." Hostyk finds a number of Palin's traits disturbing: her hard-line position on abortion, her extreme religiosity and her apparent ignorance on economic and foreign-policy matters.

"Basically, on every issue, Sarah Palin is not coming from where I'm coming from," says Hostyk. In the aftermath of the Palin pick, "Obama and Biden became the perfect ticket." If enough Florida Jews share such sentiments, they may help propel that ticket all the way to the White House.

Other things helping Obama with the Jewish vote in Florida: His choice of Biden for VP, his use of surrogates like Reps. Robert Wexler and Debbie Wasserman Schultz who say Obama shares their values, and even The Great Schlep campaign.

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Todd Palin, First Gentleman

Here's a funny note on the airs that the Palin administration appears to have put on after coming into office.

Monegan's secretary told Branchflower that she received a call in December 2006 from a Palin aide, asking to set up a meeting between Monegan and "the First Gentleman."

"At that time." said the secretary, "I was not familar with the term 'First Gentleman'...so I kept asking her 'who?', and eventually she said, 'Todd Palin,' and I said, 'oh okay.'"

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Palin GUILTY of Abuse of Power, Says Alaska Panel

 You reap what you sow.Does America really want a vice president that is liable for abuse of power? According to MSNBC, “A legislative committee investigating Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin has found she unlawfully abused her authority in firing the state’s public safety commissioner.”You read that right.  Republican vice presidential nominee Gov. Sarah Palin has been found guilty of abusing [...]

Read The Full Article:
http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/GarlingGauge/~3/418060718/

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MCCAIN VERSUS HIS BASE.

McCain deserves real credit for staging a public intervention against the partisanship of his own base. But it's not an easy position he's in. If his vice president is going to continue telling audiences that Obama sees "America as imperfect enough to[...]

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http://www.prospect.org/csnc/blogs/ezraklein_archive?month=10&year=2008&base_name
=mccain_versus_his_base

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McCain Defends Obama At Campaign Event

As Josh wrote yesterday, the crowds at McCain/Palin rallies have been getting more and more virulent in their reactions to Barack Obama, a sentiment that has been, to say the least, encouraged by the irresponsible rhetoric of McCain and Palin themselves.[...]

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http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/mydd/~3/vRxuqSJYaIw/598

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New and Improved() Tracking Poll Average:
McCain's Slow Fade

The Reuters/C-Span/Zogby tracking poll debuted a few days ago and I've decided to add it to my[...]

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http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/OpenLeft-FrontPage/~3/417348309/showDiary.do

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Todd Palin Pressured Wasilla Police Chief Not To
Hire Wooten

The report reveals that four days after Sarah Palin was elected governor in November 2006, Todd Palin called John Glass, who was then the chief of the Wasilla Police Department and shortly afterwards became a deputy public safety commissioner for the state, working under Walt Monegan.

There were two vacant spots on the Wasilla PD at the time. Todd Palin told Glass that he did not want Wooten hired as a Wasilla officer, and that he should be fired as a state trooper.

Wooten was not hired by Glass.

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She Blew the Whistle on Bush and Blair, Now
Former Spy Katherine Gun Assesses Obama and McCain

Crossposted under my real name at Huffington Post's Off the Bus.  It's likely that most Americans have never heard of Katherine Gun. She is the former British secret service officer who leaked an email describing a plot orchestrated by the Bush and[...]

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http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Docudharma/~3/417311708/showDiary.do

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Newsweek Poll: Obama Has Double-Digit Lead

Newsweek released a new poll today. Sen. Barack Obama leads John McCain by 11 points, 52% to 41%.

The chief reason: the economy. Another: voter disapproval of Sarah Palin.

While 60 percent of voters think Palin would fit in well with their local community, only 39 percent of those surveyed say they believe McCain's running mate is qualified to serve as president, while 55 believe she is not.

Obama leads with almost every group of voters.

He now leads McCain among both men (54 percent to 40 percent) and women (50 percent to 41 percent). He now wins every age group of voters—including those over 65 years of age, who back him over McCain 49 to 43 percent.

88% of former Hillary supporters are now on board with Obama: [More...]

Supporters of Hillary Clinton, as many as a fifth of whom had at one point told pollsters they'd support McCain over Obama, now back the Democratic nominee 88 percent to 7 percent.

The only areas McCain continues to lead is national security and terrorism.

Update: Obama also leads McCain in a Fox News poll released today: 46% to 39%. The reason: the economy:

By 50 percent to 35 percent, Obama tops McCain as the candidate voters trust to handle the economy. Obama has the edge on all other issues tested save two — on handling the war on terrorism McCain is preferred by 14 points and on Iraq by 5 points.

45 percent of McCain supporters say race will be a factor in their vote.

The only reference to Palin is this: 40% say McCain's pick of Palin makes them less likely to vote for McCain, up from 31% in September.

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Alaskan Panel finds Sarah Palin abused her power
as governer

A legislative committee investigating Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin has found she unlawfully abused her authority in firing the state’s public safety commissioner.Read more here: http://www.letstalkhonestly.com/blacknewsblackviews.htmlPosted in 2008 election, african american, Alaska, Barack Obama, GOP, John McCain, politics, Republicans, Sarah Palin   Tagged: Alaska, Barack Obama, election 2008, John McCain, political scandal, Republicans, Sarah Palin, Sarah Palin abused [...]

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http://glciii.wordpress.com/2008/10/11/alaskan-panel-finds-sarah-palin-abused-her
-power-as-governer/

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