Comments on: Yes, but can Obama beat McCain?

By: tk

tk — Sat, 07 Jun 2008 22:13:18 +0000

Aaron Heath wrote:
I read an America blog today where a commenter used the term Oreobama, and a little part of me died inside.

Are you really that big of a pansy Aaron? Geez!!!!!!!!!!!!
people like you make me want to vomit. politically correct pansies!!!!!!!!

By: BenSix

BenSix — Thu, 29 May 2008 22:10:21 +0000

You really don’t.

Still, they’re far more astute and insightful than anything that gets onto Fox.

By: Aaron Heath

Aaron Heath — Thu, 29 May 2008 22:04:17 +0000

Have you seen the ‘Obama the Messiah’ and ‘Obama the Antichrist’ blogs yet? ` BenSix

I doubt I want to.

By: BenSix

BenSix — Thu, 29 May 2008 21:27:21 +0000

“I think we need to introduce our friend across the Atlantic to the common vernacular meaning of the word ‘plank’.”

And then suggest that he walks it.

“I read an America blog today where a commenter used the term Oreobama, and a little part of me died inside.”

Have you seen the ‘Obama the Messiah’ and ‘Obama the Antichrist’ blogs yet?

By: Aaron Heath

Aaron Heath — Thu, 29 May 2008 20:57:51 +0000

I read an America blog today where a commenter used the term Oreobama, and a little part of me died inside.

By: Lee Griffin

Lee Griffin — Thu, 29 May 2008 20:28:45 +0000

“We all know that the exit polls don`t mean crap”

That’s why we aren’t using exit poll data to supply our arguments. Cheers for playing though.

By: Tom

Tom — Thu, 29 May 2008 20:06:35 +0000

I think we need to introduce our friend across the Atlantic to the common vernacular meaning of the word ‘plank’.

By: BenSix

BenSix — Thu, 29 May 2008 19:28:40 +0000

Mr. Plank, I’d like to start by addressing your argument….

As soon as you give one, that is.

By: Mr. Plank

Mr. Plank — Thu, 29 May 2008 19:21:44 +0000

Come on liberals, lets get real. We all know that the exit polls don`t mean crap. And the liberal media will keep showing these polls that show Obama leading McCain, but when it comes down to it he will lose. The driveby media did the same thing with Kerry and of course he lost.

Hillary is by far the best candidate for you Dems. but, you guys gotta keep going for the most liberal person you can.

I can`t wait to see this election, you guys are blowin` it!!
Thank you Democrats,
Mr Plank

By: Simon Barrow

Simon Barrow — Thu, 08 May 2008 21:53:00 +0000

I fear that Falco is right. We’ll see. Easy to beat McCain? A more realistic analysis is: http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/simon_tisdall/2008/05/puppet_show_politics.html

By: Falco

Falco — Thu, 08 May 2008 16:26:42 +0000

I think you are a bit optomistic about either of them beating McCain. The infighting eithin the Democrats over this long campaign has given him the perfect stick with which to beat them as well as the info the mutual muckraking has dredged up itself.

I’d bet on a narrow McCain victory over Obama as the most likely outcome.

By: Sunny Hundal

Sunny Hundal — Thu, 08 May 2008 14:06:25 +0000

I believe he can beat McCain too. Quite easily. And for all the dirty tricks that will be used by the Republicans, so will the Democrats…. And all kudos to the Democrats this year for using Republican tactics. About time.

By: shariq

shariq — Thu, 08 May 2008 12:57:16 +0000

yes he can. exit polling suggests that most white working class voters would choose obama over mccain. also don’t forget that in early states like iowa and south carolina, there were twice as many people voting in the democratic primaries than the republican ones.

obama’s veep choice will also be signficant. getting someone like jim webb would help to cover his electoral weaknesses.

finally, i agree that he may have the lower floor but to suggest that he might drop to 42% is absurd. especially given the fact that he’s already been subjected to a lot more negative advertising than people anticipated and come out relatively unscathed.

By: Yes, He Can!

Yes, He Can! — Thu, 08 May 2008 07:28:54 +0000

Absolutely he can beat John McCain. I think we are treating that like a harder hurdle than it really is. Tie McCain to Bush effectively and this could be a blow out! In fact I think there’s a good shot that this will not be close at all. And I certainly hope it isn’t close. A huge win by Obama would give his presidency a real feeling of a new beginning.

By: Simon Barrow

Simon Barrow — Wed, 07 May 2008 22:01:56 +0000

Hope you’re right, Alex.

Well, I am actually married into an American family, Lee… so not entirely disconnected from all this. And given the world impact of this election, I don’t think UK or other interest is self-indulgent.

Regarding the figures, the issue is how they will shift after the publicity around the primaries gives way to a direct consideration in the voters minds of Obama-McCain. In the meantime, it’s not exactly clear water:

http://www.pollster.com/08-US-Pres-GE-MvO.php
http://www.pollster.com/currenttrends.php

By: Lee Griffin

Lee Griffin — Wed, 07 May 2008 21:24:31 +0000

All personal politics aside, I think bringing in what we here in the UK think of candidates to the mix is largely irrelevant and self-masturbatory in tone, let’s look at the figures. For the last 3 or so months Obama hasn’t really shifted from his position of being a better candidate for the Democrats to choose over Hillary except for a period of high polling for McCain around the time he was announced as the republican nominee.

The fact is, and has been for some months now, that Obama is the only one for the democrats in public opinion that seems to stand a chance at winning back some states from the republicans while also standing as good as Hillary at retaining states that the Democrats still hold.

Now of course all that could change, and I’ve seen people very sceptical of his ability to weather the republican machine, only time will tell. But either way, which should the dem’s use for their bid if they’re sensible? Not the candidate that has to go up against the same republicans having technically lost the public vote for the job within their own party.

By: Alex Parsons

Alex Parsons — Wed, 07 May 2008 20:44:58 +0000

As someone who shares your Obama skepticism, I still think this period where no one is attacking him is one we’ll look back to as the highpoint of McCain’s candidacy. Whilst Obama is far from the dream candidate or the messiah the more zealous of his supporters make him out to be, it remains true he’s a perfectly positioned Democrat facing some of the most favourable electoral conditions possible: A hugely unpopular incumbent and an opponent who both promises continuation of the policies of that incumbent who is looked upon unfavourable by the Republicans’ traditional base.

Now, don’t get me wrong, it could all still go to hell and I’d agree Clinton is the better candidate for a good win, but I’m really not convinced that Obama is as bad a choice as the numbers might suggest. An Obama presidency is likely to be a disappointment but it’s still a highly likely outcome.