McCain Train Picking Up Speed in FL, Oh, and Pa

From Ed Morrissey

As if the Barack Obama needed any more bad news, the St. Petersburg Times and Zogby both deliver cause for pessimism at Team O.   Florida polling shows that despite spending millions in advertising in the Sunshine State and a delay in advertising for McCain, Obama is in worse position that John Kerry at the same time in 2004.  Zogby has new polling that shows Obama now trails in Pennsylvania, a must-hold state for the Democrats.

Ruh-Roh!

Intrade Picking McCain

For the first time, the pay-to-play markets are suggesting John McCain will come away the winner in November.  The bid/ask spread is now 52.9/53.0 McCain, versus 46.1/47.9 for Obama.  For comparison’s sake, in mid-July Barry led 64.8 to only 31.1 McCain. 

This on the heels of news from Gallup that Congressional races are now tightening, with only a slim favoring of the Democrats.  I’ve said it before, but Dems are the MASTERS of snatching defeat from the jaws of victory.  Not that I’m complaining.

Good Advice

Glenn Reynolds says, “Don’t get cocky”.  Great advice, especially considering Obama people are already starting to raise the “cult of the messiah” bit they were wacked over the head with (rightly so).  Rush Limbaugh’s guest host dealt with at least one guy YESTERDAY who wanted to paint Sarah as our Republican savior.  Yeah, she’s hot, she speaks well, and she’s relatively bona fide. 

But, let’s face it, her experience is lacking for the national stage.  That doesn’t mean she won’t make an excellent VP, but…I think we need to stop pushing the experience thing so hard, even IF she does have as much experience as Barry.

McCain Moves Ahead

The Gallup numbers are out and McCain/Palin leads 48% to 45%.  This is the daily tracking poll with 2,765 registered voters and a sampling error of plus/minus 2 percentage points. 

I give most of it to Palin.  The convention itself was lackluster save Wednesday night, Palin’s unveiling.  She came through in the clutch; now, let’s see how she performs over the next 58 days.  Also, the pathetic media performance and smear factories that popped up this past week probably helped to give them a “pity bounce”.  We’ll see if it holds.

“I’m the freaking Governor of Alaska.”

What can one say about this?  Despite all the posturing by both camps, I wonder just how true to life this was…

Abolish. The. Department. Of. Education

From Redhatrob.  This clip is one of the most well put together pieces of satire I think I’ve ever seen.  We should probably draft the shows writers and put them to work for McCain…

McCain takes-Zogby-lead

Yeah, I know it’s zogby.  But it’s also understandable, especially considering how exposed Obama appeared to be since Russia invaded Georgia.  Right now, McCain is sitting at 46% to The One’s 41%.  Obama did not have a good 10 days or so, and his ultra-humble convention isn’t going to help him, especially after McCain planted the “biggest celebrity in the world” seed.  Via Instapundit

McCain Gets It (Hopefully)

Perhaps John has realized that all his potential voters want is an ACTUAL conservative.  Not a Neo-conservative, not a Bush man, but an honest to God conservative.  In the past, he has appeared to forget his base.  Maybe this message is a sign that’s over.  Or maybe not.

Dueling Views on the Saddleback Debate

View 1, complete with a hearty backslap and various winks and nods, is that of Mike Madden, which says The One did fine in front of Evangelicals, for a Dem, at least.

View 2, Obama Sucked, McCain Much Better, But only because McCain cheated.  Must be those performance enhancing drugs….

The Roundup-August 17, 2008

• Pickens energy projects bleeding cash.  Whowouldathunkit?  Actually, this is to be expected when trying to lay the infrastructure for a coming boom.  Via Instapundit
• Another take on the Shuler dock swap debacle.  He seems to have done nothing wrong, but it does seem suspicious…
• WNC economy growing, albeit slowly
• McCain did sound good last night.  “I don’t want to get to overheated about what occurred tonight, but I do think McCain had a clear and decisive victory over Obama. It all comes down to something that Phil Bredesen, the Democratic governor of Tennessee recently said about Obama: “Instead of giving big speeches at big stadiums, he needs to give straight-up 10-word answers to people at Wal-Mart about how he would improve their lives.””
• Finally, Michael Phelps is the most dominant swimmer of this, or any, generation.  I don’t want to take anything away from Michael because what he’s done is amazing.  However, swimming is predisposed to large medal counts.  Its got multiple strokes, medleys, and relays; but, they’re all closely related and have a high degree of carryover.  Personally, I think U.S. women’s softball, or Alexander Karelin were much more dominating than Phelps.  Just my take.

Filled With Confidence in McCain

It seems like everywhere you turn these days, someone is playing up the youth factor in the presidential race.  Among my own circle of twenty-something’s, the lure of the The One is great.  For a generation weaned on Neo rescuing us from the Matrix, the idea that someone could come from the back of the pack and save us from our wretched lives is a powerful idea.  Of course, this Great Leader must be a clean break from Washington as we know it.

 

Its been said many times over the course of this campaign that Barack Obama is the same politician we’ve seen throughout this country’s history.  The guy that skillfully evades questions is the same guy that politicizes a war or attends a church for the sake of political expediency.  Oh, and this same old kind of politician cultivates friendships of dubious character.  But, no, I won’t beat that horse. 

 

And, while we’re at it, who needs to focus on stuff like voting records, or a lack of experience?  Let’s not worry about any of that.  Just accept your stimulus check and allow me to continue to blow sunshine up your ass.

 

None of that means anything when McCain won’t exploit these weaknesses though.  These celebrity ads are the best John’s been able to come up with, but everyone can still tell he’s grasping at straws.  Then there’s this from the Wall Street Journal.

How big is the gap between the party and young America? Enthusiastic turnout by American youth in the Democratic primaries is consistent with last summer’s New York Times/CBS News/MTV poll showing fewer than 40% of young Americans have a favorable view of the Republican Party, while almost 60% have a favorable view of the Democratic Party. According to Democracy Corps, the left-leaning strategy group founded by James Carville and pollster Stanley Greenberg, the 50-million strong cohort of Americans 18 to 31 is larger than the baby boom generation. By 2015, it will comprise one-third of the U.S. electorate.

 

Hey, that’s great!  So our liberal counterparts have all the makings of a facebook army and the Republicans have…a cd?

 

 

 

 I have on my desk a CD sent out this spring from the Republican House Policy Committee. Fat, 1970s lettering bears the title, “Freedom Songs.” The cover image of the CD package is a sepia-tone photo of Teddy Roosevelt.

Open it up and you are treated to photos of Warren G. Harding staring into the horn of a crank phonograph, Herbert Hoover listening to a wireless, and a glum-looking Calvin Coolidge simply glowering at a camera. In an accompanying letter, Rep. Thaddeus McCotter of Michigan writes that the CD includes “riffs by Dr. Russell Kirk,” as well as “the pounding rhythm section of the Austrian School of Economics.”

 

 

 

 

 

It’s not the message, like so many say.  It’s the packaging.  Americans have always bought junk from overpriced Nikes to wickedly stupid SUV’s.  The McCain campaign had better wake up and realize that ours is the age of marketing. 

Obama/McCain 45 All

Back to a statistical dead heat, and it’s only August 1.  With Obama playing the race card “from the bottom of the deck” and McCain drawing comparisons between Obama and Paris Hilton, this is about to get ugly.  The celebrity ad is fair game in my mind.  Obama has been content to issue empty catch phrases and refuse any kind of town hall debate with McCain.  Obama’s cult of personality grows larger by the hour, so its nice to see McCain playing hardball.  If this can drag Obama into the realm of policy, for once this campaign, I’m happy.

More Predictions of Doom

Asheville Citizen-Times says 2008 will be the year of the Dems in NC.  I can believe it.  I personally know people who have never stepped foot in a voting booth who are big time Obamatrons.  You don’t need a grasp of the issues to rock the vote.  At any rate, I still think it’ll be a squeaker for McCain in the Carolinas.

Obama Leads

Maybe he should spend more of his time overseas.

Taxprof Roundup

Taxprof has the roundup of the respective Obama and McCain tax plans.  There’s a lot there, but its all meat, so dig in.  I notice in both Angry Bear’s post and Hilzoy’s at The Daily Dish that McCain’s proposals aren’t looking so hot.  McCain’s advisor Doug Holtz-Eakin put up a…less than spirited defense after getting walloped by Austin Goolsbee. 

Holtz-Eakin said, well, “Taxes aren’t everything” (actual quote, at a debate on tax policy) and talked up McCain’s proposals on the environment and renewable energy. Rather than make any attempt to rebut Goolsbee’s takedown, he argued that reducing taxes increases growth and that the spending side needs to be considered as well.

Well, yeah, the spending side is arguably the most important side of the equation.  Good pocketbook defense and all that jazz.  Still, McCain appears more blase as each day passes.  His only hope is to destory Obama in substantive, logical arguments.  He hasn’t done so, and doesn’t appear to be able to do so.  Obama is a charismatic steamroller, if nothing else.  If this is the best he can muster…