Obama-Biden A Winner!
August 23rd, 2008
Krystal Ball
by Glynn Wilson
The talking heads and spin masters can fool some of the people some of the time, to paraphrase Lincoln, whose spirit was called up in a big way today when Barack Obama named Joe Biden as his running mate in “the land of Lincoln,” the spot where he delivered that historic speech legally stamping out slavery.
Funny, you won’t see that fact mentioned in the top national Associated Press analysis piece by the new Washington bureau chief, who we already know is a good friend of the kingmaker spin man of them all, Karl Rove. In fact, the lede and ending to his story looks like it was written by Karl Rove.
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| Obama campaign |
| Obama and Biden together… |
So let us try and offer up a little bit of reality stew about the events today.
To start with, to know where this presidential election stands on the eve of the Democratic Party’s convention in Denver, check out the Website with the banner ad: “America: Love It or Fix It!”
Take a look at the Electoral College Map of the United States at Polster.com, one of the best sites to turn to for an aggregation of all the polls. That is, if you are interested in the facts, not the hype.
Right now Obama, the Democrat, holds a commanding lead of 260 electoral votes to 176 for McCain, the Republican, with 102 votes in states too close to call. The winner needs 270.
So as I have been saying for weeks, what difference does it make what the raw national numbers show at this point? All the pundits want to make an issue of the close national public opinion poll, which shows Obama only leading by 2 points, 45-43. But that’s a meaningless number at this point since it lies within the 4 point margin of error.
Take the electoral college map and then consider McCain’s pathetic campaign so far, which is in such a shambles that no one turns out to hear him speak on the campaign trail and very few media outlets cover his events. His campaign seems to be made up of Karl Rove’s daily spin bite, and that’s about it, along with that a big pile of money from the corporate giants to run TV ads.
So as I have been saying for weeks, how can McCain possibly have any chance in this race at all? Absence a major terrorist attack at home or another war abroad, that is, although Georgia’s little skirmish with Russia doesn’t seem to be firing up any voters to switch to McCain. Would an attack on Iran really make people want four more years of corporate warmongering and imperialism?
I doubt it.
As I listened to the speeches and commentary on the tube today, I liked what I saw. It did give me a glimmer of hope, in between the constant raindrops here in the The Ham. What I heard was this, from Obama’s speech:
He is going to “…fight for good jobs that let people live their dreams, a tax code that rewards work instead of wealth, and health care that is affordable and accessible for every American family.”
He also said he would “forge a new energy policy that frees us from our dependence on foreign oil and $4 gasoline at the pump, while creating new jobs and new industry.”
He said he will “put an end to a failed foreign policy that’s based on bluster and bad judgment, so that we renew America’s security and standing in the world.”
“We know what we’re going to get from the other side,” Obama said. “Four more years of the same out-of-touch policies that created an economic disaster at home, and a disastrous foreign policy abroad. Four more years of the same divisive politics that is all about tearing people down instead of lifting this country up.
“We can’t afford more of the same,” he said, amen, and amen.
“Now, with Joe Biden at my side, I am confident that we can take this country in a new direction,” he said. “we are ready to overcome the adversity of the last eight years.”
He promised that it was not just about winning elections, but said, “we’ll restore that fair shot at your dreams that is at the core of who Joe Biden and I are as people, and what America is as a nation.”
That sounds real good to me. I’m willing to do my part every day to work for that same thing.
But we will be watching to see that these promises are kept. And let’s add one more to work on.
“Stop the spying.”
We want the Fourth Amendment to the Constitution restored. We think there is a better chance of this under Obama than McCain, who has made it clear he is the candidate for big business and the military brass. Obama is popular among the troops. That should tell you something.
Related: For more views on the AP analysis piece, here’s the take from the Washington Monthly’s Political Animal blog.
Joe Biden’s speech (full text in comments below):
