It's amazing how all of this "bad news" for Democrats has ended up with Obama up 8%.

[Zynx]

Really, you concern trolls think you are clever by being so cynical and pessimistic, but in reality you have been wrong throughout this election. Obama is in magnificent position to win this thing. His lead is large and getting larger. Democrats are strengthening their position all across the country. People are breaking away from the Republicans in a major way much more similar to 2006 than 2004.

Please, let this "bad news" continue. It's been a winning combination so far.

Everything from the economic crisis to the debates has been "bad news" according to the concern trolls. Yet Obama has pulled ahead in a big way. Thank God I haven't been betting according to the concern trolls.

[Marsala]

1. Yeah, the public really seems to blame the Republicans for this mess

God help us in 2010 if things haven't improved at all, of course.

[senseandsensibility]

2. I don't know what you mean by bad news

Certainly the economic situation is bad, but it's not news, and it's bad politically for the repugs.

[Zynx]

4. I should clarify that I am talking about the concern trolls saying every news event is bad news for

us Democrats.

[1corona4u]

10. I know, I'm fucking sick of all the handwringing shit....

really stupid.

[Writer]

3. It will take a lot to hurt Obama's chances in a watershed year such as this one. n/t

[scheming daemons]

5. The American public almost ALWAYS blames/credits the President and his party

Clinton got credit for the economy of the 90s, despite a Republican congress.

Reagan got credit for the economy of the 80s, despite a Democratic congress.

Eisenhower got credit for the economy of the 50s, despite a Democratic congress for his last 6 years.


Bush is getting blamed for the economy of the 2000s.... and rightly so.



Nothing the Repukes can do will get the majority of the voting public to blame Democrats instead of Republicans.


That's just the way it is. People blame the guy at the top.

[Zynx]

6. Oh, I know. The concern trolls don't seem to. Everything is a trap or bad news.

It's astonishing we are still standing.

[melody]

7. It's a primary means they use to "handle" liberals

Liberals tend to be discouraged more easily. It is a psych ops method from way back.

[Silent3]

8. I'm cautiously optimistic myself, but...

...while there are certainly "concern trolls" who are way over the top, I do understand the general anxiety and where it comes from.

Where it comes from is that losing the 2000 and 2004 elections made so little sense. When you've twice in a row seen someone like Bush win (or "win" in scare quotes if you prefer) the election, and you can't imagine how such a seeming idiot (in 2000) and such a proven idiot (in 2004) could win, it's hard to feel secure in the belief that reason will prevail in 2008.

It's disheartening that the election is even close enough that we have to worry about it at all. As far as I'm concerned Obama should have been well ahead of McCain from day one and never, ever have dipped below McCain in the polls, if there were anything sensible and predictable about the American voting public.

Here's one thing that DU-ers and freepers alike seem to agree upon -- the results of this election are in the hands of idiots.

The voters who remain undecided in this election, who swish back and forth from week to week, even day to day, based on whatever shiny (or tarnished) objects the media and current events dangle before them, are not by-and-large intelligent voters with long lists of carefully thought out pros and cons for each candidate, lists that are in near-perfect balance and are thus swayed by small real changes in information or events. They are "low information" voters, being emotionally swung back and forth by personalities, trivia, rumor, unexamined talking points, etc.

Knowing whose hands this election is in, cautious optimism is the best I can muster for Obama's success. No, I don't go as far as the "concern trolls" jumping at every shadow and seeing conspiracies and traps behind every corner, but I'm certainly not in league with the insistent optimists either, who seem to believe that optimism in-and-of-itself is the way to win, getting angry at every non-optimist as if it's their lack of optimism itself is going to "jinx" the election.

[Awsi Dooger]

9. Obama is not up by 8%

Sorry, that's nonsense. An individual poll may say that, but it doesn't threaten reality, if the vote were held today or any point leading up to November. It's an open race in a polarized era with a pro-Democratic slant of a few points based on Bush's ineptitude. That doesn't threaten to reach 8%.

We're at the high end of a pro-Obama period right now, just like a couple of weeks ago was a misleading stretch of supposed McCain favoritism. In the end, as always, the race settles and is tight.

Don't be a slave to polling as opposed to common sense.

[TheKentuckian]

11. I wouldn't rule it out that Obama may have a near double digit lead

at least right now.

McCain has had some impressive fuck ups and they have to have some level of cumulative impact on his chances. Also, there's a sizable lead in Democrats to Republicans and I'd guess that half or better of the Independents will side with us.
If we keep pounding and never relent we can land a nice blow to them this time.

[JI7]

12. i hate concern trolls , they wanted Obama to behave as McCain is doing now

they freaked out over a stupid convention bounce that McCain had and wanted Obama to act like McCain is doing now with threatening to not show up at a debate.

i'm glad Obama stayed on message and kept doing what he has been doing.

these fools wanted Obama to get nasty with McCain. that's what the MCCain camp was hoping for so they could do their phony outrage like they did with Kerry mentioning Cheney's daughter being lesbian.