Because the CNN post-debate crew, lead by James Carville, basically said last night that the race is over. We can stick a fork in the McCain campaign …
Because John McCain has been counted out before …
Because john McCain seems to respond best as an underdog …
Because Barack Obama hasn’t proven to be great as a front-runner …
Because Barack Obama is black …
Because a recent Stanford study indicated that Barack Obama may lose as many as 6 points on election day, because people are not being honest with pollsters about race, which means he could be up by as many as 5 points on Election Day, and still lose …
Because some polls I’ve seen, even now — after the utter debacle of McCain’s last few weeks, politically; after the economy tanked, Obama won two debates, and Biden won one — have Obama tied or with only a two or three point edge …
Because John Kerry had a 4 point lead Thursday before election day, and lost …
Because Al Gore had an 11 point lead going into the last debate, and lost …
Because some pundits are saying, with a straight face, that Palin has been rehabilitated, and will be a trusted weapon for the campaign in the weeks ahead …
Because Palin and McCain have started painting Obama in racially-tinged ways, implying he pals around with terrorists, and they have seemed to revel in rallies where people have chanted things like “kill him” (referring to Obama) …
Because Obama is black …
Because in the state-by-state polling — even though Obama’s ahead — he’s still going to need to flip at least one of Bush’s states to win the election — Colorado, Virginia, Ohio, Florida, Nevada, New Mexico – while keeping every last blue state blue …
Because Obama has absolutely no margin for error …
Because there are still 27 days to go before election day …
Because — hey, truth in advertising — I’m the Neurotic Democrat.
I’m very much looking forward to this day of fasting, which begins in a few hours, to center on the spiritual, to purge some of the toxicity of this campaign, to focus inward.
And I take strength and direction from the lines in the Torah portion that we read for last week — perhaps my favorite lines in the Torah — from Deuteronomy 31:7-8. Moses dying words to Joshua, in the sight of all Israel, as Moses passes the baton of leadership: “Be strong and of good courage … Fear not and be not dismayed!”
Those of you who are fasting, g’mar tov. May you have an easy fast.
Have a peaceful and meaningful Yom Kippur.
Tags: Yom Kippur
I decided that in the spirit of Tikkun Olam I would spend the day working for Obama, as I think he is our best hope to heal the world. I got up at 6 and made my bleary way to Fifth Third Field (home of the Dayton Dragons baseball team). I joined a large crowd of volunteers. I was assigned to the Field Jump Team; our job was to give out 2,000 phone lists, each with ten names and numbers to those in the infield (almost all of whom had worked on the campaign in some way). When given the go-ahead they were to call with their own phones. The goal was to encourage 20,000 Obama supporters to vote early. (As an example of how well thought-out the campaign is, they had arranged with the dominant cell phone carriers to temporarily increase their capacity in the area.)
Entering the stadium was slightly eerie, as it was shrouded in thick cool fog and the sun was still behind heavy cloud cover. The seats were vacant and all the activity was on the field as final preparations were being made. When the crowds flooded in we started giving out the phone lists and at least 60% of the people took them. When all mine were gone I shifted to field security and made sure unauthorized people weren’t allowed in the bleachers behind the speaking platform. Just before the speakers started I was asked to join the others in the bleachers – if you see any video from today’s speech I’m over Obama’s right shoulder in a yellow jacket wearing a tan baseball cap with a L’shana Obama pin.
Governor Strickland gave a brief rousing speech and then Obama came out and spoke, without notes, for 45 minutes. He mainly focused on the economy and jobs, and his only response to the Bush III and Palin attacks was to deride and belittle them as a diversion from addressing the issues of concern to the country. He said he had no difficulty putting up with the attacks and that he would continue to propose solutions.
The event was very well attended and the crowd was enthusiastic. If you want to see pictures of the event, go to http://flickr.com/photos/jonkleinman/2927646812/in/set-72157607889925261/
GObama!
Great job Jon.
The pictures were fabulous.
Drdad,
I agree with eww — great pics. I love the early shot of the big scoreboard in the fog, juxtaposed with the later one, with Obama on the screen, in the sunshine. That seems to be a nice metaphor, especially considering your powerful description of the event.
keep fighting the fight!
-ND
Re: “Because a recent Stanford study indicated that Barack Obama may lose as many as 6 points on election day, because people are not being honest with pollsters about race, which means he could be up by as many as 5 points on Election Day, and still lose …”
My mom is terrified of this. She lives in Virginia and is losing sleep over the election. She and my dad are head over heels for Obama.
Do people lie to pollsters? What would be the point? It’s anonymous, right? So maybe the numbers are an accurate reflection of the way things are going to go? Maybe? Right?
Amalie,
There’s a great article on p. 1 of the NY Times week in Review about this today. The gist is, there may be a Bradley effect in some states (where it’s not polite to say you won’t vote for someone because he’s black), but there could be a reverse Bradley in others (where it’s more acceptable). Also, the data on Bradley is very mixed — since the Bradley election in Calif, many black candidates have won elections, and the polls at times have been very accurate.
Upshot — it’s a complicated picture that may vary state-by-state, and we CAN’T let our guard down or stop working!