Sen. Obama’s support among whites is as strong as Sen. Kerry’s in 2004

There’s been a lot of talk recently about “working class whites” not supporting Sen. Obama come the general election; however, as Gallup Poll reminds us, in recent years, the default position for white Americans has tended to be to support the republican party, over the Democratic party, and this trend may not be different this election cycle.

However, it is worth noting, as Gallup does, that at this point, Sen. Obama is doing as well among white Americas as Sen. Kerry did back in 2004:

PRINCETON, NJ — Barack Obama’s current level of support among white voters in a head-to-head matchup against John McCain is no worse than John Kerry’s margin of support among whites against George W. Bush in the 2004 presidential election.

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But it appears that the way Obama stacks up against McCain at this point is similar to the way in which Kerry performed against Bush in 2004 within several key racial, educational, religious, and gender subgroups. That is, the basic underlying structure of the general-election campaign this year does not appear to be markedly different from that of the 2004 election. This conclusion is based on an analysis of exit-poll data from 2004 compared to the Obama-McCain matchup in 4,000 Gallup Poll Daily tracking interviews conducted during the first five days of May.

Howard Dean: the real straight talker

Here’s a taste of the reason why I was a Deaniac back in 2004; because the man is a real no-nonsense straight talker — unlike McCain, whom just posses as one.

And now, Mr. Dean on faux, er, fox news:

Dean: Chris, the Republicans… for the last 30 years, the Republican (play)book has been to race bait and to use hate and divisiveness. In 2006, the American people said no to that; I think they’re going to say no to that in 2008. It is true that the economy, the war and healthcare are more important to the American people. They are tired of the divisiveness of what the Republicans have done to them. And that’s why the Republicans are in trouble. Deep trouble. Another four years of George Bush is not what we need…

Wallace: Governor, are you suggesting that bringing up Jeremiah Wright is “race-baiting” and hate and divisive?

Dean: Yeah, I am suggesting that kind of stuff. I think when you start bringing up candidates that have nothing to do with the issues…uh when you start bringing up things that have nothing to do with the candidate, nothing to do with the issues, that’s race-baiting. And that’s exactly what it is. Just like Willie Horton was race-baiting so many years ago. I think we’re going to take…we’re going to turn the page on this stuff. I’ll tell you, there’s a lot of difference between the Republicans and the Democrats on issues, but the biggest issue of all is we don’t use this kind of stuff. We never have used this kind of stuff and we’re not going to start now. America is more important than the Republican party and that’s the lesson the voters are about to teach the Republicans.

Where is Senator Obama?

Josh Marshall, over at TalkingPointsMemo.com, asks about something I’ve observed and wondered about, too. That is, even though Sen. Obama leads in the Democratic primary, he has clearly lost the initiative when it comes to setting the national agenda; thus making it harder for his surrogates to go on the offensive on his behalf.

Here’s how Josh Marshall frames it:

His voice seems silent and has for a few weeks. Of course, he’s out in the field campaigning, not focusing on national media and catering to political junkies around the country. But what I really think this is that he’s not controlling the agenda. Hillary’s controlling the agenda, defining the race at the moment. And that’s made him recede into the background, even as he’s a constant topic of conversation.

Clearly it’s easier said than done, however, Sen. Obama needs to flood the national airwaves with a nuts & bolts summery of his agenda, and get away from another mere bio-intro (as candidates often do at this point in the campaign).

It’s business, not personal

If this comes to pass, I’d hate to be amongst those that disrespected the family when it was vulnerable:

I’m beginning to think Hillary Clinton might pull this off and wrestle the nomination away from Barack Obama. If she does, a lot of folks — including a huge chunk of the media — will join Bill Richardson (a.k.a. Judas) in the Deep Freeze. If the Clintons get back into the White House, it will be retribution time, like the Corleone family consolidating power in “The Godfather,” where the watchword is, “It’s business, not personal.”

So, who is Fredo in this tragic family epic?

Ten more questions for John McCain

Jon Perr, of Perrspectives Blog, has prepared ten more questions for Sen. McCain, after Perr’s first ten questions were so well received around the blogsphere. Here’s a taste of the ten new questions for Sen. McCain:

12. Given your support for virtually the entire Bush foreign and domestic agenda, aren’t the American people correct in viewing a John McCain victory in November as a third term for George W. Bush?
Two weeks ago, you told the American people “I’m not running on the Bush presidency.” But on almost every issue, your positions are identical to those of President Bush. You reversed course to support making permanent the Bush tax cuts you twice opposed. Like President Bush, you opposed the expansion of the SCHIP program for children’s health care, while similarly calling for the wildly unpopular privatization of Social Security. You’ve called for overturning the Roe v. Wade decision on abortion rights while reaffirming your support for conservative Supreme Court justices like John Roberts and Samuel Alito. You and the President are in lockstep when its comes to Iran and Iraq, so much so that when you were told President Bush wants to stay in Iraq for 50 years, you said, “Make it a hundred.” Isn’t it fair for Americans to ask where Bush ends and you begin? Don’t those who call you “John McSame” have grounds for doing so? When over 80% of the American people think the country is on the wrong track, isn’t it fair for the American people to fear that President John McCain means a third term for George W. Bush?

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14. Don’t you owe Barack Obama an apology for attacking as “confused leadership” his proposal for unilateral strikes against Al Qaeda targets in Pakistan, a strategy which is now the policy of the Bush administration?
On August 1, 2007, Barack Obama announced that as President, “If we have actionable intelligence about high-value terrorist targets and President Musharraf won’t act, we will.” On February 19th, you attacked – and misrepresented - his position during a primary night victory speech by asking “will we risk the confused leadership of an inexperienced candidate who once suggested invading our ally, Pakistan?” As it turns out, President Bush endorsed the use of unilateral American strikes against Al Qaeda targets within Pakistan, including the January 29 covert Predator drone attack that killed Al Qaeda leader Abu Laith Al-Libi. Do you disagree with President Bush’s new policy of attacking Al Qaeda targets in Pakistan without the permission of the government in Islamabad? If not, don’t you owe Barack Obama an apology?

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17. Given that you’ve reversed yourself on so many long-held positions, why shouldn’t the American people view you as an opportunistic flip-flopper?
You have something of a reputation as a political maverick. Yet in your 2008 quest for the White House, you repeatedly reversed long-held positions and compromised core principles to seemingly curry favor with both the leading lights of the conservative movement and right-wing Republican primary voters. You’ve changed your positions on the Bush tax cuts, Jerry Falwell and the Christian right, immigration reform, overturning Roe v. Wade, whether Justice Samuel Alito is a model for the Supreme Court, France-bashing, just to name a few. What happened to the “courage of our convictions?” Did you read your own book, Why Courage Matters? After what happened to John Kerry in 2004, why shouldn’t the American people view you as an opportunistic flip-flopper?