May 9th, 2008
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.
April 30th, 2008
Senator Kerry is right, those in the media need to start asking about issues that matter and have an impact on the American people, rather than obsessively focusing on mere distractions, er, the Reverend Wright. Here’s Senator Kerry on MSNBC:
December 3rd, 2006
From Andrew Sullivan to his former colleagues in the American right:
Both National Review and the Weekly Standard aim for the Baker-Hamilton Group this week. But when you examine what the Kristol-Kagan team sees as the alternative to a gradual retreat from the South and Anbar into Kurdistan, you can’t help wondering how serious they really are.
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The attempt to belittle the efforts of Baker-Hamilton is therefore pure positioning. In Margaret Thatcher’s phrase, there is tragically no alternative to some sort of retrenchment and retreat right now. I agree we need an effort to expand the military by several divisions. That was Al Gore’s position in 2000, by the way, the candidate the Weekly Standard hounded as insane and weak. It was Kerry’s position in 2004, another candidate the WS smeared as Jane Fonda in drag. Maybe a period of retrenchment and rebuilding of US forces could mean a new offensive in a year or so. But the idea that it can be accomplished swiftly enough now to make a difference in a "country" that has already disintegrated into Hobbesian hell is pure fantasy and Bill Kristol and Bob Kagan must know it.
[...]
It’s over, guys. Your beloved Bush administration botched this so badly it’s irrecoverable. You enabled them. You never fully took them on when it would have counted - and you trashed those of us who did. You knew this before the 2004 election and still cynically played the anti-Kerry card for all it was worth, telling yourselves you could sway Rummy after the election. Well, you couldn’t and you didn’t. Your policy was sabotaged by a defense secretary who never believed in it and by a president too weak and out-of-it to rein him in. Get over yourselves and recognize that this dream has died. And we have to fight the nightmare we now face rather than pretend your dream is still even on life-support. That’s the patriotic responsibility at this point. And no, I’m not impugning your patriotism. I’m asking you to place it before your shattered dreams.
May 5th, 2005
I think that John Kerry’s new USA Today ad is strong and deserves to be seen by our fellow citizens. If you’ve got $25 bucks to chip in, please click on the image below to do your bit to get the ad published:
October 21st, 2004
I am convinced that on November 2nd John Kerry will be CONCLUSIVELY elected president, unlike what occurred in 2000. Thereafter, Mr. Kerry will move to restore the international respect and goodwill that the Bush administration squandered over the past three and a half years.
I am hopeful and optimistic, and, like MANY MANY American citizens, I’m backing up my “faith with works;” so that on November 3rd I don’t wake up with this nagging question on my mind, “Did I do all I could do to put my country back on the right-track?”
I love my country, and I — and many others — recognize that what the Bush administration has wrought is not the kind of legacy I want to leave to those that come after me. Unfortunately, since 9/11, many well meaning Americans confused nationalism for patriotism, and in the process forgot about all those wonderful ideals and values that our country is supposed stand for. Just as a quick example of how down-is-up and up-is-down these days, Mr. Bush repeats over and over again that our boys are in Iraq to “fight for freedom”; however, here at home, Mr. Bush’s party — our Commander-in-Chief’s party — prohibits non-supporters from attending Republican rallies, unless they first sign an “oath of support” for Mr. Bush. [ref] In the other hand, Mr. Bush’s supporters are often seen at pro-Kerry rallies heckling the Democratic candidate.
I grew up believing in an America where dissent is viewed as legitimate, where dissent is tolerated and where our representatives are accountable to us. However, the Bush administration, and many of its supporters, do not belive in the kind of America that I grew up believing in. This is why I’m backing up my “faith with works,” so that others can grow up believing in the America I continue to belive in.
