The only solution - as unlikely as it sounds right now - is the only true nightmare McCain faces: A Clinton/Obama ticket. Count on it.

http://americanresearchgroup.com/

Later, I heard my son take up the subject with this young woman and although I didn’t hear the whole thing, I did hear her say, “if I don’t vote for Obama my friends and my Grandma will say I’m a racist. My son said, “well if my Grandma was still alive, she would never vote for Obama and she marched with Martin Luther King in both Alabama and Washington and started the first Girl Scout troop for African-American girls in Pennsylvania. Ask your Grandma if she thinks my Grandmother was a racist?” My former friend practically worshiped my Mother and she constantly told me over a 30 year period how lucky I was to have such a smart and successful Mother and how lucky I was to have been given the social/cultural advantages in my youth that she never had. So, I’m hoping that between now and November there is hope for this young woman, if I can get some non-filtered information into her hands.

Well, in the sense that Mr. and Mrs. Obama have revealed some truths about themselves that weren’t part of the grand plan for concealing 7/8 of the iceberg under flowing waves of glittering generalities, yes.

So they weren’t as successful at BS as Slick Willie was, after all. But Mrs. Willie is still in the picture, and she’s got a submerged baggage compartment second to none.

So when are the Democrats going to put up some candidates who have a record they can run on, and the guts and articulation (NOT glibidity) to defend it?

When you say “the electorate,” to me that implies the mass of eligible voters. But likely voters tend to be quite a bit more informed than the average eligible voter, and they now get their information from a variety of sources. I think enough of them will judge for themselves– esp indies, Repubs, and centrist Dems — and not just swallow the MSM koolaid on Obama.

If the party’s elders opt not to give the nomination to Obama, they will beg him to take the VP spot, and he will accept. That will keep his disappointed supporters turning to violence.

Something like a Richardson/Obama ticket is therefore a real danger. It would probably win.

McCain would be smart to forgo hard punches for the time being and help Obama stay on his feet until he gets the nomination. Then McCain’s main opponent will be the economy.

1. Historically, at least since Washington’s time, the publicly lauded war here meme is tough to counter.

2. All “ethnic” candidates have had to prove fidelity to what one might call “the unity” meme in order to overcome suspicions of particularism. (Here, think a Catholic JFK speaking to Southern Baptists or Mitt Romney’s speech addressing concerns about his faith.) In Obama’s case, his own arrogance in failing to anticipate the Wright mess, as well as his inept handling of the the aftermath has gone far to brand him as a “black” candidate in the minds of many. Again, several disturbing episodes have reinforced this meme: “typical white person,” and most recently, his remark about small town or rural Pennsylvanians.

3. Liberal arrogance meme. Here, Obama and his wife have swift-boated themselves.

The point here is not that every member of the public can recall this or that event. The truth is more general yet oddly specific: the MSM simply can’t beat word of mouth. No amount of spinning will make the images of Jeremiah Wright disappear or pose Obama as a man “you can have a beer with.” Remember that leftists have controlled the MSM for at least half a century, but during that time the country has elected far more Republican than Democratic presidents.

Understanding how public opinion unfolds remains a mysterious process. I’ve always favored an “Uncle Max” approach (now referred to as nodes of influence): it may be that of the eight people sitting around the dinner table (or water cooler) seven watch American Idol; but it only takes one plugged-in Uncle Max (who may enjoy the others’ respect) to voice an opinion and influence the rest. Relatively few people may read or care that the NYT is spinning Obama’s “race speech” as the latest Gettysburg Address: but everyone seems to have a “go-to” guy or gal who does pay attention.

And it is there, barring some economic catastrophe, that Obama will lose this election.

McCain is a Republican in their eyes. He’s Bush III. So is Hillary. Neocon warmongers. That is what they think. Even if Obama fell to the floor and began talking in tongues…maybe he already does…it would be spun into something akin to the Getteysburg address by the MSM.

Pennsylvania could prove me wrong. We’ll see.

Steven

It is not 1996, or even 2003. The year is 2008 and the MSM no longer has that sort of power.
It may take awhile before the unwashed masses learn about “Barry” Obama’s insane comments—but eventually the likely voters find out about the really crazy stuff. The Internet has changed everything.

Each time Obama goes through one of these episodes, whether it’s NAFTAgate, Rezko, Wright, now the small-town remarks, so many are far too quick in reading him the last rites.

And thus will fall America’s quickest upstart politician in a generation. It is indeed quite amazing how many people have been utterly deluded by this man, have fallen for his silliness and his charades and his silly little word games.

Yup, there may even be violence in some parts of the country. This may explain the reluctance of most people even to bring up the subject. I also suspect that some are afraid of being charged with racism. Why else am I about the only one talking about it? Is there something I may be overlooking?

I know too many Democrats who say they’re going to vote for McCain, and they say it seriously and without angst. It seems we all know people like that.