Urban Institute Report In Cities, Suburbs and the Sticks
http://www.urban.org/publications/900734.html
West Virginia Polls Tighten -- Race Takes Backseat
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/10/19/west-virginia-polls-tight_n_135941.html
62 percent comfortable with Obama 65% confident Obama would make right decisions...
CBS/NYT Poll: Obama Leads McCain By 13 Points
http://groups.google.com/group/alt.bible.prophecy/browse_thread/thread/10974bb5d6042bd9/7d85309f57e901b2?lnk=raot
Links:
http://tpmelectioncentral.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/10/mccain_down_1...
Ahead in many polls, Barack Obama has a bit of slack to use the humor evidenced during the Alfred Smith Dinner to not only close the minimal gap in electoral map reports (pre-election) but to capture each and every state majority on Election Day.
Humor cartoon
http://kingsrightsite.blogspot.com/2008/10/obama-spreading-wealth.html
Obama missed his first opportunity nationwide when he addressed the remarks of his gaffe-prone running mate, Joe the Tester Biden.
Obama Chides Biden Over Remark About a World Crisis Testing His Presidency
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/23/us/politics/23campaign.html?ref=us
Biden's remark about an upcoming test on the international level some 6 months or less into an Obama presidency was prime fodder for cartoonists, comedians, and even the likes of Doonsbury in any other election.
Had the Alfred Smith Dinner been the day after Biden's remark, one would have had to have been in a deep slumber to not use Biden's out-there comment.
Finding the Humor in the Election, Each Other and Themselves
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/18/arts/television/18joke.html?ref=us
McCain would have.
Obama should have recalled the response to temporary insertion of humor into the most contentious campaign we're all witnessing first-hand in our lifetime.
Obama should have recaptured the light feeling he surely felt when laughing at McCain's humor and his own humor. The smile is one we all need at this time of crisis.
Only Obama could now reclaim that humorous twist and he can use it to win not a slim majority of states, not a super majority of states, but a historical 50 states.
Each and every one.
There's still time.
That's not to say Obama should be self-deprecating, or put down or slight his running mate in any way.
Keep it simple.
Instead of saying his running mate spoke with "rhetorical flourish" Obama should have started out as John McCain every speech he makes:
"My friends, my friends, not my best friend, that's my wife, Michelle, my running mate Joe my friend, the History teacher Biden... who enjoys those upcoming tests.
My choice of Vice President to this day, uh, Chelsea, are you out there...
The next one in line in the event of my untimely departure from this world.
The tests are coming. We know that, we expect them from domestic and foreign quarters.
Joe the channeler became a reincarnated Rhett Butler of Gone with the Wind fame when he made the statement I'd be tested within six months of my inaugeration, he spoke with Rhett's historical flourish.
And frankly, my friends, I don't give a damn. Neither should you...
What I care about is ...
And then Obama could have continued on without humor addressing every single point of difference between his approach to our crisis, problems, etc and that of John McCain and Sarah Palin.
By using humor that one time, one time, he'd have shown his obvious grasp of foreign affairs - sometimes, sometimes, words are much more effective than swords.
And humor is the best weapon to break ice, not backs.
He's going to have to demonstrate that upon taking office should he maintain his hold on the lead.
He still has time.
He really does. And he could use the material we've presented.
Rhett's historical flourish.
Frankly, I don't give a damn.
Still viable.
Very next appearance, after he returns from visiting his very ill (best wishes) grandmother, he must grab hold of the heart of what Americans need.
They need one quick dose of humor.
Do it, and win not only a majority of states, or super-majority of states this November, win each and every state.
He'd have an opening, too.
Somebody is going to ask him something after they ask about his grandmother.
Not only must he use the humor right away, he must set the historical record straight, and own up to his inaccurate portrayal of what Joe Biden actually did say.
He's had unique time to reflect. And Joe Biden, his VP choice, did point out it is Barack Obama's Presidency Biden highlighted as the one that mark his words would be tested within 6 months of Obama taking office.
Obama must set the record straight or there will always be that tiny doubt even if he wins a super majority of states and the Presidency.
He will not have won all.
That's not to say Obama will win all those undecideds and all the independents or claim more conservatives than John McCain.
But he could win unanimously all states, even if those states are won by a simple majority.
What a super historic presidency that would be.
Net the Truth Online
Humor is on Obama
http://herlyn.blogspot.com/2008/06/barack-obama-humor.html
Oct. 23 (Bloomberg) -- Barack Obama is holding an average lead of 7 percentage points over John McCain nationally even as some polls show the race tightening 12 days before the election.
More than a dozen national polls have been released this week showing the margin in the presidential race ranging from 1 percentage point to 14 points.
Three surveys -- from the Associated Press-GfK, George Washington University and an Investors Business Daily/TIPP poll -- show McCain closing the gap with Obama.
The AP poll puts Obama at 44 percent to McCain's 43 percent, compared with a 7 percentage point advantage for Obama in their September survey. The GW Battleground poll showed Obama's edge at 2 points, down from 7 points in the middle of October, while the IDB/TIPP tracking survey has the margin for the Democrat narrowing to 1 point from 5 points at the start of the week.
Other polls, including those by the New York Times-CBS News, Fox News, the Wall Street Journal/NBC, and Gallup show Obama either holding or expanding his lead over McCain. The average of 14 national polls taken between Oct. 16 and Oct. 22 is just over 7 percentage points, according to data compiled by Realclearpolitics.com. The gap has increased steadily since mid- September.
Poll Differences
Poll results can vary because researchers use different methods and assumptions for defining likely voters, said Karlyn Bowman, who tracks polling at the American Enterprise Institute in Washington. Differences in how questions are asked and how much respondents are pushed in one direction or another can also cause discrepancies, she said.
Ed Goeas, a Republican pollster who supervised the GW poll with Democratic pollster Celinda Lake, said the timing of the poll also can affect results. The GW poll didn't survey people on Friday and Saturday nights.
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aGFXShU78.wU&refer=home
Barack Obama hits John McCain with humor to avoid turning off voters
New York Daily News ^ | October 3rd 2008 | MICHAEL McAULIFF
Posted on Saturday, October 04, 2008 7:29:57 AM by IbJensen
Barack Obama pokes fun at his opponent, John McCain, on Friday during a rally in Abington, Pa.
WASHINGTON - Forget turning John McCain into a political punching bag. Barack Obama wants to turn his Republican rival into a punch line.
Obama is known for his soaring oratory, but lately he has been going for the laugh track - cracking frequent jokes.
He has taken to mocking McCain for stocking his campaign with ex-lobbyists while also promising to end their their influence in Washington.
"If you think those lobbyists are working day and night to elect my opponent just to put themselves out of business, well, I've got a bridge to sell you in Alaska," Obama riffs.
"It's the Leno-Letterman effect," said University of Virginia politics sage Larry Sabato. "The public is so conditioned to think about politics as the theater of the absurd, they like it when political information is delivered sounding like a comedy routine."
Obama still mixes in his message of hope and change, with dashes of passion, but along the way he regularly reels off lines that elicits chuckles.
Analysts say Obama wants to annoy and belittle his cantankerous opponent in the eyes of voters - without drawing a backlash. "A way of really getting under McCain's skin, and prompting the kind of intemperate reaction that might cost him voters, is to make fun of him," said Hunter College Prof. Ken Sherrill.
Talking Friday to a crowd in Abington, Pa., Obama didn't simply accuse McCain of being a recent, convenient convert to tighter Wall Street regulation. He got people to laugh about it.
"Suddenly a crisis comes and the polls change, and suddenly [McCain's] out there talking like Jesse Jackson. Come on," Obama scoffed as the crowd howled.
One reason for the smiling jabs is people like McCain. Calling him a hypocrite, liar or worse could anger folks.
"The tough stuff, the nasty stuff, that's what people are offended by hearing," said Sabato...
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/2097296/posts
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