Glenn Reynolds @ USA Today:
Last week, I speculated that we may be seeing a “preference cascade,” as people who previously supported Obama now feel safe about publicly changing their minds. It seems that we’re seeing more of that this week as word of the Benghazi debacle spreads. The Obama campaign no doubt hopes you’ll be distracted from this by hurricane news, but that’s probably a vain hope on its part.
On the left, the defections are mounting. Last week, I spoke to Camille Paglia about her new book on art history, but she also stopped to explain why she wasn’t voting for Obama this time: basically, disappointment. She said he ran as a moderate, but has been “one of the most racially divisive and polarizing figures ever. I think it’s going to take years to undo the damage to relationships between the races.”
She was also unhappy with the Libya intervention — which admittedly hasn’t turned out well — and with the ongoing drone attacks, as well as the way ObamaCare turned out. She says she’ll vote for Green Party candidate Jill Stein, whom I interviewed here a while back, instead.
Others on the “progressive” side are coming out, too. In Salon.com, longtime netroots activist Matt Stoller makes “the progressive case against Obama.” Stoller’s case is largely economic. He writes of the new ordering created by the Obama administration’s interventions: “The bailouts and the associated Federal Reserve actions were not primarily shifts of funds to bankers; they were a guarantee that property rights for a certain class of creditors were immune from challenge or market forces.” He’s right, and there are some Chrysler bondholders, and non-UAW pensionholders who can attest to that firsthand.
In The Atlantic, Conor Friedersdorf writes “Why I Refuse To Vote For Barack Obama.” “I’d have thought more people on the left would regard a sustained assault on civil liberties and the ongoing, needless killing of innocent kids as deal-breakers.” Well, lefties complained more under Bush, but some are unhappy.
@johngalt: What liberty you take with the English language to feel like you’ve proved your point. The point is “If I say a dog is a human being”, have I embellished the word ‘dog’ by calling it a ‘human being’, or simple made a misinformed statement?
Good grief, one would think we spoke a different language. Like even Sara Palin realized: If you put lipstick on a pig, it’s still a pig.
@Aye: That quote was taken from one of Romney’s stump speeches. http://news.investors.com/ibd-editorials-on-the-left/103112-631589-jeep-will-not-make-great-leap-to-china.htm
You’re confusing me with John Galt who says Romney “just embellishes things in his talk”.
I’ve already admitted in a previous article today that I had conflated Romney’s ad with his speech. Do you ever admit to error?
Now that’s an example of a reasoned discussion: You call into question something I said. I provide documentation for my assertion. Plus I admit that something I said earlier was erroneous. All with no resort to emotive language, or political or religious dogma.
@Liberal1 (Objectivity):
Haven’t made any yet but thanks for asking.
Aye:
Addressing your #12 post:
Greg isn’t a liar. You are parsing his words.
Greg said, “I would have done this year again, except for the fact that local right-wing extremists backed by out-of-state PAC money replaced that option with Richard Mourdock, a guy who believes that rape is part of God’s plan”.
What Mourdock actually said from the video was, “Even when life begins in that horrible situation of rape, that it is something God intended to happen”.
Hmmmm. God intended it to happen = God’s plan. I’m sorry Aye that your reading comprehension is so poor but calling Greg a liar isn’t going to make you less stupid. The meaning is crystal clear and yet you can’t seem to understand what he actually said. Figures.
Thanks for playing….
@Liberal1 (Objectivity):
Liberty?
I explained completely what I meant, and what I said, and how it is relevant.
As I told you, don’t project your personal failings upon me, Lib1. Just because you don’t understand the connotation and use of the word ’embellishment’ as I used it doesn’t mean that it was wrong.
Continue on, though. Embarrassing yourself with an audience seems to be a talent you possess. As well as providing entertainment for that audience.
@Liberal1 (Objectivity):
Except, of course, for your favorite piece of ’emotive’ language, “ultra-conservatives”.
NanG DQ’d for Noisyfoot/leg joints?? Maybe he was extremely nervous.
J.G. You are correct. If one leads a Christ like existance and follows that path, he/she need not be concerned with the destination.
I don’t think I have a “narrowly defined definition of what’s going on” Certainly no more than most everyone else on here, yourself included. Witness Benghazi. BTW Have you seen CBS report out TODAY?
I feel Mata is most open minded person blogging here. For that reason she has my deepest respect. Word gets honorable mention.
@Ron H.:
Clearly, Mourdock was stating that the LIFE is something that God intended to happen.
Greg’s false claim was that Mourdock “believes that rape is part of God’s plan”.
You should try harder to not make an idiot of yourself.
@Greg: #52
No, I don’t agree that there’s been a national disaster. There certainly is a disaster going on in NY and NJ, but that’s hardly ‘national’. And of course Zero is nowhere to be found, I think he’s out yukking it up in Ohio, where all the Jeep jobs are being shipped to China.
Re Mourdock I tend to agree with Aye’s take on what he meant. Even still, it is outside the beliefs of the majority of Indiana voters. He’s gonna lose BIG (7%+). Repubs. had the Senate won 90 days ago. Now, they’ll lose by 52-48. They’ ll hold The House with minor gains(3-6 seats).
@Liberal1 (Objectivity): #128
That whole soliloquy has to be one of the most ridiculous arguments I have seen. So the standard is “if it don’t feel pain” ? If you kill a nerve into your arm and can’t feel pain, do you just amputate it? The distinct DNA is established as soon as the egg is fertilized, that makes it a ‘human being’ . While I feel as if it’s okay for the person with that human inside her to decide if it’s in her best interest to continue to carry it or not. That doesn’t change the fact that a human is being destroyed.
@Redteam:
Remember that the person you’re debating also said this:
That’s nothing more or less than sheer depravity.
@Richard Wheeler: For what it is worth, my final take on the polls. Since no one really knows what the turn out will be, I’ll use the RCP averages. RCP uses two poll averages- one on one and job approval. They point to two different outcomes. Using the one on one match up, Obama is getting roughly 47% of the vote and has been stuck there for at least a month. Historically this close to an election, that is about the percent of the popular vote the incumbent can expect to get on election day give or take a point. In addition, most of the polls included in the average are based on the assumption of a Democrat turn out advantage equal to or exceeding 2008 which is not likely. Based on those factors, Obama will get 46-48% of the popular vote. In order for him to win, he would have to win the undecideds by around a 2 or 3 to 1 margin. Undecideds break for the challenger by a 3 or 4 to 1 margin meaning he would have to defy history. So using the one on one match up numbers, the edge goes to Romney with some room to spare.
Using the RCP average for job approval, Obama has been at around 50% for awhile now. Even Gallup and Rasmussen have had him at that level with the exception of last week when they had him at 46 and 47% respectively. Usually the incumbent’s percent of the popular vote is close to his job approval. Using job approval, Obama would win a lot closer election, perhaps by an even less margin than Bush in 2004, but probably with more electoral votes than Bush received.
As the article in my link stated, someone is going to end up with egg on their face as far as polling goes. November 6th will tell us who. We will then have to listen to all the excuses as to ‘why’ for the next two months.
@Liberal1 (Objectivity): #136
why would someone call you ultra or extreme, just the title ‘liberal’ says all it needs to say, basically that you are brain dead. do you really want to be known as ‘even worse than brain dead’? Would you tell me what the dividing line is between, Ultra-extreme-conservative? I’m a birther, so that should take me completely out of the conservative side.
@Richard Wheeler:
The fire is a reference to I Corinthians 3:10-15
A.V. It’s entirely possible BHO could narrowly lose the popular vote,but of course that is irrelevant. A win by Obama in Ohio would give him the Presidency. Same goes for Romney.
Aye Thanks for the reference.
Redteam “I’m a birther” Nuf Said
What was Obama’s share of the Catholic vote in 2008?
54%.
It had been 47% for Kerry before that.
I wonder what it will be this time?
Gee, hard to have a ”rally” with only 45 people.
Add to this Sunday’s Catholic sermon….
Bishop orders priests to read letter critical of Obama
The letter says voters who enable “the destruction of innocent human life in the womb” are “guilty of grave sin.” Bishop Daniel Jenky instructed priests to read it at every Mass over the weekend.
@Richard Wheeler:
It’s not going to be anywhere near close.
@Aye: The only thing that bothers me is that I have a Romney sign in my front yard and more often than not the person whose sign I have in the front yard loses. Not very scientific but….
@Richard Wheeler:
Going strictly by what Mourdock meant, it is not outside the beliefs of the majority of Indiana voters.
However, if you accept the liberal/progressive MajorityPac ad’s insinuation, it is.
We’ll see on election day, though. It is hard for Donnelly to claim being a “common sense” moderate when he voted with Pelosi 88% of the time, including voting yes for the Stimulus crony capitalism bill, the Omnibus political kickback bill, and Obamacare, which is a monstrosity that most hoosiers are against.
Yes, you do, Rich. Most people do. The difference is in how willing one is to allow that another point of view, or story that goes against what you believe, may be correct. AV brings up the threats of assassination against Romney, and you call his comment “sick”. Those threats are verifiable, Rich, and you probably didn’t even attempt to verify that what AV said might be true. You just discounted it offhand.
@johngalt: It could be PESS- Pre Election Stress Syndrome. There will no doubt be a lot of that going on prior to Tuesday amongst a lot of folks regardless of who they are voting for, after which PESS will become Post Election Stress Syndrome. There will be quite a few basket cases out there if Obama loses. Of course, this is another possibility:
http://psychology.about.com/od/theoriesofpersonality/ss/defensemech_3.htm
@Richard Wheeler: #166
Now tell the truth RW, if you suddenly found out Romney was born in Russia, you would be a ‘birther’ correct? Tell me why do you think Obama (Zero, EC, take your pick) won’t let anyone see his real birth certificate. It is my opinion that he doesn’t have a real US birth certificate. If he did, he would show it.
But don’t ignore my question, If Romney were born in Russia, would you be a ‘birther’?
Redteam Willard was born in Detroit. Obama released his B.C. confirming he was born in Hawaii.
What’s your point?
A.V. re Denial Do you think Repubs. will yell voter fraud if Obama wins?
@Richard Wheeler: I don’t know what anyone will yell if Obama wins. There will no doubt be those in denial as you are about anything negative about Obama that has been shown as fact. If Romney wins, I suspect there are a few here who may need to go on suicide watch. The storm may have given Obama a boost to put him over the hump in a race he may have otherwise lost. I do believe that even if Romney wins, the Republicans made a strategic error by not going after the Senate harder. They should have won it with ease and will most likely remain in the minority. Reid should have been vilified for the obstructionist he is. Regardless of who wins the WH, there will be gridlock the next 4 years because of him.
A.V. I wouldn’t be surprised if Obama started the storm to boost himself to victory.YOU gotta come up with an excuse for losing The Senate.
@Richard Wheeler: As always, you refuse to answer the question.
Do I need to repeat it? If Romney were born in Russia, would you be a birther? I said Zero’s ‘real’ birth certificate , not the forgery someone produced for him.
Actually there are two scenarios, Zero was born Jan/Feb ’61 with Frank Marshall Davis as his father perhaps in Hawaii, or he was born at that same time in Kenya (where his grandmother says he was born) as a cover that BHO Sr was really his father to keep FMD butt out of a bind for having sex with a young unmarried white girl. You can have either scenario.
@Richard Wheeler: Well, unlike his supporters, I don’t believe the man is a god (call me an atheist if you want) so he didn’t start the storm although I’m sure if Bush were in office, he would be getting blamed for it by the left just like they blamed him for Katrina saying his policies caused the storm. If Romney loses, to me it’ll be more of a reflection on the American people and it won’t be a good one. If lying, 8% stated unemployment, shucking the Constitution and our laws, and trillion dollar plus deficits are what they want, so be it. When the country goes bankrupt, both morally and financially, and people start to whine about it, I will shrug my shoulders and tell them if they voted for Obama to STFU. To me, Romney is a stop gap measure. The only candidate who has a plan to restore fiscal sanity and who is most in line with our Constitution is Gary Johnson.
As for not winning the Senate, it will be because they weren’t aggressive enough in pointing out that if the Dems retain control of Senate, Reid will remain majority leader and he has shucked his constitutional obligations. That point should have been hammered home big time. Even with blowing Missouri and possibly Indiana, they still would have had a good shot at winning control. The R’s are called the stupid party for a reason.
Redteam re#176 Are you really stupid enough to believe that crap. I show your posts to my indie friends and after they finish laughing—I kid you not, they invariably say “why would I associate with a nutcase like that”. You are assuring Obama’s win. Thanks.
If Romney were born in Russia I’d be a birther if he tried to run for POTUS .
@Richard Wheeler:
If you don’t have anything better to do than to show your “indie” friends statements make on this blog, and your “indie” friends don’t have anything better to do than to participate in such a lame activity, I would suggest a) you get more productive friends and b) you find something better to do with your time.
@Richard Wheeler: The birther argument won’t make a damn bit of difference in this election just like Greg’s concern about the SEALs trashing Obama for making the OBL kill all about himself. It will have no impact on the election. Relax, have a few cold ones, and celebrate your ND win today. Those are some bizarre rules. You would think either the first team to score in the OT quarter would win or they would play until the quarter was over with. No second chances. What was the dance about at the end of the game?
Retire05 I can assure you your unending tripe and absurd postings are facilitating an Obama victory.
I’d bet people like Word,Mata and Aye would agree with me.
You’ve done much to assist the Dems. and it’s greatly appreciated. IT’S OVER
The time has come for you to think of reasons why you lost The Presidency and The Senate. Do me a favor and come up with something original.
I’ve enjoyed my time here and thank you,H.R. AND Redteam in assisting BHO’s re-election.
A.V. I am celebrating the undefeated 9-0 Irish. College O.T. rules are actually fairer and a lot more fun than the Pros
Semper Fi
@Richard Wheeler:
Why do you have to drag “people like Word, Mata and Aye” to substatiate your vitriol? Is it because, like all liberals, you are unable to fight your own battles? Why do you need support from others?
So you are using the fact that the Dems still control the Senate, and until Jan. 20, 2013, controls the Oval Office? Just ignore 2010, Rich, where the Republicans took the U.S. House, and over 600 state offices, the biggest change from Democrat to Republican in the history of our nation.
If we lose this election, it will have nothing to do with me. It will be because we have turned into a Eurowennie nation that will be no more important in the world scene than France. And the Great Experiement will have failed. I assume that is the goal you are striving for.
@Richard Wheeler: Do you have those persons permission to use as supporting your argument? I sure hope not.
@Richard Wheeler: So if it served your purpose, you would be a birther. Well, I’m not that way. I don’t see how it benefits me to be a birther (founded by the Clintons) but one day the country will be amazed how they were hoodwinked. As far as your indie friends,, if they are a friend of yours, I’m sure they’re laughing at you, not with you. I don’t show my friends your comments, they would wonder why I would read your comments.
@Richard Wheeler: Just out of curiosity, RW, tell me what state or country I was born in. Since you don’t require a birth certificate for proof, it should be easy for you, apparently you know all those details about zero without having to see one. If necessary, I could post a phony one for you.
Redteam Apparently you were born in the state of confusion.Obama released his B.C.
There are still a few birthers left like you and Smorg. You might get more traction with your claim he’s a Muslim controlled by a Cartel.
Bees Jump in any time.
Semper Fi
Aye:
When it comes to you I never make an idiot out of myself. After all you are the idiot that can’t figure out that Nazis are and have always been considered a Right wing organization and yet because some pundit(not a historian) wrote a book claiming they are Left wing, you bought into it. Yeah Aye I really take you seriously. Hah!
You said:
“Clearly, Mourdock was stating that the LIFE is something that God intended to happen”.
Really Aye? I had no idea what it meant when I quoted it. Gee you love to obfuscate. No shit that Mourdock was referring to “LIFE is something that God intended to happen”. But you see sport, you can’t have an intended consequence from an unintended action. That just makes no sense…well to those of us that live in reality. Yeah God intended the pregnancy to happen but that whole rape thing that caused it well that was completely unknown and unforeseeable to God. After all God is pretty shortsighted. He always intends for life to happen, he just doesn’t concern himself with how it happens, rape, incest….it doesn’t matter so long as that life occurs.
Yeah you are pretty twisted and full of yourself. Personally I think you should get a job as a rape counselor. That way you can explain to all of the victims that their unintended pregnancies were God’s intention, but the rape well that just tough and they should just suck it up and keep the baby. Yeah you’d be great at that you sick sick man.
Oh are you wearing your cape today? Told the wife and kids what a bad ass you were on FA lately? Come on tiny…..you need the attention.
Your bestest friend.
Ron H.
@Ron. H: #187 Who left the door to the insane asylum open?
@Richard Wheeler: #186, Thanks for the laugh of the day. I said Birth Certificate, not some fraudulent forgery. Besides, you ‘ve already admitted you’re a birther, just waiting for the opportunity. Don’t be envious that I got the chance first. Don’t know if he’s controlled by a cartel or not, of the other, there is no doubt.
Redteam:
Umm your mom?