Wow, I’ve never been so happy to be wrong!
He didn’t just win, he really, really won!
I’m feeling too magnanimous to gloat, but I would ask the biggest haters who’ve posted here about how the celebration will turn violent to post an “I was wrong message” of their own tomorrow.
I’m guessing I won’t see too many…
Diebold's latest, the Votertronic 2008 series X
Unlike so many of the right wing-nut commentors on this blog, I’m not much for conspiracy theories. That’s why this reason has a question mark.
Still, you have to wonder. Why no paper trail? Who certifies these things?
And will the possibly mythical “Bradley Effect” be used as a convenient excuse for a big difference between polls and votes?
This unemployed woman owns houses, yachts, jewelry, and cars...ALL PAID FOR BY THE GOVERNMENT!!
Heard the phrase “hard working Americans” recently? Yeah, I’ll bet you have.
Republicans, especially lower middle-class ones, have an extreme Pavlovian reaction to it. It makes them go vote. It reminds them that somewhere out there someone, probably someone ethnic, is getting something for nothing, and voting Republican is the only way they know how to fight it.
Reminding them that moderate Democrat Bill Clinton is the guy who reformed welfare has no apparent effect on this mindset.
It turns out Jesus (or at least someone who looks a lot like Jesus) really did make George Bush president...by voting for Ralph Nader in Florida
Idealists who are willing to split the vote on their side of the left/right political divide in close elections willingly hand victory over to the other side. Bush’s 2000 win and its subsequent parade of disasters represent their greatest folly, but they continue to spoil elections all over the country.
Some have learned their lesson, but many continue to insist that it wasn’t Nader’s fault and will stubbornly vote for him or someone even more esoteric.
Don’t vote for Nader, morons!
Bluto, from Animal House, now presumably has an even wilder kid in movie college
God love ‘em, the Facebook generation has brought so much wonderful positive effort and so many new voters to the Obama campaign. But I’m a former college student myself and I fear some vulnerabilities of this potential groundswell:
1. College kids are not the most experienced voters. Most will be voting for the first time. They may have missed registration deadlines or registered incorrectly or in a way that will invite challenge.
2. The Facebook generation is also the 420 generation. College kids may be too lazy, hungover, high, or convinced of victory to bother to vote on election day.
Prove me wrong, guys!
Bitter Cassandra H.L. Mencken (if you don't know who Cassandra was see Reason #1 below)
As democracy is perfected, the office of president represents, more and more closely, the inner soul of the people.
On some great and glorious day the plain folks of the land will reach their heart’s desire at last, and the White House will be adorned by a downright moron.
-H.L. Mencken
In case you are suffering from Reason #1 below, this prophecy clearly refers to Sarah Palin. Hell, “plain” is an anagram for “Palin.” What more do you need?
When Clinton supporters think about Obama supporters thinking about Clinton they think of this picture. Then they eat a whole tub of Cherry Garcia ice cream without guilt.
Some unknown number of Hillary supporters who, based on their politics, should obviously be voting for Obama, won’t be doing so because they are so disappointed and angry that Hillary failed to win the Democratic primary. Some will even vote for McCain simply out of spite.
Their logic is usually childlike and petulant coming as it does from an irrational conflation of Clinton and the general struggle of women in the 20th century.
Many of them feel that it was Hillary’s turn and Obama cut the line. But we have elections here in America, not coronations, and Hillary lost fair and square. Besides, if Hillary had won we’d be looking at a White House split between two families for 24-28 years. To me that sounds less like democracy and more like a lovely DC-area timeshare.
“But what about her experience?!?” While it is true that Hillary has well over 35 years of experience wanting to be president, I don’t really see how that’s relevant. Her young reverse carpet-bagging senatorial career failed to put her above the other candidates.
Some Hillary voters feel that Obama ran a nasty, anti-feminist, somehow unfair campaign, and that made them furious. These claims aired on the media throughout the final weeks of the primary, but I never heard a specific example to back them up. This claim is as unfounded as Cindy “Feelin’ No Pain” McCain’s bizarre utterance that Obama is running “the dirtiest campaign in American history.” If she rose from her opium couch long enough pay attention she’d see it’s not even the dirtiest campaign going on right now…
Ultimately the results of elections are about – you guessed it – us voters. This is why I can be so confident in my statements about the ignorance of Americans. Have I met all of them? No. But I can judge them by who they elected in 2000 and, shockingly, again in 2004.
Finally, for a perfect specimen found in the wild of the illogic behind this particular solipsistic cadre of non-Obama voters, check out the comment made on this blog by Robert Deveau here.
A lot of my friends think Obama is going to win, but I think they are wrong and am very depressed about it. Frankly I don’t think he ever had a chance. I am so sick of the media’s “it’s sooo close, isn’t this exciting” horse-race that I’ve decided to coldly list all the reasons I think Obama will lose on this blog between now and the election.
I hope to be flooded with millions of “I Told You Sos” when this is all over and I’m proven wrong.
But if I’m right Obama will lose in a landslide. If that happens I wonder if the media will ask itself in any way that matters how they could have been so wrong.
(By the way, PUMAs, Hillary wouldn’t have won either, mostly for the same reasons.)
