philliesphhan wrote:While it is ridiculous that some people accuse anyone who doesn't like Obama to be a racist, it's just as ridiculous to think there aren't an incredible amount of voters who won't for him because he's black.

thank you. Let's not be naive here.

I think there will be people who will vote for him because he's black and there will be others who will not vote for him because he's black. I'm hoping those two groups cancel each other out. In any case, race will be an issue for many voters.

autobiographical note: I grew up about 1.5 miles from TMI, and was there during the accident. I went outside and shot hoops before my parents whisked us away to Lamar, PA, just outside State College. I remember a visit to Penns Cave and doing my science fair project in the hotel room. It was 2 months after our house burned down -- not a good 7 weeks.

I would still prefer nuclear power to coal, but Stu is right, IMO, to wonder where we'll put all the waste. It would be nice if we thought and acted ahead a little more than we have with the oil issue.

Monkeyboy wrote:

philliesphhan wrote:While it is ridiculous that some people accuse anyone who doesn't like Obama to be a racist, it's just as ridiculous to think there aren't an incredible amount of voters who won't for him because he's black.

thank you. Let's not be naive here.

I think there will be people who will vote for him because he's black and there will be others who will not vote for him because he's black. I'm hoping those two groups cancel each other out. In any case, race will be an issue for many voters.

I think a lot more would not vote for him because he's black than vote for him because he's black. I tend to think that most black voters would be voting for the democratic candidate anyway. Wonder how it would all shake loose with Colin Powell.

I think one factor people are discounting here is the probability that more black people are going to vote not just for Obama, but because of Obama. In 2004 only 68.7 percent of registered black voters participated in the election, compared to 75.1 percent of white non-Hispanic voters. I tend to think those numbers will be a lot closer this year.

Personally I haven't voted for the candidate whose stances aligned with mine in 20 years.

heh?!

drsmooth wrote:

jerseyhoya wrote:

pacino wrote:you must live in a weird area if young people in your area dislike obama

Enlightened.

at this rate, by september you won't even be posting in game threads anymore; all your time will be spent here, clacking away in a haze of ideological dissipation

I care about sports about 10x more than I do about politics.

Interesting article from David Brooks this morning on encouraging people to save/be thrifty.

The Great Seduction

And McCain has decided to respond to the Bush=McCain attacks by invoking Jimmy Carter. Unfortunately for McCain, Carter is not currently president, and hasn't been for 28 years.

jerseyhoya wrote:Interesting article from David Brooks this morning on encouraging people to save/be thrifty.

The Great Seduction

And McCain has decided to respond to the Bush=McCain attacks by invoking Jimmy Carter. Unfortunately for McCain, Carter is not currently president, and hasn't been for 28 years.

Who is this Jimmy Carter person you speak of?

jerseyhoya wrote:Interesting article from David Brooks this morning on encouraging people to save/be thrifty.

The Great Seduction

The Brooks article underlines something I've noticed that has changed in 20 years. I went to a rich kids college, yet few if any of us had new cars. We drove beaters, hand me downs from parents at best. The idea that an 18 (or even 16) year old would have a new car as a matter of course was alien to us.

Now, the college I teach consists of lots of kids from middle and low income families. Yet many of them drive late model cars. Of course some of them commute, but you'll see the same pattern at the local high school.

It's just crazy.

philliesphhan wrote:Most people I know like Obama and I live in SJ although my friends are early to late 20s. I know some women who liked Hillary over Obama, but definitely not McCain over Obama.

Where are you located, Phan? I am in the group that would be stunned if Obama lost NJ. I know I'll be working to deliver NJ to Obama. FWIW, the last reported poll for NJ had Obama ahead by 24 pts. I doubt he'll win by that much but I wouldn't be surprised if it were 10-12 pts.

terrorist fist pound???

traderdave wrote:

philliesphhan wrote:Most people I know like Obama and I live in SJ although my friends are early to late 20s. I know some women who liked Hillary over Obama, but definitely not McCain over Obama.

Where are you located, Phan? I am in the group that would be stunned if Obama lost NJ. I know I'll be working to deliver NJ to Obama. FWIW, the last reported poll for NJ had Obama ahead by 24 pts. I doubt he'll win by that much but I wouldn't be surprised if it were 10-12 pts.

Rasmussen poll from yesterday has Obama up 48-39 in NJ.

jerseyhoya wrote:

traderdave wrote:

philliesphhan wrote:Most people I know like Obama and I live in SJ although my friends are early to late 20s. I know some women who liked Hillary over Obama, but definitely not McCain over Obama.

Where are you located, Phan? I am in the group that would be stunned if Obama lost NJ. I know I'll be working to deliver NJ to Obama. FWIW, the last reported poll for NJ had Obama ahead by 24 pts. I doubt he'll win by that much but I wouldn't be surprised if it were 10-12 pts.

Rasmussen poll from yesterday has Obama up 48-39 in NJ.

Nice find, Hoya; RCP is really falling down on the job! That poll might actually be good news as previous Rasmussen polls had shown McCain ahead within the error. Yeah, I'm reachin' here I know.

Consider this the obligatory "polls don't mean very much right now" post. Obama's numbers were probably a bit depressed up through last week, because he had the Clintons chewing on his ankles (one each) and McCain was getting a free ride. Now Obama's got a bump--a post-clinch bump, not a terrorist fist bump--which could be inflating his numbers.

The numbers get meaningful sometime around Labor Day, I believe.

seriously, i'm not even mad about the "terrorist fist jab" thing. it's just so goddamn funny. fox news > comedy central.

It's annoying because I have the terrorist fist jab in my repertoire and they're just getting it all wrong.

jerseyhoya wrote:Interesting article from David Brooks this morning on encouraging people to save/be thrifty.

The Great Seduction

I second the endorsement of this article. Brooks, when he chooses to think and write about issues and big social trends rather than embracing his inner hack, can really bring the goods.

I would absolutely love to see both presidential candidates start talking about the immorality of payday lenders, tax refund anticipation loans, and other "financial instruments" designed to exploit the poor and uninformed. Obama is probably better positioned to make hay on this given his greater interest in poverty issues and the fact that he surely dealt with this garbage in his community organizing days... but the great advantage for McCain is that it's an antipoverty effort and signifier of "compassion" that doesn't actually cost anything. He needs those.

If you want to read more about this issue, I commend this amazing report written by a grad-school buddy of mine:

From Poverty, Opportunity: Putting the Market to Work for Lower-Income Families

I'm definitely voting Green in the Arkansas Senate election, and will probably vote Green in the House race as well.

The question is would I vote for these two Democratic stink jobs (Lincoln and Ross) if they had viable Republican opposition? I don't think I'll ever vote for Lincoln (and if she ran against a Republican who had the guts to oppose the farm bill, I might cross parties on that basis alone.) Ross, on the other hand, I'd probably vote for him, as he's good for a couple of pieces of pork now and then.

But overall, it's pretty sad.

Pryor is up, not Blanche

jerseyhoya wrote:Pryor is up, not Blanche

Duh. Well, I might not vote against Pryor. But I'm looking forward to voting against Lincoln.