McCain/Palin Tanking In Battlegrounds
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McCain/Palin Tanking In Battlegrounds
| Wed, 10-01-2008 - 12:18pm |
According to most-recent Quinnippiac poll:
FLORIDA: Obama 49 - McCain 43 (pre-debate) || Obama 51 - McCain 43 (post-debate);OHIO: Obama 49 - McCain 42 (pre-debate) || Obama 50 - McCain 42 (post-debate);PENNSYLVANIA: Obama 49 - McCain 43 (pre-debate) || Obama 54 - McCain 39 (post-debate)Friday's presidential debate, Gov. Sarah Palin's sagging favorability and more voter confidence in Sen. Barack Obama's ability to handle the economy are propelling the Democrat to wider likely voter leads over Republican John McCain in Florida, Ohio and Pennsylvania, according to simultaneous Quinnipiac University Swing State polls released today.

And there is more...
http://www.examiner.com/x-243-Progressive-Politics-Examiner~y2008m9d23-Sullivan-counts-the-Palin-lies
Sullivan counts the Palin lies
September 23, 11:48 AM
by Jay McDonough, Progressive Politics Examiner
Andrew Sullivan provides backup for each accusation.
- She has lied about the Bridge To Nowhere. She ran for office favoring it, wore a sweatshirt defending it, and only gave it up when the federal congress, Senator McCain in particular, went ballistic. She kept the money anyway and favors funding Don Young's Way, at twice the cost of the original bridge.
- She has lied about her firing of the town librarian and police chief of Wasilla, Alaska.
- She has lied about pressure on Alaska's public safety commissioner to fire her ex-brother-in-law.
- She has lied about her previous statements on climate change.
- She has lied about Alaska's contribution to America's oil and gas production.
- She has lied about when she asked her daughters for their permission for her to run for vice-president.
- She has lied about the actual progress in constructing a natural gas pipeline from Alaska.
- She has lied about Obama's position on habeas corpus.
- She has lied about her alleged tolerance of homosexuality.
- She has lied about the use or non-use of a TelePrompter at the St Paul convention.
- She has lied about her alleged pay-cut as mayor of Wasilla.
- She has lied about what Alaska's state scientists concluded about the health of the polar bear population in Alaska.
To the apologists for Ms. Palin; if you want to rebut the accusations, you need to come stronger to the hoop than calling this sexism or just offering up some lame "oh yeah, Obama's just as bad" argument. In fact, to those so concerned that Governor Palin is being treated in a sexist manner; perhaps you should look at the McCain campaign who are so terrified of a gaffe from the Governor they limit media access and game the vice presidential debate rules.
How about back home?
Not so good there either. Uh-oh! I wonder if Sarah ever read the Alaska Report. Oh yeah, she said that she read ALL of them, didn't she? lol.
http://alaskareport.com/news98/x61643_approval_rating.htm
September 24, 2008
Palin approval rating takes huge dive
THE HONEYMOON IS COMING TO AN END
In a new survey conducted September 20-22, Ivan Moore Research finds Sarah Palin's positive-negative rating in Alaska taking a real hit, for the first time since Palin was elected in November 2006. The survey was conducted with 500 likely voters in the State of Alaska, for a margin of error of 4.4%. The track of the last five Palin ratings is as follows, along with a comparison point from January 2008:
SURVEY
Rating
January 2008 82-11
July 18-22, 2008 76-18
July 30-31, 2008 78-15
August 9-12, 2008 80-13
August 30-Sept 2, 2008 82-13
September 20-22, 2008 68-27
The mid-July poll was fielded just after the Trooper Wooten controversy broke. The positive rating of 76% was down from previous measures in the 80's. Despite negative press from the Troopergate issue, the subsequent three polls through the end of September showed Palin's positive rating steadily increasing, and her negative steadily dropping. But in the last three weeks, we've seen damage, with a swing of 14 points from her positive to her negative.
Breakdowns by party affiliation and political ideology for the last two surveys are illustrative of the internal dynamics:
PARTY
August 30-September 2 September 19-21 Swing
Democrats 60-33 36-59 -25
Republicans 95-3 93-5 -2
No party/Other party 82-12 64-29 -17.5
Conservative 93-3 88-9 -5.5
Moderate 83-13 65-29 -17
Progressive 49-37 23-68 -28.5
TOTAL 82-13 68-27 -14
We're seeing the numbers cratering among ideological progressives and registered Democrats, probably indicative of the impact of the harsher tone Palin has adopted on the national campaign trail, and the growing fallout from Troopergate. Damage is also significant among moderates and non-affiliated voters, while Republicans and conservatives continue to be almost universally positive.
It should be noted, of course, that a 68-27 is still a very satisfactory rating. But it appears the days of 80 percent approvals in Alaska are over.
From an Ivan Moore press release
© AlaskaReport.com All Rights Reserved.
The lies continue as they become more and more desperate.
http://www.salon.com/politics/war_room/?last_story=/politics/war_room/2008/10/03/palin_chart/
McCain camp releases disingenuous ad on taxes
The McCain campaign's latest television ad repeats, yet again, a claim that was debunked months ago.
The spot, dubbed "Tax Cutter," quotes Barack Obama saying, "I'm a tax cutter." The narrator then asks, "Really?" and goes on to say, "Senator Obama voted 94 times for higher taxes. Ninety-four times. He's not truthful on taxes. At least congressional liberals admit they want to raise your taxes. Add billions in new spending. And oppose offshore drilling. Congressional liberals. The truth hurts you."
But on July 3, the nonpartisan Web site FactCheck.org examined the claim that Obama voted 94 times for higher taxes and called the number "padded." From the site's analysis:
After looking at every one of the 94 votes that the RNC includes in its tally, we find:
Twenty-three were for measures that would have produced no tax increase at all; they were against proposed tax cuts.
Seven of the votes were in favor of measures that would have lowered taxes for many, while raising them on a relative few, either corporations or affluent individuals.
Eleven votes the GOP is counting would have increased taxes on those making more than $1 million a year -- in order to fund programs such as Head Start and school nutrition programs, or veterans’ health care.
The GOP sometimes counted two, three and even four votes on the same measure. We found their tally included a total of 17 votes on seven measures, effectively padding their total by 10.
The majority of the 94 votes -- 53 of them, including some mentioned above -- were on budget measures, not tax bills, and would not have resulted in any tax change. Four other votes were non-binding motions related to conference report negotiations.
It's true that most of the votes the GOP counts would have either increased taxes for some or set budget targets calling for such increases. But by repeating their inflated 94-vote figure, the McCain campaign and the GOP falsely imply that Obama has pushed indiscriminately to raise taxes for nearly everybody. A closer look reveals that he's voted consistently to restore higher tax rates on upper-income taxpayers but not on middle- or low-income workers. That's consistent with what he has said he'd do as president, which is to raise taxes only on those making more than $250,000 a year.
The McCain camp says the ad, which you can watch below, is airing nationally. And, by the way, the reason it includes seemingly unrelated attacks on "congressional liberals" is that it was paid for jointly by the McCain campaign and the Republican National Committee.
Palin's sub-standard performance still not enough to "win over" Independent voters. Not surprised. Some GOP probably ran for the door after she left McCain out there blowing in the wind. Some sidekick she is. lol.
http://www.reuters.com/article/politicsNews/idUSTRE49217T20081003
Winking Palin survives debate with folksy style
Fri Oct 3, 2008 10:16am EDT
ST. LOUIS (Reuters) - With a wink at the camera and a folksy "doggone it," Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin on Thursday survived a high-pressure debate with Democrat Joe Biden to turn the page on a rocky two weeks.
Whether it will make any difference in Republican John McCain's increasingly uphill battle to defeat Democrat Barack Obama in the November 4 election remains to be seen.
Coming into the debate, Alaska Gov. Palin had been in a tailspin for a couple of weeks after a dream start as McCain's running mate.
She has been lampooned on late-night television and drawn criticism for a CBS News interview in which she struggled to explain such matters as her belief that her state's proximity to Russia made her knowledgeable about Russian affairs.
So the expectations were set low for the 44-year-old self-styled "hockey mom" for her televised encounter with Biden, a veteran senator from Delaware who is chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
She wasted little time in trying to connect with a television audience of tens of millions. She winked at the camera as soon as she stepped on stage and asked Biden if it was okay to call him Joe.
When Biden raised the issue of whether Americans were better off now than they were when President George W. Bush took office in 2001, Palin accused him of looking backward instead of ahead.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/10/03/mccains-could-give-up-on_n_131634.html
McCain Could Be Forced Out Of Pennsylvania Too, Union Chief Says
October 3, 2008 11:51 AM
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Democrats cheered on Wednesday when news broke that John McCain's campaign was abandoning Michigan, pulling down its ads and sending staffers to other states.
Almost immediately, an organization called Progress Michigan let loose with a taunt, demanding that McCain keep pouring resources into the state in order to explain to voters his "support for outsourcing" and the "failed economic policies" of the Bush administration.
Many speculated that McCain would now turn his focus to Pennsylvania. But United Steelworkers International president Leo Gerard tells the Huffington Post that the state could soon go the way of Michigan.
"We're seeing -- from the several hundred of our people working every day, hand-billing at the plants -- the last two weeks have really been breaking Senator Obama's way," Gerard said over the phone from his office in Pittsburgh. "In particular, I think folks are sort of not taking John McCain as serious as they were, when they see his vacillation last week. 'I'm not going to debate. I'm going to whip House Republicans into shape. Not."
Gerard also said that the bailout bill is hurting McCain disproportionately. "There's lot of anger at this bailout bill, even though people recognize we have to do something. But our people think it's directly tied to Bush, and they tie bush to McCain. That's the sense of what I've heard back from our people, that the race is breaking out."
A sharp turn toward Obama hasn't been reflected in the polling thus far. However, even as McCain surrogates have repeatedly touted Pennsylvania as a possible pick-up state, Obama has maintained a stubborn lead over the last six months, according to Pollster.com's best-fit line of all surveys taken.
All told, the consistency of Obama's lead in Pennsylvania is not too terribly different from the steady advantage that compelled McCain to bail out of Michigan this week.
Obama is protecting that lead. He delivered a stemwinder to a crowd in Abington, Pennsylvania Friday morning. After referencing the latest dismal job loss numbers, Obama told the crowd that the Republicans have had their turn running the economy. "We've tried it their way. It hasn't worked. And it won't work now. But let me tell you what will work," he said, before ticking off his standard economic litany.
Gerard, for one, also thinks Obama is becoming more comfortable talking about kitchen table issues. His union originally endorsed John Edwards during the primary season. But even after their favored candidate abandoned the race, Gerard recounts that it took the union members several weeks to reach a consensus on Obama -- perhaps, as was widely guessed at the time, because his cool demeanor was not resonating with the white working class audience.
Now, though, Gerard says that perception is turning. "Obama seems to have become more passionate. He seems to be angry about what's gone on. I watched part of his speech . That kind of speech could go to standing ovations in a union hall. If he can keep that up level of intensity, what I call constructive anger about what the system has done, I think that he'll connect. ... And McCain will wind up campaigning just in Georgia before it's over."