You’ve probably heard that John McCain has denounced Barack Obama’s ‘spread the wealth’ formulation for tax policy as socialism. It’s an inflammatory but not unjustified charge, as a good definition for socialism is the equitable distribution of wealth to the community, coercively enforced by law.
But here’s a troubling aspect: suppose the electorate doesn’t mind if it is socialism?
Forty-four percent (44%) of voters agree with Obama’s statement while 42% disagree in a new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey.
(Rasmussen Reports)
That’s the good part. Shiver for the future?
Sixty-three percent (63%) of voters under 30 agree with Obama’s statement while 33% disagree. A plurality of those over 30 take the opposite view.
(Rasmussen Reports)
On to other things. Jonathan Martin mocks Matt Drudge for having “seized upon any national polls that show the race close.” Not entirely unjustified criticism. Particularly on Drudge’s regular promotion of Zogby’s results — who after some clairvoyant calls in the middle-90s, has a bit of a track record for wildly incorrect findings. To dismiss the close scenario however, you have to dismiss Gallup‘s ‘likely voter’ scenario, which favors people who have voted in previous elections.
Many people talk of the unprecedented development of having an African American president, and with good reason. It is a likely outcome at this point. But an equally unprecedented event would be a predicted flood of youth voters actually turning out to the polls on election day, and those voters having a substantial effect on the outcome of a national election. It may be that this is the year for it, given that the politically unprecedented has happened half a dozen times already in this campaign. But it’s also an outcome so rare that one shouldn’t rush to entirely disregard the likely voter model.
Thanks - food for thought Lee. I personally (wish I had more of a choice or different choices) believe that McCain would make a better President overall, but that Obama would make a better difference in the country because it would allow the left to give into the idea that doing something about the ails of the country is better then blaming the perceived culprits or the actual ones for that matter. Perhaps we could find some unity in a resounding defeat of the incumbent party? Ok, so I’m not holding my breath.
Anyway, it just may be a foregone conclusion by the amount of Indy and not so Indy films that have been crowding the internet for the last year. Watch this one from a series of films for a bit of insight. http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=GEtZlR3zp4c&feature=user
This election wouldn’t be the first one bought and paid for by one party’s ability to out-fundraise the competition. I have not done the math to see which side wins in the actual flubs that are excusable and the actual flip flops or the actual out of context misrepresentations but from the 30 and under voters I meet today – seeing it on the internet is enough for them to believe anything.
I had one soldier questioning why “in all those years McCain was in prison in Hanoi why didn’t he try to escape a single time?”… he was questioning the man’s Honor, Discipline, Duty, Character and most of all his regard for fellow American’s in captivity.
When I tried to explain to him about the location of the prison, the differences between the indigenous population and the captives, the total control and indoctrination of the populace and the chances of survival and the effects a prison break might have had on fellow inmates… I realized that the guy wasn’t even listening.
Younger male voters have already made up their minds. They bought the product a long time ago after seeing a handful of ads. Will they turn out? Probably enough of them.
p.s. Both the Rep’s and the Dem’s do far too much finger pointing and do far too little rectifiying situations, setting the record straight, taking responsibility for mistakes, ideas or programs that just didn’t work out. Each side is so busy trying to crucify the other for failures or less than desireable outcomes that they forget that they can, could and should help each other avoid the problems in the first place – oh but then they would have to share the credit!
Last time I checked, there weren’t supposed to be any sides when it comes to saving America.
Sad really.