Discussion

• spankinrankin :

  Much as I hate Mark Penn, I'm afraid he's correct on this one. Obama has only built his strength on caucuses and there's no guarentee that Obama will win any of those red states in the heartland or in the south especially when you look at the numbers and the fact that the cons are already making plans to further increase the EVANGELICAL turnout through their typical hot-button provoking tricks and Obama has certainly not faced any formidable GOP opponent when he ran for Senator back in 2004 as any Democrat could easily whip Keyes at 70%. Does any in IL know how Obama actually fared in his local and regional races? Did this guy ever face a tough opponent ?!?!?

  Posted on February 14, 2008 2:21 PM

• GrantBurkeVT :

  spankinrankin,

  I don't think Obama or Hillary will be able to get much past the partisan social-only liberal vote when general election rolls in.

  Posted on February 14, 2008 5:09 PM

• Chris V :

  Considering that Obama has in several "red" states won more votes than all the Republican candidates combined, I'd say he stands an excellent chance in the general election. Democrats will always vote for the party candidate. The question is whether independents will vote for him. And the fact is that independents and even some Republicans prefer Obama over McCain.

  Posted on February 14, 2008 7:39 PM

• maxpayne :

  Chris V,

  Nice dreaming but that's what was assumed about Kerry before he clinched the nomination only to be swiftboated. If you think Obama is going to be given a Saint "free" pass by the GOP and the media, you better realize that Obama's just as controversial as Hillary and the GOP will dig up as much dirt on him as they did on Kerry back in 2004. Obama faced an easy rightwing lunatic, Alan Keyes, in 2004 which even a dog could beat. Primaries don't mean anything once it's all over. The media and the conservatives will overlook Mccain's weakness and elevate him all the while torpedoing Obama on his controversial association with the current Kenyan pro-Taliban dictator, his brother being a Muslim fanatic, lack of experience, and just about any social hot button issue. He's never had to fight a vicious media before so don't expect his faith and hope Clintonian talk to get him anywhere. In addition, if Nader runs, his pro-GOP triagulating voting record in his 4 years will be revealed and that would seriously depress the base which has already been ABUSED by the Democratic Party. Just because Obama comes from Chicago doesn't mean he really understands the heartland much as he would want to claim otherwise.

  Posted on February 14, 2008 8:59 PM

• Nebraska Nathan :

  Obama may have done fine in Nebraska but coming from the state, I can tell you that a lot of voters hate both Democrats currently running and most of them are even willing to pull the lever for Mccain and the general election hasn't even started !! At this rate, Mccain can sleep and still win !

  Posted on February 15, 2008 10:57 AM

• Preston_P :

  Max, what's up with all this talk about Obama's "controversial association with the current Kenyan pro-Taliban dictator, his brother being a Muslim fanatic"? I remember Walt mentioned something about this the other day but for some reason I forgot to ask him. The only thing that comes up when I google something up about Obama's brother is an article by white supremacist Steve Sailer (someone who's on record lauding Eugenics and considers Charles Murray to a legitimate thinker regarding race and genetics), and I don't trust anything that he writes. Is there a reliable source or link I can read where I can learn more about Obama's tides to a Kenyan dictator and Muslim fanatic brother?

  Posted on February 15, 2008 5:40 PM

• waltc :

  Preston

  Go check out larry johnson's site. I can't say more or I'll be banned.
  

  Posted on February 16, 2008 10:59 PM

• Preston_P :

  Walt, I just read the blog entries about Obama by Larry Johnson and I have to say this is some very disturbing stuff. I'm even more disturbed that I knew nothing about this since I consider myself someone who reads many progressive/liberal blogs. While I'm not sure I can trust many of the sources Johnson cited in his blog entries, I would like this issue brought out in the open to hear Obama's explanation. No wonder the media and the Republicans are savoring over Obama becoming the nominee -- they will rip him a new asshole that will make the swiftboat of John Kerry seem mild in comparison.

  Posted on February 17, 2008 10:12 AM

• waltc :

  Preston,

  This is why vetting of candidates is so damn important. Running any politician with significant baggage is just giving the opposition lots of free ammunition.

  Why the liberal blogosphere doesn't talk about these issues? some are ignoring it because they endorse Obama like Markos and Huffpost(both of whom are now banning/deleting comments anyone who critiques Obama), others are keeping silent out of party loyalty.

  BTW check out reporter Peter Hitchens of the DailyMail who wrote a piece on the Black Kennedy then go look up Harpers 2006 piece on "Barack Obama Inc" as well.

  Posted on February 17, 2008 10:59 AM

• maxpayne :

  Preston_P,

  I got the info from this link

  http://noquarterusa.net/blog/2008/02/16/no-he-cant-because-yes-they-will/

  If the Obama-ites want to censor us and expect that the GOP will give Obama a "free" pass just like they did in 2004, the Obama-ites are about to be politically BOMBED by the GOP. As spankinrankin has pointed out, Obama has yet to face a real opponent given his "easy" pass to the Senate. I wonder if the IL GOP were actually smart enough to predict ahead of time that Obama would take the media bait and run for president even before his first Senate term was completed. Then again, why bother when we'd be better off demolishing the Democratic Party to the ground and rebuilding it from ground zero given their abysmal record in failing to stop the GOP when they had the chance.

  Posted on February 17, 2008 11:59 AM

• maxpayne :

  And here's more on Rezko and his ties to Obama:

  http://rezkowatch.blogspot.com/

  Sadly, this is a huge preview of what's to come from the GOP if/when Obama gets the nomination.

  Posted on February 17, 2008 12:31 PM