Are We Moving Into An Extremely Dangerous Phase of This Campaign?

[Blackhatjack]

Recent polling is not only confirming Obama's lead in key states, but it is also showing a 'hardening' of those leads.

Political strategists are familiar with 'hardening' of polling stats as the red flag that the campaign is almost over UNLESS something earth shaking or game changing occurs, and it occurs quickly.

This will not be a race that is decided in the last few days before the election day. This race is being decided right now. IMHO once the Oct 15 3rd Presidential Debate is over, the race will likely be over at that time --because the opportunity to score with a 'game changer' won't get the coverage or attention that the Debates have offered.

So IMHO that means the realization has or will sink in for the McCain/Palin Republican candidates that Obama/Biden will win, and likely will bring along huge majorities in the Congress.

THis is dangerous... because desperate people who are willing to do anything to hang on to power are prone to engage in just about any kind of conduct to justify the ends. And as we have already seen, there are supporters of McCain/Palin who are unhinged enough to act outside the law once they realize Obama will be the next President.

[Politics_Guy25]

1. no

Don't go there please. Any energy that this thought is given is bad.

[demo dutch]

2. The "kill him" scream yesterday is enough to scare the hell out of me!

of course it happens in Florida!!

[AlinPA]

4. Obama needs more protection. I always worry that Bush**- Rove-Cheney

control the "Homeland Security" Department of which SS is a part.

[regnaD kciN]

5. I remember, during the primaries...

...how the Secret Service "protecting" Obama tried to get the metal detectors turned off at his Dallas rally, only to be overruled by the local police.

:wow:

[musicblind]

10. I don't blame Florida. I've visited FL several times and there are many good people there.

I blame rednecks. Period. Being in the south doesn't make you a redneck... being a redneck makes you a redneck and I fucking hate people like that. I have far too many of them in my family :(

[msallied]

3. Look at it this way: 70% of this country and the entire world HATES Bush.

If that guy managed to escape a bullet for 8 years, I think that speaks well for modern security detail. :)

[Marsala]

7. But it's the other 30% who are the unbalanced gun nuts...

The Secret Service had better take their job very seriously, for all our sakes.

[msallied]

9. You make a good point. But I think that there are extremists on both sides.

My point being that if enough people hate somebody, there is usually someone who is willing to take it a step further. ESPECIALLY with Bush on the international stage. He's angered the Muslim world in a massive way.

[grantcart]

6. no signs of hardening

Pollster.com daily update shows that there is continued drift towards Obama with big increase in CO and more good news from Florida



http://www.pollster.com/blogs/morning_status_update_for_107.php

Today we see yet more evidence of the recent national gains for the Obama-Biden ticket trickling down to individual states. Seventeen new statewide polls released yesterday moved our estimates in Obama's direction in eight states. They also pushed the battleground states of Colorado and Florida into the "lean Obama" category, raising his electoral vote lead on our map to 296 to 163, with 79 electoral votes states still in the toss-up category. More specifically,

Two new polls by Fox News/Rasmussen and the Florida Chamber of Commerce serve to confirm and extend the trend toward Obama, increasing his margin on the trend estimate to four points (49.3% to 45.3%). Although the Chamber poll shows a three-point McCain advantage (45% to 42%), the Rasmussen survey gave Obama a 7-point lead (52% to 45%) and five of the last six Florida polls give Obama leads of 4 to 8 points.
In Colorado, the new Fox News/Rasmussen poll puts Obama ahead by six (51% to 45%), though note that Fox/Rasmussen has conducted two of the three Colorado polls released since the first debate.
Elsewhere, yesterday's polls also helped move the trend estimates in Obama's direction in Virgnia (+1.9), New Hampshire (+1.4), North Carolina (+0.9) and Ohio (+0.8) and Maine (+0.4). The exception is New Mexico, where a new survey by the Albuquerque Journal, showing Obama leading by just five points (45% to 40%) narrowed the trend estimate slightly (-0.3).

[anigbrowl]

12. I think OP meant Obama's lead is hardening/solidifying

[stillcool]

8. It is frightening that they have gone this far....

and you can't help but wonder how much further they will go. It's a horrible feeling to watch this being allowed to continue, as though it is nothing, and being helpless to do anything about it.

[Blackhatjack]

11. The media could help put a stop to this by condemning it in the Press when it happens...

When a 'tactic' gets lots of 'bad press' then the initiator of the tactic will likely change it since the whole point of the tactic is to demonize the target and not themself.

We need to demand that people promoting the McCain/Palin tactic must condemn it, and stay on them about it until they do.

[anigbrowl]

13. Yes: it's clear that Palin-McCain is trying to radicalize the right