Obama keeps cool as Democratic fears heat up

[DogPoundPup]

Source: Yahoo News / AFP

NEW YORK (AFP) - White House hopeful Barack Obama professes no anxiety about polls that show his longstanding lead evaporating, but senior Democrats are rattled at the Republicans' Sarah Palin-inspired charge.

Since his shock decision a fortnight ago to select the little-known Alaska governor as his running mate, John McCain has risen steadily in opinion surveys on the back of a re-energized conservative base.

Obama, however, appears confident that the Palin surge will fade as her novelty value wears off, as the media digs deeper into her record, and as voters reappraise which ticket would best bring change to a fretful nation.

"I don't spend a lot of time looking at polls because a year ago today, I was down 20," he said Wednesday in Norfolk, Virginia, referring to his long-odds bid to wrest the Democratic nomination from Hillary Clinton.

"So if I spent my time worrying about polls, I'd be in big trouble. Right now it is neck and neck and you know what, that's probably how it was going to be inevitably," the Democrat added.

Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20080911/pl_afp/usvoteobamapoll

[firedupdem]

1. what fears from Democrats? He's going to win this...

we're not fearful. Right??

[ClarkUSA]

2. DUers could learn a lot about the Meaning of Cool from this man...

:smoke:

[Sarah Ibarruri]

3. I'm no longer comfortable with cool while the house burns down nt

[Enrique]

4. being cool during a house fire can save your life

losing your cool could cause you to go up in flames.

[Sarah Ibarruri]

5. We already tried being cool in a house fire in 2000 and 2004.

Twice we heard that by being cool and not being vicious back, we'd win.

[Liberal_Stalwart71]

6. Don't you ever get tired of whining? And please stop comparing Obama to Kerry.

It gets tired. He's nothing like Kerry.

And for the Democrats who are complaining, what are they doing? Are they out there supporting Obama? Are they out there being good surrogates? Look at the Republicans. The Republicans are everywhere helping McSame. Where are the Democrats.

Unless you are doing something, please stop whining and complaining.

If you have no faith in Obama and his abilities, then why are you even here?

[Sarah Ibarruri]

7. Ok fine. I'll shut up and observe nt

[Roy]

22. Obama also has the benefit of Kerry's experience.

In hindsight, Kerry has knowledge of what went wrong and what went right, and all of this knowledge and experience is in now in Obama's hands.

[glinda]

11. Here here!

I totally agree.

[Name removed]

8. Deleted message

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[WriteDown]

9. After watching him on O'Reilly....

I am a little nervous. He is not adept in the art of the soundbyte.

[geek tragedy]

13. Going on O'Reilly must have been a desperation move.

I really can't see any other reason for doing so.

[protect our future]

17. It was a brilliant move. Not desperation at all. n/t

[WriteDown]

21. Not desperation....

but I did not think it made him look good. The soundbytes he DID provide on the surge, taxes, and Afghanistan didn't seem to help :(.

[Stellabella]

10. This nation isn't 'fretful', it's on the edge of a cliff.

And in dire straits, and needs the smartest people possible to help fix it. Not some unqualified brain-dead dominionist quack.

[AndyTiedye]

14. I Know That, You Know That, Every Thinking Voter Knows That

Will that be enough? :scared:

[geek tragedy]

12. Did he say "I'm known as a good closer?" n/t

[obiwan]

15. Once again, here is how it works:

1. Pollsters pick one Dem, one Rethug, and one independent for their polling. Everyone knows that there are at least 11 million more registered Democrats than there are Rethugs. On numbers alone, if the Dems turn out and there is no voting machine hanky panky, the Dems should win in a landslide. 2. Pollsters only poll people with LAND LINES. This sampling skews more elderly (who tend to be conservative) and more toward less educated people. 3. A sizable slice of the new Democratic voters use CELL PHONES as their primary number. Pollsters do not poll cell phones, so the numbers are skewed. Not too worried about the election, although the GOP ads pander to the lowest common denominator and piss me off royally because they are so offensive and patently FALSE.

[protect our future]

16. Also, new voters are not in the data base that the pollsters use,

so they never get polled even if they have a land line.

[NoName Left]

19. Add into the equation Caller ID...

Many people have Caller ID on their land lines and ignore unfamiliar numbers.

Supposedly, polling outfits "adjust" for this...ALONG with inability to poll cell users...AND lack of access to names of newly registered voters. HOW can these multiple, unknowable, factors be adjusted with any reliability?

"Trust us, we know what we're doing - it's all scientific" from polling companies? I don't believe it. PLUS, this week it was revealed that some of the well-known pollsters had skewed additional Republican responders into their most recent snap-shot results.

This all adds up to meaningless pontificating from pollsters, based on often biased data, who have compromised their credibility. In contrast, the Obama campaign has thousands of ears to the real-world ground - 24/7.

I trust Obama's judgment. I trust the judgment of those he has chosen to put in charge of his campaign. I trust the cool leadership that has prevailed time after time. We're so accustomed to the nuts setting fire to the asylum; it's a major mind shift to realize that sanity has arrived on the scene.

In addition, don't believe for one second that Obama/Biden have no plans to deal with election fraud, rigged machines and ballot tampering. If you and I are worried about it? We can be sure they started laying groundwork months ago.

[RantinRavin]

20. Actually, that is not entirely correct.

According to Rasmussen:

Like all polling firms, Rasmussen Reports weights its data to reflect the population at large. Among other targets, Rasmussen Reports weights data by political party affiliation using a dynamic weighting process. Our baseline targets are established based upon survey interviews with a sample of adults nationwide completed during the preceding three months (a total of 45,000 interviews). For September, the targets are 39.7% Democrat, 32.1% Republican, and 28.2% unaffiliated (see party trends and analysis). For the month of August, the targets were 40.6% Democrat, 31.6% Republican, and 27.8% unaffiliated.

[6000eliot]

18. Obama has already defeated a much more formidable foe than McCain/Palin.

I'm not worried in the least about this convention bounce.