Obama Writes off Four States, Losing Jewish Voters in New York
About the Author: I also write under the names Rudi Stettner and Magdeburger Joe. My home websites are rudistettner.com and magdeburgerjoe.com. Through my writing I like to promote a "labour conservative " social outlook as well as my eclectic tastes and interests Read more from this authorThe movement for hope and change that lit up the world from the Eiffel tower to the Brandenburg gate has now given up hope of changing the minds of voters in four states.
North Dakota, Idaho, Alaska, have all been written off by the Obama campaign, according to an article in the Los Angeles Times.(Click here)
In these states, campaign workers have been withdrawn and redeployed in states where the polls show a closer contest. The Obama campaign has also pulled television ads in Georgia.
The four states have a total of 22 electoral votes.
Although the LA Times is delivering encouraging news to the McCain campaign, it does so in a backhand and condescending manner. On their web site, the story is accompanied by a video that discusses white racism. The states from which Obama forces have withdrawn are described in the most pejorative terms.
“The Associated Press reported this evening and an Obama spokeswoman confirmed that the Chicago-based campaign is pulling its 50-some staffers out of the heavily Republican state full of embittered small towns and shipping the workers east to Minnesota and Wisconsin, where the Democrat’s prospects seem brighter and closer.” (LA Times)
It is never a good sign for a campaign when the decision is made to write off states. The tone of the LA Times article is hardly dispassionate. Extensive speculation goes into the role of race in voter choices. Is it push polling to ask voters how they would vote if Obama were white? The article addresses the race issue as follows:
The abandonment of at least one Midwestern state by Obama comes as a new AP poll indicates that race could play a significant role in deciding a close national election. (See video.) Some experts estimate the first African American candidate of a major party might be as much as 6 percentage points more ahead if he wasn’t black. (LA Times)
The article gives no indication if Obama’s opinions were discussed with voters. This would be a logical focus in any poll that explores voter attitudes. There is a serious question how much of LA Times election news is really commentary.
In other bad news for the Obama campaign, it appears that New York has come up for grabs. The Jewish vote has shifted dramatically from its usual Democratic tilt according to the New York Post, “Obama has had a reversal of fortunes among Jewish voters. His support has plummeted 35 points, from a lead of 50-37 to a 54-32 deficit in the new poll.”
The one force that seems to work in Obama’s favour is the tendency to blame economic woes on the incumbent President. His story line about the difficulties on Wall Street is long on catchy sound bites and short on facts. The Democratic foot dragging on dealing with the economy in Congress is starting to look suspicious to voters. The Republican approach of discussing solutions without name calling seems likely to resonate with voters.
Past elections always showed much more support for the Democrats in polls than actually showed up on election day. Whether it is weighed in terms of geographic regions or in terms of ethnic blocs, things are not looking good for Obama and Biden. It would serve the LA Times far better in terms of journalistic integrity if they would report facts without resorting to underhanded name calling. It might also improve their circulation.
