Fineman: Obama targeting McCain's own state?

Up until about 15 minutes ago I had my mind made up for Obama, but I just listened to him speak in VA on television.  I changed my mind I just can't understand what he is saying.  He say's things that just go around everything.  Obama also was attacking the republican ticket, and then complains when they attack him.  I don't understand why he thinks everyone should talk good about him.  I am sorry I just don't trust him at all.  I am a 50 y/o  black man I have always voted democrat and like I said until just a few minutes ago I was planning on it.  Obama just doesn't sound like a black man, he sounds like a lawyer.  As of now I am undecided again

"Why of course the people don't want war. Why should some poor slob on a farm want to risk his life in a war when the best he can get out of it is to come back to his farm in one piece? Naturally the common people don't want war: neither in Russia, nor in England, nor for that matter in Germany. That is understood. But, after all, it is the leaders of the country who determine the policy and it is always a simple matter to drag the people along, whether it is a democracy, or a fascist dictatorship, or a parliament, or a communist dictatorship. Voice or no voice, the people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is tell them they are being attacked, and denounce the peacemakers for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger. It works the same in any country."

- Hermann Goehring

"Beware the leader who bangs the drums of war in order to whip the citizenry into a patriotic fervor, for patriotism is indeed a double-edged sword. It both emboldens the blood, just as it narrows the mind. And when the drums of war have reached a fever pitch and the blood boils with hate and the mind has closed, the leader will have no need in seizing the rights of the citizenry. Rather, the citizenry, infused with fear and blinded by patriotism, will offer up all of their rights unto the leader and gladly so.  How do I know? For this is what I have done. And I am Caesar."

- Julius Caesar

I read on these things and it seems like to me all the Obama supporters keep attacking the McCain supporters.  I really don't think this is the kind of people we need trying to decide anything.  If the Democrats that support Obama are this nasty, I reaaly don't wany their candidate.

Jack you are what is wrong with the country its called Racism. By the way the rescue package that was just passed is SOCIALISM at its finest. The tax rebate you got yeah SOCIALISM maybe you need to go back to school and learn something.

This is from the AP website:

AP presidential poll: All even in the homestretch

By LIZ SIDOTI – 47 minutes ago

WASHINGTON (AP) — The presidential race tightened after the final debate, with John McCain gaining among whites and people earning less than $50,000, according to an Associated Press-GfK poll that shows McCain and Barack Obama essentially running even among likely voters in the election homestretch.

The poll, which found Obama at 44 percent and McCain at 43 percent, supports what some Republicans and Democrats privately have said in recent days: that the race narrowed after the third debate as GOP-leaning voters drifted home to their party and McCain's "Joe the plumber" analogy struck a chord.

Three weeks ago, an AP-GfK survey found that Obama had surged to a seven-point lead over McCain, lifted by voters who thought the Democrat was better suited to lead the nation through its sudden economic crisis.

The contest is still volatile, and the split among voters is apparent less than two weeks before Election Day.

"I trust McCain more, and I do feel that he has more experience in government than Obama. I don't think Obama has been around long enough," said Angela Decker, 44, of La Porte, Ind.

But Karen Judd, 58, of Middleton, Wis., said, "Obama certainly has sufficient qualifications." She said any positive feelings about McCain evaporated with "the outright lying" in TV ads and his choice of running mate Sarah Palin, who "doesn't have the correct skills."

The new AP-GfK head-to-head result is a departure from some, but not all, recent national polls.

Obama and McCain were essentially tied among likely voters in the latest George Washington University Battleground Poll, conducted by Republican strategist Ed Goeas and Democratic pollster Celinda Lake. In other surveys focusing on likely voters, a Washington Post-ABC News poll showed Obama up by 9 percentage points, while a poll by the nonpartisan Pew Research Center had Obama leading by 14. A Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll, among the broader category of people registered to vote, found Obama ahead by 10 points.

Polls are snapshots of highly fluid campaigns. In this case, there is a margin of error of plus or minus 3.5 percentage points; that means Obama could be ahead by as many as 8 points or down by as many as 6. There are many reasons why polls differ, including methods of estimating likely voters and the wording of questions.

Charles Franklin, a University of Wisconsin political science professor and polling authority, said variation between polls occurs, in part, because pollsters interview random samples of people.

"If they all agree, somebody would be doing something terribly wrong," he said of polls. But he also said that surveys generally fall within a few points of each other, adding, "When you get much beyond that, there's something to explain."

The AP-GfK survey included interviews with a large sample of adults including 800 deemed likely to vote. Among all 1,101 adults interviewed, the survey showed Obama ahead 47 percent to 37 percent. He was up by five points among registered voters.

A significant number of the interviews were conducted by dialing a randomly selected sample of cell phone numbers, and thus this poll had a chance to reach voters who were excluded from some other polls.

It was taken over five days from Thursday through Monday, starting the night after the candidates' final debate and ending the day after former Secretary of State Colin Powell broke with the Republican Party to endorse Obama.

McCain's strong showing is partly attributable to his strong debate performance; Thursday was his best night of the survey. Obama's best night was Sunday, hours after the Powell announcement, and the full impact of that endorsement may not have been captured in any surveys yet. Future polling could show whether either of those was merely a support "bounce" or something more lasting.

During their final debate, a feisty McCain repeatedly forced Obama to defend his record, comments and associations. He also used the story of a voter whom the Democrat had met in Ohio, "Joe the plumber," to argue that Obama's tax plan would be bad for working class voters.

"I think when you spread the wealth around, it's good for everybody," Obama told the man with the last name of Wurzelbacher, who had asked Obama whether his plan to increase taxes on those earning more than $250,000 a year would impede his ability to buy the plumbing company where he works.

On Wednesday, McCain's campaign unveiled a new TV ad that features that Obama quote, and shows different people saying: "I'm Joe the plumber." A man asks: "Obama wants my sweat to pay for his trillion dollars in new spending?"

Since McCain has seized on that line of argument, he has picked up support among white married people and non-college educated whites, the poll shows, while widening his advantage among white men. Black voters still overwhelmingly support Obama.

The Republican also has improved his rating for handling the economy and the financial crisis. Nearly half of likely voters think their taxes will rise under an Obama administration compared with a third who say McCain would raise their taxes.

Since the last AP-GfK survey in late September, McCain also has:

_Posted big gains among likely voters earning under $50,000 a year; he now trails Obama by just 4 percentage points compared with 26 earlier.

_Surged among rural voters; he has an 18-point advantage, up from 4.

_Doubled his advantage among whites who haven't finished college and now leads by 20 points. McCain and Obama are running about even among white college graduates, no change from earlier.

_Made modest gains among whites of both genders, now leading by 22 points among white men and by 7 among white women.

_Improved slightly among whites who are married, now with a 24-point lead.

_Narrowed a gap among unmarried whites, though he still trails by 8 points.

McCain has cut into Obama's advantage on the questions of whom voters trust to handle the economy and the financial crisis. On both, the Democrat now leads by just 6 points, compared with 15 in the previous survey.

Obama still has a larger advantage on other economic measures, with 44 percent saying they think the economy will have improved a year from now if he is elected compared with 34 percent for McCain.

Intensity has increased among McCain's supporters.

A month ago, Obama had more strong supporters than McCain did. Now, the number of excited supporters is about even.

Eight of 10 Democrats are supporting Obama, while nine in 10 Republicans are backing McCain. Independents are about evenly split.

Some 24 percent of likely voters were deemed still persuadable, meaning they were either undecided or said they might switch candidates. Those up-for-grabs voters came about equally from the three categories: undecideds, McCain supporters and Obama backers.

Said John Ormesher, 67, of Dandridge, Tenn.: "I've got respect for them but that's the extent of it. I don't have a whole lot of affinity toward either one of them. They're both part of the same political mess."

AP Director of Surveys Trevor Tompson, AP News Survey Specialist Dennis Junius and AP writer Alan Fram contributed to this report.

Red state, not reach state you idiot.

Read this first paragraph for a report from "The Nation." Some hero he is! What has he done for those still missing, and for those vets who have nothing now? Not a thing.

Why Has John McCain Blocked Info on MIAs?

John McCain, who has risen to political prominence on his image as a Vietnam POW war hero, has, inexplicably, worked very hard to hide from the public stunning information about American prisoners in Vietnam who, unlike him, didn't return home. Throughout his Senate career, McCain has quietly sponsored and pushed into federal law a set of prohibitions that keep the most revealing information about these men buried as classified documents. Thus the war hero people would logically imagine to be a determined crusader for the interests of POWs and their families became instead the strange champion of hiding the evidence and closing the books.

It would be ironic if Arizona went for Obama, instead of McCain. However, stranger things have happened: Sarah Palin criticized Obama on "experience," John McCain played down the endorsement of Obama by General Colin Powell (Republican), and the GOP campaign warned of terrorists, socialists and anti-Americans while they continued to tear the nation apart emotionally, socially and economically. It would only be fair if McCain lost Arizona. 

Sarah Palin is not right for America. She is "bitter" and clings to guns and witch hunting.

Taking the fight to Arizona?!?  LOL.  That would just be mean, rubbing McCain's face in it like that. 

NOTHING wrong with a little socialism,i´m in.

You complain because the Obama campaign won't get cocky and assume they've already won and by that, they should share the campaign monies "we" sent to him for "his" campaign.

Well, you must be really upset about the $150,000 that was sent on Sarah Palin and her families wardrobe, right?

hope Obama kicks grandpa's hide in his own backyard !

Phone call from AZ last night informing that the big cities are going Obama by a large percentage. Lot of retirees who are losing their pension money, older Republican women who do not like Palin and just people who are fed up with the Republican plan.

Bush's biggest problem was a self-serving pork-loving sweetheart mortgage deal recieving Democratic congress, and much of the senate, like the Fannie/Freddie guy Senator Dodd. The hen house is bursting with foxes, and for some reason they are all still in their positions - Barney Frank, Dodd, Paulson, and Bernanke - all meddling with the economy to make sure they stay wealthy and that the middle class stays put, with no chance of bettering themselves with their own acomplishments - and they are offering up a Messiah to lead us all. People, cough up the kool aid. That congress is our fault, we (well, not me!) the voters gave those fools the offices they are now abusing! And I don't want to foot the bill for Pelosi's private plane anymore - she is spending too much of my money and her rhetoric is that of a divisive middle schooler rather than a national leader.

Hey everyone. I live in Arizona, and I can see Mexico from my back yard...can I be VP now?

Anyone complaining that Obama is targeting McCain's own state ???

Cynthhia,,,,  Hold on, let the party buy you an "elite" 150,000 dollar wardrobe --- Then you can go around & teach children how the V.P runs the Senate

I live in AZ and have for over 20 years. It is not my homestate, nor is it McCain's. He moved here after he married Cindy. And besides, as someone said in another posting, this is an election. Of couse Obama should be campaining everywhere.

I hope Obama does WAY more in AZ.

And thanks, Jim, I have never seen that much money! My house didn't cost half that! I could use a new wardrobe...

In addition to "bashing" the current chief executive and either of the two potentials, might we add the legislative branch?  A dear (liberal democrat) friend once said "when things go right the President gets 90% of the credit, and when things go bad he gets 90% of the blame."  I don't care for Bush and his "mentality" but it wasn't his power that declared war on Iraq, that came from the Senate.  Once again, it's Reps and Dems blaming each other and protecting their own party before looking at "Mr. and Ms. America's needs".

Tenntom,,,,  So you think everyone who supports Obama is poor ????   That's pretty damned ignorant of you,,  piss poor thinking on your behalf

Tenntom,,,,, I'm retired military, this country doesn't need a McCain or Palin who thinks only 20% of this great nation is Pro-Ameircan or Patriotic

We don't need another 4 years like the last 8 --- We have a nation to unite & repair,, a War on Terror to actually make some progress in instead of more regression & a military to rebuild and support

The Repthuglican disaster begins squarely at Bush's doorstep. 

Facts are facts, during the Bush Administration, the national debt, close to 10 trillion dollars, has nearly doubled. 2009's federal budget looks to be about a half-trillion-dollar deficit, don't forget, prior to Bush the $700B SURPLUS that was projected when Clinton left office 8 years ago. Private-sector job creation has been 1/6th of what it was under Clinton. 5M people have fallen into poverty. Americans w/out health insurance has grown by 7M, the average premium has nearly doubled. The big domestic kudo of the Bush Administration has been to shift the tax burden from the rich to the rest. For the top 1% of us, Bush tax cuts are worth, about a $1K per week; for the bottom 1/5th of us, the cut's worth about $1.50 per week. Both candidates keep screaming about helping the middle class, THERE IS NO MIDDLE CLASS There is Rich and Poor, period ! I believe the Bailout was needed for our credit mkts, but it will prevent/put on hold the rescue of our healthcare system, environment, educational, and industrial infrastructures, thereby slowing job growth.