Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

Obama: running uphill against the wind in the South
August 17, 2008 | vanity

Posted on 08/17/2008 5:59:04 AM PDT by jmaroneps37

A July 27 Washington Post analysis pointed out the actual numbers involved in a Barack Obama victory in some of the Southern states. These numbers make it very clear that it is all but impossible. We will hear over and over about how Obama will be competitive in some Southern states and Virginia will always be mentioned. Nevertheless, here’s the truth: In order to win Virginia he has to A) hold ALL the White votes John Kerry got in Virginia. THIS ALONE IS A GAME ENDER, but there’s more;

B) He has to increase the Black turn out by 30%

AND

C) He has to get 95% of the Black vote.

While A is already is a serious threat to Obama’s plan, B and C present equally daunting and dangerous ground to build a dream of victory on.

Anyone who has worked in a campaign knows that Get Out The Vote (GOTV) is time and money consuming and that the very best campaigns can only increase a demographic group’s turnout by about 4 to 6 %. For Obama to do 30%, his campaign would HAVE to spend every dime it had allotted to Virginia on GOTV. That means No TV and or Radio spots except on eh, “urban stations.” That means NO door- to- door canvassing except in inner cities. That means No outreach to Whites whatsoever. There would be no time, no money and certainly no one to spare. It also means only Black door- to- door volunteers for obvious reasons. Getting his 95% is nowhere near a given. An August 4 Zogby poll revealed that Mr. Obama has “lost some support among African Americans....” Mr. Zogby's decision not to release the actual numbers of Mr. Obama's loss of Black support tells me it was a serious fall. Zogby is a Democrat himself. So unless Obama was sitting on 100% of the Black vote, which is simply not possible, losing ANY support among African Americans puts him below 95%.

Nevertheless, however difficult a victory for Obama in Virginia appears to be, winning in other Southern states is still more difficult, substantially more difficult. In North Carolina Obama’s A and C items are the same, but in the Tar Heel State he has to increase the Black turnout by 36%.

In Georgia, which is the other Southern state the delusional media is trying to sell as a Democratic presidential pickup, the picture is fairly glum as well. In the Peach State Obama would have to arrange a Black turnout increase of 64% to win, provided he can hold all of John Kerry’s White vote.

The effect all of Obama’s emphasis on wooing a larger and larger Black turnout and an unprecedented vote percentage would have on his efforts to bring White males back to the Democrats is hard to determine. What is clear is that it would hurt Obama rather than help him. Since 1964 no Democrat presidential candidate has won the White male vote. That this streak will continue this year is a given. The question is how poorly Obama will do and how much he will hurt down ballot Democrats.

Starting with the middle of September the media will crank up its efforts to make America believe Obama will win. They will use push polls to try to fool voters into thinking an Obama victory is coming. It’s not. Don’t buy it. The numbers tell the story.


TOPICS: Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: obama; southernvote
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-2021-24 next last

1 posted on 08/17/2008 5:59:04 AM PDT by jmaroneps37
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | View Replies]

To: jmaroneps37
The 80% liberal media is always surprised when liberals don't win every election by 90%. After all, everybody they know and talk to in the office agree with them.

They appear to have a limited world view, which makes them terribly disappointed when actual election results come in.

If I subscribed to a print newspaper, I would feel obligated to pay a little extra just to provide grief counselors for journalists after each election. Maybe the newspapers should lobby the government to make "Liberal Journalist Grief Counselor" a check-off box donation option on tax returns.

2 posted on 08/17/2008 6:05:22 AM PDT by Bernard (If you always tell the truth, you never have to remember exactly what you said.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: jmaroneps37
Are you from Virginia??
3 posted on 08/17/2008 6:06:27 AM PDT by org.whodat (Republicans should support the SAM Walton business model, and then drill???)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: jmaroneps37

You got that right - Hussein or McCain?

http://www.polistic.com


4 posted on 08/17/2008 6:08:12 AM PDT by nesnah (Expression with an attitude - www.polistic.com)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: jmaroneps37

I suspected that Obama had lost some minority support. I know his comment about Spanish hurt him a lot locally here in VA. A local conservative talk channel had a very large number of blacks calling in complaining about that statement. I expect Obama to do better in the minority community but this article is right. He will not have a blow out and he will have big trouble winning anywhere in the South.


5 posted on 08/17/2008 6:09:14 AM PDT by Maelstorm (John McCain is ready to be commander in chief)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: jmaroneps37

I’ve noticed that locally Mark Warner supporters are not putting up Obama signs in the vicinity of his signs. It is almost as if they think Obama will hurt him and from what I’ve seen going door to door that is true. I expect Mark Warner to suffer a fall off in state support after speaking at the Democrat convention. Right now he is riding high with a significant amount of conservatives who don’t really know Mark Warner outside of the media which has been covering for him.
This race isn’t over provided some ads start running up until election day.


6 posted on 08/17/2008 6:12:47 AM PDT by Maelstorm (John McCain is ready to be commander in chief)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: jmaroneps37

how do we transfer Obama’s unwinability onto other candidates.

Obama needs to be an albatross for ALL democrats.


7 posted on 08/17/2008 6:20:51 AM PDT by longtermmemmory (VOTE! http://www.senate.gov and http://www.house.gov)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: jmaroneps37
In the Peach State Obama would have to arrange a Black turnout increase of 64% to win,

The black turnout in metro Atlanta depends on how many different polling places the rented buses can get their riders to before the polls close.

This year the Democrats may need to hire a team of NASCAR drivers to drive the buses on election day. They can pay out of the money they save on cigarettes since their voters will vote for Obama for one or two less packs of smokes than they would get for a white candidate.

8 posted on 08/17/2008 6:30:08 AM PDT by epow ("Behold, he that keepeth Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep.")
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Maelstorm

warner is speaking at teh DNC convention?

well that stinks of the “speak like a christian” effort by the Mr. Walis consultant.

Me too christianity of the chinese menu.

I remember the Greek Orthodox ArchBishop at the GOP conventions. (plural)


9 posted on 08/17/2008 6:44:34 AM PDT by longtermmemmory (VOTE! http://www.senate.gov and http://www.house.gov)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 6 | View Replies]

To: epow

how about cross border voting.

if you live along the border just vote in two states.

use homeless shelters as the “other address”


10 posted on 08/17/2008 6:53:05 AM PDT by longtermmemmory (VOTE! http://www.senate.gov and http://www.house.gov)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 8 | View Replies]

To: longtermmemmory
Obama needs to be an albatross for ALL democrats.

Whoa there. Not for ALL. Locally here in North Georgia, we do not want the Republican who was in office eight years ago and practically ruined this County financially) to win as County Commissioner. We want the Democrat who is fiscally conservative and has lowered property taxes (again) to make us one of the lowest taxed Counties in Georgia to win again. Please do not make generalized statements. Maybe at the Federal Level (Senate and House) and possibly at the State Level, but not necessarily. There are a LOT of good Democrats in State Government. Sometimes one MUST vote for 'the man' and not 'the Party affiliation.' Especially if you know who and what 'the man' stands for.

This goes for women, too.

11 posted on 08/17/2008 7:04:48 AM PDT by HighlyOpinionated (The World is a Tragedy for Those Who Feel (Democrats) but a Comedy to Those Who Think (Republicans).)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 7 | View Replies]

To: Bernard
"The 80% liberal media is always surprised when liberals don't win every election by 90%. After all, everybody they know and talk to in the office agree with them."

And they are still stuck on stupid after they lose, pointing at the exit polls and blaming the loss on ballot fixing by the opposition.

12 posted on 08/17/2008 7:06:35 AM PDT by HangThemHigh (Entropy's not what it used to be.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]

To: Maelstorm

Thanks for posting that, re his comment on speaking Spanish/ the blacks were angry.

It’s nice to gather hard data about this.


13 posted on 08/17/2008 7:09:47 AM PDT by bboop (Stealth Tutor)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 5 | View Replies]

To: jmaroneps37
“Starting with the middle of September the media will crank up its efforts to make America believe Obama will win. They will use push polls to try to fool voters into thinking an Obama victory is coming. It’s not. Don’t buy it. The numbers tell the story.”


I wonder if this comes from the political science studies that showed an increase in a politicians vote percentage when people perceived that the politician was going to win. The studies showed that some people, maybe as much as 5%, would vote for the perceived “winner” because they wanted to be associated with the “winner” of the contest.

If there is something most journalists believe in, it is political science courses. It appears to me, though, that many times, if the race is percieved as close, a perception that a candidate who a large group of voters perceive as “dangerous” might win, would energize those voters to go to the pols, and bring as many of their friends as the can. Fear is a powerful incentive.

Thus, I suspect that the this “perception of winning” may actually work against the liberal candidate in many elections.

14 posted on 08/17/2008 7:09:52 AM PDT by marktwain
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: longtermmemmory
"Obama needs to be an albatross for ALL democrats."

I think if the DNC can't work a miracle at the Denver Convention -- Obama WILL in fact become a stinking albatross around the neck of the DNC....

Compounding this will be Obama's campaign, history and attempt to trump the facts about Black Liberation Theology with the race card....
Obama has revealed a level of black racism and white hate amongst the black community that many were unaware of existing in America.....
Race relations have and will worsen as a result of Obama's campaign.

America will see the DNC as an organization taken over by a mixed bag of radical special interest groups -- including the homosexual lobby, Welfare leaches, Marxists, surrender monkeys, black racists, Islamists and your run of the mill idiots, morons, felons, a$$holes and former hippy senior "citizens".

An interesting side note...
The ONLY Obama poster in our neighborhood in wrapped around a tree in the yard of the neighborhood's acknowledged village idiot.... "And there's your sign!"

15 posted on 08/17/2008 7:11:17 AM PDT by river rat (Semper Fi - You may turn the other cheek, but I prefer to look into my enemy's vacant dead eyes.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 7 | View Replies]

To: jmaroneps37

Obama will not win any Southern states, but I predict that he is going to do surprisingly well in many of them.

First, let’s get the “black vote” out of the way. Obama is going to get 95% of it, easily. Just as there are whites who may not tell the truth to pollsters, there are blacks who [despite what they reveal to pollsters] will, at the very last moment, cast their ballot for one of their own. They want a black man to win, plain and simple - because it’s “our time”.

As for black turnout - well, let’s just say that it is going to be phenomenal. There is no historical “predictor” of how blacks will turn out to vote for a black for president, of course. I sense polls are meaningless this time around, insofar as black turnout is concerned. In states with large black populations, like Georgia - this is going to give Obama a strong color-base.

Of course, “the black vote” - even with 100% of eligible blacks turning out and casting their votes for Obama - can’t do it for him. He has to get a proportion of the “White vote”, too.

Even in the conservative South, there remains a cohort of committed democratic white voters who will vote Obama. Certainly not a very large cohort, but I feel comfortable predicting that Obama will garner at least 25% of the white vote in these states, possibly more. You’ve got that share of “white guilters” who will vote for Obama to assuage their consciences, and also another group of “broken glass ‘rats” who are going to vote for the ‘rat candidate no matter what. After all, we have the “broken glass” contingent on _our_ side, as well (and I’m pretty much one of ‘em!).

As I stated at the outset, Obama won’t win any of these states, but he will run more strongly in them than any non-Southern democrat has done in a long time. The race factor actually HELPS him down South.

Interestingly, I think the states in which McCain will do best will be those that have a “mix” of blacks (not constituting a lopsided percentage of the population, vis-a-vis nationally, but not “overwhelmingly white” states, either). Again, the race factor comes into play here. In states with next-to-no black population (such as Iowa), it’s easy for white voters to feel magnanimous towards blacks, because they have little actual _contact_ with them in day-to-day life. Often their only perceptions blacks are formed by what they’ve seen in the media, etc. Not so in those states where white populations are forced by proximity into frequent contact with blacks - these whites “know better” regarding the true nature of race relations and cultural conflicts, and their vote is going to reflect this.

The states in which Obama will do best are the “lily-white liberal” states, such as Vermont. These people are the “dreamers” to whom liberalism calls loudest. McCain will be trounced in them.

Of course, we still have to wait and see what happens in the debates, if indeed they occur. I’m wondering if - after last night’s performance, which I didn’t watch but in which others think McCain did surprisingly well against Obama - the Obama campaign will start looking for some possible way in which to scuttle the upcoming “real” debates, or, in lieu of that, find a way to “tilt them” to their candidate’s favor.....

All predictors are off this year. This will be the first presidential election in which race plays a major role. Folks don’t want to talk about this, even folks right here on FreeRepublic, but race is the “elephant in the room” this time around. I have no problems with that; it’s time things like this were discussed openly, without fear of having the taunt of “racist” hurled around.

- John


16 posted on 08/17/2008 7:26:27 AM PDT by Fishrrman
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Maelstorm

I missed that, what did he say?


17 posted on 08/17/2008 7:31:01 AM PDT by autumnraine
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 5 | View Replies]

To: Maelstorm

Oh, never mind. I didn’t realize you meant where he said we should teach our children spanish. I thought it was something in the thing that was on last night.


18 posted on 08/17/2008 7:34:28 AM PDT by autumnraine
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 5 | View Replies]

To: Fishrrman
“....it’s time things like this were discussed openly, without fear of having the taunt of “racist” hurled around.”

I totally agree. All opinions need to be heard and discussed. An open dialogue is the best way to get race issues behind us.

19 posted on 08/17/2008 7:35:07 AM PDT by pieceofthepuzzle
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 16 | View Replies]

To: HighlyOpinionated

I thought Zell did the state good too. I think there is a distinct difference in the Southern Democrat and the Liberal Democrat.


20 posted on 08/17/2008 7:36:19 AM PDT by autumnraine
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 11 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-2021-24 next last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson