This map from the New York Times is a great indication of the swing of the country from when Kerry ran in 2004. This illustrates how effective the Democrats' strategy ended up being.
Barack Obama owes his Presidency to three major things:
First, the economy. The economy reached a point of failure on the very day McCain announced, "The fundamentals of our economy are strong." This shifted the middle in Obama's favor and the daily tracking polls never looked back. Unfortunately, neither has the economy. Mr. Obama has a large plate of problems to digest in his first few months. It will be a true test of his ideas.
Second, the ground game/fundraising effort from the Obama campaign. This election is historic in many ways. One of these was the enormous amount of money raised by small donors by Obama. Obama ended up with THREE MILLION individual donors bringing in a whopping $650 MILLION dollars. It is very difficult to win an election running against those types of numbers. Revisions to campaign finance reform will likely result, due to this.
Third, Howard Dean's 50 state strategy. The person not getting credit where credit is due? Howard Dean. Howard Dean implemented his 50 state strategy in February of 2005 when he became the Chairman of the Democratic National Committee. When he first announced his strategy he was met with harsh criticism from many in the Democratic party. However, once the 2006 rout of the Republican Party became evident, many began to support the idea. It was this borrowed GOP post-Watergate idea that sealed the deal for President-Elect Barack Obama. Man I love saying that...
I will leave out what I believe is the fourth reason, Sarah Palin, out of respect. I am endorsing Sarah Palin in 2012 for the Republican Presidential nomination so I cannot, in good conscience, list her as a reason.
Onward to January 20th, 2009 - The End of an Error:
For many, "still President" George W. Bush is a lamest of lame ducks. Nonetheless, Mr. Bush has announced that he will make the next 70+ days of his Presidency about transition. I admire his stance on this and he should be praised for his dedication to the seating of a new First Family. Unfortunately, his transition rhetoric is not without flaw. "Still President" Bush could not leave office without attempting to scare the pants off the American People. Bush warning that terrorists “would like nothing more than to exploit this period of change" is another Rovian attempt to scare the American People in a time of triumph and euphoria. Perhaps he is not wrong in doing so. We should never be complacent again.
Posts
Compliance is Not Consent
5 years ago
5 comments:
Unfortunately, neither has the economy. Mr. Obama has a large plate of problems to digest in his first few months. It will be a true test of his ideas.
We have good news and bad news, sir. The good news is you won the election. The bad news is you are now responsible for an economy in chaos and two wars.
Revisions to campaign finance reform will likely result, due to this.
Do ya think? Again, good news and bad news: "You outspent your opponent six ways to Sunday this time. But it is the final coffin nail in public financing, and the Republicans have all the money in the world."
Howard Dean's 50 state strategy.
No bad news here! Democrats have proven they can compete when they focus on issues that resound with the American voter. All the culture war BS in the world couldn't save the Republicans this time.
What Grey...no comment about my Palin endorsement?
She also has my endorsement.
Palin 2012!
hehe Palin will not only get my endorsement for 2012 I will be sure and caucus for her butt here in Iowa to be sure she gets that nomination. hehe
I also agree that public financing will get a closer look and some proposals made, and while the republicans do tend to have more 'money', and the public system was created to avoid 'buying' an election, you really can't dispute that party had nothing to do with the kind of money Obama collected :)
50 state strategy? hell ya! I think appealing to ALL states, all people really lent to voters feeling included, as though they mattered, that they werent' just being courted to fulfill a candidates own agenda. Whe McCain pulled out of Michigan, it was nothing more than a slap in the face and loud flashing sign of the 'people' dont matter as much as his winning.
I really thought we (the boomers) were going to be the answer but, as a stand-up comic once put it, we somehow went from "Fight the power!" and "Don't let the man keep you down!" to "Hey, nice Beemer". And just like that the revolution was over...
As far as the boomers go, the past 16 years have given us 2 diametrically opposite presidents. Curiously enough, they were both born in the same year so it looks like the boomers are batting .500. Bill Clinton presided over the greatest economic expansion this country has seen in decades, while George W. Bush stripped us of our Constitutional rights and single-handedly cleaned out the cash register, reducing us to an impoverished 3rd rate power, hated and reviled by the majority of the world.
It's amazing to me that the republicans are still flogging the "Clinton hate" horse, because that horse died 8 years ago. Our current president has done more to engender hatred (and deservedly so) than any president in modern history, yet so far he has yet to be called on any of it - beyond the very visible (and quite miserable) approval ratings of his tenure. He took an oath to uphold the Constitution, then systematically set about to destroy and undermine it at every turn.
The republican presidents of the past 27 years have done more to bias the operation of government away from the greater good and more toward corporations and special interests than any in our history. The redistribution of wealth and growth of government during these periods was unprecedented. It's ironic that John McCain, in the waning days of his campaign, chose to harp on the notion of Obama's alleged redistribution of wealth when it's republican policy that has all but eliminated the middle class and made that redistribution essential to our continued viability as a nation.
After 19 years of republican leadership what we have is an undeclared war on the earth and the American people, waged by big business and aided and abetted at every turn by the U.S. government. I wish the best of luck to "Generation We", because they've got a tough road ahead of them. They have my complete support because while the majority of boomers may have lost focus and don't see the goal of a better world as important anymore, I refuse to surrender my ideals and will assist them in any way I can as long as I remain viable.
Post a Comment