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Home Front: Politix
THANKS DAN!!!!!! - Gallup : BUSH 54 - KERRY 40 - NADER 3
2004-09-17
Hat Tip Drudge -

PS - To the little girl who had her sign ruined.

Revenge will be sweet Nov 2!
Posted by:BigEd

#53  Don't forget folks, a vote for Nader is a vote for Nader.

News and Current Events
Posted by: Anonymous6514   2004-09-17 2:22:23 AM  

#52  Don't forget folks, a vote for Nader is a vote for Nader.

News and Current Events
Posted by: Anonymous6514   2004-09-17 2:22:23 AM  

#51  Deleting the truth can't change facts, Nader is the only choice for America.

News and Current Events
Posted by: Anonymous6506   2004-09-17 12:32:12 AM  

#50  Deleting the truth can't change facts, Nader is the only choice for America.

News and Current Events
Posted by: Anonymous6506   2004-09-17 12:32:12 AM  

#49  #3, Nader is pro-America and that's why he can't win.

News and Current Events
Posted by: Anonymous6504   2004-09-17 12:22:24 AM  

#48  #3, Nader is pro-America and that's why he can't win.

News and Current Events
Posted by: Anonymous6504   2004-09-17 12:22:24 AM  

#47  Come now Rantburgers, we know that Nader is the only choice for America and that's why he doesn't have a chance of getting elected.

News and Current Events
Posted by: Anonymous6502   2004-09-17 12:11:29 AM  

#46  Come now Rantburgers, we know that Nader is the only choice for America and that's why he doesn't have a chance of getting elected.

News and Current Events
Posted by: Anonymous6502   2004-09-17 12:11:29 AM  

#45  RJB it's obvious you don't understand my sentiments at all. I did NOT use the term "out of touch extremists" to refer to the religious right. I said that the first party that's able to successfully stake out a centrist position and cast their opposition as out of touch extremists will dominate American politics for a very long time to come. Big difference, I do hope you understand why the sentiments I expressed and those you attribute to me are vastly different. Nice rant though.

IMHO Bush has handled to religous right very well: he occasionally tips his hat in their general direction but he's not allowing them to dominate his agenda in any way. The only non-mainstream legislative item from his first term that's truly a religious right issue is the ban on federal funding for stem cell research and that's been so twisted and distorted that I found myself correcting the views of REPUBLICAN DELEGATES on its (lack of) extent. Most people don't know that it's merely a ban on federal funding of research on new lines of infant stem cells. Most believe that it's a total ban. Such is the succeptibility of the issues of the religious right to being turned against those who support them. Even President Bush's thoughtful, measured, and infinitely defensible position has likely cost him tens, if not hundreds, of thousands of votes because the issue itself is radioactive. Thank you religious right for giving the hardcore America-hating liberals an issue.

It's absolutely true that the religious right is disproportionately active in politics and that they organize and drive local agendas very successfully. The problem is that to mainstream America their agenda of making abortion illegal, teaching creationism while prohibiting the teaching of evolution, prohibiting all stem cell / human cloning research (no matter the potential payoffs), intruding into the bedroomsm of consenting adults, etc., etc., etc. is laughable at best and sinister at worst. Those of their demands that aren't outright laughable or at odds with the views of the vast majority of the American people are easily twisted by a liberal media into things that drive moderates away from the Republican party in droves. Make no mistake: the religious right is quickly becoming a political liability.

Simply put, an overwhelming majority of the American people don't agree with the views of the far right any more than they agree with the views of the far left and an overwhelming majority of the people I spoke to (nearly all from flyover states BTW) at the RNC don't agree with them either.
Posted by: AzCat   2004-09-17 9:46:24 PM  

#44  I think what AzCat was hearing was that the Religious right really has nowhere else to go so the Republicans can worry about the center instead.
Posted by: RJ Schwarz   2004-09-17 6:41:01 PM  

#43  N guard: Not usually. :-p
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut   2004-09-17 4:20:00 PM  

#42  Just out of morbid curiosity,is there any relationship between the subject of the post and the arrival of the lop-eared troll?
Posted by: N guard   2004-09-17 2:50:53 PM  

#41  Re #34,

Robert, it's possible that you're right about the fund raising, but, if it was there explicitly I missed it and they certainly didn't push it.

Probably an energise the base first and funds second. Possibly a toold to fire up the loons for the march on NH this weekend.

Still, if they have to spend money to do any of these things in Mass they're hurtin' puppies!

Come to think of that doesn't Instapundit hurt puppies? ;^)
Posted by: AlanC   2004-09-17 11:49:24 AM  

#40  Self-loathing doesn't follow from secularism. But I agree that the pro-family oreintation is a huge positive for the country. A nation full of self-absorbed adults who have no interest in marrying, staying married, and raising children is a nation committing slow suicide. Thank god, as it were, for those Americans who still view children as a great gift rather than an intolerable imposition on persoanl freedom.
Posted by: lex   2004-09-17 11:36:51 AM  

#39  The "religious right" is what keeps the US from being a self-loathing wasteland. Like France.

It's not going away. If it did, in fact, we'd be in trouble.
Posted by: someone   2004-09-17 11:32:07 AM  

#38  Ah, I remember. It was part of Ben Affleck's strategy. He said they had to get out and enervate the base. Seems that

a) it worked
and
b) Ben needs a dictionary
Posted by: eLarson   2004-09-17 11:09:39 AM  

#37  Here's another vote for AzCat. The extremists dominate the party nomination process and also elevate fringe issues that interest only a few diehards on either side, to the exclusion of a real and honest discussion of Iraq, Iran, China, the deficit, and the entitlement train wreck in the making.

Arizona's a good example of the socio-political change that Rove and the Dems both miss: the sunbelt is definitely hostile to big cities and the federal government, but it's also becoming increasingly indifferent to the religious right's agenda. This is because the sunbelt is also where the economic growth is, and the high-growth industries rely on ever-increasing numbers of well-educated professionals migrating from the blue states. As NC, GA, TX, AZ, NV and CO continue to grow, they continue to get more liberal on the social issues.
Call them purple states. Whoever can attract these voters, plus a large number of current and ex-military and hispanic immigrants, will have a lock on the the White House going forward.
Posted by: lex   2004-09-17 11:07:36 AM  

#36  I agree w/AzCat. An effective right of center common sense moderate party or candidate has the potential to do very well. IMHO most avg Americans do want smaller gov't, more fiscal responsibility, a tough military & lower taxes. They also want to be left alone to make their own individual decisions on how to run their lives w/less gov't interference - this includes the ability to own a firearm without being red-taped to death, the ability to wear or not wear a helmet when riding a motorcycle, what they do in the privacy of their own bedroom, and the ability to choose their own doctor. I don't want the LLL regulating my income and I don't want the religous right monitoring my bedroom. BTW, going to church on a regular basis does not make one an extremist RJB - I don't think AzCat meant that. I think when you start physically threatening abortion doctors or those who've had an abortion w/eternal damnation that would make you an extremist. I'm not sure if ditching the religious right is ultimately good for the GOP as conservative christians should have a way to voice their opinions, I just think the GOP should keep a finger on what the religious right's ajenda is and what's best for our country as far as the founding father's envisioned it. They knew that anyone of any organized religion claiming to know the mind of the almighty is prolly someone to keep an eye on. Just my $.02.
Posted by: Jarhead   2004-09-17 10:32:56 AM  

#35  Exact-a-mundo Growler. Arnold said it himself...there's plenty of room in the Repub party for disagreement. We're not the Dhimmicrats for cryin' out loud. Expand to the middle? By all means, but no need to leave the religious right behind. Besides...the middle already identifies itself with the Republicans - they just can't admit it yet because there's a negative stigma attached to that..courtesy of the MSM. Look at California...on state wide issues in which we're actually allowed to vote on....we're conservative, yet this state continually votes in the LLL moonbats to the Congress and Senate when it's obvious that the Republican candidate is more in line politcally with their own views. They just can't bring themselves to put that mark next to the R. Thankfully, that is changing, and with the help of Blather, it's gonna really pick up steam...just watch.
Posted by: Rex Mundi   2004-09-17 10:30:24 AM  

#34  I'm a Masshole (well, not really, I just live here) and a very odd thing happened the last two nights. On a local station (NESN - New England Sports Network) there was an add from the ACLU 527 group dumping all over the Patriot Act. Nothing unusual with that except....

Why are they wasting their money on such a solid for Kerry state? The internal polls couldn't possibly be THAT bad, could they?


ACLU-related group?

They're fundraising, not politicking.
Posted by: Robert Crawford   2004-09-17 10:15:00 AM  

#33  Alan C: exactly! When you have to spend money (even 527 money) in mid September to try and energize your base, it means the DNC internals are devastating for down-the-ticket Dems. I smell desperation, so, keep your boot on their neck til Nov 3rd
Posted by: Frank G   2004-09-17 10:10:48 AM  

#32  For state-by-state polls, I rely on realclearpolitics.com. They have a great collection of all the majors.

As for Republicans trying to ditch the "religious right," I think that would be a huge mistake. And I don't think it will happen, either. The majority of Conservative Christian voters are far from the moonbatty Falwell types. They are, these days, more along the lines of James Dobson, or self-professed Evangelical Hugh Hewitt. They are important, politically active, and aware. For a good rundown of them, and the rest of the Conservative movement in America, read "The Right Nation" by two Economist authors. One of the best political books I've ever read.
Posted by: growler   2004-09-17 9:38:29 AM  

#31  AC - Don't forget the MSM's blind-eye to outright camapaigning from the pulpit by Democrat candidates.

AlanC - Could be a "buck up the troops" message.
Posted by: eLarson   2004-09-17 8:45:21 AM  

#30  RE: #23 (Joe) and others.

I'm a Masshole (well, not really, I just live here) and a very odd thing happened the last two nights. On a local station (NESN - New England Sports Network) there was an add from the ACLU 527 group dumping all over the Patriot Act. Nothing unusual with that except....

Why are they wasting their money on such a solid for Kerry state? The internal polls couldn't possibly be THAT bad, could they?
Posted by: AlanC   2004-09-17 8:43:34 AM  

#29  Thanks to a free pass from the media, it isn't commonly noticed that religious interests are actually much more influential in the Democratic Party than among Republicans.

The charlatans and mountebanks of the institutional media spread fear and loathing of the GOP's "religious right," as though we were one precarious step away from crazed mobs of Bible thumpers putting the torch to the Constitution.

These same media swine have no problem at all with the influence of radical pacifist churches in the Democratic Party, or the laughably self-righteous liberalism of "mainstream" druids clergy, or the very high profile activism of assorted "reverends," when these match liberal objectives.
This "religious left" is probably one of the most scandalously under-reported stories of the last half century.
Posted by: Atomic Conspiracy   2004-09-17 7:56:49 AM  

#28  Amen, RJB. Thanks.
Posted by: SR-71   2004-09-17 7:31:42 AM  

#27  Let's see if I understand your sentiments here AzCat.

If one goes to church on a regular basis "then you're probably an out of touch extremists."

If one is uncomfortable with partial birth abortion "then you're probably an out of touch extremists."

If you oppose gay marriage "then you're probably an out of touch extremists."

I could go on here but I've made my point I believe. Think what you will but the second that the Republican party truely views the religious right as being the equal of the howling moonbats then it's back to being a party of also rans! Without conservative Christians the Republicans can't carry the bulk of the midwest nor the south and as we both know without those red states it's all over but the crying.

How many wacko states do you think are out there? I mean there's only so many Minnisota's and California's to go round.

Without conservative Christians niether W nor Reagan would have ever sniffed the Whitehouse. I really can't see how that can be denied.

If the Republicans follow your line of thinking, and if the Libertarians or some other right leaning party would wake up and smell the reality, then the Repub's would experience the same painful slide to irrelavence that the Dem's are currently enjoying.

Just my 2 cents.
Posted by: RJB in JC MO   2004-09-17 7:07:49 AM  

#26  Link today's poll.
Link to Sep 8 poll.
Sorry, something got lost in the shuffle.
Posted by: GK   2004-09-17 5:47:04 AM  

#25  Joe, the predictor has been updated with polls in
AK CA CO GA HI ID IA KY ME MD MA MI MN NE NC ND OH OR PA RI SC UT VT,& WA.
It's now Kerry 211, Bush 307, tied 20
Kerry is now only 'strong' in VT, RI, MA, DE, DC, NM,CA & HI.
Compare results with Sep 8, the day Rather ran the anti-Bush hit piece. Yes. Thanks again Dan.
Posted by: GK   2004-09-17 5:43:15 AM  

#24  Internals from USA Today

Without Nader it is "only" 13%; 55-42
Thanks again Dan!

Posted by: BigEd   2004-09-17 5:39:20 AM  

#23  Also, most of the states are pretty solid one way or the other. The states to watch are the 15 or so "battleground" states. I don't remember all of them but I think they include Oregon, Nevada, New Mexico, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, Ohio, West Virginia, Minnesota, Iowa, Missouri and Florida. Fox News reported tonight that the candidates are now spending most of their campaigning time in those states, so much so that they're literally crossing paths.
Posted by: Joe   2004-09-17 2:56:44 AM  

#22  OldSpook - You're right. This website, electoral-vote.com, is Kerry-leaning, but they tot up the polls on a state-by-state basis rather than trying to divine the race from a national-level picture, and by their own account it looks pretty grim for Kerry right now:

http://www.electoral-vote.com

The latest count from that site has Bush at 311 EV's, Kerry at 223.
Posted by: Joe   2004-09-17 2:54:20 AM  

#21  AzCat - from your lips to (fill in your diety of choice)'s ear!
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut   2004-09-17 2:52:48 AM  

#20  AC - Interesting comments, particularly in light of the buzz I picked up at the RNC a couple of weeks ago. I spoke to a lot of people (delegates & otherwise) while I was there and got the distinct impression that there's a move afoot to marginalize or perhaps completely ditch the religious right.

I've thought for some time that the party that first and most effectively silences or even completely divests themselves of their traditional base (howling moonbats or religous right, take you pick) will absolutely dominate American politics for decades to come.

There's a stunning amount of room to run in the center in this nation and it seems that Arnold has shown the GOP the light. The key will be which party can effectively stake out that ground first and succeed in casting their opponents as out-of-touch extremists. Neither can do so with their traditional base attached but either could without.
Posted by: AzCat   2004-09-17 2:47:56 AM  

#19  A vote for Nader is a vote for Arafat.
Posted by: Atomic Conspiracy   2004-09-17 2:46:06 AM  

#18  Ya know, everytime I see the link for "Politics and Current Events," I just have to click it. The more it's posted, the more I click it. Every single time. "Open in New Window," even.

Then I go to the sink trap, and click it some more. 'cuz you never know if it's really Boris posting this stuff, or some imposter with a different URL.

But somehow I'm always disappointed that the same page opens, and it's updated so infrequently. So I reload it a few times just to be sure. Something about the brewskies I drink, I imagine.

Boris, you need new material. You're boring me.
Posted by: Asedwich   2004-09-17 2:31:32 AM  

#17  [Off-topic or abusive comments deleted]
Posted by: Anonymous6514 TROLL   2004-09-17 2:22:23 AM  

#16  [Off-topic or abusive comments deleted]
Posted by: Anonymous6514 TROLL   2004-09-17 2:22:23 AM  

#15  OldSpook - Shhhhhh. Don't tell them! ;-)
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut   2004-09-17 2:05:18 AM  

#14  Don't get too excited. THis is probably an outlier.

And besides that, the national horserace polls dont matter - the state ones (electoral votes) do.

It'll do Kerry no good to pile up million of extra margin votes in CA Maryland NY Conn Rhode Island and Mass, while he loses by 100K or so in each of Fla, Pa, Ohio, Tennesse, Arkansas, and maybe Wisconsin.
Posted by: OldSpook   2004-09-17 1:26:08 AM  

#13  *CRASH*!

"A rock!"

"There's a note attached!"

"What's it say?"

"Welcome from the violent ward."
Posted by: Phil Fraering   2004-09-17 12:57:27 AM  

#12  AC - Hillary could not have said it better. No wonder she sat this one out.
Posted by: lex   2004-09-17 12:52:27 AM  

#11  Do you think if I poke his brain again, he'll explode? Enviromentalists, like Nader, are nothing but Luddites and One-Earthers. We should strip them naked and drop them someplace...oh, Alaska sounds good and let them survive in 'harmony' with nature. We can film it and let Las Vegas handle the betting on who gets eaten by polar bears, wolves, etc.

"Tho' Nature, red in tooth and claw" - Alfred Lord Tennyson
Posted by: Silentbrick   2004-09-17 12:51:59 AM  

#10  They can't say so publicly yet, but many Democrats believe privately that the loss of the fifth column lunatic fringe to Nader and to Green Party candidate David Cobb will be a good thing in the long run.
The antics of moonbat extremists at the RNC convention and elsewhere are probably a major factor in Kerry's precipitous decline.
Now that Kerry doesn't really have a snowball's chance in hell, there is no reason to try to mollify the remaining blackshirts and far leftists in the Democratic Party and we may see a major push to finish the purge that started earlier this year.
Posted by: Atomic Conspiracy   2004-09-17 12:45:31 AM  

#9  Thought I had him surrounded but he escaped and fled to the Lobotomy wing...
Posted by: Seafarious   2004-09-17 12:43:41 AM  

#8  Oh, Nurse Ratchet - please retrieve your inmate.

He's pooping all over the floor here.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut   2004-09-17 12:37:49 AM  

#7  [Off-topic or abusive comments deleted]
Posted by: Anonymous6506 TROLL   2004-09-17 12:32:12 AM  

#6  [Off-topic or abusive comments deleted]
Posted by: Anonymous6506 TROLL   2004-09-17 12:32:12 AM  

#5  [Off-topic or abusive comments deleted]
Posted by: Anonymous6504 TROLL   2004-09-17 12:22:24 AM  

#4  [Off-topic or abusive comments deleted]
Posted by: Anonymous6504 TROLL   2004-09-17 12:22:24 AM  

#3  Nader's anti-human, that's why he's not going to win. Nader "Unsafe At Any Political Position"
Posted by: Silentbrick   2004-09-17 12:13:22 AM  

#2  [Off-topic or abusive comments deleted]
Posted by: Anonymous6502 TROLL   2004-09-17 12:11:29 AM  

#1  [Off-topic or abusive comments deleted]
Posted by: Anonymous6502 TROLL   2004-09-17 12:11:29 AM  

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