TPM reports CNN announces that the first debate had "no effect" according to its "poll of polls," but reality says, "my ass!" In fact, if the election were held today, according to the Princeton Election Meta-Analysis, there's almost no chance McCain could win:
Of course, the election isn't being held today, but early voting is about to begin, and The Politico reports that the GOP is freaking out, with suggestions that McCain get a lot nartier than he has been. And why not? His good guy image is gone for good and we all know he likes to take risks...
September 30, 2008
CNN POLL OF POLLS: Debate 'changed nothing'
Posted: 05:40 PM ET
From CNN Ticker Producer Alexander Mooney
(CNN) - Nearly 60 million Americans tuned in to the first presidential debate between Barack Obama and John McCain last Friday, but national polls released this week suggest the square-off did little to change the dynamics of the race.
The new polls are bad news for McCain, who with only five weeks until Election Day is quickly running out of opportunities to shake up the race for the White House.
In a new CNN poll of polls consisting of surveys conducted entirely after the first presidential debate, Obama holds a 5-point lead over McCain, 48-43 percent. That's exactly where the race stood immediately before the two candidates kicked off the presidential debate season in Oxford, Mississippi, four days ago.
But, here in the blogosphere, where no one does real reporting, a few hours ago, no one named "tremayne" posted this right here at Open Left:
And Pollster.com's national trend poll shows a similarly pesky up-tick:
Nervous GOP urges McCain to attack
By MIKE ALLEN & JONATHAN MARTIN | 9/30/08 7:02 PM EDT
John McCain's fade in recent polls, combined with a barrage of negative news coverage during the financial crisis, has leading Republican activists around the country worrying about his prospects and urging his campaign to become much more aggressive against Barack Obama in the remaining month before Election Day.
A flurry of new polls shows Barack Obama gaining in several battleground states - most notably Florida, Pennsylvania and swing states throughout the West. Officials worry early voting, which is under way in important states such as Ohio, is likely to favor Obama in this toxic political climate.
Several state GOP chairmen in interviews urged the McCain campaign to be more aggressive in hitting Obama's vulnerabilities, such as his past relationship with the Rev. Jeremiah Wright and other problematic associations from Chicago.
But as September turns to October-Wednesday marks 34 days to the Nov. 4 election-it is clear McCain himself is to blame for the most urgent problems. His snap decision to throw himself into the bailout debate has proven disastrous, since his efforts looked late and half-hearted, and many in the GOP ignored his pleas in Monday's House vote....
GOP officials also believe that a sustained attack on Obama's ties to his former pastor, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, scandal-stained businessman Tony Rezko and former radical war protester William Ayers could sway undecided voters.
Among those goading McCain to be more aggressive is Tennessee Republican Party Chairman Robin Smith, who said that "people need to see a gladiator who's willing to defend what exactly he stands for."
"We're not talking, for instance, about the radical associations that Barack Obama has, with Mr. Ayers, Tony Rezko and so on," Smith said. "More could be done."
Murray Clark, the chairman of the Indiana Republican Party, said he is eager for Obama's "troubling relationships" to be aired in his state. "I think those things will come up in Indiana again and they do have an impact on mainstream voters in Indiana. You call it going negative, [but] whoever ... is in a position to point out these relationships, I think it's helpful."
But right now the economic situation is very troubling for McCain.
So, the GOP wants to go all Willie Horton, but the damned Son Of The Great Depression just keeps horning in on the picture.
Life is soooo unfair!
But just because it won't work, doesn't mean they won't try. In fact, other parts of the RWNM are doing their darnedest right now:
Big Lie
by digby
I've been writing quite a bit about the building rightwing "explanation" for the economic crisis: the blacks and the Mexicans stole your tax money to buy perfectly good houses they couldn't afford and the wreck them. Perlstein called it "a modern day equivalent of the Protocols of the Elders of Zion-a Big Lie narrative that blames a despised, outcast social group for problems they had nothing to do with, in order to aggrandize the ability of the dominant group to hate and oppress." There are a lot of awesomely outrageous claims floating around in right wing circles right now as they desperately to keep the whole ship from going down, but that has to be the most despicable.
But even more scary is the idea that it might just work. Rick recounts a tale of the modern media, which is both familiar and infuriating:
So
what did I do in that Chicago radio studio last Friday when a wingnut (who, incidentally, is African American) spewed forth some excrement about how Jews harvest the blood of children for their Passover matzohs handouts to swarthy people are responsible for the meltdown of the American economy? I did my job. I called it a "lie and a slander," explaining in simple and forceful terms that lending institutions covered by the CRA have a lower mortgage default rates than ones that aren't, and that even if the former were the worst companies in the history of the universe, they wouldn't have helped produce the financial contagion had not conservative deregulation green-lighted the buying and selling of insanely irresponsible mortgage-backed securities.
Perlstein's come-back got edited out, naturally. Digby added this link to Media Maters with more on this racist meme.
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