Disclaimer: Do not mistake the tone of this post to be anti-Obama. Come November, I will likely be voting for him just on principle.
However, I am having a problem with people who genuinely believe that Obama is going to win in a landslide. Where do you guys live? More importantly, what are you smoking?
I don't think Americans have voted *for* a president in quite a while. No one I knew liked Kerry or Bush or Gore--they were merely casting their votes AGAINST the opposite candidate. (This is also why attack ads are so much more effective.)
So, I ask myself this: Who is going to be voting against McCain? Diehard democrats, of course, a few small groups of people who disagree with him on specific issues, people who don't like his like of charisma, etc... in short, the usual suspects.
On the other hand, we have the first ever black nominee. His father was a muslim, he grew up in muslim countries, his first name rhymes with "Osama" and his middle name is "Hussein".
Now, it's true that we've come a LONG way since the 1950s, but I still have trouble fathoming how some people can absorb all of that, take a look around them and not realize that the anti-Obama vote (NOT the pro-McCain vote because again, no one votes FOR anyone anymore) is going to be simply breathtaking.
Most people I know still don't know the difference between Osama bin Laden and Saddam Hussein, much less the difference between a Persian and an Arab, or a Sunni and a Shi'ite. A majority of people I know are still scared to death of terrorism and extremely distrustful of muslims. Many of the people I know who voted for Bush in '04 did so for one of two reasons:
1. The believed the flimsiest of attack-ad bullshit flung at Kerry, e.g. flip-flopper or Swift Boat (note: this is not a pro-Kerry comment. I hated the dude myself, and did not vote for him.)
2. They feared muslim terrorism, and wanted some form of continued military presence in the Middle East.
What we now have in Obama is an intersection of these two reasons--the potential for people to make all kinds of Obama=>Muslim implications, and the potential to imply that he's "soft" on terrorism/muslim states.
All of you liberals out there, answer me this: do you really think that your average USA citizen--even if he's moderate or slightly liberal--will be able to control his prejudice and think rationally in the face of the coming Obama=terrorism blitz?
It_is_coming.
And, I'm almost sure that McCain will win. ALMOST sure. The only thing that can save Obama is if every black citizen and every bleeding-heart liberal finally jumps at the chance to vote for a candidate that has an ounce of charisma, screams down the Obama=muslim lies with lies of their own, and the red states are thus rendered moot.
And what happens then?
Why, Obama will be assassinated within 3 months of taking office. Good god, I wish it weren't so but COME ON... There are ~300 million people in this country, and it only takes one racist, ex-military nut who's a crack shot and just happens to believe that Obama is the anti-Christ.
Perhaps this all sounds like insane cynicism/pessimism... or maybe I've actually got my head above the sand.
I live in central Florida near Orlando (not exactly the deep south), and the staunch *religious* conservatism (as opposed to fiscal) one still encounters in at least ~25% of the poluation is astounding. These people believe that Revelations is literally true, and that the coming apocalypse will be between christians and muslims. (A good many of them are racist too, of course, though few are openly so.)
In short, I think everyone who's been star-struck by Obama really needs to get a grip. Charisma is nice and all, but it simply can't stand against hatred and fear.
However, I am having a problem with people who genuinely believe that Obama is going to win in a landslide. Where do you guys live? More importantly, what are you smoking?
I don't think Americans have voted *for* a president in quite a while. No one I knew liked Kerry or Bush or Gore--they were merely casting their votes AGAINST the opposite candidate. (This is also why attack ads are so much more effective.)
So, I ask myself this: Who is going to be voting against McCain? Diehard democrats, of course, a few small groups of people who disagree with him on specific issues, people who don't like his like of charisma, etc... in short, the usual suspects.
On the other hand, we have the first ever black nominee. His father was a muslim, he grew up in muslim countries, his first name rhymes with "Osama" and his middle name is "Hussein".
Now, it's true that we've come a LONG way since the 1950s, but I still have trouble fathoming how some people can absorb all of that, take a look around them and not realize that the anti-Obama vote (NOT the pro-McCain vote because again, no one votes FOR anyone anymore) is going to be simply breathtaking.
Most people I know still don't know the difference between Osama bin Laden and Saddam Hussein, much less the difference between a Persian and an Arab, or a Sunni and a Shi'ite. A majority of people I know are still scared to death of terrorism and extremely distrustful of muslims. Many of the people I know who voted for Bush in '04 did so for one of two reasons:
1. The believed the flimsiest of attack-ad bullshit flung at Kerry, e.g. flip-flopper or Swift Boat (note: this is not a pro-Kerry comment. I hated the dude myself, and did not vote for him.)
2. They feared muslim terrorism, and wanted some form of continued military presence in the Middle East.
What we now have in Obama is an intersection of these two reasons--the potential for people to make all kinds of Obama=>Muslim implications, and the potential to imply that he's "soft" on terrorism/muslim states.
All of you liberals out there, answer me this: do you really think that your average USA citizen--even if he's moderate or slightly liberal--will be able to control his prejudice and think rationally in the face of the coming Obama=terrorism blitz?
It_is_coming.
And, I'm almost sure that McCain will win. ALMOST sure. The only thing that can save Obama is if every black citizen and every bleeding-heart liberal finally jumps at the chance to vote for a candidate that has an ounce of charisma, screams down the Obama=muslim lies with lies of their own, and the red states are thus rendered moot.
And what happens then?
Why, Obama will be assassinated within 3 months of taking office. Good god, I wish it weren't so but COME ON... There are ~300 million people in this country, and it only takes one racist, ex-military nut who's a crack shot and just happens to believe that Obama is the anti-Christ.
Perhaps this all sounds like insane cynicism/pessimism... or maybe I've actually got my head above the sand.
I live in central Florida near Orlando (not exactly the deep south), and the staunch *religious* conservatism (as opposed to fiscal) one still encounters in at least ~25% of the poluation is astounding. These people believe that Revelations is literally true, and that the coming apocalypse will be between christians and muslims. (A good many of them are racist too, of course, though few are openly so.)
In short, I think everyone who's been star-struck by Obama really needs to get a grip. Charisma is nice and all, but it simply can't stand against hatred and fear.