[AGL] here's an interesting comment from the New York Daily News

[Frances Morey]

To which I reply, and to which reply I reply:
 
I hope the electoral votes aren't as tight a margin of victory as the delegate "lead" Obama held over Hillary through the Primary. I hope this Election has a large enough victory to declare the winner shortly after the polls close. That way the "liberals" have their mandate to "spread the money around."  
 
This is all the Democrats had to mention to get me to trundle to the polls to vote Straight Democratic Ticket. Except for Raymond Frank, a Republican running for sheriff. He supports legalization of pot.
 
Now we find that the government is subsidizing the munitions, airlines, stock trading, agriculture as well as the mortgage and banking industries. Will they remember the little old ladies on Social Security? I hope Obama won't hold it against my demographic for staying with Hillary while he got to campaign in all the states.
 
I can't wait for the money to be spread around! How about doubling the Social Security stipends? That would effect a massive "stimulus package"," jump start the economy and end recession overnight. 
 
I agree that it is the Office and not the man who occupies it that makes it so powerful. We've had enough of this Reaganomics in Bush clothing. The trickle must have evaporated before it got down to me.
 
Did you see the gas prices drop to $2.02 today? Hmmm. How could it be worth half as much as it was last month--that's a $30 fill-up as opposed to a $60 tank of gas?
Jeeze, I wish I had waited to gas up.
 
Best,
Frances


--- On Mon, 11/3/08, fmaverick at austin.rr.com <fmaverick at austin.rr.com> wrote:

From: fmaverick at austin.rr.com <fmaverick at austin.rr.com>
Subject: Re: [AGL] here's an interesting comment from the New York Daily News
To: "survivors' reminiscences about Austin Ghetto Daze in the 60s" <austin-ghetto-list at pairlist.net>
Cc: "Michael Eisenstadt" <mike.eisenstadt at gmail.com>
Date: Monday, November 3, 2008, 11:26 AM

In some weird way, this makes me feel better. It is the elephant in the room
that was acknowledged, then covered with invisible fairy dust. I THINK that this
is a worst case scenario. I also think that the Obama people are taking all of
this into consideration and are very cleverly doing everything possible to
counteract the elephant poop. We may see a very close race, but we will win,
thanks to the fact that Obama hired the smartest people on the planet. 
---- Michael Eisenstadt <mike.eisenstadt at gmail.com> wrote: 

> But here's the thing. Even if we accept the conclusions of those who

assert 

> that, when we run the numbers, race is not depressing black

candidates' 

> Election Day performance, lessons learned from non-national contests,

where 

> black candidates sought to become mayor, governor or senator, are of

little 

> use this time around.

> 

> With all due respect, none of these offices comes close to matching the 

> symbolic heft of the presidency.

> 

> The President is the man (or woman) we see every day. The one who stands

for 

> us in meetings with foreign leaders. Who commands the military. Who guides



> us through hard times. In short, he is the repository of the nation's

hopes 

> and fears. To the nation, he is government personified; to the world, he 

> represents the American nation. Since childhood, people generally revere

the 

> office, if not the officeholder.

> 

> There is another factor: undecided voters. As of last week, Pew estimates 

> that roughly 8% of the electorate have yet to settle on a candidate.

> 

> And as Larry Hugick observed in a 1993 report on contests between

candidates 

> of different races in the '80s and '90s, the overperformance of

white 

> candidates may be accounted for by undecided voters, most of whom were 

> white. Likewise, once we consider the makeup of current undecided voters,

we 

> should expect them to side with McCain. They're 80% white, more than

half 

> have never attended college and more than 50% have seen their 50th

birthday.

> 

> We have never had a black man run on a presidential ticket before, so 

> statistical analyses cannot help us much. It could well be the case that 

> when some white Americans, especially those who claim to be indecisive, go



> into the voting booths, they will hesitate to vote for Obama.

> 

> Under these circumstances, one should not be shocked to discover that, in

a 

> few key swing states - if that's what this comes down to - some

racists may 

> be misrepresenting their intentions to pollsters and reveal their true 

> preference for Republican John McCain on Tuesday. As a result, we could be



> surprised. The polls may be wrong. And race may wind up the reason why.

> 

> It would be naive to believe that race won't, in some way, affect the 

> outcome of this election. The question is whether it'll ultimately

cost 

> Democrats the contest.

> 

> Parker is assistant professor of political science at the University of 

> Washington and the author of the forthcoming book "Fighting for

Democracy: 

> Race, Military Service, and Insurgency during Jim Crow."

> 


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