I don't get it. I really don't. How can this race be even close

[Jackpine Radical]

-When McCain usually can't get more than a few dozen people at one of his events and has to bus in school kids in order to stage a fake crowd of a few thousand-while Obama events draw tens and hundreds of thousands?

-When McCain's whole campaign consists of attacks on Obama, with nothing positive to offer?

-When all the high-profile Republicans in the country with any pretensions to intellectual competence and moral respectability have come out for Obama?

-When more than half the people in the country have to realize that they are smarter and better-informed than Palin?

-When McCain shows signs of an instability so great that most people couldn't imagine letting him play with the nuke button?

-When--holy cow--everyone from a huge preponderance of American Nobel laureates to Ralph Stanley have come out for Obama?

-When vitually every paper in the country, including many traditional bastions of conservatism, has come out endorsing Obama?

-When most mainline churches, and some evangelical ones as well, endorse Obama?

-When it's obvious that McCain's policies clearly promise to lead us to ecological disaster, economic ruin, and international pariahhood?

-When McCain promises to make health care less affordable and harder to obtain for average Americans?

-When only the wealthy stand to benefit economically from McCain's proposals?

I really don't get it. How come Obama only has a 5 or 6 point lead? How come he's not up by 30 points? Hell, 40? 70-30 would sound about right. Can that many Americans be that stupid?

[nadinbrzezinski]

1. Ye need a close race to steal it

and McCain is way too smug

Flashback to 2004

[Overseas]

14. That's why I am still so tense.

Even though Obama is doing better now than Kerry was at this time, I felt confident election night 2004 while watching the exit polling data that matched the vote counts at around 11 pm -- Kerry 51 to Bush 48

and then the vote count DIVERGED SIX POINTS -- up three for Bush, down three for Kerry -- statistically nearly impossible

and the EXIT POLLING DATA WAS ADJUSTED to match the flipped vote count

and reporters and pundits at the Republican owned media corporations engaged in tortured discussions to pretend that exit poll data from a very reputable firm that we use to judge the fairness of elections in other countries was suddenly flawed in this case. Tortured discussions.

Too quick concession from Kerry and quick moves by the networks to roll out the sincere Guns God & Gays reasons that "John Kerry lost."

Stealing America: Vote by Vote is now available for FREE DOWNLOAD at

www.stealingamericathemovie.org

and it contains lots of TV footage from election night 2004. It was eerie to relive that night.

But Republicans used the dribs & drabs method of vote manipulation-- when we reported on one anomaly, we'd be told it was too small to affect the outcome. There were thousands of anomalies, but each one was a couple of percentage points or a few hundred votes here and there.

We were told to accept Kerry's defeat BY LOTS OF DEMOCRATS. We were told not to be conspiracy theorists.

I am glad more people know about GOP election manipulations now but I do still fear the GOP pushing a "squeaker win" and exerting intense media peer pressure to push Obama to be as gentlemanly as he has been throughout his campaign and concede quickly. Then they'll run those sincere panel discussions they have taped already about lingering racism in America and how sad that we just weren't ready for an African American in the White House.

[Overseas]

21. I'm hoping that Obama's greater leads in polling so far will deter

the GOP from using its full complement of election manipulation tactics.

Too many of us are aware of the low levels of support for McLiar.

[nadinbrzezinski]

25. And I do hope the Dems FINALLY do something about it

I have my doubts 2004 and 2000 were legal victories

that said, the RW is setting the ground to say this was stolen... lord knows they will try... but if Obama wins I can hear them now...

PS I use if, since that is the way a vote massager will have to talk.

[Jackpine Radical]

28. Hi Nadin. I'm morally convinced neither 2000 or '04 was a legitimate Bush win.

2000 is a very well documented theft. '04 Ohio was pretty hard to swallow.

[nadinbrzezinski]

29. A graduate student in fifty years will uncover the ugly truth

Well after I am pushing daisies I am sure

:-)

And well after anybody will care

[Overseas]

38. Not really. Scholars and whistleblowers have ALREADY documented

lots and lots of information. No fifty year delay required. Info is already out. The multiple methods of vote manipulation make it a messy topic to report on. That's all. No mystery. No tinfoil hat necessary.

The electronic fraud is the hardest to document but whistleblowers have come forward to talk about some instances. And we're filming some of the vote flipping as it happens this time, so we'll have even more evidence.

Some of the other types of fraud have been documented.

NO TINFOIL HAT NECESSARY, just some time to read through many reports and watch a few documentaries.

[nadinbrzezinski]

39. The reality is that most muricans don't care

nor am I wearing a tinfoil... trust me on this

But the in-depth reporting will sadly take that long

Lessons from history... sadly

[jazzjunkysue]

41. The belief in honest elections is starting to fray : No one believed me when I said it was rigged

in 00. Some believed me in '04 or were so scared it was rigged they were hostile when the idea was broached.

But now that the gas and deficits are so high and the war is still here and the market has tanked, they want to know who to blame.

It's alot easier to get the idea out there, and the TV has been doing just that. I've seen alot of TV about rigged machines and long lines and deliberate voter suppression.

If they rig this one, it will be the last one they rig, because Obama will call them out on it and people will believe him.

The thing is, this time, even if they rig ohio and florida, gramps still loses.

He can only win if he takes virginia and pennsylvania, and those are up by large margins.

No one will believe it this time.

Plus, who's going to risk jail time. Gramps doesn't have the connections to pardon you or bail your ass out. B* won't save you, either.

It was different when you had people who were part of the B* crime family their whole lives.

Remember that no one likes gramps all that much.

[Overseas]

36. I wish more people would dare to watch the documentaries

about the various low-tech methods of voter suppression Republicans have used at least since 2000,
as well as the electronic vote fraud that has been attested to by whistleblowers since then.

Stealing America: Vote by Vote is a clear, comprehensive documentary with less hype and more data for people to review. It is available for FREE DOWNLOAD.

It is clear that 2004 was stolen and other elections since 2000 have been manipulated. The evidence is way beyond having "doubts that they were legal victories." It makes me very sad to see so many otherwise intelligent Democrats not reading and watching much of the evidence but somehow deciding that those elections were almost certainly fair and upright.

For people who don't like to watch documentaries, the election integrity websites have lots of data and reports from experts in the different kinds of fraud.

Yes it is difficult to quantify because there were several techniques used to depress Democratic vote totals, but that doesn't mean all was probably well. Republican main techniques include electronic fraud, declaring too many ballots "spoiled" and not counting them, purging voter rolls, misdirecting voters with robocalls and fliers, distributing too few voting machines to Democratic precincts and challenging voter registrations at the polls to slow voting down and get some people to give up on standing in hours-long lines.

Republicans are pretending voter registration generated fraud is a big issue but it is not. They tried to push trumped up registration-generated voter fraud cases through the Bush Dept of Justice. The attorneys that didn't want to take the cases due to insufficient evidence against ACORN were fired. Remember those DOJ firings? Republicans hyped up the ACORN stuff because they want to justify stationing people at polling places like they did in Ohio 2004 to slow voting down for hours by checking voter registrations. The ACORN crap will make people think there is a legitimate concern even though it isn't a problem, judging by cases filed and prosecuted.

The long lines were also influenced by the Republican Secretary of State unfortunately sending too few voting machines to Democratic leaning precincts. Just a coincidence, sorry folks.

[TwilightZone]

2. For one, the religious right isn't as hamstrung as we'd like to believe.

Megachurches are still sending out ridiculous propaganda about Obama being a Muslim, the antichrist, etc., and unfortunately, a large number of people still buy into that crap.

They *still* have more influence than we'd like to believe.

[NorCalDem]

3. Can that many Americans be that stupid?

Unfortunately, the answer is 'Yes.'

Sad, i know...

[xiamiam]

5. the hardest pill to swallow...but you know the answer...nt

[progressivebydesign]

It's only close in counties and states where people tend to be sheltered and ignorant.

There is the greed crowd, and there is the ignorant crowd that believes everything they get in emails.

[Egnever]

4. Racism and ideologs

thats it. People who have been conditioned to never vote dem the same way we would never vote republican added to racists that would never vote for a black man. It doesn't have to be a blow out(even thought I think it will be) We just need to win that's all.

[liberal N proud]

6. The incredibly stupid among us don't get it

[w8liftinglady]

7. Come spend some time with the "Christians" in my neck of the woods

Th absolute hate and intolerance they spew is unbelievable.I know my part of Texas isn't alone in its population of inbred morons.

[quantass]

10. Funny that it is always the religious that do the hating in the world...Ironic.

[KansDem]

8. "-When only the wealthy stand to benefit economically from McCain's proposals?"

I think this is the biggest reason. Corporatists, the upper 2% of Americans, and media celebrity "journalists" (who, I imagine, make much more than $250,000 a year) stand to lose if Obama is elected.

It's the upper 2% against the lower 98% but the two-percenters control the media...

[april]

27. That is my fear!

[quantass]

9. If i recall reading here in prior weeks this has ALWAYS happened in Prez Polling 1 week out

A DUer posted links to past elections (and backed up by MSM pundits pointing this out) showing that in every presidential election the polls seem to tighten in the last week...Obama even mentioned that this was bound to happen almost 2 weeks back because this is what presidential elections do. Recall that Clinton's polls were close despite him winning in a landslide in '92

[mtnsnake]

11. Because the good guys always get penalized for telling it like it is

If Democrats lied like the Republicans do about everything...if Democrats conned the voters every election cycle like Republicans do...Democrats would be leading by a much wider margin. But Democrats are not liars and we are not con-artists. We are good people for the most part, unlike our Republican adversaries, so when we say the tough things that need to be said, we lose some votes we shouldn't be losing. Lots of voters vote for whatever sounds like the easy way out.

[goodboy]

12. GO VOLUNTEER, MAKE CALLS, CANVASS...GOTV...

Then we'll all celebrate on Tuesday.

[DiverDave]

13. It's NOT!

Do you really think the pollsters are getting a mix?
I don't, and with tons of folks using cell phones as their primary means of calling, well, lets just say the polls are skewed IMO.
I HOPE it's a blowout, I feel it, but I'm trying to temper that ...

[Codeine]

15. Face it, it's a conservative country.

Just be glad we're winning and that we're going to grab seats in both houses.

[Jackpine Radical]

30. I really dispute the notion that this is a conservative country.

Not in the sense of "conservatism" in hwich the Republicans use the word. Traditional conservatism had a lot to do with helping your neightbors and an ethos based on love.

[JuniperLea]

16. It's not... they are lying... it needs to be close to steal... eom

[TexasBushwhacker]

17. Well, many people vote straight party tickets

and then there are the people who will vote for ANY Republican, no matter who they are or what they stand for. When Obama ran for Senator in Illinois in 2000, over 30% voted for the Republican candidate ALAN KEYES. Let me rephrase that, Alan PSYCHO Keyes!

[ddeclue]

18. You have to subtract out the 28% of the population who are hard core idiot enough to still like Bush

Doug D.

[The_Casual_Observer]

19. It isn't close. The reporting of it being close is out of respect for

mccasket.

[cliffordu]

23. Yep.

[Life Long Dem]

20. And what's more ironic than McSame complaining about the media?

This, after McSame referred to the media as his base.

And after Joe Scarborough said "every last one of them - reporters - would move to Massachusetts and marry John McCain if they could."

And where the Nation has explained how "no candidate since John F. Kennedy, and perhaps none since Franklin Delano Roosevelt, has enjoyed such cozy relations with the press." http://mediamatters.org/rd?to=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.thenation.com%2Fdoc%2F20080707%2Falterman

And this complaining was during the summer months. But he complained up the media again recently. Colbert last night referred to McSame complaining about the media, and Colbert couldn't stop laughing for 5 minutes.

Without the media it makes me wonder where Republicans would be in any election.

[DBoon]

22. in vast parts of the country, right wing talk radio and fundie preachers are all they have

and people in these areas are taught to be suspicious of education and of any "outside" media

Remember, the vast majority of Americans don't even have a passport.

Americans are extremely insular and willfully ignorant, and are subject to manipulation as a result

[KillCapitalism]

24. McCarthyism has returned.

Look at all the lies and propaganda being spread about Spreading the Wealth and how socialism is evil, kills jobs, and makes everyone poor.

People really need to do their homework, the standard of living in countries such as France, Denmark, and Sweden are higher than they are here in the US, and they are *gasp* Socialist.

[debbierlus]

26. All polls showing a close race are using bogus number, they exist to justify the stealing

Which is going to happen by the way...Probably not enough to give McCain a win, but don't be surprised if the election night numbers
give McCain way more votes then he actually received.

[jfkraus]

31. Yes they can.

Can that many Americans be that stupid?

Well, yes. Rachel Maddow reported last night that exit polling in early voting shows 3% still undecided-- after voting.

[Jackpine Radical]

40. I don't think that's stupidity. It's a way of saying

"None of your business who I voted for."

I could even make an argument that most of them are Yeldarb voters--people who don't want to admit to their neighbors that they voted for the black guy. Remember that most Americans believe that others are more racist than they are.

[Native]

32. Can you say cell phone?

Finally heard a strategist on MSNBC talk about this - they use land lines to conduct the polls. How many people under 30 do you know that only have cell phones? They say they have no way to account for these people, but their best guess is that the numbers are huge. I'm glad they're not giving this much coverage though - we don't want to get too confident.

[Ian_rd]

35. I heard the same thing in 2004. nt.

[Orsino]

33. The ignorance, apathy, laziness, meanness and sense of entitlement....

...fostered by years of hard-right rule have twisted us. The followers of Mammon have nearly won that fight.

[Ian_rd]

34. Two major reasons:

1. The right-wing controls vast swaths of media all over the country constantly massaging the brains of over 100 million Americans into believing lies and voting against themselves.

2. Never, ever underestimate the willful ignorance and simple-mindedness of human beings.

[wiggs]

37. Agree entirely with your two reasons and add a third...

....thinking about voting for a young black man is alien to a significant enough number of people. When I think about the big picture of what's about to happen, it's pretty startling we're this close. (On the other hand...given the two choices in the election it's amazing one isn't getting 90% of the vote)

On your #1: I listened to Limbaugh for the maximum tolerable number of minutes this morning (2 minutes) and the fear and smear being shoveled out into millions of radios was amazing and reprehensible. Apparently, Obama is an evil, cold man we don't really know and who doesn't care about his family (referring to his poor half brother in Kenya and some real or fake aunt in Boston) but wants the rest of us to support his family in the new socialist world order he will create. Really? What reasonable person buys that? It's almost an exact quote...There must a be a lot of unreasonable people out there.

[BlooInBloo]

42. It's naturally impossible for racism-deniers to understand how this race could be close.

[jazzjunkysue]

43. It's not close. Do you call 340-150 close? The popular vote is irrelevant.

All of Gramp's votes are in the same hyper red states, and few of them are worth much on the electoral map.

[ecstatic]

44. The crowd disparities are very telling. Obama's supporters are

pumped!