For ANY other candidate, this much of a lead would already be celebrated as a win

[bigtree]

But because of ONE characteristic of Obama's, his race, this substantial, steady lead is being cast in doubt.

That's all McCain has to bank on in the next two days and he has done everything he could to fuel the divisions and animosities which underlie negative judgments made based on race. He's being helped in that effort by a media which has bought into the narrative that there are enough of 'secret' votes against Obama, concealed in the support already polled, to overcome that substantial lead.

Even pundits without a bone in the race are selling the cynicism in their tepid acknowledgment of Obama's lead. The effect of that surrender to cynicism has been a stoking of fear and nervousness among those who would support the Democratic candidate. I don't advocate leading with our fears, though.

We need and deserve to be confident as we move into these last days of the campaign. Not 'overconfident,' but definitely resolute about the worth and effectiveness of our campaign so far. Just because folks who have never bothered to lift a finger of support for our nominee are selling apprehension doesn't mean that we have to oblige them with our own anxiety. There's plenty for us to feel satisfied and proud of for us to hang our hopes on.

We have an army of supporters and volunteers in every state to get out the vote; an organization which dwarfs McCain's tired posse. We have the edge on enthusiasm on our side with not a little measure of the anger and rage which has been opportunistically highlighted as the sole franchise of the rabid right-wing which follows and attends the McCain/Palin medicine shows. We're fed up and we're not going to kowtow to their anti-democratic McCarthyism.

I challenge ANY of these ignorant pretenders to match my level of disgust with McCain's extension and elaboration of the Rove/Bush politics of personal destruction. That disgust is what is providing our leading edge and it's that righteous Democratic anger which will prevail at the polls.

So, feel good. Keep working hard, but feel proud and confident of our chances Tuesday. That's the way to move forward; without fear and with a resolve to match our firm opposition to the brain-dead, scapegoating politics of the past. G'Obama!

[Arkana]

1. We're gonna win, dammit.

We're gonna win, and they're gonna scream and cry and piss and bitch and moan and whine about it.

And I'll enjoy it more than I did than when we took back Congress in 2006.

[bigtree]

5. It's sad how much attention appeals to fear get from posters

. . . and how little response optimistic posts receive. How utterly miserable to wallow in the defeatism and pessimism.

[SammyWinstonJack]

2. K&R!

[bigtree]

3. !!

:bounce:

[Willo]

4. Well said! - K&R

We are winning the early voters because of the big turnout. Military donations for Obama are 6 to 1.
On Tuesday they are going to have to count votes written in crayon, cast on pieces of cardboard because the turnout will be HUGE.

The media is working hard, spinning every which way but loose. They can't figure out if it's better to say we're ahead or behind LOL. Rev Wright ads are playing here in NY. How's that for a waste of time and money? Their trying to tell a tale to make a Tuesday sale.

But it won't work. There are far too many voters in too many states saying "We need a change."

[bigtree]

6. we have good reason to believe in our party's ability to show up and deliver

We are in control.

[pnwmom]

7. If he were white I wouldn't be feeling ANY more confident.

Not given the fraud, purging, etc. in the elections of 2000 and 2004.

[bigtree]

8. The electoral map in 2004 was much different, not nearly as many opportunities at this point

. . . as Obama has this time around. And the money and organization wasn't as flush as Obama's; giving us a large advantage in the gotv effort.

I think our own poll watching has gotten more sophisticated as it's matched and challenged the vote suppressing efforts of the republican poll monitors. So . . . we need to be vigilant, but we have good reason to feel confident we can overcome the obstacles of the past as we continue to work to the finish.

It's a legitimate concern that our finish can be tampered with, but that's not really what's being portrayed as the possible impetus for some potential McCain upset. There really isn't any other voter concern (outside of the media-driven, anticipated closet-racism) which has been proven as a game-changer in this election. I believe the myth of some hidden reservoir of bigotry large enough to overcome the support already expressed in the polls is fantasy.

We'll just have to fight for the ballot integrity, like always. We're ready for that, I believe.

[ItsTheMediaStupid]

9. Actually the OP, electronic fraud and voter suppression make me nervous

If everything was on the up and up, I don't believe there is enough of a "Bradley Effect" to change anything.

However, I know the GOP will lie, cheat and steal to win an election.

[bigtree]

10. The 'OP' didn't mean to make you nervous

:)

[pnwmom]

11. Yeah, and if they do steal the election, they'll blame it on

a huge Bradley effect.

[bigtree]

12. well, when we win

. . . they'll blame that on voter fraud. :shrug:

[nadinbrzezinski]

13. Given 2000 and 2004 no... color does not matter

I will only sigh relief when Barack Obama is sworn in... though I will celebrate when his EV is officially outside any MOE

The Republicans will not stop, period

[bigtree]

15. I feel more tenacious and resolute than the republican pretenders and their vacuous outrage

. . . at the prospect of their autocrats' demise.

[BlooInBloo]

14. It's not a characteristic of Obama's that causes this. It's a characteristic of million of white ppl

[bigtree]

16. that's a good point

It's mostly their (republican bigots') problem which they endeavor to make ours.

[McCamy Taylor]

17. They stole it in 2000 and 2004 from white guys. Pundits are afraid to talk about GOP election fraud

because their bosses would not let them talk about it in the last 8 elections.

[EFerrari]

18. I noticed that vote flipping, long lines and voter roll purges got more coverage

this year, though. It's not much but it's something. And the indy venues like Amy Goodman have been doing a lot more this year.

[tavalon]

19. I don't doubt because of his race

In a fair fight, he won weeks, possibly months ago. But the other side isn't fighting fair - they are using every dirty trick they know and they know quite a few. I doubt because of the election fraud.

I trust the voters. I don't trust the election tamperers.

[fourvahl]

20. Polls don't include

people that don't have landlines either unless they registered with their cell number.

I dropped my land line a year ago. The first political call I got was on saturday where I got someone reminding me to vote on tuesday and asked me to vote for Obama/Franken. I'm from Minnesota.

It got me thinking, the only reason they were able to track me down is because when I registered to vote this year I put my cell number down because I don't have a *home* number technically. I wonder how many other Americans fall under the same category that these polls aren't reaching.

[Joe Chi Minh]

21. No. I don't think it's that. People grasp a life-belt when they are drowning,

not a prejudice. It's the extent of the voter suppression and election fraud that's the imponderbale. Although perhaps you ARE right in the sense that "racial bigotry" is the only thing the corporate media wants to raise, in order to make it a horse race for the sake of their masters.