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PoliGAF Interim Thread of USA General Elections (DAWN OF THE VEEP)

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Kildace

Member
Justin Bailey said:
You know, the longer this goes on the more I think he might actually pick Clinton.

The only thing that makes me doubt it is the fact that, as 538 reported, Clinton was lukewarm on the campaign trail yesterday.
If they were to pick Clinton, there would have to have been discussions before the announcement on the role Bill would have in the campaign. Axelrod & co would want to control the rollout and the way the campaign would run until November and the way Bill would behave through it beforehand. They would not choose Clinton without the assurance that Bill would keep as quiet as possible.

Therefore, if Clinton was lukewarm, she wasn't told that she would be the VP and Biden is the only sensible option for this late a rollout. We'll know soon enough anyway.
 

Diablos

Member
PhoenixDark said:
At the end of the day there are more democrats than republicans, and even in 2004 with such high turnout they still only won due to one state. Hillary would help secure that state dude - who cares if republicans in the south and heartland come out in mass, McCain will win those states anyway. Meanwhile Obama would maintain Michigan and Penn. while taking Ohio and possibly flipping Florida. Game over
Hillary pisses off not only conservatives who would never vote Democratic, but a lot of moderate and even some liberal voters. That is the point I am trying to make. True, she definitely got a lot of votes. At the same time, a primary is not the general election. Just because Hillary gets x votes in state A, more than anyone else, does not mean she would beat McCain there in the general. A lot of places where Hillary got more votes than anyone is when the Republicans already knew McCain was likely going to be the nominee and didn't waste their gas going out to vote -- whereas the Democrats had ongoing drama until the last possible primary. And then of course we had a bunch of fuckwits out there with an "operation chaos" type of mindset, thanks to tools like Rush Limbaugh.

Looking back, the primaries were ridiculous and I'd much rather just forget about them. If Obama is giving a truly supportive Hillary the cold shoulder, it isn't hard to understand why, dude.

Justin Bailey said:
You know, the longer this goes on the more I think he might actually pick Clinton.
He already made up his mind... so Clinton is not the reason why he's waiting, should that be his choice.

Anyway, seems like a Romney pick would be disastrous for McCain's campaign. I welcome it.
 

Justin Bailey

------ ------
Diablos said:
He already made up his mind... so Clinton is not the reason why he's waiting, should that be his choice.
But that's the point, he knows it will be a slam dunk decision so he's holding his ace in the hole - so to speak.

I'm still like 80% sure it's going to be Biden though.
 

Diablos

Member
Justin Bailey said:
But that's the point, he knows it will be a slam dunk decision so he's holding his ace in the hole - so to speak.

I'm still like 80% sure it's going to be Biden though.
Biden has done some things I'm not very fond of, but if you need an attack dog on your team, Biden's your guy.
 

Kildace

Member
Chrono said:
Is there some new info pointing to a Friday announcement? I thought it was Saturday noon or so?

Saturday noon is the public presentation in Springfield, it's expected that he will announce today in order to have media coverage in his VP throughout the day until tomorow.
 

Diablos

Member
Kildace said:
Saturday noon is the public presentation in Springfield, it's expected that he will announce today in order to have media coverage in his VP throughout the day until tomorow.
Isn't this like the third time they said he might announce :p
 

Justin Bailey

------ ------
Diablos said:
Biden has done some things I'm not very fond of, but if you need an attack dog on your team, Biden's your guy.
Yeah, Obama needs a background attacker to counter his "lets all negotiate and get along happy fun time" ideals. Right now my arbitrary VP prediction percentages are:

80% Biden
10% Clinton
10% Kaine
 

HylianTom

Banned
I'm still in awe of this McCain's Houses story.. it's the gift that keeps on giving.

Of course, I suspect Obama would hold-off on his VP announcement (if it were planned for today) so that this houses story can live a little bit longer.


On the topic VP, here's a pretty interesting article regarding the timing. It brings-up an important question: when campaigns usually devote a bit of time introducing the new VP candidate to American voters, what happens when there is no time to do so?

http://www.fivethirtyeight.com/2008/08/one-veep-clue-worth-worrying-about.html
 

Hootie

Member
Justin Bailey said:
Yeah, Obama needs a background attacker to counter his "lets all negotiate and get along happy fun time" ideals. Right now my arbitrary VP prediction percentages are:

79% Biden
10% Clinton
10% Kaine
1% Clark

BELIEVE
 

UltimaKilo

Gold Member
So I wake up two hours ago to the news and I see reports that Hillary Clinton might get the nod. This would be megaton, though highly unlikely... right?
 

Hootie

Member
UltimaKilo said:
So I wake up two hours ago to the news and I see reports that Hillary Clinton might get the nod. This would be megaton, though highly unlikely... right?

It seems I really have forgetten just how dirty she campaigned in the primaries. I almost was at the point of forgiving her and thinking she'd be a decent VP but after going back and seeing all of the ads, the smears, etc I do NOT want her anywhere near Obama's administration.
 

TDG

Banned
Hootie said:
It seems I really have forgetten just how dirty she campaigned in the primaries. I almost was at the point of forgiving her and thinking she'd be a decent VP but after going back and seeing all of the ads, the smears, etc I do NOT want her anywhere near Obama's administration.
So she's tough and good at attacking her opponents. This means that she's not a good fit for Obama's VP?
 

Hootie

Member
the disgruntled gamer said:
So she's tough and good at attacking her opponents. This means that she's not a good fit for Obama's VP?

No it's the fact that she attacked and put down Obama as if she were a republican. Her dirty tactics are not what Obama needs in his campaign
 

~Devil Trigger~

In favor of setting Muslim women on fire
Hootie said:
No it's the fact that she attacked and put down Obama as if she were a republican. Her dirty tactics are not what Obama needs in his campaign

this

and the way her and her husband acted after the primaries were disgusting. I understand you put alot into it, and you almost won and its painful but give respect where its due...
 
Exactly. The reason I'm calling it for Clinton is that Obama is an extremely strategic kind of guy (as evidenced by his defeat of the Clintons), and I think he will forget everything to recognize the power she brings.
 
the disgruntled gamer said:
So she's tough and good at attacking her opponents. This means that she's not a good fit for Obama's VP?

For it to be Hillary, she and Bill would have to be willing to eat some serious crow and do a full 180 about many statements they made about Obama in the primaries before they both went on the attack against McCain. It would make big news at first but I think after the news media is done sensationalizing it, it would probably work out to Obama's advantage...but only probably if he confined her campaigning to the rust belt and Florida. He should keep her away from the other swing states (except maybe Nevada and Indiana. At the same time though, Hilary will undoubtedly energize the Republican base and may turn off some independents. It's hard to know whether she would do more harm than good at this point (and I don't think Bill will ever humble out). Also, there's no guarantee that Hillary in anything but at the top of the ticket will persuade some to vote for Obama.

Biden is a safe choice (if he can stay gaffe-free and doesn't try to claim the spotlight) because of his credentials and he seems more down to earth than either McCain or Obama. He can potentially be very effective in courting the blue collar white voters Obama needs. If Biden was only from IN, he would have probably been the pick a long time ago.
 

Farmboy

Member
Dax01 said:
Ghal, where is my new thread?!?!?!

Yeah, there should be a DemCon/VP announcement thread.

Spotted this on Kos, btw:
Get_Out_of_Gaffe_Free_sm.jpg
 

RubxQub

φίλω ἐξεχέγλουτον καί ψευδολόγον οὖκ εἰπόν
Dax01 said:
Ghal, where is my new thread?!?!?!
PoliGAF Thread of Smoking Hot Grandmas will get created in time...don't you worry!
 

VanMardigan

has calmed down a bit.
I'm not sure what's taking him so long to formalize his Biden pick. I'm just hoping the text message will go out before it leaks to the media. I'm betting it'll leak like 30 minutes before the text/email gets out. If it doesn't, I'll be even more impressed with Obama than I am so far with the leak-less VP pick.
 

sangreal

Member
Hillary wasn't anything special as far as being good at attacking

SHAME ON YOU BARACK OBAMA :lol

She just stood out because she was the only one attacking in the primary

Who would have thought John McCain would be such an effective attacker?
 

mckmas8808

Mckmaster uses MasterCard to buy Slave drives
FlightOfHeaven said:
He's been doing it at his townhalls, and his advertisements thus far have not been good enough.

He needs to set a theme. Each commercial focuses on one specific topic, and then ties it back to the economy for an overarching theme. As he speaks and has his inspirational imagery floating around, he needs to spell out, literally, on screen what his plans are. Shove it in their face. Get these ads playing.

He has substance, he's used it, but now he needs to make "Obama's Ideas for Dummies" in the form of short, 30 second commercials. First 5 seconds to a McCain quote (with his voice + video) and then Obama's voice with the key sentences written out as he says it, with appropriate imagery.

If he does not write out his ideas during the ad, all is lost. People will remember the imagery, not the words, unless the words are written over the imagery.

DUDE! That's exactly what Obama did with the 2nd Olympics ad that's been playing for the last 2 weeks.


He had the words displayed on the ad as people were LITERALLY performing the jobs that he was talking about that he wanted to create.

How much more dummy proof do you want him to be?
 

HylianTom

Banned
Guts Of Thor said:
That's American politics. I said it once and I'll say it again: If you are not willing to crack a few skulls and snap some necks, you will not win.

A-friggin'-men.

A candidate might get away with the "warm-and-fuzzy" thing with Democratic primary voters, but general election swing voters are an entirely different breed of (stoopid) animal.

Losing because you refuse to fight dirty is NOT noble or honorable; letting the country continue to go down the shitter for another four years because of your "morals" is the opposite of noble.
 

Justin Bailey

------ ------
sangreal said:
Hillary wasn't anything special as far as being good at attacking

SHAME ON YOU BARACK OBAMA :lol

She just stood out because she was the only one attacking in the primary

Who would have thought John McCain would be such an effective attacker?
Well he does have the republican attack squad on his side. I'd probably give Sean Hannity and Rush Limbaugh more credit than John McCain.
 
sangreal said:
Who would have thought John McCain would be such an effective attacker?

But he's not a good attacker!!

He just unleashes the Rove nimrods to do his dirty work. Plus, it doesn't hurt that the press gives him a free pass on everything.
 

UltimaKilo

Gold Member
Hootie said:
No it's the fact that she attacked and put down Obama as if she were a republican. Her dirty tactics are not what Obama needs in his campaign

Last I heard, this was called politics. I see McCain and Obama put each other down and they are both really good candidates, albeit radically different from the regular Democrat and Republican.
 

RubxQub

φίλω ἐξεχέγλουτον καί ψευδολόγον οὖκ εἰπόν
UltimaKilo said:
Last I heard, this was called politics. I see McCain and Obama put each other down and they are both really good candidates, albeit radically different from the regular Democrat and Republican.
You must be living back in 2000. McCain is a very typical republican.
 
polyh3dron said:
Many of these voters think already think Obama is a Muslim, a Communist, "just another politician", elitist, arrogant etc.

In my opinion with the stakes as high as they are, the end justifies the means.

Also, by going on the offensive, he can show that he's growing a pair, because the growing consensus among these undecideds appears to be that he's a fucking pussy who can't take criticism and won't fight back except by putting out some tl;dr PDF files that won't be read by anyone.

And politics is a contact sport as many of Obama's adversaries have noted. In McCain's own words, he's using his military record as the centerpiece of his campaign, so it's fair game according to McCain himself.

McCain's war record is untouchable though, especially concerning Obama. If he were to attack it people would react very negatively; as you said, many voters are already looking for any reason to dismiss Obama, and an attack on the military record would just (unfortunately) confirm the " he's anti-American" bullshit

I think he can and should say that while McCain's service was heroic, serving in the military does not equate to good judgment on foreign policy, as evidence by McCain's support of a war that should have never been waged: it's a safer way of saying what Clark tried to point out

Sen. Barack Obama "called some people on his short-list for the vice presidential slot Thursday night to tell them he had not selected them as running mate," a highly placed Democratic party source told CNN.

The source did not say which people got the call.
http://politicalwire.com/
 

UltimaKilo

Gold Member
RubxQub said:
You must be living back in 2000. McCain is a very typical republican.

And Obama the very typical Democrat. In 2000 McCain never won the nomination, before the nomination Obama could be called "different". Now it's just a presidential race like any other. But people's political views blinds them from this making their candidate more righteous and then dehumanize the other. Nothing new.

Then when whomever gets elected, be it Obama or McCain, the people will dislike because they can never do the things they promise on the campaign trail. But you know, there are still people that are so blinded that believe Obama is going to bring change and that McCain is their "friend" just because they say it in all their speeches. :lol
 
In anticipation of Sen. Barack Obama's announcement of a running mate, NBC's Andrea Mitchell reports that one of Sen. Joe Biden's sons was flown in a private plane from Maine to the Senator's home in Delaware on Wednesday. Biden is "gathering the clan."

Another report said Biden has stopped talking to the media again.

Either Biden is the pick or he was so crushed by Obama telling him no that he needed family support, and probably lots of whiskey. Both seem logical
 

RubxQub

φίλω ἐξεχέγλουτον καί ψευδολόγον οὖκ εἰπόν
PhoenixDark said:
Either Biden is the pick or he was so crushed by Obama telling him no that he needed family support, and probably lots of whiskey. Both seem logical
I love how the media's investigative jounalism only shines when it's gossipy news.

Biden's on suicide watch!
 
UltimaKilo said:
But you know, there are still people that are so blinded that believe Obama is going to bring change and that McCain is their "friend" just because they say it in all their speeches. :lol

I know BO can't fulfill all his promises of change. But at least his talking points are more sane than McSame. At least BO can acknowledge that things are fucked up.

Edit:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_7PfSEtiXPw
:lol
 
polyh3dron said:
I still say that the Obama campaign or even a PAC or 527 should go after McCain's greatest strength, the POW and his overuse of it.

They can even work into it the statement that McCain made about the Swift Boat thing and how it was Kerry's fault for making his military record the centerpiece of his campaign.

Kerry made himself open to attacks because he never allowed the Navy to release his military records to the public. It wasn't until June 2005 - after the election - when he finally decided to sign the release waver. For what reason I'm not sure, but they were virtually identical to what he himself released during the campaign. Which begs the question as to why he didn't allow their release in the first place.

Has McCain allowed the Navy to release his records?
 

UltimaKilo

Gold Member
BotoxAgent said:
I know BO can't fulfill all his promises of change. But at least his talking points are more sane than McSame. At least BO can acknowledge that things are fucked up.

McCain has already make it a point to say "we are worse off than we were 4 years ago", so I suppose that he has acknowledged it in his new television ad. They both have, otherwise it would be political suicide.

There is a horrible problem in government, the President (Republican) has a 32% approval rating and congress (Democrat) has half that at 16%. It's tough for the candidates, especially McCain. McCain is not a strong Republican candidate, the base is weary of him and still sore over his record. Obama has almost no record and no experience, something that Billary pounded him on, so while most of the base is behind him, he is having trouble courting the Clinton and "Reagan Democrats".

While I'm having fun this political season, it is nowhere as fun as 2004. It seems like both candidates are pretty much the same.
 
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