Our "Health" As Political Pandering Or What Did You Think Of The Final Debate?

So what did you guys think of the final debate?

And what did you think of McCain using scare/air quotes around pregnant Women's Health? I have to see it just warms the pro-abortion cockles of my icy heart when someone proves what an enormous douchebag they really are! The only way that would have been any better (and by better I mean damaging to McCain) is if he had just come right out and said, "We don't really think Women are People so their "health" is irrelevant."

I'm not going to count our chickens before they've hatched. Particularly after reading THIS FROM THE NY TIMES. It seems that some people just can't get their heads around the fact that Obama is not "completely" white and that that fact should have some sort of bearing on this election!!1! I shit you not. The racism, pure and unadulterated, in that article is enough to leave you wondering what century we're actually living in.

I saw a projection before last night's debate that stipulated that McSame had to win every single contested state plus virginia (where he's currently behind in the polls) to win. But again, I don't have much faith in these polls because of David Duke.

David Duke, former ranking member of the KKK and founder of the National Association for the Advancement of White People, ran for public office repeatedly in Louisiana from the late 70's to 2004. Every exit poll done during his various campaigns would have him down between 3 - 6% of the vote. However, every single election this racist bigot douchebag would manage to secure 12-17% of the vote and usually 50-55% of the white male vote in that area.

Now we have a national candidate doing very well, to the point where the media is scarcely discussing the ongoing importance of race in this country, in POLLS. I'm afraid that what happened with Duke is going to happen to Obama. These racist jerks being polled don't want to look racist (particularly when they are polled in front of a camera or on the phone where they know their name is written down somewhere), social desirability kicks in so they either claim that they're still "undecided" or they state they've decided either on McSame or Obama. When they get in the actual voting booth, however, complete anonymity can protect their self-image. I'm worried that even though poll after poll is projecting Obama to carry these "battleground states," more bigots will show up for McCain.

And I'm worried because of these choice comments people gave to the New York Times and agreed to be pictured and have their names attached to them:

Quote :

“He’s neither-nor,” said Ricky Thompson, a pipe fitter who works at a factory north of Mobile, while standing in the parking lot of a Wal-Mart store just north of here. “He’s other. It’s in the Bible. Come as one. Don’t create other breeds.”

Quote :

Whether Mr. Obama is black, half-black or half-white often seemed to overshadow the question of his exact stand on particular issues, and rough-edged comments on the subject flowed easily even from voters who said race should not be an issue in the campaign. Many voters seemed to have no difficulty criticizing the mixing of the races — and thus the product of such mixtures — even as they indignantly said a candidate’s color held no importance for them.

Quote :

“I would think of him as I would of another of mixed race,” said Glenn Reynolds, 74, a retired textile worker in Martinsville, Va., and a former supervisor at a Goodyear plant. “God taught the children of Israel not to intermarry. You should be proud of what you are, and not intermarry.”

Quote :

“He’s going to tear up the rose bushes and plant a watermelon patch,” said James Halsey, chuckling, while standing in the Wal-Mart parking lot with fellow workers in the environmental cleanup business. “I just don’t think we’ll ever have a black president.”

Quote :

“He doesn’t come from the African-American perspective — he’s not of that tradition,” said Kimi Oaks, a prominent community volunteer in the Mobile area, with apparent approval. Ms. Oaks, along with about 15 others, had gathered after Sunday services at Mobile’s leading Methodist church to discuss the presidential campaign. “He’s not a product of any ghetto,” Ms. Oaks added.

At the same time, however, she vigorously rejected the idea that race would be important in the election, a question met with general head-shaking from those assembled; Ms. Oaks said she was “terribly offended,” as a Southerner, at even being asked about this.

Quote :

Bud Rowell, a retired oil field worker interviewed at a Baptist church in Citronelle, Ala., north of Mobile, said he was uncertain about Mr. Obama’s racial identity, and was critical of him for being equivocal and indecisive.

But Mr. Rowell also said that personal experience had made him more sympathetic to biracial people.

“I’ve always been against the blacks,” said Mr. Rowell, who is in his 70s, recalling how he was arrested for throwing firecrackers in the black section of town. But now that he has three biracial grandchildren — “it was really rough on me” — he said he had “found out they were human beings, too.”

How much do you think race and racism will affect this election?

The Bradley effect, less commonly called the Wilder effect,[1][2] is a proposed explanation for an alleged discrepancy between voter opinion polls and election outcomes in American political campaigns when a white candidate and a non-white candidate run against each other.[3][4][5] Named for Tom Bradley, an African-American who lost the 1982 California governor's race despite being ahead in some voter polls, the Bradley effect refers to an alleged tendency on the part of some voters to tell pollsters that they are undecided or likely to vote for a black candidate, and yet, on election day, vote for his/her white opponent.

The theory of the Bradley effect is that the inaccurate polls have been skewed by the phenomenon of social desirability bias.[6][7] Specifically, some white voters give inaccurate polling responses for fear that, by stating their true preference, they will open themselves to criticism of racial motivation. The reluctance to give accurate polling answers has sometimes extended to post-election exit polls as well. The race of the pollster conducting the interview may factor in to voters' answers.

Some analysts have dismissed the theory of the Bradley effect as "baseless",[8] while others argue that it may have existed in past elections, but not in more recent ones.

futureshock wrote:

The Bradley effect, less commonly called the Wilder effect,[1][2] is a proposed explanation for an alleged discrepancy between voter opinion polls and election outcomes in American political campaigns when a white candidate and a non-white candidate run against each other.[3][4][5] Named for Tom Bradley, an African-American who lost the 1982 California governor's race despite being ahead in some voter polls, the Bradley effect refers to an alleged tendency on the part of some voters to tell pollsters that they are undecided or likely to vote for a black candidate, and yet, on election day, vote for his/her white opponent.

The theory of the Bradley effect is that the inaccurate polls have been skewed by the phenomenon of social desirability bias.[6][7] Specifically, some white voters give inaccurate polling responses for fear that, by stating their true preference, they will open themselves to criticism of racial motivation. The reluctance to give accurate polling answers has sometimes extended to post-election exit polls as well. The race of the pollster conducting the interview may factor in to voters' answers.

Some analysts have dismissed the theory of the Bradley effect as "baseless",[8] while others argue that it may have existed in past elections, but not in more recent ones.

Ahhh, thank you. Yes, I was referring to the Bradley effect and forgot its name. The first time I heard about it, my professor, originally from Louisiana, used Duke as the example so I always remember it because of him.

What did you think of the debate?

I only watched snippets. McCain's air quotes around women's health exemptions for abortions sickened me.

I don't like when the candidates go back and forth spouting huge numbers and making accusations about their opponent.

Overall Obama looked cool and collected and McCain looked like he was extremely irritated.