Just a quick bad Photoshop to inspire those familiar with history, and remind them the last time things looked really good in advance, but didn’t quite pan out as planned.
As an outsider this is my main worry.
“Dewey defeats Truman” was a function of failures in polling, not voter complacency, for whatever it’s worth. Polls are always going to be imperfect, but it would be shocking if so many of them to be so wrong at this stage. People who decide not to vote because the polls look good deserve what they get, though.
It would be shocking. Let me note that young voters are not turning out to vote early in the numbers that many on the left had hoped. It’s not over yet.
What about the rest of us?
Please cite this claim. The election is next week and I hesitate to draw this kind of conclusion. Just because young voters aren’t voting early doesn’t mean they won’t vote; of any group I think they would be the least likely to know about and use early voting.
People who stay home because of polls have earned any nasty surprises they get, that’s all I’m saying. For everybody else, it’s just life in a democracy.
In other words, “We’re Fucked!”
My brother and his wife voted early. Probably my mother too.
I’m a sentimental old fool. I’ll wait to election day. I could crawl on my belly to my voting precinct.
Voting Early Is No Fun. 
I agree voting early isn’t nearly as much fun. This is the first time I voted early (absentee) and I miss that votey feeling. Couldn’t be helped, though.
I wonder how many Dopers are waiting til election day…
Me! And while I don’t know if I’m considered a “young” voter (I’m 33), it is my first time voting in the national race.
Never even thought about voting early. I always vote on election day
(FTR I’m 54 )
Early voters tend to be older and well-educated, at least according to the blurb I saw in the paper today.
I’ll believe the stories about massive young voter turnout when it materializes. There are predictions circulating about 80% overall voter turnout in Ohio…we will see.
There is still a lot that can happen in the next week or so. Worriers about the Bradley effect will find out if Obama’s current margin holds at the polls. Maybe the geniuses at al-Queda will try to stage new acts of violence designed to help McCain (there was a virtual endorsement of McCain on an al-Queda-affiliated website recently, his policies apparently being seen as a better recruitment tool for the Quedians than Obama’s).
Probably the best tool for the McCainites is the suggestion that he’s gotta be elected to forestall an overwhelming Democratic majority that’ll pass the New Socialist Agenda in Congress - as if Democrats can be expected to demonstrate efficient-enough leadership to push through big changes.