# Election: Anyone else just ducking their heads and not trying to get their hopes up? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [October 18, 2008, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/election-anyone-else-just-ducking-their-heads-and-not-trying-to-get-their-hopes-up/468578 "2008-10-18T23:40:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Leaper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/4bbf92/32.png) [@Leaper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaper)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2008, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/election-anyone-else-just-ducking-their-heads-and-not-trying-to-get-their-hopes-up/468578/1 "2008-10-18T23:40:45Z")
I know who I want to win (I’ll leave it out of this post, even though it should be evident from my posting history, because it’s not really relevant here, IMO), but at this point, so much could happen that would prevent it that I’m trying not to care too much. Mostly because it would just get me worked up for no good reason. If Obama loses, Democrats will blame racism, and fear McCain’s belligerence, continuation of Bush policies, and promise financial collapse. If McCain loses, Republicans will blame the media, and fear Obama’s radicalism, socialism, and promise financial collapse. It just doesn’t seem worth it to get too invested in this when my preferred candidate doesn’t have it in the bag. I’m trying to lower my expectations (and thus my fears) WAY down. Anyone else doing this, or are you all going whole hog emotional investment? ---
**Author:** ![Lillith\_Fair](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/bb73d2/32.png) [@Lillith\_Fair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lillith_Fair)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2008, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/election-anyone-else-just-ducking-their-heads-and-not-trying-to-get-their-hopes-up/468578/2 "2008-10-18T23:45:05Z")
Yes. The leader of the Obama campaign in my area is stressing that the polls could be misleading. That Kerry was ahead in 2004 and Gore was ahead in 2000. We must work until the last moment to win this election. I am trying not to get my hopes up. ---
**Author:** ![AuntiePam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2008, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/election-anyone-else-just-ducking-their-heads-and-not-trying-to-get-their-hopes-up/468578/3 "2008-10-18T23:52:59Z")
My hopes are up and they’ll stay up. I’m ducking political stuff for the next couple of weeks – that should help. ---
**Author:** ![Plan\_B](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Plan\_B](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Plan_B)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2008, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/election-anyone-else-just-ducking-their-heads-and-not-trying-to-get-their-hopes-up/468578/4 "2008-10-19T02:04:54Z")
I’ve been on and off. I’ve had a lot of work and family activity lately so it’s easy to cut out anything I feel like cutting out. That is, until the “Spread the wealth” comment. I think the exact words were something like “I think it’s a good idea when we spread the wealth around.” That and the Dem/MSM combined assault on Joe the Plumber. That’s much too provocative for me to duck my head till it’s over. Very scary for me if those guys get any more power. As the OP says “If McCain loses, Republicans will blame the media, and fear Obama’s radicalism, socialism, and promise financial collapse.” Yeah, that kind of sums it up…even though I’m not really a Republican…and I guess I wouldn’t _promise_ financial collapse, more like I’d fear a big long-term financial downturn. But other than that it sums it up ---
**Author:** ![Stuffy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f17d59/32.png) [@Stuffy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stuffy)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2008, 2:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/election-anyone-else-just-ducking-their-heads-and-not-trying-to-get-their-hopes-up/468578/5 "2008-10-19T02:31:24Z")
This is the first election in my voting life that I’m not volunteering or donating money. I find myself really angry about the campaign whenever I read one too many news stories and I just can’t spend the next three weeks on the edge of exploding. I fully expect our country to vote for the asshole pumping fear, fear, fear, all the time fear. As for racism, I think only white people are surprised about that. ---
**Author:** ![Carson\_O\_Genic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/cdc98d/32.png) [@Carson\_O\_Genic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Carson_O_Genic)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2008, 10:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/election-anyone-else-just-ducking-their-heads-and-not-trying-to-get-their-hopes-up/468578/6 "2008-10-19T10:53:21Z")
There are times that I see the candidates being not very separated despite the labels they’re trying to smear on each other. John McCain won’t be a continuation of W., even if that was his aspiration. Sarah Palin being anathema in truth couldn’t be worse than Darth Cheney at a veep level though the heartbeat thing scares the crap outta me. Pendulum swings ever so slightly left. We will continue living in interesting times. ---
**Author:** ![Peanut\_Gallery](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/838e76/32.png) [@Peanut\_Gallery](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peanut_Gallery)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2008, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/election-anyone-else-just-ducking-their-heads-and-not-trying-to-get-their-hopes-up/468578/7 "2008-10-19T15:28:07Z")
I feel you. Everything is set up \*just right \*… now it only has to pass a vote of the American people. :smack: This could easily go very wrong. I’m not watching anything on election day. I do not enjoy emotional torture. I’m voting, working, then going home and secluding myself from media until it is done with (hopefully that’s the next morning). ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Carrot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f0a364/32.png) [@Captain\_Carrot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Carrot)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2008, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/election-anyone-else-just-ducking-their-heads-and-not-trying-to-get-their-hopes-up/468578/8 "2008-10-19T15:47:10Z")
> [@Plan\_B](#): > > That and the Dem/MSM combined assault on Joe the Plumber. What, you mean finding out that virtually nothing said by him or on his behalf was true? Yeah, investigating McCain’s claims was so unfair. ---
**Author:** ![KlondikeGeoff](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3e96dc/32.png) [@KlondikeGeoff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KlondikeGeoff)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2008, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/election-anyone-else-just-ducking-their-heads-and-not-trying-to-get-their-hopes-up/468578/9 "2008-10-19T18:39:33Z")
> [@AuntiePam](#): > > I’m ducking political stuff for the next couple of weeks – that should help. I’d like to do that too in pure disgust at both campaigns, as well as the local ones which are even worse. I don’t know how to duck it without going into a bomb shelter for the remaining time. I still long for that “benevolent dictator” form of government, could we only find the right candidate and avoid leaving it to the public. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![ASAKMOTSD](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/919ad9/32.png) [@ASAKMOTSD](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ASAKMOTSD)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2008, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/election-anyone-else-just-ducking-their-heads-and-not-trying-to-get-their-hopes-up/468578/10 "2008-10-19T20:01:46Z")
One never knows how many hanging chads it might take to elect John McCain. Let us hope we do not find out. ---
**Author:** ![ivylass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9de053/32.png) [@ivylass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivylass)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2008, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/election-anyone-else-just-ducking-their-heads-and-not-trying-to-get-their-hopes-up/468578/11 "2008-10-19T23:46:10Z")
> [@Captain\_Carrot](#): > > What, you mean finding out that virtually nothing said by him or on his behalf was true? Yeah, investigating McCain’s claims was so unfair. Oh, God, not to hijack, but who the hell cares? What matters was Obama’s response. I’m getting tired of it and trying to avoid as much as I can. ---
**Author:** ![Linty\_Fresh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Linty\_Fresh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Linty_Fresh)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2008, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/election-anyone-else-just-ducking-their-heads-and-not-trying-to-get-their-hopes-up/468578/12 "2008-10-20T00:32:59Z")
> [@Leaper](#): > > Anyone else doing this, or are you all going whole hog emotional investment? I’m not doing either. I know who I’m voting for, and I hope he wins, but no matter who comes out ahead, neither Obama nor McCain will be _nearly_ as dangerously stupid and incompetent as Bush, so as far as I’m concerned, the pressure’s off. ---
**Author:** ![DMark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@DMark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DMark)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2008, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/election-anyone-else-just-ducking-their-heads-and-not-trying-to-get-their-hopes-up/468578/13 "2008-10-20T01:50:11Z")
Not me. I am happily up to my eyeballs in the political gunk and go online to read the polls daily and avidly read both the good and bad news articles. It is too important to ignore. I can well imagine that by Election Night I will be a wreck, but like any good junkie, that doesn’t stop me from trying to score some speed poll info, inhaling some CNN crack and maybe even flipping over to Fox to get my adrenaline flowing before logging back onto MSNBC to calm down. Psst…I got some Gallop that will blow your mind, dude… ---
**Author:** ![Kyla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/eada6e/32.png) [@Kyla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kyla)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2008, 2:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/election-anyone-else-just-ducking-their-heads-and-not-trying-to-get-their-hopes-up/468578/14 "2008-10-20T02:02:11Z")
I couldn’t if I wanted to (which I don’t). I’m a grad student in policy and spend most of my waking hours in the policy school, where everyone is totally obsessed with all things politics. I am up to my eyeballs in election news, and frankly enjoying it. ---
**Author:** ![gravitycrash](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/977dab/32.png) [@gravitycrash](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gravitycrash)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2008, 2:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/election-anyone-else-just-ducking-their-heads-and-not-trying-to-get-their-hopes-up/468578/15 "2008-10-20T02:36:08Z")
Naw. If Obama some how blows this than he isn’t fit to be president. He has every advantage: White people guilt. The economy sucks. MCcain is older than dirt. Obama is from Harvard. And yes the press just begs to get a chance to fellate him. Prove me wrong. I can think of other reasons if this thread goes anywhere. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2008, 2:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/election-anyone-else-just-ducking-their-heads-and-not-trying-to-get-their-hopes-up/468578/16 "2008-10-20T02:39:06Z")
> [@ivylass](#): > > Oh, God, not to hijack, but who the hell cares? What matters was Obama’s response. Obama said nothing that McCain disagrees with. When did Republicans decide that cutting taxes for the middle class is “socialism?” ---
**Author:** ![Equipoise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/equipoise/32/151_2.png) [@Equipoise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Equipoise)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2008, 2:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/election-anyone-else-just-ducking-their-heads-and-not-trying-to-get-their-hopes-up/468578/17 "2008-10-20T02:39:13Z")
> [@Linty\_Fresh](#): > > I’m not doing either. I know who I’m voting for, and I hope he wins, but no matter who comes out ahead, neither Obama nor McCain will be _nearly_ as dangerously stupid and incompetent as Bush, so as far as I’m concerned, the pressure’s off. Unless McCain dies in office, which is very possible, considering his age and past history with cancer. Joe the Plumber got what was coming to him. He misrepresented himself to Obama, who gave him the time of day and tried to answer his questions (I doubt McCain and Palin would stop to talk to a Democrat).Then McCain made him famous before vetting him (just like with Palin) and now everyone gets to see that he’s a tax-dodging unlicensed plumber who has no intention (or means) of buying the business he told Obama he was going to buy, and even when told that if he did buy the business, he would NOT pay higher taxes under Obama, he refused to consider the idea. I don’t feel sorry for him at all. Obama had nothing to do with outing him. McCain did that all on his own. To answer the OP, I don’t think this country is ready for Obama, and no hopes that he’ll win. I hope I’m spectacularly wrong, but I’m not letting myself be optimistic. If ever I start getting optimistic, there’s always some thread or another in MPSIMS or IMHO that bring me back to reality. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2008, 3:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/election-anyone-else-just-ducking-their-heads-and-not-trying-to-get-their-hopes-up/468578/18 "2008-10-20T03:37:06Z")
I’ve become a political junkie in this campaign, like at no time in the past. I’m very glad that Obama’s ahead in the polls, but at the same time I’m seriously worried. I think there are too many people who “support” him who won’t actually take the trouble to vote. And I also worry about racism . . . not the sort of blatant crap we’ve seen on the news, but more of an undercurrent of racism that could be just enough to tip the scales. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2008, 3:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/election-anyone-else-just-ducking-their-heads-and-not-trying-to-get-their-hopes-up/468578/19 "2008-10-20T03:50:43Z")
I’m sick of it all at this point. Especially since it will be “business as usual” when the smoke clears. Campaign promises? Doesn’t matter who wins, they will all be forgotten. Nothing will change much. ---
**Author:** ![Equipoise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/equipoise/32/151_2.png) [@Equipoise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Equipoise)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2008, 1:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/election-anyone-else-just-ducking-their-heads-and-not-trying-to-get-their-hopes-up/468578/20 "2008-10-20T13:27:30Z")
> [@Gatopescado](#): > > I’m sick of it all at this point. Especially since it will be “business as usual” when the smoke clears. Campaign promises? Doesn’t matter who wins, they will all be forgotten. > > Nothing will change much. That’s such crap. You’d be right if McCain wins, but if Obama wins he’ll surround himself with competent people with consciences\* unlike the current administration. They have a lot to clean up and it won’t happen overnight, but they’ll work at it. [li](http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/consciences) Main Entry: con·science [/li]Pronunciation: \ˈkän(t)-shən(t)s\ Function: noun Etymology: Middle English, from Anglo-French, from Latin conscientia, from conscient-, consciens, present participle of conscire to be conscious, be conscious of guilt, from com- + scire to know — more at science Date: 13th century 1 a: **the sense or consciousness of the moral goodness or blameworthiness of one’s own conduct, intentions, or character together with a feeling of obligation to do right or be good b: a faculty, power, or principle enjoining good acts c: the part of the superego in psychoanalysis that transmits commands and admonitions to the ego** [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/election-anyone-else-just-ducking-their-heads-and-not-trying-to-get-their-hopes-up/468578.md?page=2)