# McCain not as forked as the McCain Forked thread, but still forked **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [October 8, 2008, 3:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mccain-not-as-forked-as-the-mccain-forked-thread-but-still-forked/466951 "2008-10-08T03:49:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 15
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2008, 5:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mccain-not-as-forked-as-the-mccain-forked-thread-but-still-forked/466951/281 "2008-10-18T05:45:40Z")
Those few days of “ball possession” will sway more than a few voters. I am glad that Powell may have FINALLY seen how many people look up to him. Yeah, I know that a black guy from Harlem Of A Certain Age would have trouble understanding how many people, including whites, respect him and his opinions. Maybe now he will realize how much the world has changed since he and I were pups. Yeah, he fucked up back when he thought Jim Crow still ruled the roost, but it’s a different game now. ---
**Author:** ![TWDuke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e495f1/32.png) [@TWDuke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TWDuke)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2008, 5:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mccain-not-as-forked-as-the-mccain-forked-thread-but-still-forked/466951/282 "2008-10-18T05:56:16Z")
I don’t know, it’s kind of risky, maybe Powell would like to wait until after the swearing in. ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2008, 5:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mccain-not-as-forked-as-the-mccain-forked-thread-but-still-forked/466951/283 "2008-10-18T05:59:40Z")
Fuck. It looks like that, don’t it? Colin, you assturd, BE IN FRONT (kinda) OF THE FLOW FOR A CHANGE FOR ONCE, M’KAY? Show you are worthy of all the accolades thrown your way! Otherwise you are a shitass tagalong worth SHIT, DIG?!?!? ---
**Author:** ![Lakai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/9de0a6/32.png) [@Lakai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lakai)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2008, 6:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mccain-not-as-forked-as-the-mccain-forked-thread-but-still-forked/466951/284 "2008-10-18T06:16:45Z")
Considering what is happening to other conservatives that are speaking out against McCain (Chris Buckley and David Brooks), this isn’t an easy decision for Powell. He has a lot of conservative friends. Is it really worth risking alienation for Obama? Especially with an endorsement that will quickly be cast as one based on color. ---
**Author:** ![Kozmik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/8dc957/32.png) [@Kozmik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kozmik)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2008, 6:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mccain-not-as-forked-as-the-mccain-forked-thread-but-still-forked/466951/285 "2008-10-18T06:26:24Z")
Charles M. Blow in a New York Times column calls it: [McCain is forked](http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/18/opinion/18Blow.html?_r=1&ref=opinion&oref=slogin). ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2008, 6:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mccain-not-as-forked-as-the-mccain-forked-thread-but-still-forked/466951/286 "2008-10-18T06:29:13Z")
> [@Lakai](#): > > Considering what is happening to other conservatives that are speaking out against McCain (Chris Buckley and David Brooks), this isn’t an easy decision for Powell. > > He has a lot of conservative friends. Is it really worth risking alienation for Obama? Especially with an endorsement that will quickly be cast as one based on color. For an Honorable Man, as I like to believe he is, yes. But I am Hopelessly Catholic and believe that a moment of contrition can make up for a lifetime of lies, though not without a spell in Purgatory. ---
**Author:** ![Beadalin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/3be4f8/32.png) [@Beadalin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beadalin)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2008, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mccain-not-as-forked-as-the-mccain-forked-thread-but-still-forked/466951/287 "2008-10-18T16:07:48Z")
> [@Kozmik](#): > > Charles M. Blow in a New York Times column calls it: [McCain is forked](http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/18/opinion/18Blow.html?_r=1&ref=opinion&oref=slogin). Jesus. Did you see his last line? Strong words: > [@Charles M. Blow](#): > > \*If I’m wrong, I’ll take my crow with a six pack of Liquid-Plumr. ---
**Author:** ![Shayna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shayna/32/17976_2.png) [@Shayna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shayna)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2008, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mccain-not-as-forked-as-the-mccain-forked-thread-but-still-forked/466951/288 "2008-10-19T00:46:53Z")
[Obama Draws 100,000 in St. Louis](http://thepage.time.com/2008/10/18/obama-challenges-mccain-on-taxes-in-st-louis/). :eek: We are _so_ winning this election. ---
**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, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mccain-not-as-forked-as-the-mccain-forked-thread-but-still-forked/466951/289 "2008-10-19T00:52:32Z")
> [@Shayna](#): > > [Obama Draws 100,000 in St. Louis](http://thepage.time.com/2008/10/18/obama-challenges-mccain-on-taxes-in-st-louis/). > > :eek: > > We are _so_ winning this election. No, no, the pics are [faked](http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/10/18/182723/58/859/634776)! ---
**Author:** ![Frank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Frank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frank)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2008, 1:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mccain-not-as-forked-as-the-mccain-forked-thread-but-still-forked/466951/290 "2008-10-19T01:01:16Z")
> [@Shayna](#): > > [Obama Draws 100,000 in St. Louis](http://thepage.time.com/2008/10/18/obama-challenges-mccain-on-taxes-in-st-louis/). According to the local paper, the Secret Service says 80,000 and the St. Louis police say close to 100,000. Either way, that’s a boatload of people. We’re lucky the Arch didn’t collapse into the Mississippi. The crowd in Kansas City was expected to be similar. ---
**Author:** ![Slacker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6bbea6/32.png) [@Slacker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slacker)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2008, 2:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mccain-not-as-forked-as-the-mccain-forked-thread-but-still-forked/466951/291 "2008-10-19T02:01:37Z")
> [@Captain\_Carrot](#): > > No, no, the pics are [faked](http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/10/18/182723/58/859/634776)! LOL - I’ve heard mention of freepers before, but I’ve never actually read that site. Comedy gold lies therein! My favorite question about the huge crowd at the Obama rally: _Too bad we didn’t know, I think we could have used the google satellite to check out the crowd size…is there such a thing?_ 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Phlosphr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c68b51/32.png) [@Phlosphr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Phlosphr)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2008, 2:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mccain-not-as-forked-as-the-mccain-forked-thread-but-still-forked/466951/292 "2008-10-19T02:11:01Z")
> [@Slacker](#): > > LOL - I’ve heard mention of freepers before, but I’ve never actually read that site. Comedy gold lies therein! My favorite question about the huge crowd at the Obama rally: _Too bad we didn’t know, I think we could have used the google satellite to check out the crowd size…is there such a thing?_ 😃 Wow thats the funiest bit of fear mongering I’ve seen in a while. I’m glad to see McCain’s faithful base writing about the evil muslim nazi. ---
**Author:** ![An\_Arky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/87869e/32.png) [@An\_Arky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Arky)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2008, 11:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mccain-not-as-forked-as-the-mccain-forked-thread-but-still-forked/466951/293 "2008-10-19T11:40:14Z")
OK, a bit of conjecture here. My wife works for a character education nonprofit, and they’re having their annual conference this weekend. Colin Powell was originally scheduled to speak at the conference today, but he canceled in order to appear on Meet the Press (his wife, Alma, is appearing in his place). I would guess that he didn’t do that just so he could just have a chat about foreign policy. I would also guess that he didn’t do that to endorse the loser, either, though I suppose it might be some sort of Hail Mary move. Can I get busted for insider trading for that? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2008, 12:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mccain-not-as-forked-as-the-mccain-forked-thread-but-still-forked/466951/294 "2008-10-19T12:23:28Z")
[Obama Raised Record $150 Million in September](http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/10/19/obama-raised-record-150-million-in-september/) > [@](#): > > The Obama campaign announced this morning that it had raised a record $150 million last month, and had added 632,000 new donors to its total. > > … > > In announcing the Obama figure, David Plouffe, the campaign manager, said the average donation for September was less than $100. [Flounder] This is gonna be GREAT!! [/Flounder] ---
**Author:** ![rocking\_chair](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rocking_chair/32/2918_2.png) [@rocking\_chair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rocking_chair)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2008, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mccain-not-as-forked-as-the-mccain-forked-thread-but-still-forked/466951/295 "2008-10-19T21:17:41Z")
that is an amazing amount of money. i wonder what happens if he doesn’t manage to use it all by election day… and powell moves into the obama camp. mccain has a tough act to follow. ---
**Author:** ![Leaper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/4bbf92/32.png) [@Leaper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaper)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2008, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mccain-not-as-forked-as-the-mccain-forked-thread-but-still-forked/466951/296 "2008-10-20T00:15:08Z")
Reuters say that the Obama lead [is down to three.](http://www.reuters.com/article/politicsNews/idUSTRE49G0V320081019?feedType=RSS&feedName=politicsNews&rpc=22&sp=true) I refuse to consider anyone forked until Election Day (or maybe even after). ---
**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2008, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mccain-not-as-forked-as-the-mccain-forked-thread-but-still-forked/466951/297 "2008-10-20T00:28:20Z")
McCain is at his lowest point so far, according to [electoral-vote.com](http://electoral-vote.com) In order to win, McCain must do ALL of the following: Retain the "barely Rep. states of IN, WV Get the tied state (ND) 3 Win the barely Dem states: NV 5 MO 11 OH 20 NC 15 FL 27 Win the “weak Dem” states: CO 9 VA 13 Get another 6 electoral votes from one of the “strong Dem” states. This is his worst showing so far. ---
**Author:** ![waterj2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/858c86/32.png) [@waterj2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/waterj2)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2008, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mccain-not-as-forked-as-the-mccain-forked-thread-but-still-forked/466951/298 "2008-10-20T00:34:30Z")
> [@Leaper](#): > > Reuters say that the Obama lead [is down to three.](http://www.reuters.com/article/politicsNews/idUSTRE49G0V320081019?feedType=RSS&feedName=politicsNews&rpc=22&sp=true) > > I refuse to consider anyone forked until Election Day (or maybe even after). That’s just one Zogby poll. Over at [Fivethirtyeight.com](http://Fivethirtyeight.com), [here’s Nate Silver’s take](http://www.fivethirtyeight.com/2008/10/todays-polls-1019.html) on that poll: > [@](#): > > Zogby is the outlier at Obama +2.7, and that’s because Zogby has the odd practice of fixing his poll’s party identification weights based on what they were in the last presidential election. In Zogby’s world, then, it’s still 2004, when there were roughly as many Republicans as Democrats. Although Zogby’s trendlines may be worth looking at, his topline numbers are basically unusable. Incidentally, I think I’ve developed more insight into statistics from [Fivethirtyeight.com](http://Fivethirtyeight.com) than from the statistics class I took in college. ---
**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 20, 2008, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mccain-not-as-forked-as-the-mccain-forked-thread-but-still-forked/466951/299 "2008-10-20T00:37:25Z")
> [@Leaper](#): > > Reuters say that the Obama lead [is down to three.](http://www.reuters.com/article/politicsNews/idUSTRE49G0V320081019?feedType=RSS&feedName=politicsNews&rpc=22&sp=true) > > I refuse to consider anyone forked until Election Day (or maybe even after). It’s a single poll, and everyone else disagrees. And if that poll is Zogby Interactive (just said Zogby, so I’m not sure), it’s worthless. ---
**Author:** ![waterj2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/858c86/32.png) [@waterj2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/waterj2)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2008, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mccain-not-as-forked-as-the-mccain-forked-thread-but-still-forked/466951/300 "2008-10-20T00:44:35Z")
> [@Euphonious\_Polemic](#): > > McCain is at his lowest point so far, according to [electoral-vote.com](http://electoral-vote.com) > > In order to win, McCain must do ALL of the following: > > Retain the "barely Rep. states of IN, WV > > Get the tied state (ND) 3 > > Win the barely Dem states: > NV 5 > MO 11 > OH 20 > NC 15 > FL 27 > > Win the “weak Dem” states: > CO 9 > VA 13 > > Get another 6 electoral votes from one of the “strong Dem” states. > > This is his worst showing so far. I think you’ve got it wrong. It looks like to me, Obama has to get 6 electoral votes from any category other than strong Dem. (in addition to all the strong Dem. EVs) to seal the deal. Or, conversely, McCain has to run the table on all the weak, barely, or tied states, with the exception of being able to lose ND (NV and WV would tie the EV count, but the Dems. have, I believe, the votes in the House to guarantee an Obama victory in that case). [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mccain-not-as-forked-as-the-mccain-forked-thread-but-still-forked/466951.md?page=14) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mccain-not-as-forked-as-the-mccain-forked-thread-but-still-forked/466951.md?page=16)