# 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:** 29
**Author:** ![Leaper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/4bbf92/32.png) [@Leaper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaper)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2008, 4:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mccain-not-as-forked-as-the-mccain-forked-thread-but-still-forked/466951/561 "2008-10-26T04:50:23Z")
I’ve found SOMEONE who thinks he sees [“Signs Pointing to a McCain Victory.”](http://www.americanthinker.com/2008/10/signs_pointing_to_a_mccain_vic.html) Unfortunately, the article itself was more lightweight than I’d been expecting/hoping. ---
**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 26, 2008, 4:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mccain-not-as-forked-as-the-mccain-forked-thread-but-still-forked/466951/562 "2008-10-26T04:57:49Z")
That’s an understatement. Normally when I read articles like this I can disagree with someone, but at least understand their reasoning; this guy doesn’t know what the hell he’s talking about. “Everybody knows somebody who voted for Kerry and is voting for McCain”? My ass. ---
**Author:** ![scabpicker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scabpicker/32/8268_2.png) [@scabpicker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scabpicker)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2008, 9:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mccain-not-as-forked-as-the-mccain-forked-thread-but-still-forked/466951/563 "2008-10-26T09:07:43Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > W. seems to have settled in okay, but I always regarded Bush Sr.'s claim to Texas as a bit of a joke. As I recall, in the 1980s, he listed his main residence in Texas as a Houston hotel room. I remember Doonesbury having a field day with that one. A modern-day carpetbagger! For what it’s worth, I’ve always felt they were both phony Texans, and I don’t personally know of any longtime residents that would disagree on the subject, even their supporters. We have a long and storied history of crooked politics here, but they both kind of seemed outside of even that realm. My dad only voted Dem 2 times in a presidential race that I know of, LBJ and Carter. Clinton had half a chance here against a weak candidate like Dole, and the state has shifted slightly more Dem with more transplants. Even so, my feeling from looking at the signs in the neighborhoods around here is that unless the Obama GOTV effort here is phenomenal, it’s going to be going for McCain. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2008, 9:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mccain-not-as-forked-as-the-mccain-forked-thread-but-still-forked/466951/564 "2008-10-26T09:54:25Z")
> [@Leaper](#): > > I’ve found SOMEONE who thinks he sees [“Signs Pointing to a McCain Victory.”](http://www.americanthinker.com/2008/10/signs_pointing_to_a_mccain_vic.html) Unfortunately, the article itself was more lightweight than I’d been expecting/hoping. You’ve got to consider the material they have to work with. 🙂 I remember reading a _U.S. News & World Report_ article back in 1964 on “How Goldwater Can Win.” We know how that one turned out. ---
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2008, 12:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mccain-not-as-forked-as-the-mccain-forked-thread-but-still-forked/466951/565 "2008-10-26T12:56:50Z")
There have been some interesting [newspaper endorsements](http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003875230) but some are more surprising than others. [The Anchorage Daily News](http://www.adn.com/opinion/story/567867.html)?!? No, this endorsement won’t flip Alaska, but nevertheless … > [@](#): > > Gov. Palin’s nomination clearly alters the landscape for Alaskans as we survey this race for the presidency – but it does not overwhelm all other judgment. The election, after all is said and done, is not about Sarah Palin, and our sober view is that her running mate, Sen. John McCain, is the wrong choice for president at this critical time for our nation. > > Sen. Barack Obama, the Democratic nominee, brings far more promise to the office. In a time of grave economic crisis, he displays thoughtful analysis, enlists wise counsel and operates with a cool, steady hand. The same cannot be said of Sen. McCain. … > > … Gov. Palin has shown the country why she has been so successful in her young political career. Passionate, charismatic and indefatigable, she draws huge crowds and sows excitement in her wake … Yet despite her formidable gifts, few who have worked closely with the governor would argue she is truly ready to assume command of the most important, powerful nation on earth. To step in and juggle the demands of an economic meltdown, two deadly wars and a deteriorating climate crisis would stretch the governor beyond her range. Like picking Sen. McCain for president, putting her one 72-year-old heartbeat from the leadership of the free world is just too risky at this time. (Okay. They _did_ endorse Kerry last time. But still.) ---
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2008, 1:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mccain-not-as-forked-as-the-mccain-forked-thread-but-still-forked/466951/566 "2008-10-26T13:10:27Z")
BTW, [this](http://infochimps.org/static/gallery/politics/endorsements_map/endorsements_map.html) is a nice graphic representation of endorsements so far. It also has this somewhat insightful comment. > [@](#): > > ``` > * The amount of blue in the red states highlights how foolishly incomplete the "Red State/Blue State" model is for anything but electoral college returns. The largest part of the Red/Blue split is Rural/Urban. Consider the electoral cartogram for the last election. Almost every city is blue, even in the south and mountain, while almost all rural areal is red, even in California and Massachusetts. The urban exceptions on the cartogram -- chiefly Dallas, Houston and Boise -- stand noticeably alone on the endorsement map as having red unpaired with blue. (in this election even the Houston Chronicle is endorsing Obama, but they are quite traditionally Republican.) > > ``` > > This seems to speak of why so many on the right feel there’s a MSM bias. Roughly 50% of the country lives in a top-50 metro area (metros of over a million people: like Salt Lake City or Raleigh, NC and on up), 50% live outside (in rural areas, or in cities like Fresno, CA and Allentown/Bethlehem, PA or smaller). But our major newspapers are located almost exclusively in urban areas. > > Thus, surprisingly, the major right-leaning papers are located in parts of the country we consider highly leftish: the largest urban areas are both «the most liberal» and «the most likely to support a sizeable conservative target audience». That actually makes some sense. ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2008, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mccain-not-as-forked-as-the-mccain-forked-thread-but-still-forked/466951/567 "2008-10-26T14:42:44Z")
That observation goes back to 2004. My local alternative paper labeled it “[The Urban Archipelago](http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/IssueArchives?oid=19811),” a term which appears to have [caught on a bit](http://www.google.com/search?q=%22urban+archipelago%22). ---
**Author:** ![stolichnaya](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bcef8e/32.png) [@stolichnaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stolichnaya)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2008, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mccain-not-as-forked-as-the-mccain-forked-thread-but-still-forked/466951/568 "2008-10-26T15:15:29Z")
McCain is kind of getting whomped on MTP. Also, he just called Joe Biden “Joe the Biden”. I love that. “Joe the Biden”. ---
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2008, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mccain-not-as-forked-as-the-mccain-forked-thread-but-still-forked/466951/569 "2008-10-26T15:23:16Z")
> [@Cervaise](#): > > That observation goes back to 2004. My local alternative paper labeled it “[The Urban Archipelago](http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/IssueArchives?oid=19811),” a term which appears to have [caught on a bit](http://www.google.com/search?q=%22urban+archipelago%22). I like that! (Even though I’ve always had the hardest time both spelling and pronouncing “archipelago”.) ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2008, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mccain-not-as-forked-as-the-mccain-forked-thread-but-still-forked/466951/570 "2008-10-26T15:29:04Z")
BBC TV was just reporting that Obama’s lead has narrowed some in a new poll. Didn’t catch the new figures. ---
**Author:** ![Eva\_Luna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e495f1/32.png) [@Eva\_Luna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eva_Luna)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2008, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mccain-not-as-forked-as-the-mccain-forked-thread-but-still-forked/466951/571 "2008-10-26T15:34:27Z")
> [@DSeid](#): > > There have been some interesting [newspaper endorsements](http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003875230) but some are more surprising than others. [The Anchorage Daily News](http://www.adn.com/opinion/story/567867.html)?!? No, this endorsement won’t flip Alaska, but nevertheless … The Anchorage Daily News seems to pretty much hate Palin. (OOPS, this is Tom Scud, not Eva. Perils of a shared computer.) ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2008, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mccain-not-as-forked-as-the-mccain-forked-thread-but-still-forked/466951/572 "2008-10-26T16:14:27Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > BBC TV was just reporting that Obama’s lead has narrowed some in a new poll. Didn’t catch the new figures. My guess is the Zogby poll which had Obama at +13 a few days ago and +5 today. At the same time, other polls have trended for Obama or stayed flat. RCP’s average yesterday was Obama +8, then +7.7 this morning (with the new Zogby numbers) and is +7.8 now showing that _some_ poll went up a point or so for Obama although I couldn’t tell you which. On the day of the +13 poll, his RCP average was +7.5 So Zogby’s number dropped from a high which I doubt few people took especially seriously to a number much more in line with the average. While _Zogby’s poll_ thus showed a tightening race, the average during that time has stayed steady. ---
**Author:** ![tnetennba](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7993a0/32.png) [@tnetennba](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tnetennba)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2008, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mccain-not-as-forked-as-the-mccain-forked-thread-but-still-forked/466951/573 "2008-10-26T17:01:03Z")
The various tracking polls on their own show a lot of fluctuation independently, meaning that on any given day you will see headlines that Obama’s lead has narrowed, widened, and flatlined. The RCP average has been consistently between 6 and 8. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2008, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mccain-not-as-forked-as-the-mccain-forked-thread-but-still-forked/466951/574 "2008-10-26T17:39:15Z")
> [@](#): > > I love that. “Joe the Biden”. His parents were big Muppets fans, so they gave him the same middle name as Kermit the Frog. ---
**Author:** ![Knorf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/58956e/32.png) [@Knorf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Knorf)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2008, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mccain-not-as-forked-as-the-mccain-forked-thread-but-still-forked/466951/575 "2008-10-26T19:32:53Z")
If the Republican strategy becomes, “don’t let the democrats sweep!” and “don’t let them win 60 seats because they’re going to win the presidency!” then the man is well and truly done. Did I say “becomes”? I meant is. Enjoy your career in the Senate, John. Further evidence of “stick a fork in him, he’s done”: he’s [flip-flopped and is now pandering to the ethanol crowd](http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/10/26/in-iowa-mccain-warms-to-us-role-promoting-ethanol/) to try and improved his standing in Iowa. Good luck with that. By the way, does he really think he’s scoring points with that ever-repeated “my friends” affectation? ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2008, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mccain-not-as-forked-as-the-mccain-forked-thread-but-still-forked/466951/576 "2008-10-26T21:38:29Z")
I’m not sure he knows he’s saying it any more; after so many years, it’s more like a tic. Tic. Tic. Tic. Tic. BOOM. ---
**Author:** ![pepperlandgirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f17d59/32.png) [@pepperlandgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pepperlandgirl)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2008, 12:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mccain-not-as-forked-as-the-mccain-forked-thread-but-still-forked/466951/577 "2008-10-27T00:09:16Z")
Not necessarily an example of forking, but I thought it was interesting all the same. I just saw on the local news that, while Utah will go for McCain, Obama managed to raise $1.7 million in the beehive state. McCain? $1.6 million. ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2008, 12:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mccain-not-as-forked-as-the-mccain-forked-thread-but-still-forked/466951/578 "2008-10-27T00:49:05Z")
> [@Knorf](#): > > By the way, does he really think he’s scoring points with that ever-repeated “my friends” affectation? Did you see _MtP_ this morning? He said it while sitting alone with Tom Brokaw! :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2008, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mccain-not-as-forked-as-the-mccain-forked-thread-but-still-forked/466951/579 "2008-10-27T00:50:18Z")
> [@pepperlandgirl](#): > > Not necessarily an example of forking, but I thought it was interesting all the same. I just saw on the local news that, while Utah will go for McCain, Obama managed to raise $1.7 million in the beehive state. McCain? $1.6 million. That’s because all the Mormons there are pumping money into the Yes-on-8 “Marriage Protection” Proposition here in CA. :(:mad: ---
**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2008, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mccain-not-as-forked-as-the-mccain-forked-thread-but-still-forked/466951/580 "2008-10-27T01:11:29Z")
David Frum: [NOT EVEN CLOSE Sorry, Senator. Let’s Salvage What We Can.](http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/10/23/AR2008102302081.html?nav=hcmodule) > [@](#): > > In these last days before the vote, Republicans need to face some strategic realities. Our resources are limited, and our message is failing. We cannot fight on all fronts. We are cannibalizing races that we must win and probably can win in order to help a national campaign that is almost certainly lost. In these final 10 days, our goal should be: senators first. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mccain-not-as-forked-as-the-mccain-forked-thread-but-still-forked/466951.md?page=28) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mccain-not-as-forked-as-the-mccain-forked-thread-but-still-forked/466951.md?page=30)