# 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:** 40
**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 30, 2008, 4:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mccain-not-as-forked-as-the-mccain-forked-thread-but-still-forked/466951/781 "2008-10-30T04:25:07Z")
I can breathe easier now. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2008, 4:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mccain-not-as-forked-as-the-mccain-forked-thread-but-still-forked/466951/782 "2008-10-30T04:44:41Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > Damn! Another bit of political lore exploded. How about the one that says no president has been elected without carrying Ohio? (Except for the pre-Ohio-statehood presidents, of course.) Does that one hold true? You’ve got the lore slightly wrong. It’s no _Republican_ has been elected president without carrying Ohio. ---
**Author:** ![waterj2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/858c86/32.png) [@waterj2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/waterj2)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2008, 4:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mccain-not-as-forked-as-the-mccain-forked-thread-but-still-forked/466951/783 "2008-10-30T04:50:11Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > I can breathe easier now. Well, I’m pretty confident that the one about the winner always being some white guy is, as of today, still true. ---
**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 30, 2008, 8:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mccain-not-as-forked-as-the-mccain-forked-thread-but-still-forked/466951/784 "2008-10-30T08:54:21Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > You’ve got the lore slightly wrong. It’s no _Republican_ has been elected president without carrying Ohio. Ah ha! Thanks. ---
**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 30, 2008, 10:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mccain-not-as-forked-as-the-mccain-forked-thread-but-still-forked/466951/785 "2008-10-30T10:52:41Z")
Speaking of lore, no Republican has been elected without a Bush or a Nixon on the ticket since 1928. ---
**Author:** ![Jeeves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/73ab20/32.png) [@Jeeves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jeeves)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2008, 11:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mccain-not-as-forked-as-the-mccain-forked-thread-but-still-forked/466951/786 "2008-10-30T11:33:41Z")
> [@Fear\_Itself](#): > > Speaking of lore, no Republican has been elected without a Bush or a Nixon on the ticket since 1928. McCain should have learned from this, instead of Sarah Palin he needed Nixon’s daughter. ---
**Author:** ![tnetennba](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7993a0/32.png) [@tnetennba](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tnetennba)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2008, 12:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mccain-not-as-forked-as-the-mccain-forked-thread-but-still-forked/466951/787 "2008-10-30T12:01:14Z")
I guess the Trot Nixon/Randy Bush ticket in 2012 will be extremely successful. ---
**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 30, 2008, 12:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mccain-not-as-forked-as-the-mccain-forked-thread-but-still-forked/466951/788 "2008-10-30T12:49:49Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > Pardon if this was mentioned above and I missed it, but this seems a good time to point out that no president has ever been elected without carrying his home state. As I recall, Gore lost Tennessee in 2000, and if he had managed to win it, that would have given him the electoral votes needed. Nitpick 1: Polk won without winning his birth state or his state of residence. Nitpcik 2: Gore had no chance in TN. During the eight years of the Clinton presidency, it became steadily more conservative; note that Clinton won it by 5% the first time, and only 2% the second time. Combine that with Gore’s charisma relative to Clinton’s, and it’s no wonder he lost by 4% in 2000. The amazing thing is that he didn’t lose by more, given the presence of an evangelical Christian on the other ticket. ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2008, 1:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mccain-not-as-forked-as-the-mccain-forked-thread-but-still-forked/466951/789 "2008-10-30T13:03:51Z")
> [@Tuckerfan](#): > > Why’d he go back to New Hampshire last week or the week before? Even if he _did_ flip the state, it’d only be 4 electorial votes. Not enough to bother with when you’re down so far. I also have to believe it’s a bit of an ego thing. NH is what saved McCain, putting him back into play in the primaries and essentially reviving the momentum that led to his eventual victory. He wants to believe that what Iowans feel for Obama NHers feel for him and to somehow lose that state would represent a larger repudiation of his entire campaign. ---
**Author:** ![Slacker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6bbea6/32.png) [@Slacker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slacker)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2008, 1:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mccain-not-as-forked-as-the-mccain-forked-thread-but-still-forked/466951/790 "2008-10-30T13:10:18Z")
So we’ve had quite the cavalcade of Republicans announcing their support for Obama (Powell, McClellan, Buckley, the Goldwaters, etc). Have any prominent Democrats or liberals announced their support for McCain? The only one I can recall is [this speechwriter](http://www.thedailybeast.com/blogs-and-stories/2008-10-28/so-long-obama/1/), who makes a terribly uncompelling case IMO. And I’d guess most people wouldn’t call her a “prominent” Democrat. Are there others? ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2008, 1:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mccain-not-as-forked-as-the-mccain-forked-thread-but-still-forked/466951/791 "2008-10-30T13:37:51Z")
> [@Slacker](#): > > So we’ve had quite the cavalcade of Republicans announcing their support for Obama (Powell, McClellan, Buckley, the Goldwaters, etc). Have any prominent Democrats or liberals announced their support for McCain? The only one I can recall is [this speechwriter](http://www.thedailybeast.com/blogs-and-stories/2008-10-28/so-long-obama/1/), who makes a terribly uncompelling case IMO. And I’d guess most people wouldn’t call her a “prominent” Democrat. Are there others? I’d consider Lieberman a prominent Democrat. Yes, there’s an “I” after his name, but he’s still a Democrat. ---
**Author:** ![C3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/c3/32/3108_2.png) [@C3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/C3)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2008, 1:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mccain-not-as-forked-as-the-mccain-forked-thread-but-still-forked/466951/792 "2008-10-30T13:54:37Z")
> [@Slacker](#): > > So we’ve had quite the cavalcade of Republicans announcing their support for Obama (Powell, McClellan, Buckley, the Goldwaters, etc). Have any prominent Democrats or liberals announced their support for McCain? The only one I can recall is [this speechwriter](http://www.thedailybeast.com/blogs-and-stories/2008-10-28/so-long-obama/1/), who makes a terribly uncompelling case IMO. And I’d guess most people wouldn’t call her a “prominent” Democrat. Are there others? Lady de Rothschild, the multi-millionaire baroness endorsing McCain because Obama is “elitist.” ---
**Author:** ![Slacker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6bbea6/32.png) [@Slacker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slacker)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2008, 1:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mccain-not-as-forked-as-the-mccain-forked-thread-but-still-forked/466951/793 "2008-10-30T13:57:01Z")
> [@C3](#): > > Lady de Rothschild, the multi-millionaire baroness endorsing McCain because Obama is “elitist.” Ah yes. You gotta love a person whose house has its own Wikipedia entry calling someone an elitist. 😃 BTW, McCain still has one trick up his sleeve: _ **RED STATE RAMPAGE!** _ [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lix3LUyj9jo](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lix3LUyj9jo) (From Bill Maher’s show) ---
**Author:** ![Lantern](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/d26b3c/32.png) [@Lantern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lantern)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2008, 2:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mccain-not-as-forked-as-the-mccain-forked-thread-but-still-forked/466951/794 "2008-10-30T14:01:43Z")
[http://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/2008/latestpolls/index.html](http://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/2008/latestpolls/index.html) Overall the situation seems to be fairly stable in early polls released today. The RCP average has inched up from 6 to 6.4 for Obama’s lead. When it comes to the state polls the one big surprise is a 4 point race in an NBC poll in PA; however there is another CNN poll which shows the usual 12 points. Decent numbers for Obama in North Carolina and Ohio. The race appears to have tightened in the last few days but McCain needs that tightening to steadily continue till election day and start showing up in the state polls. Apart from that one PA poll , which is probably an outlier, it’s not a good polling day for him so far. ---
**Author:** ![Discordia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Discordia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Discordia)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2008, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mccain-not-as-forked-as-the-mccain-forked-thread-but-still-forked/466951/795 "2008-10-30T14:08:35Z")
That Mason-Dixon poll in PA isn’t really good news, since their last poll there was +2 😛 They’ve always been closer than others. Oh and Zogby and Rasmussen are back up to +7/+5. So much for the tightening. ---
**Author:** ![Defensive\_Indifference](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/defensive_indifference/32/6502_2.png) [@Defensive\_Indifference](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Defensive_Indifference)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2008, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mccain-not-as-forked-as-the-mccain-forked-thread-but-still-forked/466951/796 "2008-10-30T14:28:16Z")
Both Bill Clinton and Al Gore (!) are going to be campaigning for Obama in Florida over the next week. Obama’s infomercial was well-done and will get a lot of the news cycle for the next day or so. McCain needs to strip a point per day from Obama’s lead. We just found out that the economy contracted last quarter. It’s night, and we’re wearing sunglasses. Hit it. ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Scud](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f08c70/32.png) [@Tom\_Scud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Scud)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2008, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mccain-not-as-forked-as-the-mccain-forked-thread-but-still-forked/466951/797 "2008-10-30T14:34:18Z")
> [@cricetus](#): > > I guess the Trot Nixon/Randy Bush ticket in 2012 will be extremely successful. I was thinking Mojo/Kate, myself. ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2008, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mccain-not-as-forked-as-the-mccain-forked-thread-but-still-forked/466951/798 "2008-10-30T14:41:26Z")
> [@Bayard](#): > > McCain needs to strip a point per day from Obama’s lead. I read that twice before I realized it didn’t say “McCain needs a strip joint per day for Obama’s lead.” Wow, I didn’t get enough sleep last night. ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2008, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mccain-not-as-forked-as-the-mccain-forked-thread-but-still-forked/466951/799 "2008-10-30T14:48:11Z")
> [@jsgoddess](#): > > I read that twice before I realized it didn’t say “McCain needs a strip joint per day for Obama’s lead.” > > Wow, I didn’t get enough sleep last night. And now I’m probably never going to sleep again… ---
**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 30, 2008, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mccain-not-as-forked-as-the-mccain-forked-thread-but-still-forked/466951/800 "2008-10-30T14:49:03Z")
> [@Lantern](#): > > [RealClearPolitics - Election 2008 - Latest Polls](http://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/2008/latestpolls/index.html) > > Overall the situation seems to be fairly stable in early polls released today. The RCP average has inched up from 6 to 6.4 for Obama’s lead. When it comes to the state polls the one big surprise is a 4 point race in an NBC poll in PA; however there is another CNN poll which shows the usual 12 points. Decent numbers for Obama in North Carolina and Ohio. The race appears to have tightened in the last few days but McCain needs that tightening to steadily continue till election day and start showing up in the state polls. Apart from that one PA poll , which is probably an outlier, it’s not a good polling day for him so far. I’d agree “stable” but moreso showing that it has really _been_ stable and that the apparent “tightening” of the past several days was more likely statistical flutter being overanalyzed. [Reuters](http://www.reuters.com/article/politicsNews/idUSTRE49J0LF20081030) puts it like this > [@](#): > > Support for Obama, a first-term senator from Illinois, hit or exceeded the 50 percent mark for the seventh time in the last 10 days. McCain’s support has not reached 46 percent in more than three weeks of polling. > > Obama held steady or expanded his edge among several crucial blocs of swing voters, leading by 19 points among independents, 10 points among women, 9 points among Catholics and 7 points among voters above the age 65. > > Obama also moved ahead of McCain, an Arizona senator, by 5 points among men. McCain still leads by 8 points among white voters but only earns the support of about 30 percent of Hispanics [Rasmussen](http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/election_20082/2008_presidential_election/daily_presidential_tracking_poll) puts it similarly. > [@](#): > > This is the 35th straight day that Obama’s support has been between 50% and 52%. With the exception of yesterday, McCain’s support has stayed between 44% and 46% during that stretch [Diageo/Hot Line](http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/docs/Hotline_103008.htm) has the additional fun factoid: > [@](#): > > Among the 19% of respondents who have already voted, Obama leads 55-36%. Stable it is, stable it has been for about a month. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mccain-not-as-forked-as-the-mccain-forked-thread-but-still-forked/466951.md?page=39) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mccain-not-as-forked-as-the-mccain-forked-thread-but-still-forked/466951.md?page=41)