# 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:** 46
**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 31, 2008, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mccain-not-as-forked-as-the-mccain-forked-thread-but-still-forked/466951/901 "2008-10-31T20:13:26Z")
> [@Lantern](#): > > The latest poll shows McCain up by just 5 in Georgia so an upset is quite possible. Texas and Kentucky are probably out of reach. Of course recent polls have shown that Arizona is tightening and Obama is putting some money for ads there; that would be the ultimate “exclamation point” especially if it helps Obama break the 400 barrier. I don’t get the sense though that Obama is going to be winning that big unless there is a major meltdown in the McCain campaign. Georgia. With 47% of last times turnout having already voted Black turnout is over 35% of the total vote so far. Black support of Obama in Georgia is 99%. Last time Black turnout was about 25% of the total. I’ve seen it [calculated](http://www.dagblog.com/politics/shocker-obama-wins-georgia) that if Black turnout is over 31% of the total and indeed goes 99% Obama (as it has been polling) then he just needs about 28% of the non-Black vote to win. Yeah it is doable. Texas I won’t bore you with my figures again, but if Hispanics turnout and go just 60/40 Obama then it could be a surprise. Lots of voters who have not been counted as they are not traditional “likely voters.” A big if but a key one. Big early voting in urban areas has been a good sign. See [here.](http://www.sos.state.tx.us/elections/earlyvoting/2008/oct30.shtml) (you can get to pat numbers on that site.) ---
**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 31, 2008, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mccain-not-as-forked-as-the-mccain-forked-thread-but-still-forked/466951/902 "2008-10-31T20:20:40Z")
> [@Shayna](#): > > As for Kentucky, don’t forget that Louisville is almost a suburb of Cincinnati. [Cincinnati’s airport is actually in Kentucky](http://www.cvgairport.com/)! **Shayna** , I hesitate to take issue with your posts, since I just love your enthusiasm and energy. However, Louisville is about 100 miles from Cincinnati. I think you’d be hard-pressed to find anyone here who considers Louisville to be in Cincinnati’s sphere. The Cincinnati area airport is in KY, but it’s only like 10 miles from downtown. Louisville (a fine city to visit, by the way), is just…different. ---
**Author:** ![jsc1953](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/5daacb/32.png) [@jsc1953](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jsc1953)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2008, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mccain-not-as-forked-as-the-mccain-forked-thread-but-still-forked/466951/903 "2008-10-31T20:32:15Z")
Shayna…perhaps you can answer, as someone who’s close to the ground operation: we do seem to be seeing massive increases in early voting. How much of that is attributable to changes in voting patterns overall (early voting becoming easier)? Or are Obama workers encouraging their voters to vote early…perhaps in anticipation of election day voter suppression shenanigans? ---
**Author:** ![Liberal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2008, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mccain-not-as-forked-as-the-mccain-forked-thread-but-still-forked/466951/904 "2008-10-31T20:37:35Z")
Ken Duberstein [has endorsed Obama](http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2008/10/31/former-reagan-adviser-endorses-obama/). ---
**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 31, 2008, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mccain-not-as-forked-as-the-mccain-forked-thread-but-still-forked/466951/905 "2008-10-31T20:37:50Z")
> [@Bayard](#): > > **Shayna** , I hesitate to take issue with your posts, since I just love your enthusiasm and energy. However, Louisville is about 100 miles from Cincinnati. I think you’d be hard-pressed to find anyone here who considers Louisville to be in Cincinnati’s sphere. The Cincinnati area airport is in KY, but it’s only like 10 miles from downtown. Louisville (a fine city to visit, by the way), is just…different. :smack: I meant Kentucky, not Louisville specifically. Bah. That’ll teach me to try to juggle posting and answering the phones at work at the same time. Thanks for the correction! ---
**Author:** ![Slacker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6bbea6/32.png) [@Slacker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slacker)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2008, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mccain-not-as-forked-as-the-mccain-forked-thread-but-still-forked/466951/906 "2008-10-31T20:41:26Z")
> [@Liberal](#): > > Ken Duberstein [has endorsed Obama](http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2008/10/31/former-reagan-adviser-endorses-obama/). That would be former RONALD REAGAN Chief of Staff Duberstein. Not only that - he tossed in a zinger about Palin. > [@](#): > > On MSNBC, he added a little insult to injury – literally. Referring to John McCain’s choice of running mate, Duberstein said, “What most Americans, I think, realize, is that you don’t offer a job, let alone the vice presidency, to a person after one job interview. Even at McDonald’s, you’re interviewed three times before you’re given a job.” Hee. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2008, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mccain-not-as-forked-as-the-mccain-forked-thread-but-still-forked/466951/907 "2008-10-31T20:46:03Z")
> [@Shayna](#): > > By election day, lines could be as long as 15-20 hours long, if you consider that only 12% have voted early, and that’s over the course of several days, all of which had hours-long wait times. How the heck are the polling places going to accommodate all the remaining voters in a single day?? Actually, lines should be shorter on election day, as there will be a lot more polling places open then. Still, the fact that people are willing to wait 8 hours to vote is striking. There is a potential problem for working stiff voters, though. Georgia law only requires an employer to give a worker two hours off to vote. I can easily imagine some Republican employers playing hardball with that rule to try to keep employees away from the polls: “If you’re not back here in two hours, you’re fired.” I understand employment law attorneys in Georgia have been fielding a lot of calls from employers this week. ---
**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2008, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mccain-not-as-forked-as-the-mccain-forked-thread-but-still-forked/466951/908 "2008-10-31T20:48:33Z")
Either McCain’s Twitter feed has gotten hacked, or things are _really_ getting squirrely with the campaign. This is the Tweet they just put out: > [@](#): > > McCainNews #magpie cash for using twitter. become a magpie and convert your tweets into bling-bling! [http://be-a-magpie.com](http://be-a-magpie.com) As of this moment, its [still up on his Twitter page.](http://twitter.com/mccainnews) ---
**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 31, 2008, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mccain-not-as-forked-as-the-mccain-forked-thread-but-still-forked/466951/909 "2008-10-31T20:58:28Z")
> [@Slacker](#): > > That would be former RONALD REAGAN Chief of Staff Duberstein. Not only that - he tossed in a zinger about Palin. Hee. 😃 There’s an [echo](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=10385470&postcount=897) in here. 😛 ---
**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 31, 2008, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mccain-not-as-forked-as-the-mccain-forked-thread-but-still-forked/466951/910 "2008-10-31T21:00:37Z")
> [@jsc1953](#): > > Shayna…perhaps you can answer, as someone who’s close to the ground operation: we do seem to be seeing massive increases in early voting. How much of that is attributable to changes in voting patterns overall (early voting becoming easier)? Or are Obama workers encouraging their voters to vote early…perhaps in anticipation of election day voter suppression shenanigans? I think it’s both, plus the fact that this is such an historic election, people are actually excited to participate. This notion that Obama supporters in particular, will get complacent and stay home is a red herring. Won’t happen. People who support Obama aren’t just interested in him winning, they’re interested in being PART of him winning. They want to tell their children and grandchildren that they voted in this election. NO ONE is going to sit home on the Democratic side. No one. ---
**Author:** ![Biggirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biggirl/32/3294_2.png) [@Biggirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biggirl)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2008, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mccain-not-as-forked-as-the-mccain-forked-thread-but-still-forked/466951/911 "2008-10-31T21:01:13Z")
> [@Tuckerfan](#): > > Either McCain’s Twitter feed has gotten hacked, or things are _really_ getting squirrely with the campaign. This is the Tweet they just put out:As of this moment, its [still up on his Twitter page.](http://twitter.com/mccainnews) For those of us who don’t speak Twitter-- what does that mean? ---
**Author:** ![Onomatopoeia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/onomatopoeia/32/4145_2.png) [@Onomatopoeia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Onomatopoeia)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2008, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mccain-not-as-forked-as-the-mccain-forked-thread-but-still-forked/466951/912 "2008-10-31T21:06:54Z")
> [@Biggirl](#): > > For those of us who don’t speak Twitter-- what does that mean? Yeah. Stop making me feel old! ---
**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2008, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mccain-not-as-forked-as-the-mccain-forked-thread-but-still-forked/466951/913 "2008-10-31T21:29:24Z")
> [@Biggirl](#): > > For those of us who don’t speak Twitter-- what does that mean? Twitter is what’s known as “microblogging.” Think of it as a way to IM a large number of people, without having to get bogged down by two way conversations. You’re limited to 144 characters in a message which is called a “Tweet.” Hillary and Obama use Twitter as well. Its an effective way to give out up to the minute information to people, without having to go through the media. ---
**Author:** ![atomicbadgerrace](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8e7dd6/32.png) [@atomicbadgerrace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/atomicbadgerrace)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2008, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mccain-not-as-forked-as-the-mccain-forked-thread-but-still-forked/466951/914 "2008-10-31T21:33:07Z")
> [@Tuckerfan](#): > > Twitter is what’s known as “microblogging.” Think of it as a way to IM a large number of people, without having to get bogged down by two way conversations. You’re limited to 144 characters in a message which is called a “Tweet.” Hillary and Obama use Twitter as well. Its an effective way to give out up to the minute information to people, without having to go through the media. So, it’s just like a LiveJournal or a Facebook message or a mass text or a MySpace bulletin or an email…? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2008, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mccain-not-as-forked-as-the-mccain-forked-thread-but-still-forked/466951/915 "2008-10-31T21:33:11Z")
Oh, let me add that I’ve been following McCain via Twitter since the primaries, and McCainNews is quite _clearly_ the official Twitter feed of the campaign, and **not** one of the either fan or gag (as in joke) Twitter feeds out there. ---
**Author:** ![LilShieste](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/9f8e36/32.png) [@LilShieste](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LilShieste)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2008, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mccain-not-as-forked-as-the-mccain-forked-thread-but-still-forked/466951/916 "2008-10-31T21:36:57Z")
> [@Tuckerfan](#): > > Twitter is what’s known as “microblogging.” Think of it as a way to IM a large number of people, without having to get bogged down by two way conversations. You’re limited to 144 characters in a message which is called a “Tweet.” Hillary and Obama use Twitter as well. Its an effective way to give out up to the minute information to people, without having to go through the media. [And it’s prone to abuse.](http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2008/4/23/) ---
**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2008, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mccain-not-as-forked-as-the-mccain-forked-thread-but-still-forked/466951/917 "2008-10-31T21:46:17Z")
> [@atomicbadgerrace](#): > > So, it’s just like a LiveJournal or a Facebook message or a mass text or a MySpace bulletin or an email…? 😃 Yes, and no. Its a little more flexible than those things, and a bit more restrictive as well. You can send Tweets to specific individuals, and there are Twitter clients like Twhirl which work sort of like AIM or ICQ or Messenger, that you can have running, so that you can send or recieve Tweets without having to open your web browser or email client. One thing that you can do with Twitter than you _can’t_ do with email, etc. is there are clients for things like the iPhone that will put your location in a Tweet. So, if you’ve got a good sized following, and you want to let them know where you are (or find out if any of your followers are in the area), you can send out a Tweet which is automatically stamped with your location. This allows for impromptu meet ups. Comcast is using Twitter as part of their customer service program. They have people who scan Tweets looking for people posting complaints about Comcast, and then offer to help the people with their problem. The guys Comcast has monitoring Twitter _aren’t_ your low wage flunkies, either, they’re fairly high up on the food chain at Comcast (think low-level executives). Leo Laporte did an interview some months back with the guy who set the program up with Twitter. (I can’t remember if Leo did it on an episode of This Week in Tech, or one of his other podcasts.) ---
**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2008, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mccain-not-as-forked-as-the-mccain-forked-thread-but-still-forked/466951/918 "2008-10-31T22:46:04Z")
[McCain pinning his hopes on TV and _not_ “boots on the ground.”](http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/10/30/AR2008103004167.html) > [@](#): > > Sen. John McCain and the Republican National Committee will unleash a barrage of spending on television advertising that will allow him to keep pace with Sen. Barack Obama’s ad blitz during the campaign’s final days, but the expenditures will impact McCain’s get-out-the-vote efforts, according to Republican strategists. > [@](#): > > The decision to finance a final advertising push is forcing McCain to curtail spending on Election Day ground forces to help usher his supporters to the polls, according to Republican consultants familiar with McCain’s strategy. ---
**Author:** ![tnetennba](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7993a0/32.png) [@tnetennba](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tnetennba)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2008, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mccain-not-as-forked-as-the-mccain-forked-thread-but-still-forked/466951/919 "2008-10-31T23:13:23Z")
As disgusted as I am with McCain, I think it would be worse if I was a Republican and watching a man I respect fail so thoroughly. (FTR, as I Democrat, I do respect McCain. I just think he needs to retire.) ---
**Author:** ![Fish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/bc8723/32.png) [@Fish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fish)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2008, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mccain-not-as-forked-as-the-mccain-forked-thread-but-still-forked/466951/920 "2008-10-31T23:21:22Z")
> [@Tuckerfan](#): > > [McCain pinning his hopes on TV and _not_ “boots on the ground.”](http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/10/30/AR2008103004167.html) The surge or the splurge, eh? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mccain-not-as-forked-as-the-mccain-forked-thread-but-still-forked/466951.md?page=45) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mccain-not-as-forked-as-the-mccain-forked-thread-but-still-forked/466951.md?page=47)