# 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:** 49
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2008, 4:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mccain-not-as-forked-as-the-mccain-forked-thread-but-still-forked/466951/961 "2008-11-01T04:47:33Z")
Obama will have a lawyer stationed at every poll in the Atlanta area and across much of the state on Tuesday-- and a boiler room _full_ of the bastards on standby in the event litigation should become necessary. There was a similar level of organization for the primaries. It’s quite impressive. I have seen not the slightest hint of any McCain organization here. ---
**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:** [November 1, 2008, 4:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mccain-not-as-forked-as-the-mccain-forked-thread-but-still-forked/466951/962 "2008-11-01T04:49:39Z")
> [@dropzone](#): > > LOL! That is a force I hadn’t thought about but is one that can not only TIP the election, but TEAR IT FORCIBLY FROM McCAIN’S HANDS! Careful, you’ll be quoted by wingnuts once they realize that Drudge and Fox and Dick Morris were wrong and that Obama actually won. Since Drudge and Fox and Dick Morris couldn’t possibly have been lying to them about the poll numbers, they’re going to assume that the election was stolen by ACORN and Obama’s lawyers. It’ll be fun to ignore and mock them just as they ignored and mocked us after 2000 and 2004 (and 2008, in case they actually do manage to steal it again). I read that Obama has at least 5000 lawyers on the ground, mostly in battleground states. All volunteers too. Take THAT, motherfuckers! ETA, EVERY POLLING PLACE IN ATLANTA? Whoo! ---
**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:** [November 1, 2008, 5:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mccain-not-as-forked-as-the-mccain-forked-thread-but-still-forked/466951/963 "2008-11-01T05:01:08Z")
> [@Equipoise](#): > > 😃 I love this thread, and each and every one of you. I’m proud too. I just wish I hadn’t waited so long to shed my cynicism and suspicion about this election. You folks who believed all along, helped make it happen, you are special human beings. [Channeling Obama] I love you back! [/CO] 🙂 > [@dropzone](#): > > LOL! That is a force I hadn’t thought about but is one that can not only TIP the election, but TEAR IT FORCIBLY FROM McCAIN’S HANDS! > > All this campaign, McCain has dissed Obama’s past, not realizing that he wields the Constitutional Lawyers from Hell! Or Heaven, depending on your leanings. > > ETA: Either way, from HARVARD! > How I missed an opportunity for alliteration is beyond me. I could be mistaken, but I think **Equipoise** was referring to the army of lawyers that Obama is recruiting to volunteer in monitoring the polls. [Check it out](http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/10/28/america/lawyers.php). > [@](#): > > With heavy voter turnout expected on Election Day, both parties are amassing thousands and thousands of lawyers to keep an eye on the polls. > > The campaign for Senator Barack Obama, the Democratic contender, is expected to send at least 5,000 lawyers to Florida alone. The first recruitment e-mail message the campaign sent out nationally received 6,000 responses from lawyers willing to volunteer > > . . . > > “We have a selective but ferocious legal strategy,” said Jenny Backus, a spokeswoman for the Obama campaign’s legal program. “Rather than waiting for Election Day, we’ve had lawyers working from the beginning. We’ve used them for a massive voter education program, so that people know their rights and what to do on Election Day.” > > . . . > > So far, more than 10,000 lawyers have signed up on the committee’s Web site. > > . . . > > Some firms, like Saul Ewing in Philadelphia, are allowing their lawyers to receive pro-bono credit for voter protection work on Nov. 4. Saul Ewing, with 250 lawyers and offices in the mid-Atlantic region, says that lawyers from nearly all of its nine offices will work at the polls and that the firm’s Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, office had been used for election training. > > “Our lawyers are willing to go mano-a-mano if necessary,” said Orlan Johnson, a partner at Saul Ewing and a member of the Obama national finance committee. All volunteers must undergo a training session either in person or online with the Obama campaign. > > “We’re going to have lawyers at the polls and in close proximity to the courthouses,” Johnson said. As an example, he said lawyers could be helpful in keeping the polls open when lines became extremely long. > > . . . The mobilization efforts of Obama’s team are mind-boggling. His campaign is not only going to change how all campaigns are run in the future, but it’s going to be written about and studied for years. > [@](#): > > The McCain campaign and the Republican National Committee declined to say how many lawyers they had enlisted. Awwww. Gee, I wonder why not? Pfff. ---
**Author:** ![Leaper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/4bbf92/32.png) [@Leaper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaper)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2008, 5:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mccain-not-as-forked-as-the-mccain-forked-thread-but-still-forked/466951/964 "2008-11-01T05:09:25Z")
[Here’s how McCain’s campaign is talking about the last days of the campaign.](http://rightwingnews.com/mt331/2008/10/the_final_mccain_team_spin_a_t.php) Note that even the blogger, a conservative if there ever was one, is inclined to believe Five Thirty Eight’s version of McCain’s ground game (quoted earlier in this thread) over the actual staffers. ---
**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:** [November 1, 2008, 5:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mccain-not-as-forked-as-the-mccain-forked-thread-but-still-forked/466951/965 "2008-11-01T05:35:44Z")
> [@Shayna](#): > > The mobilization efforts of Obama’s team are mind-boggling. His campaign is not only going to change how all campaigns are run in the future, but it’s going to be written about and studied for years. Awwww. Gee, I wonder why not? Pfff. As admitted here before, I am the son of a federal judge and the brother of two lawyers, one the former Atty General of the Commonwealth of the Northern Marianas (they are getting their own State Quarter!). Therefore, I default to the belief that lawyers grease, not retard, the system and I believe that all them lawyers on Barry’s side are going to EAT THE LUNCH of whoever the Pubs try to throw against them. Don’t let anybody know, but I haven’t been this optimistic since a totally misguided 1968. ---
**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:** [November 1, 2008, 5:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mccain-not-as-forked-as-the-mccain-forked-thread-but-still-forked/466951/966 "2008-11-01T05:39:08Z")
> [@Leaper](#): > > Note that even the blogger, a conservative if there ever was one, is inclined to believe Five Thirty Eight’s version of McCain’s ground game (quoted earlier in this thread) over the actual staffers. The passing game has its hopeless adherents, but the running game has, historically won more games. (statistic pulled out of my ass because I don’t follow football because it raises my blood pressure) ---
**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:** [November 1, 2008, 5:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mccain-not-as-forked-as-the-mccain-forked-thread-but-still-forked/466951/967 "2008-11-01T05:44:31Z")
I think we have well established the concept that states like Georgia and even Texas can flip depending on turnout and exactly how much of a lead Obama has with Black and Hispanic voters. Well, [here’s](http://voices.washingtonpost.com/behind-the-numbers/2008/10/wapo-abc_tracking_race_ethnici.html) some data on exactly how big his lead is among these demographics. > [@](#): > > Overall, nonwhites go for Obama over McCain 80 to 16 percent … > > … African Americans express near unanimous support for Obama, 97 percent to 1 percent … > > … Latino voters also break for Obama by a wide, 68 to 29 percent margin. As among African Americans, nearly all Latinos have made up their minds for sure … > > … Three in 10 Latinos in the poll said they will be casting their first presidential ballot this year, more than the 22 percent who said 2004 was their first trip to the voting booth … Y’all make of that what you will. ---
**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2008, 5:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mccain-not-as-forked-as-the-mccain-forked-thread-but-still-forked/466951/968 "2008-11-01T05:47:07Z")
> [@Shayna](#): > > [Check it out](http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/10/28/america/lawyers.php). The mobilization efforts of Obama’s team are mind-boggling. His campaign is not only going to change how all campaigns are run in the future, but it’s going to be written about and studied for years. Sounds exactly like a military campaign. Ya think this guy just might know how to run a war? ---
**Author:** ![Steve\_MB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steve_mb/32/5339_2.png) [@Steve\_MB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steve_MB)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2008, 5:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mccain-not-as-forked-as-the-mccain-forked-thread-but-still-forked/466951/969 "2008-11-01T05:59:13Z")
> [@Lantern](#): > > recent polls have shown that Arizona is tightening As I write, [the Real Clear Politics electoral map](http://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/maps/obama_vs_mccain/) lists Arizona as a tossup state. ---
**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:** [November 1, 2008, 6:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mccain-not-as-forked-as-the-mccain-forked-thread-but-still-forked/466951/970 "2008-11-01T06:06:56Z")
> [@Equipoise](#): > > Careful, you’ll be quoted by wingnuts once they realize that Drudge and Fox and Dick Morris were wrong and that Obama actually won. My brother, were I to suddenly become a pundit, one way or the other, on ANY station, I’d blow it worse than Joe th Plumber, and those stations, just like the SDMB, know it. I have no problem being defined as a blowhard, because that’s how I decribe myself. Were the OTHER blowhards to come out of the closet, I’d be real happy. But it ain’t gonna happen. ---
**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:** [November 1, 2008, 6:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mccain-not-as-forked-as-the-mccain-forked-thread-but-still-forked/466951/971 "2008-11-01T06:10:01Z")
> [@Tuckerfan](#): > > Sounds exactly like a military campaign. Ya think this guy just might know how to run a war? That’s why I mentioned Ike. Patton, the Maverick, didn’t win WWII. Ike, the consummate Organization Man, did. ---
**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2008, 6:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mccain-not-as-forked-as-the-mccain-forked-thread-but-still-forked/466951/972 "2008-11-01T06:24:18Z")
> [@dropzone](#): > > That’s why I mentioned Ike. Patton, the Maverick, didn’t win WWII. Ike, the consummate Organization Man, did. Ah, but ol’ Ike _couldn’t_ have done it without Patton (since Patton was willing to chew through all opposition, while others were more cautious), which is where the analogy breaks down, I thiink, as the _only_ candidate in my lifetime that I can imagine being an equal match for Obama was Reagan. None of the others have had the charisma of Obama and that’s surely a large factor in his winning. Obama beat the Clinton machine, which is no small feat. ---
**Author:** ![Leaper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/4bbf92/32.png) [@Leaper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaper)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2008, 6:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mccain-not-as-forked-as-the-mccain-forked-thread-but-still-forked/466951/973 "2008-11-01T06:33:17Z")
> [@Steve\_MB](#): > > As I write, [the Real Clear Politics electoral map](http://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/maps/obama_vs_mccain/) lists Arizona as a tossup state. They just made me chuckle. Alaska voted for Bush by a margin of 25-30 points in the last two elections. Now, _with its own governor on the Republican ballot,_ McCain is only winning the state by 15! That HAS to mean something… ---
**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:** [November 1, 2008, 6:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mccain-not-as-forked-as-the-mccain-forked-thread-but-still-forked/466951/974 "2008-11-01T06:44:04Z")
> [@Tuckerfan](#): > > …the _only_ candidate in my lifetime that I can imagine being an equal match for Obama was Reagan. None of the others have had the charisma of Obama and that’s surely a large factor in his winning. Obama beat the Clinton machine, which is no small feat. [snort of derision] Patton was a sheeple as soon as Ike told him to say, “Baaa.” Reagan played like someone who cared but that was tossed aside by the neocons ASAP. Obama is playing like the REAL DEAL all along and needs his proxies to either support or fuck him. ---
**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:** [November 1, 2008, 7:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mccain-not-as-forked-as-the-mccain-forked-thread-but-still-forked/466951/975 "2008-11-01T07:35:10Z")
Speaking of Arizona, Obama’s considering rubbing McCain’s nose in the dirt. > [@](#): > > [Tight Polls and Rumors of an Obama Visit Boost Momentum in Arizona](http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dawn-teo/tight-polls-and-rumors-of_b_139090.html) > > Newsweek reported late yesterday that senior Obama advisers are **discussing a possible visit to Arizona by the candidate** during his Western swing-state tour this weekend, heightening the excitement of Democrats here and stoking the momentum that has been building in the state in recent days. Obama spokesman David Plouffe announced this morning that the campaign will be buying air time for the first time in Arizona and will run the campaign’s closing ad. Five polls released over the last week declared the presidential race in Arizona a statistical dead heat. It’s just getting better and better! I had thought it would be nice if Obama swung by Arizona, but didn’t say it outloud thinking it wouldn’t happen. Now it might happen! Or not, maybe, but it would be fun and they’re not definitely saying no. I’d bet we’d see another 100,000 turnout in AZ, since he hasn’t been there for months. The close polls have definitely energized people in Arizona. > [@](#): > > More important, the impetus is already on the side of Democrats in Arizona. Just knowing the race is close has had an unmistakable effect. The Arizona Obama headquarters in Phoenix was overflowing with people this morning. Volunteers were busy making phone calls, working on computers, dashing from corner to corner, working on scores of projects. > > Every demographic is represented in the Obama office: older, younger, middle-aged, white, Hispanic, African-American, Asian-American, and more. A group of children came into the office wanting to donate a collection of coins they had taken up in class. Obama Communications Director Dave Cieslak said, “The polls are creating a level of excitement that we haven’t seen before. The promise and hope that Arizonans could help put Barack Obama in the White House has our offices packed with people.” > > DeRose added: “Democratic momentum in Arizona is tremendous – and this recent polling only magnifies that.” > > Some of the enthusiasm was also driven by the hordes of Arizonans receiving robcalls from the McCain-Palin campaign on Wednesday. Stephen, a Vietnam veteran in Phoenix who was the recipient of a robocall from McCain on Wednesday said, “I was inspired to donate 50 bucks to Obama and take off work Election Day to do volunteer work for Obama. Thanks for the inspiration McSame. If things are that bad for you, maybe my extra effort will make a difference.” I have a real soft spot for Arizona, so this makes me very happy. > [@dropzone](#): > > My **brother** , were I to suddenly become a pundit, one way or the other, on ANY station, I’d blow it worse than Joe the Plumber, and those stations, just like the SDMB, know it. Psst, sister. _smile_ ---
**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:** [November 1, 2008, 7:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mccain-not-as-forked-as-the-mccain-forked-thread-but-still-forked/466951/976 "2008-11-01T07:41:22Z")
> [@Equipoise](#): > > Psst, sister. _smile_ Oh? Sister? Then you MUST be assured of my beliefs! Honest, doll, I can squirm outta ANY trap! 😉 ---
**Author:** ![aldiboronti](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9fc348/32.png) [@aldiboronti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aldiboronti)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2008, 7:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mccain-not-as-forked-as-the-mccain-forked-thread-but-still-forked/466951/977 "2008-11-01T07:46:10Z")
Now we get the threats. [Erica Jong Tells Italians Obama Loss ‘Will Spark the Second American Civil War. Blood Will Run in the Streets’](http://www.observer.com/2008/politics/erica-jong-tells-italians-obama-loss-will-spark-second-american-civil-war-blood-will-r) OK, she’s batshit insane but I’ve heard milder versions of this from other quarters in the Obama camp. Elect him or else! Crap like this does the guy no favors at all. ---
**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2008, 8:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mccain-not-as-forked-as-the-mccain-forked-thread-but-still-forked/466951/978 "2008-11-01T08:23:05Z")
Someone proposed that [this](http://i129.photobucket.com/albums/p226/Muad_Dib_2007/Clip%20Art/elephant-fishes-for-shit.gif) should be the new emblem of the GOP. (Note do **not** click the link if you’re easily grossed out. Animated GIF of elephants.) ---
**Author:** ![Lantern](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/d26b3c/32.png) [@Lantern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lantern)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2008, 9:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mccain-not-as-forked-as-the-mccain-forked-thread-but-still-forked/466951/979 "2008-11-01T09:08:22Z")
[http://marcambinder.theatlantic.com/archives/2008/10/a\_mccain\_campaign\_memo\_1.php](http://marcambinder.theatlantic.com/archives/2008/10/a_mccain_campaign_memo_1.php) Last minute desperate spin from the McCain team: > [@](#): > > Everyone knows that vote rich Ohio and Pennsylvania will be key battlegrounds for this election. Between the two: 41 electoral votes and no candidate has gotten to the White House without Ohio. As mentioned earlier in the thread this is wrong, it’s only Republican candidates who have never won without Ohio. You would expect political operatives to know this sort of stuff. > [@](#): > > Obama is running out of states if you follow out a traditional model. Today, he expanded his buy into North Dakota, Georgia and Arizona in an attempt to widen the playing field and find his 270 Electoral Votes. This is a very tall order and trying to expand into new states in the final hours shows he doesn’t have the votes to win. This reaches the level of parody: Obama’s strength in so many unexpected states is really a weakness. ---
**Author:** ![Lobohan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobohan/32/79_2.png) [@Lobohan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobohan)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2008, 9:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mccain-not-as-forked-as-the-mccain-forked-thread-but-still-forked/466951/980 "2008-11-01T09:25:27Z")
I’ve been watching a lot of speechifying by the McCain covey and I simply can’t understand how simperingly stupid the audiences there are. Are there really that many ignorant slackjaws to go round? McCain’s squeaky, snide little comments are laughable. Yet they get the boos and ovations he’s looking for. I know that there are ignorant people on the liberal side, but fuck-a-duck, it’s staggering how putrid everything about McCain is and how uncritical his teeming millions are. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mccain-not-as-forked-as-the-mccain-forked-thread-but-still-forked/466951.md?page=48) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mccain-not-as-forked-as-the-mccain-forked-thread-but-still-forked/466951.md?page=50)