# Obama absolutely beating the snot out of McCain in early voting **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [October 15, 2008, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-absolutely-beating-the-snot-out-of-mccain-in-early-voting/468100 "2008-10-15T22:09:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**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 16, 2008, 1:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-absolutely-beating-the-snot-out-of-mccain-in-early-voting/468100/41 "2008-10-16T13:37:01Z")
Does anyone know where they got these numbers? Early voting in North Carolina just started today - how did they determine that Obama was up by 34%? Are they counting absentee ballots or something? ---
**Author:** ![Justin\_Bailey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justin_bailey/32/8792_2.png) [@Justin\_Bailey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Bailey)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2008, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-absolutely-beating-the-snot-out-of-mccain-in-early-voting/468100/42 "2008-10-16T15:16:51Z")
> [@Frank](#): > > Why would you assume that? At least where I’m familar with early voting (the past few years in Colorado) there was never the slightest whisper of issues with those votes. Exactly. One of the things I’m looking forward to after an Obama win is that people will stop bitching about “stolen elections”. Christ is it tiring. Bush won by slightly more than 50% in 2000 and 2004. Get over it. ---
**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 16, 2008, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-absolutely-beating-the-snot-out-of-mccain-in-early-voting/468100/43 "2008-10-16T15:31:24Z")
> [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](#): > > This is an asskicking, my friends. This is going to be an even bigger landslide than we thought. The only result that matters will be the one announced in newspaper headlines on November 5. Until then, keep your head down and your shoulder to the wheel. Do not let up. And do not make any assumptions. Also, remember **Bricker** gloating after Bush’s re-election in 2004? Remember how ugly it was? It is no less ugly coming from our side. Knock it off. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2008, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-absolutely-beating-the-snot-out-of-mccain-in-early-voting/468100/44 "2008-10-16T15:40:31Z")
> [@Justin\_Bailey](#): > > …Bush won by slightly more than 50% in 2000 and 2004. Get over it. Actually, I have gotten over it, but Bush had fewer popular votes than Gore in 2000 and did not break the 50% mark that year. He did in 2004, though. ---
**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 16, 2008, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-absolutely-beating-the-snot-out-of-mccain-in-early-voting/468100/45 "2008-10-16T17:23:26Z")
> [@Justin\_Bailey](#): > > Exactly. One of the things I’m looking forward to after an Obama win is that people will stop bitching about “stolen elections”. Expect to hear a great deal about ACORN. (It’s already being set up). ---
**Author:** ![Velma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/85e7bf/32.png) [@Velma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velma)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2008, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-absolutely-beating-the-snot-out-of-mccain-in-early-voting/468100/46 "2008-10-16T17:31:56Z")
I don’t dare to be optimistic until the election is over. I fear something could still happen - something big with the war, or another terrorist attack, or somebody suddenly produces a nuke, or even capturing Osama Bin Laden - could turn things away from the economy and back into foreign policy, where I think McCain would have the advantage. When this election was first starting, I said McCain would win it on foreign policy, and Obama on domestic. With the economy in the tank Obama should be a clear winner, but if the biggest issue becomes foreign, or a homeland security threat, I think it could still swing McCain. Think about how fast things have changed since Palin was brought in! What if the elections had been held right after that? Things have been too erratic the past few months for me to relax yet. I wish we could fast-forward to Nov.! ---
**Author:** ![Markxxx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5daacb/32.png) [@Markxxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Markxxx)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2008, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-absolutely-beating-the-snot-out-of-mccain-in-early-voting/468100/47 "2008-10-16T18:16:48Z")
Also remember race will play a factor and no one is gonna admit face to face to a pollster that he is a racist. ---
**Author:** ![Justin\_Bailey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justin_bailey/32/8792_2.png) [@Justin\_Bailey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Bailey)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2008, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-absolutely-beating-the-snot-out-of-mccain-in-early-voting/468100/48 "2008-10-16T18:22:33Z")
> [@Markxxx](#): > > Also remember race will play a factor and no one is gonna admit face to face to a pollster that he is a racist. You don’t know many Republicans do you? ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2008, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-absolutely-beating-the-snot-out-of-mccain-in-early-voting/468100/49 "2008-10-16T18:26:29Z")
> [@Justin\_Bailey](#): > > You don’t know many Republicans do you? I think it’s defamtatory to imply, as you seem to be doing, that racism, overt or covert, is the default Republican position. It is not. Nor are all Democrats racially progressive. ---
**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 16, 2008, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-absolutely-beating-the-snot-out-of-mccain-in-early-voting/468100/50 "2008-10-16T18:31:33Z")
> [@Velma](#): > > When this election was first starting, I said McCain would win it on foreign policy, and Obama on domestic. With the economy in the tank Obama should be a clear winner, but if the biggest issue becomes foreign, or a homeland security threat, I think it could still swing McCain. I think at this point Obama is trusted more by independents in both areas. > [@Markxxx](#): > > Also remember race will play a factor and no one is gonna admit face to face to a pollster that he is a racist. And yet right now, Obama only polls 1.7% lower with automated polling than with human pollsters. Gosh, that’s some impressive Wilder effect. ---
**Author:** ![DMark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@DMark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DMark)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2008, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-absolutely-beating-the-snot-out-of-mccain-in-early-voting/468100/51 "2008-10-16T18:33:29Z")
> [@Velma](#): > > I don’t dare to be optimistic until the election is over. I fear something could still happen - something big with the war, or another terrorist attack, or somebody suddenly produces a nuke, or even capturing Osama Bin Laden - could turn things away from the economy and back into foreign policy, where I think McCain would have the advantage. > > I wish we could fast-forward to Nov.! Totally agree. As much as I would like to do my happy dance, I still shudder when I remember winning Florida, then losing Florida, then putting Florida on hold, and then sitting around for two weeks and…I get a nervous tic in my right eye just thinking about it. And who knows if Bin Laden is currently in lock up in one of McCain’s safe houses and they are waiting until November 3rd to bring him on stage and let Palin shoot him. Will not be uncorking any champagne until November 5th, no matter how rosy things look now! ---
**Author:** ![Prelude\_to\_Fascination](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a183cd/32.png) [@Prelude\_to\_Fascination](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Prelude_to_Fascination)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2008, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-absolutely-beating-the-snot-out-of-mccain-in-early-voting/468100/52 "2008-10-16T18:36:12Z")
> [@Jack\_Batty](#): > > Let’s not count our chickens here. Early voting is just that … early. I hope to Buddha you’re right, but let’s not get ahead of ourselves. Exactly. It’s like being up 5 runs in the 2nd inning. Looks good now, and by the top of the 9th, you may be up 15 runs, but the fact is the 9th inning hasn’t happened yet. ---
**Author:** ![Justin\_Bailey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justin_bailey/32/8792_2.png) [@Justin\_Bailey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Bailey)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2008, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-absolutely-beating-the-snot-out-of-mccain-in-early-voting/468100/53 "2008-10-16T18:45:20Z")
> [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](#): > > I think it’s defamtatory to imply, as you seem to be doing, that racism, overt or covert, is the default Republican position. It is not. Nor are all Democrats racially progressive. I did no such thing. I am merely going off the general feeling I get from the way some people react at McCain’s (and Palin’s) rallies, those that spread the Obama is a secret Muslim stuff and McCain supporters that _talk to reporters_ and tell them “I ain’t votin for no nigger.” I may be lilywhite, but there are plenty of McCain supporters who are not shy about wearing their racism on their sleeve. ---
**Author:** ![user\_hostile](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/user_hostile/32/474_2.png) [@user\_hostile](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/user_hostile)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2008, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-absolutely-beating-the-snot-out-of-mccain-in-early-voting/468100/54 "2008-10-16T19:05:37Z")
Just my two cents worth with an anecdotal observation. I commute home from NoVa to the Greensboro area on the weekends. On Sunday, while driving to church on back country roads in NC, all I can see are Obama/Biden signs on the front lawns. Absolutely blows me away, because during the '04 election Kerry signs were as rare as Ivory-billed Woodpeckers (this here’s red state country, son); and now, it’s the other way around. For my wife, who has lived on and off here for the last 40 years, and is a McCain supporter, she commented that this is a big red flag that the GOP have lost the “Joe Six packs” of the area. Another factor is Wachovia biting the dust—a lot of the elderly bought the stock a long time ago as a dependable source of income—that really scared them badly and more or less destroyed their faith in the GOP for letting it happen on their watch. I’m not sure if it proper to bump this thread (Mods, please tell me otherwise and I’ll open up a thread instead), but I’ll post the county results after the election. I still expect it to go red, but not by much. If it does go blue, and does so big time, IMHO, it will tell me the days of the GOP’s dominance in politics is over and the Demos, for better or worse, will be running things for the next 20 to 30 years. ---
**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 16, 2008, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-absolutely-beating-the-snot-out-of-mccain-in-early-voting/468100/55 "2008-10-16T19:24:34Z")
> [@user\_hostile](#): > > Just my two cents worth with an anecdotal observation. > > I commute home from NoVa to the Greensboro area on the weekends. On Sunday, while driving to church on back country roads in NC, all I can see are Obama/Biden signs on the front lawns. I’m seeing the same thing in a not-so-Joe-Sixpack neighborhood near me in Raleigh. I drive through an area of $500-600k homes when I take my son to school in the morning (and in Raleigh, that buys you a lot of house). A couple weeks ago, two families put up McCain signs. Within a couple days, the neighborhood was blanketed with Obama signs. It’s like a sign war going on in there! It was pretty funny, actually, and my boys now cheer as we drive through. ---
**Author:** ![burundi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/3ec8ea/32.png) [@burundi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burundi)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2008, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-absolutely-beating-the-snot-out-of-mccain-in-early-voting/468100/56 "2008-10-16T20:06:22Z")
Yeah, as a North Carolinian, it’s really exciting to me to think that the state might be in play. For all that we go Republican nationally, North Carolina has a tendency to elect Democrats to state positions, so we’re not red right down to the bone. And with the combination of moderates and liberals drawn to NC by the universities and Research Triangle Park (not to mention us native-born liberals, a hearty breed, and there are more of us than you might think), our large African American population, and those folks who are just plain mad/scared about the economy, I think Obama might genuinely have a chance. ---
**Author:** ![BarnOwl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e95f7d/32.png) [@BarnOwl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BarnOwl)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2008, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-absolutely-beating-the-snot-out-of-mccain-in-early-voting/468100/57 "2008-10-16T20:51:29Z")
Forget the Bradley Effect. Think Diebold Effect. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Carter\_of\_Mars](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/2bfe46/32.png) [@John\_Carter\_of\_Mars](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Carter_of_Mars)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2008, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-absolutely-beating-the-snot-out-of-mccain-in-early-voting/468100/58 "2008-10-16T21:03:08Z")
> [@user\_hostile](#): > > \ If it does go blue, and does so big time, IMHO, it will tell me the days of the GOP’s dominance in politics is over and the Demos, for better or worse, will be running things for the next 20 to 30 years. I had a college english professor tell me this exact same thing, except he said 40 years. It was the day after election day, 1964. :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2008, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-absolutely-beating-the-snot-out-of-mccain-in-early-voting/468100/59 "2008-10-17T01:12:24Z")
> [@user\_hostile](#): > > Just my two cents worth with an anecdotal observation. > > I commute home from NoVa to the Greensboro area on the weekends. On Sunday, while driving to church on back country roads in NC, all I can see are Obama/Biden signs on the front lawns. Absolutely blows me away, because during the '04 election Kerry signs were as rare as Ivory-billed Woodpeckers (this here’s red state country, son); and now, it’s the other way around. For my wife, who has lived on and off here for the last 40 years, and is a McCain supporter, she commented that this is a big red flag that the GOP have lost the “Joe Six packs” of the area. Another factor is Wachovia biting the dust—a lot of the elderly bought the stock a long time ago as a dependable source of income—that really scared them badly and more or less destroyed their faith in the GOP for letting it happen on their watch. Also anecdotal, and probably worth less than two cents… Back in 2004, when Obama crushed Alan Keyes to win his Senate seat, the definitely red southern Illinois was covered in Obama signs, bumper stickers and buttons. But that was against Alan Keyes, everyone said. Now its 2008, and Obama is running against a more conventional Republican. Guess what. Southern Illinois is still covered in Obama signs, bumper stickers and buttons. ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2008, 3:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-absolutely-beating-the-snot-out-of-mccain-in-early-voting/468100/60 "2008-10-17T03:27:59Z")
> [@BarnOwl](#): > > Forget the Bradley Effect. Think Diebold Effect. I hate to be paranoid, but I still remember how Roy Barnes(D) lost the governor’s office to Sonny Perdue(R) despite having a lead in pre-election polling. :dubious: And Georgia has no paper backup for votes cast on its Diebold machines. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-absolutely-beating-the-snot-out-of-mccain-in-early-voting/468100.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-absolutely-beating-the-snot-out-of-mccain-in-early-voting/468100.md?page=4)