What are the Key Factors for Victory in the 2008 Presidential Election?

[mathwonk]

i am physically ill again today, but feel better somehow than a few weeks ago. on my way to school there were fewer "W the president" stickers, and more Obama ones. It seems people trot these out after the election has occurred, as there were extremely few Obama signs near my school last month.

I don't want to totally relax, but somehow I feel entitled to a little sense of a job well done, after sitting back in previous elections and watching zealots try to destroy the nation and the world, and come close. Of course Bill O'Reilly and Rush Limbaugh never rest, as there is profit involved in the efforts of their ilk and those they represent.

To some people, many of whom pretend to be conservatives but of course are merely cynical profiteers, politics seems an opportunity for fraud and robbing the public trough. Which brings us back to the ongoing treasury robbery being managed by Paulson.

 

[Gokul43201]

It's official: Obama won the single electoral vote of Nebraska's 2nd district.

http://www.cqpolitics.com/wmspage.cfm?parm1=1&docID=news-000002986020

 

[Ivan Seeking]

It's official: Obama won the single electoral vote of Nebraska's 2nd district.

http://www.cqpolitics.com/wmspage.cfm?parm1=1&docID=news-000002986020

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lZ_XwLSN45I

 

[Astronuc]

It's official: Obama won the single electoral vote of Nebraska's 2nd district.

http://www.cqpolitics.com/wmspage.cfm?parm1=1&docID=news-000002986020

So Nebraska hands out electoral votes according to who one a particular district, i.e. it's not winner take all?

 

[turbo]

So Nebraska hands out electoral votes according to who one a particular district, i.e. it's not winner take all?

Maine does that too. The majority winner of the state gets both of the electoral votes accruing to the senators, and the winner of the majority in each congressional district gets the electoral vote accruing to the congressional district. That way Maine can go all four votes to one candidate or a 1-3 split. The southern congressional district is far more affluent than the rural north, and it's possible to pry one vote away with the right appeals and issues, even if you can't win the entire state. Todd and Sarah Palin campaigned in the 2nd district to try to swing it to McCain.

 

[LowlyPion]

It’s official: McCain wins Missouri
By ANDY BARR | 11/19/08 5:17 PM EST

The Associated Press on Wednesday declared John McCain the winner in Missouri, the last undecided state of the 2008 presidential election.

The race had been too close to call in the two weeks since Election Day, with McCain holding a slim lead. Heading into last weekend, McCain held a roughly 5,000-vote lead with tens of thousands of ballots remaining uncounted. The final margin of victory was 3,632 votes, out of over 2.9 million cast.

With Missouri’s 11 electoral votes going to McCain, the final electoral vote tally stands at 365 for Obama to 173 for McCain.

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1108/15802.html

 

[Ivan Seeking]

Heh, who would have thought that Obama would win Indiana, but lose Mo?

 

[leopard]

Will any other party than D and R ever stand a chance in American election?

 

[Jimmy Snyder]

Will any other party than D and R ever stand a chance in American election?

Not if no one will vote for them. Would you want a party to succeed if no one voted for them. Did you vote for any other party than D and R this time around?

 

[Ivan Seeking]

We always know long before the election that a third party candidate has no chance of winning.

Who were we going to vote for, Nader - the guy who has philosophical discussions with his parrot? Or Bob Barr, nutjob? Not ready for prime time Paul? If there was a viable choice, a third party candidate might have a chance [provided that he's not up against a phenomenon like Obama].

I went door to door collecting sigs to get Perot on the ballot, but in the end, he was a nut.

 

[LowlyPion]

I think for a party to take root it needs more than a cult of personality - it needs a movement.

I think that's where the more recent parties have sprung from - Perot, Anderson, Wallace, Nader. I suspect they are doomed to failure. As I recall not even Teddy Roosevelt and the Bull Moose were able to win with just the force of his personality, though I think they managed more than Taft and the Republicans.

Given that the Republican identity has in recent decades become so entangled with the extreme Christian Right agenda - which has apparently been repudiated in this last election - I doubt that without abandoning their more extreme agendas, and accepting more reasonable standards as regards social issues like rights of gays and abortion they will only serve to marginalize themselves further.

 

[leopard]

I supported Mike Gravel.

 

[Ivan Seeking]

I supported Mike Gravel.

Gravel was much too coarse for me.

 

[turbo]

Gravel was much too coarse for me.

Sandy Berger wasn't running - not much choice over coarseness.

 

[leopard]

Gravel was much too coarse for me.

I respect that, but I vote for politicians, not charismatic persons.

 

[Ivan Seeking]

I respect that, but I vote for politicians, not charismatic persons.

It was a joke.

Still, like Paul and Perot, he is not Presidential material, IMO. I think he got about two votes!

 

[Count Iblis]

Will any other party than D and R ever stand a chance in American election?

Well, the R is about to disintegrate in a C and a M...