Sunday, October 12, 2008

Has the 'Republican base' become the fringe?

The 'Republican base' was very excited by the selection of bona-fide evangelical Sarah Palin. The McCain market has plunged, however, as the US voting population got a glimpse of that Republican base.

Rove's creation has turned into a mob baying for blood and even John McCain seems downright alarmed and frightened by Palin's supporters.

The Times reports:
WITH his electoral prospects fading by the day, Senator John McCain has fallen out with his vice-presidential running mate about the direction of his White House campaign.

McCain has become alarmed about the fury unleashed by Sarah Palin, the moose-hunting "pitbull in lipstick", against Senator Barack Obama. Cries of "terrorist" and "kill him" have accompanied the tirades by the governor of Alaska against the Democratic nominee at Republican rallies.
The scenes from the Palin rallies remind me of that film, To Die For, in which a hot newscaster babe (played by Nicole Kidman) winks her way into the hearts of a group of young, impressionable teenagers who promptly do away with anyone standing in the way of her ambition. 'All she wanted was a little attention'.

Nicole Kidman won a Golden Globe for her performance, and Palin has won the devotion of many for her own A-list winkage. The backers of Palin's performance, however - the McCain campaign - are losing big time at the Intrade box office.

As the Palin mob reached a fever pitch, McCain crashed on Intrade's President 08 (Individual) from the mid to low thirties to 20.

Hoping to stop the bleeding of mainstream support, the McCain campaign have reportedly resorted to keeping the press away from this base at Palin's rallies. It may be too late, however, for judgement has been rendered far and wide in the beltway and in the polls.

Joe Klein of Time says:
But seriously, folks, I'm beginning to worry about the level of craziness on the Republican side, the over-the-top, stampede-the-crowd statements by everyone from McCain on down, the vehemence of the crowds that McCain and Palin are drawing with people shouting "Kill him" and "He's a terrorist" and "Off with his head."
Conservative columnist, Kathleen Parker, warns:
The McCain campaign knows that Obama isn't a Muslim or a terrorist, but they're willing to help a certain kind of voter think he is. Just the way certain South Carolinians in 2000 were allowed to think that McCain's adopted daughter from Bangladesh was his illegitimate black child.

But words can have more serious consequences than lost votes and we've already had a glimpse of the Palin effect.

The Post's Dana Milbank reported that media representatives in Clearwater were greeted with taunts, thunder sticks and profanity. One Palin supporter shouted an epithet at an African-American soundman and said, "Sit down, boy." McCain may want to call off his pit bull before this war escalates.
Paul Harris for the Guardian sums it up as such:
There is still no doubting that Palin can powerfully move a Republican crowd. Her angry attacks on Obama stir supporters far more effectively than does McCain's more measured style. But she is now largely reduced to stumping in the rural Republican heartlands of America. She is a powerful tool in working up the party base, ensuring that they turn out on election day, but her crossover appeal has gone. Indeed, even Republican critics of Palin have been stamped on for questioning her. Several high-profile conservative writers - such as David Brooks in the New York Times and Kathleen Parker in the National Review - have poured scorn on her. Brooks even called her 'a fatal cancer on the Republican party'.

But the response among the base was instant and brutal. Parker received no fewer than 12,000 outraged emails, including some wishing she had been aborted, after writing that Palin should step down. There seems little doubt that Palin is still the darling of a huge section of red state America. But what works for the Republican base no longer works for the country as a whole

To cap it all off, the Dow has had its worst week since the Great Depression and "It's the economy, stupid" plays well in all but the reddest of states where 'culture' issues trump everything.

In the leading polls, Obama has a taken double digit lead across most. Obama and Biden's favorables have risen, while McCain and Palin's unfavorables have risen even more.

On Intrade, McCain sits below 23, while Obama rests comfortably above 77. Obama has also taken a commanding lead in the Intrade Electoral Vote Predictor map (O364, M174) with North Carolina, Florida and Ohio firmly blue and even Indiana turning blue.

McCain needs the mother of all October surprises if he has any chance of turning this thing around. We're only half way through the month . . .

17 comments:

Intrade said...

said :

    What is left of the Republican party is a culture of hate.

Intrade said...

TrueConservative said :

    There are crazies on all sides. There are left wingers that actually think Bush arranged 9/11. Also the Secret Service has investigated the claim that someone in a crowd yelled "kill him" and has been unable to find anyone other than the reporter who heard it. Maybe this is another case of the press making things up to suit their agenda. The New York Times has been caught at it multiple times in the last few years.

Intrade said...

Anonymous User said :

    First, there are a lot more than left wingers who know about 9/11.

The "base" has always been on the fringe. They have become more vocal since they have been provided gobs of taxpayer money thru the "faith based initiatives". Sorry, it's not culture, its a cult.

Intrade said...

unknowncitizen said :

    This is the only internet comment site that I will call Republicans losers on. Republicans, face it, you are about to lose. You are losers. I am going to be spending your money.

I have throughout the last 8 years read so many comments on various public message boards where people asserted that I (as a Democrat reading their posts, was a "loser." Sometimes I commented but mostly I didn't, saying having my chosen candidate lose to theirs only makes me a loser if I was right. If their candidate was better at governing, and the country moved in a positive direction I would actually win by having their choice be the winner.

So I won't be making that taunt on any site but here, because while the Republicans who bet on McCain and lost some of their money to me are indeed "losers" of their hard earned money to a fortunate Democrat, they will share equally in what I think is the best choice for our nation going forward.

Intrade said...

anotherparty? said :

    Time for a new party? One made up of thinking thinking conservatives and liberals, leaving behind the Sarah Palin and entitlements crowds.

A party of ideas and intellectualism. Fiscally responsible. Inclined toward diplomacy over militancy. Socially progressive. Biased toward creativity and innovation.

Skim the intellectual and creative cream from each party. Sure, lots of ideological tension, but a fresh start...

Intrade said...

Anonymous User said :

    Republicans are hoisted on their own petard. Karma is a bitch. Now the Democrats have to clean up the mess ... again. Ah, I miss the Clinton years of Peace and Prosperity, where the United States was truly a beacon of light and hope to the world. Hopefully, Obama will redeem us. Unfortunately, not only are they the party of hate, they screwed the rest of us.

Intrade said...

Hank Mehle said :

    Getting over the scars of racism is like turning a ship at sea.

As a long-suffering US Citizen I am slightly encouraged (relative to shouts of "kill him" and "off with his head" by the following quote from a campaign canvasser in Pennsylvania:


So a canvasser goes to a woman's door in Washington, Pennsylvania. Knocks. Woman answers. Knocker asks who she's planning to vote for. She isn't sure, has to ask her husband who she's voting for. Husband is off in another room watching some game. Canvasser hears him yell back, "We're votin' for the n***er!"

Woman turns back to canvasser, and says brightly and matter of factly: "We're voting for the n***er."

http://www.fivethirtyeight.com/2008/10/on-road-western-pennsylvania.html



One half-degree at a time... but we may finally be more than half way.

Intrade said...

diogeron said :

    McCain picked Palin to satisfy the "red meat" crowd, the GOP base. What he is quickly on his way to discovering is that he can't win without the "vegetarians" (independents and uncommitted voters) and Palin scares the hell out them.

Intrade said...

Dov said :

    He that troubles his own house shall inherit the wind: and the fool shall be servant to the wise of heart. Proverbs 11:29

'Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation; and every city or house divided against itself shall not stand' (Matthew 12:22-25)

Yesterday October 18th, the Chicago Tribune, Chicago Sun Times, and The LA Times all endorsed Obama citing Mc Cain’s choice of Palin.

Obama is the rebirth of the Party of Lincoln. Here’s one ancient Republican who has waited almost too long.

Intrade said...

dov said :

    He that troubles his own house shall inherit the wind: and the fool shall be servant to the wise of heart. Proverbs 11:29

'Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation; and every city or house divided against itself shall not stand' (Matthew 12:22-25)

Yesterday October 18th, the Chicago Tribune, Chicago Sun Times, and The LA Times all endorsed Obama citing Mc Cain’s choice of Palin.

Obama is the rebirth of the Party of Lincoln. Here’s one ancient Republican who has waited almost too long.

Intrade said...

Dov said :

    He that troubles his own house shall inherit the wind: and the fool shall be servant to the wise of heart. Proverbs 11:29

'Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation; and every city or house divided against itself shall not stand' (Matthew 12:22-25)

Yesterday October 18th, the Chicago Tribune, Chicago Sun Times, and The LA Times all endorsed Obama citing Mc Cain’s choice of Palin.

Obama is the rebirth of the Party of Lincoln. Here’s one ancient Republican who has waited almost too long.

Intrade said...

Illinoisannoyed said :

    From TrueConservative "Also the Secret Service has investigated the claim that someone in a crowd yelled "kill him" and has been unable to find anyone other than the reporter who heard it."
No, if you have watched the news on any channel(even Fox), you can clearly hear the person say "kill him". If the FBI could hear that then they need to be investigated, but the truth is I am sure your report has no truth.

Intrade said...

ThinkIndependantly said :

    The worst thing about American life is the existence of the Democrat and Republican political marketing scam. The only reason we have two parties is because we have a simple majority winner takes all election system. With the advent of cable news, radio talk shows and the internet. Political discussion has become a useless us vs. them psychosis. I do think that the "Right to Life, anti-abortion" political interest has seen its day and after this election will never again play a significant role in American politics. Even if John McCain is elected.

Intrade said...

liberty or death said :

    

Intrade said...

liberty or death said :

    things were good under the clinton years because he was a fiscal conservative. things are bad now because bush is a socialist. Look at how government has grown under the bush administration.

If you think the republican train wreck was bad, wait until we get the undivided liberal Obama with Pelosi and Reid.

Intrade said...

IrishBrigade said :

    ...I doubt that anyone said 'kill him' at any Palin event, without hearing corroboration of Milbank's story...otherwise Dana is engaging is ideological fantasies...that said, I like what another poster said about a new party emerging from the ashes of the most corrupted elements of both curent parties...except for socially progressive, as no one will ever budge my thoughts on the evils of abortion as a convenience...also, Sarah Palin, while I like to look at her, was and is an absurd pick for VP, Obama is raw as well, but at least he had to swim upstream to get where he is...

Intrade said...

snow_white61 said :

    Actually, I did hear the original video and that is exactly what that person said- "kill him" in response to Sarah Palin's talk about Obama "palling around with terrorists". Sounds more like a KKK rally to me.

listen and watch for yourself:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/10/06/mccain-does-nothing-as-cr_n_132366.html