Welcome to 2008, Everyone's Miserable

[Kathianne]

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/18/opinion/18brooks.html?_r=2&oref=slogin&ref=opinion&pagewanted=print&oref=slogin


April 18, 2008
Op-Ed Columnist
How Obama Fell to Earth
By DAVID BROOKS

...

It was inevitable that the period of “Yes We Can!” deification would come to an end. It was not inevitable that Obama would now look so vulnerable. He’ll win the nomination, but in a matchup against John McCain, he is behind in Florida, Missouri and Ohio, and merely tied in must-win states like Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey and Pennsylvania. A generic Democrat now beats a generic Republican by 13 points, but Obama is trailing his own party. One in five Democrats say they would vote for McCain over Obama.

General election voters are different from primary voters. Among them, Obama is lagging among seniors and men. Instead of winning over white high school-educated voters who are tired of Bush and conventional politics, he does worse than previous nominees. John Judis and Ruy Teixeira have estimated a Democrat has to win 45 percent of such voters to take the White House. I’ve asked several of the most skillful Democratic politicians over the past few weeks, and they all think that’s going to be hard.

A few months ago, Obama was riding his talents. Clinton has ground him down, and we are now facing an interesting phenomenon. Republicans have long assumed they would lose because of the economy and the sad state of their party. Now, Democrats are deeply worried their nominee will lose in November.

Welcome to 2008. Everybody’s miserable.

[Classact]

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/18/opinion/18brooks.html?_r=2&oref=slogin&ref=opinion&pagewanted=print&oref=sloginIn the airborne we call his fall a may-west but by the general election in will be defined as a cigarette roll.

Did you notice Obama's wife speaking about how poor she and Obama the other day? She kept touching her nose over and over so I went to other videos in recent days and noticed she doesn't have a cold. Perhaps SNL can do a skit with her snorting a few lines before she speaks on edgier issues?

[GW in Ohio]

Yeah, Obama is down now and on the defensive, but you can't predict anything from how things stand today.

It's a long way to November.

[theHawk]

Yeah, Obama is down now and on the defensive, but you can't predict anything from how things stand today.

It's a long way to November.

The last time a liberal won in a one on one election to get in the office was back when Jimmy Carter won. 51% of America is not going to vote for some shitbag liberal. Its amazing how the Democratic party is run by the left wing fringe groups. If they'd had nominiated a decent moderate they would of had this election in the bag, but they always seem hell bent on nominating the most liberal dem they can find.

[diuretic]

hey Hawk does Bernie Sanders frighten the shit out of you? :laugh2:

He's a real socialist, not like these pissy imitation Dems :coffee:

[theHawk]

hey Hawk does Bernie Sanders frighten the shit out of you? :laugh2:

He's a real socialist, not like these pissy imitation Dems :coffee:

Bernie voted the same as Dems 98% of the time.

[Hagbard Celine]

I just paid $30 for seven gallons of gas. I'm miserable and have a super-size order of french-cries to prove it.

[GW in Ohio]

The last time a liberal won in a one on one election to get in the office was back when Jimmy Carter won. 51% of America is not going to vote for some shitbag liberal. Its amazing how the Democratic party is run by the left wing fringe groups. If they'd had nominiated a decent moderate they would of had this election in the bag, but they always seem hell bent on nominating the most liberal dem they can find.

I don't think people will be voting based on who's a "liberal" and who's a "conservative." Those labels are totally dependent on who's making the definitions. For example, Rush Limbaugh's definition of a moderate would be someone like Heinrich Himmler.

People will be voting on how they feel about Bush's Iraq war and how they feel the country has gone in the last 8 years. People will be asking themselves if they're better off than they were 8 years ago. For a lot of people, the answer will be, "Hell, no!"

[Abbey Marie]

Funny thing is, though we live in a somewhat diverse area, I don't know a single person who is out of work, losing their home, or miserable. There are still waits at local restaurants, businesses aren't closing, and in fact, building is still going on. Things seem to be chugging along the same as ever.

I'm sure there are real problems, there are always problems. But is all this weeping and gnashing of teeth to some extent a case of the Emperor's new clothes?

[manu1959]

I just paid $30 for seven gallons of gas. I'm miserable and have a super-size order of french-cries to prove it.

could be worse.....you could live in sweden, the liberal darling, where you would pay about 7.50 / gal.....

[CockySOB]

I just paid $30 for seven gallons of gas. I'm miserable and have a super-size order of french-cries to prove it.

Hmmm.... local gas prices are still hovering around $3.29 per gallon for 87/89 octane. Must suck to live where you live.

[Abbey Marie]

Hmmm.... local gas prices are still hovering around $3.29 per gallon for 87/89 octane. Must suck to live where you live.

Yup. I paid $3.24 two days ago.

[Classact]

Yup. I paid $3.24 two days ago.We pay $0.82.7L so that is about $3.13 a gallon. But the price of steak, beer, milk, bread and many more items have gone up due to ethanol from corn and the inflated dollar caused by our stupid importing of oil from Canada, Mexico and Venezuela.
Beer prices are getting critical and I paid $5.20 before tax for a gallon of milk today.

[Roadrunner]

Funny thing is, though we live in a somewhat diverse area, I don't know a single person who is out of work, losing their home, or miserable. There are still waits at local restaurants, businesses aren't closing, and in fact, building is still going on. Things seem to be chugging along the same as ever.

Same experience where I live. The only place we notice a difference is at the grocery store and the gas station, where prices seem to be raising every week. In our area, however, this hasn't prevented people from eating out and going to movies and other entertainments. If people were cutting back, that would be two places where you would notice the difference.

Regarding the mortgage crises, I read recently that only 4% of the subprime mortage holders have defaulted on their loans, with the other 96% making regular payments.

[Abbey Marie]

Same experience where I live. The only place we notice a difference is at the grocery store and the gas station, where prices seem to be raising every week. In our area, however, this hasn't prevented people from eating out and going to movies and other entertainments. If people were cutting back, that would be two places where you would notice the difference.

Regarding the mortgage crises, I read recently that only 4% of the subprime mortage holders have defaulted on their loans, with the other 96% making regular payments.

Dems know that a bad economy favors the non-incumbent party. Why let the truth get in the way of a good (and politically expedient) story...

[Kathianne]

Hmmm.... local gas prices are still hovering around $3.29 per gallon for 87/89 octane. Must suck to live where you live.

Tonight they are close to $3.70 here for regular unleaded.

[diuretic]

Bernie voted the same as Dems 98% of the time.

What about the 2% - he didn't go to the Dark Side did he? :eek:

[diuretic]

We pay $0.82.7L so that is about $3.13 a gallon. But the price of steak, beer, milk, bread and many more items have gone up due to ethanol from corn and the inflated dollar caused by our stupid importing of oil from Canada, Mexico and Venezuela.
Beer prices are getting critical and I paid $5.20 before tax for a gallon of milk today.

Beer prices critical? Now that's something to worry about. I paid $A1.52 a litre for petrol the other day and a six pack of beer from Tasmania (good beer too) was $A14.00. This is getting out of hand.

[Pale Rider]

Funny thing is, though we live in a somewhat diverse area, I don't know a single person who is out of work, losing their home, or miserable. There are still waits at local restaurants, businesses aren't closing, and in fact, building is still going on. Things seem to be chugging along the same as ever.

I'm sure there are real problems, there are always problems. But is all this weeping and gnashing of teeth to some extent a case of the Emperor's new clothes?

Sometimes I'll catch a news hour on my high def PBS station. They were at the Mall of America in Minnesota, and they were asking people how much money they were spending and if they were worried about it. Not one of them gave a sob story and said no. They were all there shopping, and weren't concerned with the amount of money they were spending. Now if the country is so bad off, why are people still spending record amounts of money?

[manu1959]

paid $4.15 this morning......my double latte was $5.....bridge toll $5....parking $25......lunch was $75......2 bottles of wine and flowers for my wife $85......

soon obama will be president and i will be buying this shit for some crack head in east oakland that has been disenfranchised by the man.......

[CockySOB]

Tonight they are close to $3.70 here for regular unleaded.

Perhaps, but you're up in the Socialist Nation of Cook County aren't you?

[Kathianne]

Perhaps, but you're up in the Socialist Nation of Cook County aren't you?

No, DuPage, in Chicago it's got to be close to $4 or over.

[NATO AIR]

Let's see here....

- 60-75% of the country is sick and tired of Iraq, doesn't want to talk about it, doesn't want to hear about it... they just want it over with (costing what, 12 billion a month now)... they see a bunch of Arabs who don't like us blowing us and each other up and no progress in the long run.

- The average American has not seen their income rise substantially in the last decade.

- Nearly everything costs more now, especially the "essentials" food and gas. Even consumer goods, which had been cheap for a decade, are going up b/c of inflation as well as the fact that China's cheap labor pool is fading as Chinese workers gain basic rights and even a near-decent living wage thanks to changes in Chinese laws and Western liberal pressure on Western corporations who opposed both the Chinese laws and Western activist pressure.

- They don't trust their leaders... not Bush, Obama, McCain, Clinton... none of them. All promise change and don't deliver.

- They don't trust corporations or banks either. Most of the blame for this subprime mess was not the idiot borrower but the greedy lender who lowered important lending standards in order to make a quick buck or three and for once Americans realize that.

- The media (even Fox News) has been pushing this recession business so much that people are beginning to believe it en masse.

- Certain parts of the country are much more affected by the housing crisis.

- The world seems like its going to shit. Food riots in Haiti, Malaysia, Indonesia, Egypt, etc. Iran and N. Korea going nuclear and threatening to blow up their neighbors. Iraq and Afghanistan down the drain no matter how hard our troops work. China oppressing Tibet in full view of the int'l community and telling the IC to go screw itself.

- Abortions, widespread divorce, gun murders of innocent kids from Chicago to LA, etc. etc.


Wow, not looking good are we? People are pissed at their leaders and don't see change in any of the candidates out there. No wonder the typical "gotcha' Politics used against McCain and Obama haven't worked thus far.

I respect McCain greatly for one major reason above all else. He is demanding of the GOP that it have an "issues" debate with the Democrats for once and for all... no Swift Boats, no "Rev. Wrights", no gays & guns... he wants to keep the debate about Iraq, taxes, smaller government, common-sense on major problems, etc. (I doubt the Dems are going to play nice as they did the past 8 years in elections so this will be a disadvantage).

That means heaven forbid we may actually have a real debate for once starting late this summer and this fall. Real distinctions, real differences. On everything but Iraq, I think the GOP can win this debate at the polls.