Yes, we can.

[BarTopDancer]

Democrats who live in the south and drive trucks. Or Democrats who drive trucks, period. I know several.

Just because you don't know any Democrats who drive trucks doesn't mean they don't exist.

One can't expect to agree with every single issue their particular party supports [anymore]. One has to pick the party that works best for them.

While I am way more liberal leaning then it may appear with my love of southern guys, and country music, the closed mindedness that is glaring through on LoT (more than normal) to anything that isn't all Democrat or all liberal all the time is frustrating and annoying. Varying opinions used to be welcomed and debated. Now they are attacked. It seems that we've lost our sense of community, and sense of humor. Attack, attack, jump, attack is what political and anything that isn't fluff have become. It's sad too.

[innerSpaceman]

I'm a democrat and I sometimes drive a truck.


Apparently I must spread some more mojo before giving some to BarTopDancer again, but she is right on the money. Let's lighten up and allow more free freedom of expression and opinion. It's good for all of us.



(I'm probably as guilty as any of getting too high-handed)

[sleepyjeff]

http://www.electoral-vote.com/evp200...aps/Aug20.html

Anyone still think Obama has this thing locked up?

Check out the "on this day in 2004 button" at the link if you do

[Alex]

Yes, I do (though not "locked up" just in a position of significant advantage). And I think the "on this day" page bolsters my case.

[innerSpaceman]

Well, let's pay attention to McCain's VP choice. Because if he wins and the Oval Office continues to age its occupants at the alarming rate it has during my entire lifetime, John will be dead long before his first term ends.

[sleepyjeff]

Originally Posted by Alex

Yes, I do (though not "locked up" just in a position of significant advantage). And I think the "on this day" page bolsters my case.

How so?

[Cadaverous Pallor]

Originally Posted by Strangler Lewis

And the lifelong (northern) Democrats I grew up around don't drive tough trucks.

Wow. Nice of you to shut the door in the face of some people maybe trying a new vote on for size. What a prejudiced inference - that people driving "tough trucks" can't agree with you on anything. Embracing divisiveness isn't going to fix any problems.

I don't agree with a lot of what the party stands for, but I'm giving them my vote. I know you probably won't appreciate my support either.

Visible BTD mojo for defending the purple.

[Cadaverous Pallor]

Originally Posted by sleepyjeff

http://www.electoral-vote.com/evp200...aps/Aug20.html

Anyone still think Obama has this thing locked up?

Check out the "on this day in 2004 button" at the link if you do

Reagan and Carter were running neck and neck until the end, when Reagan won in a landslide. One pundit's mention of this:

...but the fact is that this election resembles nothing so much as the 1980 race between Carter and Reagan — with Obama as Reagan. By the summer of that year, voters were so down on Carter and the Democrats that they desperately wanted to send them packing, but weren’t sure they could afford to do so.

Carter actually led in most polls through the summer and into the early fall because voters didn’t know if they could actually vote for Reagan, who’d been framed by his opponents as a bomb-throwing lunatic who might plunge us into war if he ever got near the button. By fall, however, as the results of the debates and the opportunity to take Reagan’s measure had settled in, voters finally got comfortable with the idea of him in the Oval Office. When that happened, the bottom fell out, Carter was gone and a lot of Democratic senators and congressmen got sent packing along with him.

This year is shaping up the same way, only this time it’s the Republicans voters want to fire. And this time, it’s the Democratic nominee they are not quite sure they can put in the Oval Office.

I would maintain that Obama has a higher mountain to scale than did Reagan, but the challenge is the same. If at any point between now and Election Day voters decide they can actually trust him as president, they’ll give him the job and the close race today’s polls seem to be predicting will turn into a Democratic landslide.

Yes, just punditry, no claims to prescience from me. We'll see how it goes...

[scaeagles]

Interesting take. Couple issues with that....first, it's a month old, when Obama regularly had a 6-7 point lead on McCain. Zogby today a 5 pt lead for McCain, with others 1-2 pts either way. Also, Carter was the incumbant, and try as they might, I don't think Obama has been that successful at linking McCain to Bush, which is what the above theory must rely on.

1980 also had a huge impact of John Anderson. His support was pretty high for a thrid party candidate until late, when he ended up only pulling 5%, and all those who had supported him went to Reagan (well, virutally). The exodus didn't happen until late October. That factor isn't there in this race.

[Strangler Lewis]

Originally Posted by Cadaverous Pallor

Wow. Nice of you to shut the door in the face of some people maybe trying a new vote on for size. What a prejudiced inference - that people driving "tough trucks" can't agree with you on anything. Embracing divisiveness isn't going to fix any problems.

I don't agree with a lot of what the party stands for, but I'm giving them my vote. I know you probably won't appreciate my support either.

Visible BTD mojo for defending the purple.

I bet I've done more industrial, day labor jobs than either of y'all.

When there was need, I have rented many a truck. Even some 22-footers. I do think the actual owning of a gas-eating truck when there is not need is a macho affectation akin to displaying yourself in a Ferrari as you crawl through L.A. freeways. In Europe, most of the vehicles on the road are small, yet the home improvement stores still seem to flourish.

But that aside, my comment on trucks was:
1) a joke, and
2) an observation in support of my view that, his protestations to the contary notwithstanding, all the public signals that Toby Keith gives off scream Republican hardass.