Quote:
Originally Posted by Paul Markham
What amazed me was the actual vote. The popular vote was very close and that's amazing when you list the mistakes.
Bush, Iraq, economy, fat cat bankers and CEOs, Palin, the campaign and his age should of all factored in and he should of been buried. But it ended up with him being 3-4% short of getting more votes than Obama. Maybe with a decent running mate and a decent campaign he could of pulled it off.
The big question for me is why did 46.3% think him and Palin were a better bet than Obama and Biden? Now that is scary. |
Compared to previous elections, the popular vote isn't very close, but in real terms, I agree, it's pretty close.
But it doesn't surprise me at all. First, the country has been strongly divided, entrenched almost 50/50 for some time now. Secondly, Obama is anything but a conventional candidate. Up until the final vote was cast yesterday, conventional wisdom says Obama should not win. He's young, he's socially black, he hasn't spent much time in the Senate, he has a thin resume, his name is Barack HUSSEING Obama (as his opponents reminded everybody within earshot all day every day), his life story - while an American Dream is unlike one most Americans know or can relate to, he's an unkown in many respects, he's liberal, he said he'll increase taxes on the most powerful in society, and so on. Because of these things he became a punching bag by Republicans - they derided and smeared him as a Muslim, a terrorist, Kenyan rather than America, etc etc. All things that played up to emotions and cast doubt among key voting groups such as the elderly (who broke in favor of McCain on election night in spite of how the polls suggested Obama had closed the gap in the days up to the election).
He was always the underdog. A convergence of circumstances (economic meltdown) along with his strategic campaigning and superior oratory skills put him over the top. He made his greatest weakness of inexperience a strength using the 'change' theme.