Democrats make up 56.1% of the early voters, Republicans 27.4%. Others 16.5%. The voters are also 67.4% White, 28.7% Black.
See, I keep trying to look at this stuff from several different angles, but it always ends up the same way - Obama's just motivated so many people to vote that his numbers are going to be staggering. I'd think that the anti-Obama sentiments would at least equal that, but they just don't seem to. I'm proud that our country is not only on the verge of electing a Black liberal with a funny name, a Muslim father, and an atheist mother. I think that, despite all of the racism and insinuations of terrorist ties and Islamic faith, enough people realize that it's because of his multicultural background that he's the perfect representation of America. He's a representation of what America can become, in that sense.
Keep in mind, however, that in NC a lot of registered Democrats (Dixiecrats) vote Republican a lot of the time, and there's still a lot of racism here, so it's possible that a good portion of those Democrats in those polls voted McCain. It's still very promising.
Politics : More On Obama's Very Large Electoral Lead
Electoral-Vote.com has some more great news for us today! The current polls show:
Obama 349 McCain 174 Ties 15
That means Obama's gained 20 electoral votes since the polling data I discussed yesterday. Now, that's a significant lead, but let's consider just the states that are marked "Strong Dem" or "Weak Dem." "Strong" means support of 10% or more, "weak" means 5% to 9%, and "barely" means less than 5%. Those include:
For a total of 304. So, even if all of the states that are tied or "Barely Dem" are won and McCain takes the rest, that's still a win for Obama by 70 votes (304 to 234). Everyone knows, however, that Florida is never a sure thing for the Democrats, so let's assume that it doesn't work out there. That then changes the final tally to 277 Obama, 261 McCain. That's close, but close only counts in horseshoes and thermonuclear war.
I feel like I should be safe and say that, in the end, that's the sort of numbers we'll see on election day. However, there are several other states that are at least leaning Obama and several that are completely tied, including North Carolina. This could end up being a 1992 style landslide after all, but unless something huge happens, I think this thing is over. I'm not going to count my chickens, though.
Let's hope we don't have to wait too far past midnight on election day to find out this time though, ok? I'd like to get some sleep.
Politics : First 2008 Democratic Debate and Mike Gravel
I was impressed with few of the Democrats in last night's debate. In fact, the only two who really did anything for me were, as usual, the ones who stand no chance whatsoever. This is mainly due to their outspokenness, a quality that every President should have but none ever does. I've loved Dennis Kucinich ever since the last Democratic primary, and I agree with him almost always. He's realistic, he's peaceful, and he's passionate, and that's why he'll never, ever, ever be president. The same, unfortunately, goes for Mike Gravel. Now there's an old man who's decided there's no reason to hold back and tell it like it is. He laid into most of the other Dems last night, and he did so with good reason.
There are some great clips of Gravel from last night on Youtube, and I think this one is my favorite.
Some of these people frighten me... when you have mainline candidates that turn around and say that there's nothing off the table with respect to Iran - that's code for nukes!
It's their country, they're asking us to leave, and we insist on staying there. Why not get out? ... You hear the statement "Well my god, these soldiers will have died in vain." The entire deaths of Vietnam died in vain! And they're dying in vain this very second! And you know what's worse than soldiers dying in vain? Even more soldiers dying in vain. That's what's worse.
We spend more as a nation on defense than all the rest of the world put together. Who are we afraid of? ... I'm not. ... It is unbelievable. The military industrial complex not only controls our government lock, stock, and barrel, but they control our culture.
