Pollster.com

Is there any possibility for McCain to reverse this at tonight's townhall meeting? I don't see how.

Keep on trucking! Don't get complacent... It's not over til it's over...

Clearly, Barry had the momentum now but most of his states are light blue. A lot of them can be reversed, so don't yer hopes up yet, Barry fans. (Although you do have reason to be happy right now. No one can deny that).

Obama's lead in OH confirmed. The negativity coming from McCain tonight is going to drag him down even further when he starts blaming Obama for the bailout without putting forward any new ideas. Obama +9 in OH by Sunday.

As all the states surrounding West Virginia turn blue, it makes me wonder whether WV might have shifted back to toss-up if it was polled more often.

Most of the movement in OH, PA, VA has occured after the most recent WV poll (9/24).

Just food for thought.

This is just an outlier... nothing to see here... As a matter of fact all the ones showing Obama in front are outliers... which makes a trend of McCain winning... :)

At the Palin rally today reporters were heckled and the crowd was throwing out racial slurs! McCain was a man of honor, once, yet he won't condemn this behaviour, in fact he's inciting it with his troll-candy VP.
? to the Repubs on the site: will you defend this polarizing of America by introducing these elements of hate? How will you defend your candidate when he has sold his soul for another few points?

I LOOOOVVVVVEEEE THIS PART OF REPORT:

--------------------------------------------
Joe Biden’s popularity with Ohio voters is on the rise following last week’s Vice
Presidential debate, while Sarah Palin’s has fallen. Soon after the Republican convention
30% of respondents in our poll said the selection of Joe Biden made them more likely to
vote for Barack Obama while 32% said it made them less likely to do so. Now 40% say
Biden makes them more favorable to Obama while just 27% say he makes them less so.
------------------------------------------
PEOPLE ARE NOT STUPID TO FALL FOR A HACK.
I RESPECT MCCAIN BUT THAT LITTLE MISS IGNORANCE UGHHHHHHHHHHH

What points? McCain sold his soul, but he didn't get anything out of it. The only thing his crazy little lynch mob campaign events are doing is solidifying this 50+% support for Obama.

These OH numbers reinforce solid movement for Obama-Biden. The McCain-Palin campaign staff have done nothing to rebut the yelling of racial epithets during rallies or "Hussein is a terrorist!" accusations. It has been reported in the media extensively since yesterday and not one statement has been made on behalf of the campaign that they do not condone such language. The Rs have become increasingly desperate which will result in lower numbers for them in swing states and higher numbers in Alabama and Mississippi.

Dow lost another 450 points! If McCain does not talk economy tonight it will be the end for him! Talk about OUT OF TOUCH!

Shannon you are right...IDEAS. McCain has to come with some. If not then he deserves to get crushed.

Chester:

Quote the story right...the racial slur was "sit down, boy" to a cameraman by one person. Don't blow this up to be more than what it was. How many times has Sarah Palin been called white trash or a white b....? Be consistent....

IMAGINE THIS:

It is 2006. The Democrats are campaigning. Their platform is this:

"If you elect us and give us control of Congress, in two years:

1. We will be in the midst of a global economic meltdown.
2. Bear Stearns and Lehman Brothers will be bankrupt.
3. Unemployment will be 6.2%.
4. We will be in a major recession.
5. Our entire banking system will be collapsing.
6. We will have to do a $700 billion dollar bailout on the economy.
7. $2 trillion of American retirement funds will be wiped out in a week.

And in conclusion, we promise not to take credit for any of it.

Vote Democrat!"

Can you just imagine? Seriously?

As a resident of the south, I can tell you that it will not result in higher numbers here. It will only result in more anger and potential violence from the loony 30-35% and further drive down McCain's numbers among moderates and independents. McCain should have fired the Rove proteges back in August and shifted to the left. Instead, he's embraced the hard right, cementing his defeat and setting himself up for a potential Obama landslide.

@RaleighNC

Obama has been trending upward strongly in the swing states, resulting in all that light blue.

With such a broad positive trend for him, it could be that he's getting stronger in the non-swing states, too; we just don't see it because no polls are being taken. Some of the red states on the map might actually be pink. I'm curious about WV, too.

What makes this racism worse for McCain is that his brand is that he's not the typical Repub candidate, which is how he went from longshot in the Primaries to the Nominee. He was billed as the only one who could win. Now he's proven that he is typical (or worse).

I beleive that the floor is just beginning to fall out from under him. S.Schmidt's greatest mistake has been to vastly underestimate his brand.

Without honor, McCain is nothing. After these past few days, people who stuck with him because of that will vanish, and even if they don't flock to Obama, they won't vote for him.

I just hope like hell that Barack Obama's grand promises are better than the Democrats were in 2006.

Promises, promises.

In 2006, we had a great economy:
4.6 GDP
4.7 Unemployment
12,000 Stock Market
$2.35 Gas

and the Democrats promised they would make it even better.

F*cking liars!

What would qualify as a landslide?

Over 342?

Sorry boomshak, these problems didn't start in 2006. This is a culmination of decades of Reaganism. You can try to blame the Dems for an economy that has been heading south since Bush took office, but the voters (and everyone outside of right-wing blogs) know better. The Dems were elected in 2006 to put a stop to the worst excesses of the GOP but that was only half the task. 2008 is the year where we finally put late 20th century conservatism to rest and start building a progressive future for America from the mess it created.

It's called a political realignment, buddy. Get used to it.

I live in Ohio and I am a first time voter south of Columbus. I am independent, but lean Democratic. I think McCain's tactics recently are ridiculous. Prior to this I liked him and would have considered voting for him, but his economic policy is basically tax cutting with no investment. We can get out of a recession without investing in educating, infrastructure, health care and education.

McCain and Palin's race baiting is taking this country down a dangerous road. I early voted for Obama.

We had a great economy in 2006? Bwahaha!

McCain needs to take charge and stop stoking animosity in his and Palin's crowds or he will look like a complete political mutant and lose everyone except the klan.

boomshak I'd like to thank your party for literally RAPING our country and making us pay for the rape kit. The Republican party, today, is a disgrace to the American people and you should all burn in HELL.

now all obama has to do is rock the old man to sleep, health care is the knockout blow!

boomshak you should get off your fat ass and go out and help McCain in NC, where's he'd FREAKIN' losing!

@boomshak

List the things you think this Democratic congress has done to cause this crisis. Also, list the things that the preceeding Republican congress did differently to stop a crisis from happening. Thank you in advance for the information.

June471:

How is McCain race-baiting? Bill Ayers is white. Don't start that BS, b/c when you make it about race, Obama loses.

Don't do it Obama supporters. Don't act like if Obama is elected, all of sudden there is going to racial harmony is this country.

@boompalin

Yawn...

Why don't you throw in a wink or two with those lies. Lord knows you couldn't find a fact with both hands, Sarah (I know your dirty little secret).

When you can identify the piece of democratic legislation that caused this mess please let us know so we can identify the culprits and get them out of office. HINT: it was written by Phil Gramm, you know the guy who wrote John McCain's economic policy.

Thanks again Sarah.

This election is nothing like over there is 4 weeks to go and there is still lots of churn. OK the numbers in the polls suggest that McCain support is softer than Obama's, but there is still a healthy amount of undecided or undeclared out there.

Tonight Obama has the opportunity with a good performance of closing the deal. McCain is fighting for the very existence of his candidature.

Palin has come awfully close to calling for an Obama lynching as he consorts with Terrorists.

McCain wants to indict him for knowing a convicted Felon.

Fox wants to reintroduce the INQUISTION as he had a pastoral relationship for 20 years with the War Hero former Marine Sgt Wright latterly known as Reverend Wright the Chicago Heretic who thinks God is damning America for its illegal and immoral war in Iraq.

The way the economy is maybe God is?

Actually Batony, when McCain makes it about race, he loses and polls like this are proof.

Too many Democrats in this poll. In 2000, Dems held a 5 point advantage in Ohio, although Gore lost by 4.5%. In 2004, The GOP held about a 3 point advantage, and Bush won by about that same margin.

I would love for this poll to be true, but I fear its too optimistic. I would guess that Ohio is pretty close right now, with Obama up by 2 to 3 points.

Obama is running away with Pennsylvania and is doing great in the States around Ohio, but it really looks like he under performs there. Indiana looks very good, as do Michigan and West Virginia. I don't get it.

@Batony: It's McCain/Palin who are making it about race.

Thank you Mr. Springsteen. (A bit of his speech at the Ohio rally--Pennsylvania, too.)...

"I've continued to find, whereever I go, that America remains a repository of peoples' hopes, possibilities, and desires, and that despite the terrible erosion to our standing around the world, accomplished by our recent administration, we remain for many, many people this house of dreams. One thousand George Bushes and one thousand Dick Cheneys will never be able to tear that house down.

They will, however, be leaving office -- that's the good news. The bad news is that they'll be leaving office dropping the national tragedies of Katrina, Iraq, and our financial crisis in our laps. Our sacred house of dreams has been abused, it's been looted, and it's been left in a terrible state of disrepair. It needs care; it needs saving, it needs defending against those who would sell it down the river for power or a quick buck. It needs a citizenry with strong arms, hearts, and minds. It needs someone with Senator Obama's understanding, temperateness, deliberativeness, maturity, compassion, toughness, and faith, to help us rebuild our house once again.

But most importantly, it needs you. And me. It needs us, to rebuild our house with the generosity that is at the heart of the American spirit. A house that is truer and big enough to contain the hopes and dreams of all of our fellow citizens. Because that is where our future lies. We will rise or we will fall as a people by our ability to accomplish this task. Now I don't know about you, but I know that I want my house back, I want my America back, and I want my country back.

So now is the time to stand with Barack Obama and Joe Biden, roll up our sleeves, and come on up for the rising."

@Batony

I agree with you that the charge of race-baiting is politically bad for Obama.

I don't see race-baiting in McCain's and Palin's interaction with their crowds, but I do see the stoking of murderous animosity against a political opponent. It is extremely dangerous to acquiesce as crowds shout out "traitor!" "terrorist!" You are condoning the use of labels that go way over the edge and paint your opponent as the nation's enemy. I don't want anyone assassinated this political season.

I remember the 1972 primary, when George Wallace--whom I did not remotely support--was shot. It was unhinging for the country. Believe me, there was not one drop of relief in seeing him taken out of the race for the Democratic nomination. We have to draw clear lines and not step over them during election campaigns for the good of the country.

It's sort of a "country first" idea.

boomshak:

As you very well know, the tracks of this economic crises were laid long before the Democrats got ahold of Congress. The crux of the crises is a little thing called Credit Default Swaps. The banks sold these swaps, which are essentially insurance contracts, to each broker who purchased a mortgage-backed security. The banks were careful not to call the swaps insurance, however, because the swaps would then be regulated as insurance. If they had been regulated, the banks would have been required to hold cash reserves to cover the swaps. But because the swaps are not regulated, the banks have no cash reserves for the swaps that cover the defaulting mortgage-backed securites. Somewhere between 50 and 60 TRILLION dollars worth of these swaps are out there. That's TRILLION, with a T.

http://www.financialsense.com/editorials/engdahl/2008/0606.html

This is the prime reason the banks are so much distress right now. The banks lobied hard to keep the swaps unregulated because in good times they were a quick way to make a buck. If they swaps had been regulated, as they most certainly should have been, this crises would have been almost totally averted.

Who was it that pushed for deregulation? I can't quite remember. You have thought McCain would have learned from the S & L scandal, but I guess not.

BTW, now the dumb-ass bankers are saying they would like to have the Credit Default Swaps regulated.

http://www.reuters.com/article/governmentFilingsNews/idUSWBT00995420081007

@Boomshak (4:02 pm Eastern) -

You have no concept how the infrastructure of government runs ... do you?

1) There is no veto-proof Democratic party majority in either chamber to attempt to pass regulation legislation that Bush would have vetoed.

2) In the Senate - almost no bill even gets near the floor unless either party feels there is close to or better than 60 votes for it because of the chance of a filibuster by those not supporting it.

3) the wheels of this train to nowhere (toward the bridge to nowhere) was set in motion during the 6 years that both the executive branch and the legislative branch - and to most extent, the judicial branch - were in charge (compared to less than 2 years that Democrats have had a majority in the legislative branch).

4) If you have ever bothered to look at history - in America - you would see that, more often, than not, the economical situation improved under a Democratic Party President. Whereas, during a Republican Party President - the American economy stagnated or declined. Yes, there are exceptions to the rule - however, the reality is that with a Democratic President, most Americans have a better chance at prosperity - unlike under a Republican President where the upper 10% see major increases in wealth while the lower 90% see themselves getting closer to poverty.

What I love about these types of arguments is that for the first 6 years that Bush's administration was in office - any economical set-backs were blamed on Clinton by Republicans. Yet, now those same Republicans blame the last 20 months on a newly elected Democratic majority in Congress. Is the economy a slow-moving behemoth that takes 6 years to get from here to there or a high-speed express that takes less than 2 years? You can't have it both ways. (Well, you can - but normally that's a sign of schizophrenia).

richieBr,

You've got a very good point. However, don't throw it in the trash can just because of that. If you play with the numbers, there is a "interesting" picture:

Although this poll has more democrats than I could expect, it could help us to see in which direction the "trend" is heading. For example, the previous PPP poll in Ohio, back in mid-Sept, had McCain up by 4%, with a 6% party advantage for the democrats.

September poll: McCain 48% Obama 44%
Party ID, Dem. 43%, Rep. 37%, Ind. 20%

If we use the same party ID of the September poll to this poll, the results are:

McCain 45% Obama 47%, McCain down 3% from Sept. and Obama up by 3% from September. There was moving against McCain and in favor of Obama from one month to the other.

Unless McCain has something to say about the economy other than worn-out, supply-side cliches, he will be in even deeper trouble. And if Obama gets a chance to articulate some sense of leadership in relation to this catastrophe, it really will be all over.

But it's a difficult and unpredictable format ...

@mrut: "I don't see race-baiting in McCain's and Palin's interaction"

Silence is a form of acquiescence. The problem is that African Americans have been held suspect for a large chunk of this nation's history---things are a lot better now, but the coded language is still there and understood.

For McCain/Palin to imply that Obama is sympathetic to terrorists and for McCain/Palin to remain silent when their audience scream out "kill him" or "terrorist" is appalling.

@pion

100% agree. McCain and Palin would be smart to say - "though we disagree with Obama - those kind of slurs or that kind of talk is not tolerated and will not be tolerated by myself or my campaign. And if that is the way you think - I do not want your support."

Though they may piss that person off at that moment - it would help them mend the respect they've lost among others.

But as we know - McCain and Palin aren't that smart.

@pion

There isn't much distance between our positions. I think that in the last day or two, a very dangerous dynamic has developed between McCain/Palin and their audiences. It is a result of the decision by a morally and politically bankrupt campaign to focus all their attention on personal attacks against Obama. Using the word "terrorist" during a war against terrorists is a clear attempt to identify Obama as someone to be killed. Something needs to be done about this campaign strategy quickly, before someone gets killed. This is beyond politics; the RNC needs to intervene.

ThatMarvelousApe:

Believe me when I tell you...when Obama talks about race, he will lose. Don't live and die with polls...I've died too many times in my lifetime living off polls

After 500 point drop today which certaily malaffected ALL of us here...and a debate tonight, we have the possibility of seeing this race become virtually unreachable by McCain. Unless he has beleivable answers to the problems and fends off responsibility for this calamity, he will lose another 2-3% and be DONE.
Once a candidate reaches true double digit nationwide leads in a country so divided, it is almost impossible to get beyond 1-2% more or for his opponent to get ahead again....
We may be able to call it by Friday.

@laguna_b:

I cautiously agree with you. I don't want to let my guard down, but McCain does not have the ideas or the charisma to turn this race around if he can't do it with the debates. The negative campaigning and the guilt by association strategy will backfire.

McSleeze will go down in history as an angry, desperate, dishonorable, unbalanced politician.

ANA ANALOGY OF WHY THE ECONOMY IS THE DEMS FAULT:

Let me give you an analogy:

You own a house with lousy plumbing. The toilet doesn't flush right, the pipes leak and the bath water never gets very hot.

Ok, so you fire your current plumber and hire a new on who promises you he can fix everything that is wrong.

2 years later, the whole house collapses because the plumbing has all exploded and flooded everything.

You say to the plumber, "What the hell did you do to my house?!"

The plumber responds, "Hey, it was messed up when I got here!"

Then you respond, "I know, THAT'S why I hired you!"

MORAL OF THE STORY:
Now tell me how that is any different that the Dems claiming no credit for the mess we in now.

@laguna_b: "After 500 point drop today which certaily malaffected ALL of us here"

I wanted to say that I haven't looked at my retirement account recently---too depressing.

Bush was a miserable failure. For McCain to have the same economic/foreign policy as Bush shows how out of touch he is.

Now take boomshak's story, and add the fact that the plumber was never allowed into the house to fix the problems. Now you've got a more accurate analogy.

>>>Now tell me how that is any different that the Dems claiming no credit for the mess we in now.

Nice analogy but let me change it to match the situation....

You KEEP the old plumber and give him veto power over any fixes the new plumber proposes. He uses it in the form of vetos and filibusters to block EVERYTHING you try to fix the house. In the end you go and blame the new plumber who tells you you should have gotten rid of the OLF plumber and now you have a chance, and keep the new one....get it?

@Boomshak: Get some rest.

Boomshak:

You want to blame this entire mess on Fannie and Freddie and you want to blame Fannie and Freddie entirely on the Democrats. Fine. Putting aside the political reality that that dog won't hunt, just answer one question: Sub-prime mortgage originations grew from $130M in 1999 to $600M in 2006. So why didn't Bush and the then-Republican Congress nip this in the bud back in 2001?

I predict that when it is within a week or so of the election AND Obama is ahead at least as well as now, BOOMSHACK will be affected by Stockholm Syndrome and start supporting Obama....watch!

MORAL OF THE STORY:
Now tell me how that is any different that the Dems claiming no credit for the mess we in now.

Your analogy only works if you hire the new plumber but give your wife veto power over anything he wants to do, and then blame him for not doing all the stuff that she wouldn't let him do.

Poor Democrats, we couldn't get anything done because of those mean old Republicans. All of our great legislation that would have solved all these problems got killed by them.

Oh, if only our legislation had passed, we wouldn't have this mess today.

Can you please list the Top 5 Legislative Programs proposed by Democrats in the last 2 years that would have "fixed the plumbing"? I can't wait to hear this.

Nope, the Democrats were too busy with Valerie Plame and Scooter Libby and Steroids in Baseball and using party line votes to block Fannie Mae Regulation to save America.

The Democrats are guilty of a sin of omission. They stood by and watched while the house burnt down because they didn't leave the stove on.

CONCLUSION:
To follow your logic, the Republican Congress was also not responsible for anything when they were in the majority because the Democrats filibustered them, right?

So it's nobody's fault. Oh sorry, It's Bush's fault because you can never blame anyone in Congress for anything unless they have a filibuster-proof majority.

MY PREDICTION:

If Obama wins, 2 years into his first term he will still be bitching about the "leaky pipes" Bush left him.

Democrats have been blaming everyone else for everything for so long, they won't know what the hell to do with complete responsibility.

Again, what Democrat Legislation did Bush veto in the last 2 years that would have saved the economy?

@boomshak:

You keep saying that the economy was “great” until the Democrats “took over” in 2006.
Then answer the following:

1) Which branch of government actually runs the government, i.e. “executes” the laws passed by Congress and writes regulations to implement those laws?

2) Who appoints the Secretary of the Treasury?

3) Who appoints the Chairman of the Federal Reserve?

4) Who appoints the Chairman of the SEC?

5) Who appoints the head of any other agency involved with regulating the economy?

6) How many House votes does it take to override a Presidential veto?

7) How many Senate votes does it take to override a Presidential veto?

8) How many votes does it take to invoke cloture (i.e. stop an actual or threatened filibuster) in the Senate?

9) How many seats in the House of Representatives are currently held by Democrats?

10) How many seats in the Senate are currently held by Democrats?

11) George W. Bush is a member of which political party?

Here’s a real analogy that may help you. Prior to 2006 there was minivan filled with Republicans. Every time they came to an intersection they took a right. In 2006, two of the passengers in the very back seat of the minivan were replaced by Democrats. They continue on with the Republicans driving and every time they came to an intersection the two Democrats in the back of the minivan said “take a left” but the driver of the van ignored them and kept going right at greater speed until eventually the minivan crashes. Now you’re trying to blame the two passengers in the back whose advice was ignored for causing the crash.

The Democrats are no more in control of the government than they were driving the minivan in the analogy above. Your cause and effect argument is fallacious and holds no water at all. This is basic civics and basic logic. You still don’t get it.

Hmmmm! "Raleigh NC"...didn't "Boomshak" say a thread or two ago where he was from...and it's ta-da! Raleigh NC!

Nawww! Couldn't be?

@boom

Relax man. Government is cyclical. History is on the Dem's side this election.

What I find impressive is that any Republican thought they had a fighting chance in either 06 or 08. It's a good sign for the party, though, that even when they've reached what appears to be the lowest-of-the-low (check the Bush's approval rating), they're still able to convince almost half of the country to vote for them. I don't know any Democrats that are that loyal (or stupid).

Ground game:

Ohio voter registration info
Oct. 7, 2008

For Immediate Release

SECRETARY BRUNNER ANNOUNCES SIGNIFICANT INCREASE IN VOTER REGISTRATIONS IN 2008

COLUMBUS, Ohio – Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner announced Tuesday that Ohio’s voter registration rolls grew by 665,949 voters in 2008. The deadline for voter registration was Monday, October 6, 2008.

According to the Secretary of State’s office, there were 7,518,189 active voters on January 1, 2008. After the close of voter registration, there were 8,184,138 active voters. Unlike the simple number of new registered voters, the number of active voters takes into account new registrations, changes in registration, and voters removed from the rolls under Ohio and federal law.

“We are already seeing the results of our preparation for November, with absentee voting a success across Ohio and 665,949 active voters added to the rolls. These are Ohioans from every corner of our state who can now take part in our democracy. Ohioans and, indeed the nation, can be confident that our preparation is yielding successful voting administration in 2008,” Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner said.

Batony: It's clear that the McCain-Palin campaign are using suspicion of some sort of "essential other" (race, religion, or ethnicity) to fire up their troops. That's why the troops are responding in the ways they are with racial epithets and lynch mob fervor. They understand the "code words".

When you go out and say, after the prior speaker calls Obama by his middle name "Hussein" that "He doesn't understand US. He pals around with a terrorist who attacked America." That carries the message.

And McCain goes out at the same time and says "Who is the real Obama?" That's not some reference to Obama being a political unknown (after all they say his record is that he's a liberal...so the political record exists...although whether he is or not is a matter of interpretation). That's a reference to his race, religion, and even his citizenship. That's all about "Obamanation" (which is the favorite insult phrase used by a poster here). People believe this stuff!

BTW McCain campaign aide Mary Matalin supported a guy named Corsi who just got expelled from Kenya. Corsi was down there attempting to link Obama to his distant cousin of the Luo tribe...as if Obama had anything to do with the violence in Kenya. Guess it's genetic. The Republicans yet again want to tie the fear of blacks by some whites to keep people from voting the salient economic issues.

Boomshack that is soo much BS you are spouting. As I mentioned in an earlier post. I voted for Reagan in 84. I am not some left wing liberal. The SEEDS for what is going on today began early this decade. Phil Gramm in 99 was one who pushed and wrote into law more and more government deregulation in the banking system. The Bush tax cuts (along with a GOP FED Reserve chairman who before Bush pushed for deficit control then supported the tax cuts which helped the most wealthy), the housing boom which is where all that money went to and in process lead to corruption on Wall Street. Of course the unnecessary Iraq war (how much have we blown on that? Sure could use that $ now). Democrats should take some blame too but as has been pointed out. The Democrats may control congress but especially in Senate. They have what a 1 seat lead. Clearly not enough to overturn vetos by the President. However when DEMS won congress it forced Bush to change strategy in Iraq with Rumsfeld's resignation and the surge strategy which McCain takes credit for but was not actively pursued until DEMS won congress in 06 and forced Bush to pursue that startegy. The malaise in this country sits mostly right at Bush and the 2002 GOP congress feet. Remember when the GOP controlled congress tried to redo congressional district voting lines? They were more interested in power and protecting their wealthy funders then helping the average American people. FIRST thing Obama should do as President is push hard for a political solution to Iraq and an a agreed withdraw time table. Moving troops etc... To Afghanistan AND stopping the $10 Bil a month bleeding of our treasury.

Boom your buddy Scott is just about to go on Fox and report on the battleground states.

I'd like to add that this country is awash in debt BECAUSE of Bush and the GOP's "ownership society" economic policy: Keep payrolls down, encourage people to invest for retirement in 401K's, buy a home then take out a home equity loan and spend rather then save money. While corporations make huge profits and CEO's walk away with millions. A great shortterm economic plan but now with consumers up to their eyeballs in debt and their home's and 401K values tanking. This country is in a huge mess. What If like Iraq it was announced this country had a $79 Billion surplus? heck maybe I should move to Iraq. Sounds like if they can control the violence. Iraq might be a booming ecomomy before the US's debt laden economy will be again.

Boom,

Rightly or wrongly, it is the president that is held responsible for the economy. I think this largely comes from Reagan, and his attempt to blame Carter for the 1970s economy.

The inflation-adjusted value of the January 2001 Dow in today's dollars is about 12,200.

Today it is worth: 9,447

Thanks, Bush Economy.

@boomshak

I predict that whoever becomes president, he is going to spend the next 4 years bitching about the mess we are in.

This country is a ****in' MESS right now. And to lay it ALL at the feet of either party is ridiculous.

I know you see the world in black and white but problems this big have many causes.

Fannie/Freddie are not the entire cause of this problem. It's VERY naive to claim so.

Tonights Debate
(A Time to Kill)

Tom Brokaw: Do you think men who authorized and want to continue an illegal and immoral war should be allowed to govern?
Barack Obama: No sir.
Tom Brokaw: Do you think men whose policies and deregulation allowed Wall Street to rape our economy should be allowed to continue such policies?
Barack Obama: No, sir.
Tom Brokaw: Well what do you think should happen? What would be a fair sentence?
Joe Biden: Objection!
Tom Brokaw: Do you think they should deserve to die?
Joe Biden: Don't answer that Barack!
Tom Brokaw: Do you think they should deserve to die?
Barack Obama: Yes, they deserved to die and I hope they burn in hell!

2 OH polls released today have shown Obama ahead there--CNN by 3 and PPP by 6. The PPP poll has the larger sample of the 2. Yesterday, right-leaning Rasmussen found McCain clinging to a 1-point lead in OH. In 10 of the last 16 polls of OH, Obama has led, with 1 tie. 4 of the 5 polls showing McCain ahead in OH have been conducted by Rasmussen.

Both candidates have given a great deal of attention to OH, so it is not surprising that this PPP poll finds little room for movement in the race there--91% of OH likely voters are "firmly committed."

Obama is now outspending McCain in OH in an effort to expand his lead there. See:
http://voices.washingtonpost.com/thefix/2008/10/obamas_spending_edge.html

OH will most likely be very close. The GOTV effort may be decisive, which means the candidate with the stronger ground game will have the edge. Unlike in 2004, the GOP will not have the benefit of a gay marriage measure on the OH ballot to boost the turnout of its base. Nor are voter caging efforts likely to be successful, as the OH AG is now a Democrat. Palin has an event in OH on Thursday; Obama has 3 events in OH on Thursday.

@NorseSoccer

Correctamundo!

@ slinky

Genetics, slinky... DNA

Have I decoded your name? Do I correctly recall that you're a geneticist?

Sorry, guys. As you were.