What conservatives should know about Americans.

Ah, so in Brandon-speak, I can say "you lose".

Excellent.

Well, most people are familiar with the typical conservative platform. I agree with most of it. For example, I believe that the decision to invade Iraq was correct given the information possessed when it was made. I also believe in small government.

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Well, most people are familiar with the typical conservative platform. I agree with most of it. For example, I believe that the decision to invade Iraq was correct given the information possessed when it was made. I also believe in small government.

This seems like an awfully moderate position. A candidate who ran on the Iraq war and smaller government would certainly be in the mainstream. Had this candidate been named McCain, he very well be leading in the polls right now (sadly the candidate named McCain chose another path).

What you hear from the conservative movement today is not this.

What you hear now is attacks, division and hard line positions not shared by the majority of Americans.

Let me give a good example from my own experience. The National Council of La Raza (NCLR) is a mainstream organization. It is slightly to the left (not much) and is politically moderate. It focuses on economic issues, housing, education and immigration issues.

Because of the NCLR is widely respected in the Hispanic community.

The conservatives launch pretty nasty attacks on Hispanic institutions, including this organization. The Republican party is paying, particularly in Southwestern states.

When you attack people was "non-American" who get to vote, you pay in the polls. New Mexico, Florida and Colorado are states where the Hispanic vote will make a big difference (and don't be surprised if Arizona (yes Arizona) goes for Obama).

The funny thing is that McCain should have been able to earn much of the Hispanic vote. The fact that he decided to tie his boat to the conservative movement pretty much sank that prospect.

I presume we are talking about legal votes, and not the votes of non-citizens.

Brandon9000 wrote:

I presume we are talking about legal votes, and not the votes of non-citizens.

Er... Non-citizens don't get to vote. You know this, right?

2) Most Americans don't care about Ayers, Wright, or Khalidi. We think that the assertion that Obama is somehow subversive, or socialist are ridiculous and mean.

This whole line of argument is irrelevant (and annoying). We think that only idiots or partisans would make an issue of this.

WaPo-ABC Track: I'm Rubber, You're Glue

Half of all voters think John McCain has gone too far in criticizing Barack Obama, while most think Obama has been measured in his return volleys. [..]

Q: In terms of criticizing Obama, do you think McCain has gone too far, not far enough, or handled it about right?



Q: In terms of criticizing McCain, do you think Obama has gone too far, not far enough, or handled it about right?

3) Most Americans want moderate reasonable solutions to problems. [..] Most of us want a reasonable tax policy that raises taxes for the wealthy and provides cuts for the middle class. The Democrats are offering us this.

Spread the wealth? What Americans think

In my post, after the third presidential debate, about McCain’s efforts to make “spreading the wealth around” sound like the most ominous thing, I quoted Ezra Klein as saying that “for most folks, spreading the wealth around probably seems like a good idea” right now.

This is correct, Brian Schaffner of the CCPS argued yesterday at his new home on pollster.com. Taking as lead how the ABC/WaPo poll hasn’t shown any movement this month on the question which candidate is trusted more on the question of taxes, he digs up data showing so from a 2003 survey conducted by NPR, the Kaiser Family Foundation and the Kennedy School of Government.

Moreover, in case you’re feeling doubtful about those sponsors, the same thing is largely confirmed by Gallup data, which the polling firm’s in-depth look at the issue on Thursday revealed.

Read on...