Work for and Expect a Landslide!!!

This report in the Miami Herald tells the story of what this election SHOULD look like. This election should be no less a transition than that of 1932 (FDR) or 1980 (Ronald Reagan). This election should be a fundamental realignment in American politics. There is no reason to contemplate even the POSSIBILITY of an Obama loss. As things stand unless something calamatous takes place Barack is going win -- BIG!

The only intelligent alternative in this election is Barack Obama and everyone knows that. For those who don't, their reality is based upon something else, certainly not intelligence. It might be racism. It might be abortion. Intelligence it will not be. That was the case before the fall of American capitalism and it is even more more so today.

Americans black and white will be outraged if he is defeated. If this hope is vanquished America will be in total disarray. That is the danger. America will not take a stolen opportunity sitting down. More of the same is unacceptable. This will be one "stolen election" too many.

This story by the Herald makes clear that this election should be a landslide that relegates conservatism and the Republican party to the dust bin of history!!! RGN


Posted on Sun, Oct. 12, 2008
Nov. 4 could bring seismic shift to political landscape
BY STEVEN THOMMA

Barring a dramatic change in the political landscape over the next three weeks, Democrats appear headed toward a decisive victory on Election Day that would give them broad power over the federal government.

Polls, both nationally and in battleground states, increasingly point to a win that would send Barack Obama to the White House and give him larger Democratic majorities in both the House of Representatives and the Senate -- and perhaps a filibuster-proof margin there.

That could mark a historic realignment of the country's politics on a par with 1932 or 1980, when the out party was given power it held for a generation, and used it to transform government's role in American society.

Of course, a lot can change in the final three weeks of the campaign -- one that has already seen volatile shifts in the fortunes of Obama and Republican rival John McCain. And some observers would cite polls that erroneously pointed to a New Hampshire primary win for Obama over Hillary Clinton, or the Election Day exit polls in 2004 that incorrectly suggested a John Kerry victory over President Bush.

Still, as things stand now, Obama, a 47-year-old first-term senator from Illinois, is well positioned to win the Electoral College. He's comfortably holding most of the ''blue'' states that went for Democrats Al Gore and Kerry in past elections, polls show, and he's gaining momentum to take away several ''red'' states that have voted Republican in recent elections, including Florida, Ohio, Colorado and Virginia.

The Democrats are also widely expected to take big gains in House and Senate races.

Like Obama, they're reaching deep into once solid Republican territory. Even such stalwarts as North Carolina Sen. Elizabeth Dole and Kentucky Sen. Mitch McConnell, the Senate Republican leader, could be in jeopardy.

Building on the Democrats' sweeping wins two years ago when they seized control of both chambers of Congress, big gains this year would be reminiscent of the Republican gains in 1978 and 1980 that delivered ``the Reagan Revolution.''
Former Reagan political advisor Ed Rollins likened today's landscape to 1980's, when voters were angry at President Jimmy Carter and the Democrats, and turned to Ronald Reagan in droves once they felt comfortable with the idea of him as president.

''Barack has met the threshold,'' Rollins said. ``Once Reagan met the threshold, people wanted to get rid of Carter and they did in a landslide. This is going to turn into a landslide.''

THE WRONG TRACK

Democrats already had a political advantage heading into the fall campaign, with just 9 percent of Americans thinking the country is on the right track, the lowest ever recorded. President Bush's approval rating last week was only a point higher than Richard Nixon's on the day he was forced to resign from office, reflecting voter anger at Republicans as the party controlling the White House.

Add the collapse of stock prices and anxiety about the economy, and polls show public opinion surging in favor of Democrats.

''The fundamentals have come together almost perfectly and at just the right moment for the Democrats,'' said Larry Sabato, director of the Center for Politics at the University of Virginia. ``It could hardly look better for the Democrats.''

''This election right now is exclusively about the economy,'' said independent analyst Charlie Cook. ``Despite the fact that the House and Senate are in Democratic hands, Republicans seem to have total ownership of the problem. Fair or not, it's true.''

NONSTARTERS

It's also made it much more difficult for McCain to score with his escalating attacks on Obama for his ties to such controversial figures as William Ayers, a former member of a violent Vietnam-era protest group. ''You can't break through with the economy being so overwhelming,'' Rollins said. ``No one cares.''

Obama's strength is evident on the political map.

Confident of holding all the states that went for Kerry in 2004, Obama's playing offense in several Republican states. He has an edge or is competitive in such states as:

• Colorado, where he's up by an average of 4 percentage points, according to recent polls there compiled by RealClearPolitics.com.

• Florida, where he's up by 3.8 percentage points.

• Nevada, where he's up by three points.

• Ohio, where he's up by 2.7 points.

• Virginia, where's up by 6.3 points.

Most of those are still close enough to be considered tossups.

OBAMA OVER THE HUMP

But as of last week, Obama now leads in enough states to secure more than the 270 Electoral College votes needed to win the presidency.

He could lose some of those leads, of course. There's still one more presidential debate on Wednesday. And events could change. A terrorist attack, for example, could turn voters back to McCain's political strength: his standing on foreign policy and national security.

''But I don't know if even that would work,'' Cook said. ``It's not like people would forget their pocketbooks.''

Democrats also are expected to expand their majority in the House, which they now control 235-199 with one vacancy, and in the Senate, which they control 51-49 with the support of two independents.

Three renowned analysts of congressional races -- Cook, Sabato and Stuart Rothenberg -- last week all increased their forecasts of Democratic congressional gains.
In the House, they expect the Democrats to pick up 15 to 30 seats. In the Senate, they expect the Democrats to pick up six to nine.

''I now can't rule out 60 seats for this November,'' Rothenberg said. That's the magic number a majority needs under Senate rules to break filibusters -- and something that no party or president has enjoyed for nearly three decades.

GOP SEATS VULNERABLE

The analysts tend to agree that the Democrats are all but certain to pick up Senate seats in New Mexico and Virginia. Other potential gains are in Alaska, Colorado, New Hampshire, Oregon, Minnesota, Mississippi, Kentucky and North Carolina.

In North Carolina, Dole trails by an average of two percentage points. In Kentucky, McConnell leads by an average of just seven points -- he won by 65 percent to 35 percent in 2002.

Even in solidly Republican Georgia, Sen. Saxby Chambliss finds himself in a fight.

''When you're paying attention to Georgia and Kentucky, wow,'' Cook said. ``Who would have thought Republicans would be having problems in places like this?''

Added Rothenberg: ``Republicans appear to be heading into a disastrous election that will usher in a very bleak period for the party. A new generation of party leaders will have to figure out how to pick up the pieces and make their party relevant after November.''


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