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Invasive mussel confirmed in Utahs Electric Lake
Southern Ledger - November 21, 2008
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Microsoft lets Zune music subscribers keep tunes
Southern Ledger - November 21, 2008
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Astronauts end spacewalk to repair gummed-up joint
Southern Ledger - November 21, 2008
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Dubai parties at hotel gala despite economic gloom
Southern Ledger - November 21, 2008
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Warsaw marks borders of former ghetto
Southern Ledger - November 21, 2008
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Pakistan protests to US over deep missile strike
Southern Ledger - November 21, 2008
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Afghanistan markets its brand of pomegranates
Southern Ledger - November 21, 2008
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China says 19,000 students died in May earthquake
Southern Ledger - November 21, 2008
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Dems delay auto bailout vote, seek plan from Big 3
Southern Ledger - November 21, 2008
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OBAMA SEES HIS SUPPORT SLIP DRAMATICALLY.
August 19, 2008 -
August 26, 2008
Political campaigns are a roller coaster ride of ups and downs. The ten weeks remaining before Election Day are truly a “lifetime” where unexpected events (did anybody really forsee a Russian invasion of Georgia?) can suddenly turn the tide for either Barack Obama or John McCain. But Democrats who foresaw 2008 as a smooth ride to regaining the White House and expanding their margins in the House and Senate suddenly find themselves feeling like they are traveling down a country dirt road in a truck with bad shocks!
The latest Reuters/Zogby national poll of 1,089 likely voters has McCain moving into a five point lead over Obama with a 46% to 41% margin. That McCain lead is the same when other candidates are included in the mix. With liberal Independent Ralph Nader and Libertarian Bob Barr added to the poll, McCain pulls 44% support, Obama 39%, Barr 3% and Nader 2%.
The bad news for Obama gets worse when these numbers are compared to the same Reuters/Zogby results from just one month ago. At that time Obama led by a 47% to 40% margin! In the four-way race Obama led McCain by ten points.
And the news gets even more disturbing for Obama when it becomes clear that there is now virtually no gender gap in the race. In the July poll, Obama was receiving 53% of the support of women as opposed to 47% among men. But now he wins only 43% of women and 41% of men. In other words, Obama’s support among males has slipped down by six points while his female backing is off by ten points in the past thirty days.
Normally, a Democratic presidential candidate can count on a ten to fifteen point gender gap. Obama's performance in both the July and August polls is way below that average.
The precipitous drop in support for Obama is even more pronounced in several key demographic groups that have been heavily courted by his campaign. Obama has seen his backing among younger voters, defined as under age 35, plummet twelve percentage points from 59% to 47% over the past month. He has suffered an eleven point decline among Catholic voters (47% to 36%) and Southerners (46% to 35%) during that same time period.
Some of Obama’s troubles can be traced to the hangover effect of his extended battle with Hillary for the Democratic Party nomination. But Obama also benefitted from that prolonged fight from the standpoint of receiving heavy media coverage that was almost exclusively positive while John McCain was virtually ignored.
By engaging in rhetorical platitudes and glossing over the specifics Obama was able to spend most of the primary season being “all things to all people.” Now that the details of his voting record and policy positions are being dissected more carefully some of his support is slipping as voters realize he is not exactly on “their” side on many issues.
The Democratic Party Convention in Denver will almost certainly give Obama a significant bounce. But the Republican Party Convention the next week in Minneapolis will likely give McCain a similar bounce and bring the campaigns back to a level playing field. The final sixty day sprint to the November election will be brutal for participants and spectators alike. The only thing certain is that in a campaign season of unexpected twists and turns, more stomach churning loop-d-loops lie ahead.
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WHERE ARE ALL THE LIBERAL ANTI-WAR PROTESTERS? -
August 14, 2008 -
August 21, 2008
A week after Russian tanks, infantry and bombers began their devastating assault on neighboring Georgia the international community is still talking about how to respond. Actions speak louder than words, and Russia’s actions are proving much more deadly than the timid words of “peace” conveyed by diplomats.
The United Nations has dithered and delayed while the civilian death toll mounts, proving international organization to be as useless as it is inept. By the time the U.N. finally get... |
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AL GORE HITS THE WATER! -
August 5, 2008 -
August 12, 2008
Former Vice President Al Gore, the self-proclaimed global guru of green, has made a lot of money from the hysteria he has created about the so-called “crisis” of global warming. He has profited from best selling books that tout the looming climatic catastrophe, including “An Inconvenient Truth” and “Earth In the Balance.” He won an Academy Award for a movie about his slideshow presentation that focuses on his “sky is falling” message about a world on the brink of environmental disaster thanks to... |
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CONGRESS NEEDS TO STEP UP FOR MILITARY VOTERS NOW! -
July 31, 2008 -
August 6, 2008
When Election Day arrives in November hundreds of thousands of soldiers, sailors, airmen and marines will be serving far from home on the “Frontlines of Freedom.” Many of those serving our nation in uniform will have gone through the complicated process of registering to vote from overseas, navigated the confusing and time consuming twists and turns necessary to obtain an absentee ballot, and then gone the extra mile to mail that ballot back to their home state. Unfortunately, the time process f... |
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IT IS BODY DOUBLE TIME ON THE CAMPAIGN TRAIL. -
July 24, 2008 -
July 31, 2008
As the primary election day looms in Tennessee it is important to remember that politicians really will say, or do, anything to get elected. Some use nuance or half-truths to hide who they really are. Others go with the full-on lie, recognizing that the more outrageous the statement the more likely it is that a significant number of people will fall for it.
During a press conference in Jordan earlier this week Presidential candidate Barack Obama touted the passage of a bill out of the S... |
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WILL BREDESEN ALTER THE TENNESSEE POLITICAL LANDSCAPE IN 2009? -
July 15, 2008 -
July 22, 2008
Despite the looming Presidential free-for-all in November, 2008 is not shaping up to be a particularly explosive political year for Tennessee. John McCain seems to have a comfortable lead in Tennessee and Barack Obama is not expected to spend significant time or money pursuing the state’s eleven electoral votes. Lamar Alexander is a safe bet for re-election to the U.S. Senate despite what may be a dismal election season for Republicans nationally. Although Congressional approval ratings have s... |
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