>>>>>I agree completely. The nonsense I've read has been entirely by individuals and not associated with any campaign. What does concern me more though is the view of the youth. They ARE swayed by posts and blogs and junk on myspace pages...
>>>>
>>>>Luckily they don't vote.
>>>
>>>My daughter is 17 and a senior in highschool. There are 18, 19, and even 20 year olds in her school! (The effect of 'no child left behind.')
>>
>>I find that both sad and funny. ;)
>>
>>FWIW I wasn't commenting on the legal age to vote, but on the fact that the young always seem to poll like their going to vote, but never seem to materialize come election day.
>
>When it comes to the 18-20 vote, I really think this election may be different.

Of course, you still think Obama is going to win. I don't think your analysis is accurate. ;)

The young don't vote and when they do it's typically due to high voter turnout across the spectrum which lessens their impact anyhow.
Obama MUST, at a minimum, carry female voters over 40 by the same margin as Kerry and Gore. McCain was already polling well among them before tapping Palin. Notice the nature of the attacks on her? Just think, many have said the coverage of the Dem primary was sexist. How do you think this coverage will play out?

Obama's bounce appears to be 8% and McCain completely removed him from the news cycle the Friday following The Speech. That's not nearly enough.

Palin's speech tonight will introduce her to America and if you've heard her speak and know her story you know it's going to be big. There's a great deal of anger coming from the left because they're getting very nervous. Prior to August the common belief is that the election was a mere formality on the way to a glorious socialist future. Now that doubt has crept in, the attacks are getting nasty.

Somewhere the Clintons have popped the champagne and began planning for 2012. It's been mentioned that Hillary supporters won't vote for McCain just because he chose a female running mate and I agree. However, some may vote for them because it's puts Hillary back in the lead for 2012 and if events play out in a particular way, namely McCain only serves 1 term due to age, that puts Palin as the front-runner for the Republicans in 2012. Hillary v Palin? Hmmm...maybe that's what the Mayan apocalypse is about? ;)

Palin is a game changer and the only "hope" for the left now is to tear her down to the point she withdraws. Not going to happen.