Gallup & Rasmussen: McCain Up, Obama Down

It's too early for this to include any impact from the convention, but it's fair to say that Joe Biden hasn't electrified the country.

How did Michelle Obama's speech play? I don't know; I can't separate my partisan side from my objective side to be able to tell. I also can't put myself in the mind of someone who doesn't know much about politics and who is open to the notion of "hope and change" transforming the country into Jesus' thousand-year kingdom on an accelerated schedule; i.e., I can't will myself to be a fucking moron.

Dick Morris can, though, and says the speech was a hit:

MAGIC WORDS: 'I LOVE THIS COUNTRY'

By DICK MORRIS & EILEEN MCGANN

Published in The New York Post on August 26, 2008.

DENVER

'I love this country": Those are the magic words that Michelle Obama said at the Democratic National Convention last night.

They're the words we've wanted to hear from her ever since we saw her say that she was proud of her country "for the first time in my adult life" now that her husband was winning primaries en route to the White House.

Did she buy into the American dream? Was she part of our national aspiration - or part of the Rev. Jeremiah Wright's twisted view of us? Those were the questions we wanted answered. Last night, she answered - loud and clear.

We've watched the scripted familial intimacies Hillary Clinton always shares from the podium and wondered if they had been focus grouped. We've watched Theresa Heinz Kerry's vaulting ambition at the 2004 Democratic convention and wondered if she was really human.

But this year we saw an eloquent, sincere woman speaking of her dreams and aspirations. She gave a speech that sounded real with anecdotes that seemed genuine.

Michelle Obama last night became a political plus, not a problem.

We worried that Barack was an elitist. But her speech made it clear that she wasn't born as part of the elite and that he wasn't either. Her genuine working-class stories transcended race and rang true with Americans.

He (and his wife) then go on, though, to express doubts about how much to buy into these claims.

So I don't know. To me she seemed stagey and very much acting; her fake chuckles and feigned humility were a bit transparent. All I learned was that the Obamas:

1) Got married

2) Had kids

3) Possessed a truck at one point (which I'm guessing is a "racial codeword" for a Volvo SUV)

And of course 4) Did a lot of left-wing agitation they call community activism, but we're supposed to consider that a middle-class, Heartland sort of activity. Like the 4H Club or, I guess, mixed Cornhole leagues.

So let me tap into the wisdom of the masses. If you can channel your inner idiot, or if you've spoken to friends or family members who subscribe to the Moron Faith, what do you honestly think? Pretend you don't know she's a confirmed lefty hoodwinking us; did it play or not?

A Bit on Ayers: From John Fund.

McCain aides say they are perplexed by the Obama ad. "It is misleading," McCain campaign strategist Steve Schmidt told National Review. "It states the McCain campaign is running an ad on the issue and it's not. Obama described Ayers as just a guy who lives in his neighborhood. We know that's not accurate."

And today, supposedly, the U of I will release those withheld Ayers/Obama documents, at least the ones they haven't "lost" or "inadvertently destroyed."

It's this kind of thing that really makes me wonder. If the American public has some knowledge of this, and some memory of the Wright fiasco, is it really just enough for Michelle Obama to say "I love this country," which every analyst predicted she'd do, because she needed to do so for political reasons?

And Saul Alinksy Too: Obama went to work for an Alinksy protoge; Michelle Obama quoted Alinsky's Rules for Radicals in last night's speech.

How dumb is the American public? Hopefully not quite dumb enough for the Obamas' purposes.

posted by Ace at 02:10 PM

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