I walked into the local Democratic Party offices last night, on a day of disappointing national poll numbers for the Obama campaign, prepared to see a team of sullen phone-bankers.
Boy, was I wrong.
Rather than being dejected about McCain’s poll bump, our volunteers were more excited than ever to talk to undecided voters. Because mixed in with the news of day with regard to the polls was also a hint of things to come. The mainstream media, insulted by the McCain campaign’s claim that Ms. Palin won’t do any interviews until they become sufficiently “deferential“, are beginning to push back. Suddenly the Republicans are being held to the same standard as the Democrats.
And the lies are piling up.
As evidenced by the eight-to-tenfold differential between the amount of money raised by Senator Obama when compared with Senator McCain after Ms. Palin’s acceptance speech, her addition to the ticket has fired up more Democrats than Republicans. And despite what the instapolls are saying, she’s pushing fence-sitters off the fence and into the Democrat’s pasture.
Last weekend while canvassing for Senator Obama, I arrived at the house of two university Engineering professors. Surprisingly, neither was registered to vote and hadn’t voted in a long time. The wife was solidly in the Obama camp and quickly signed up to volunteer with the campaign and filled out a voter registration form. The husband, however, had a more interesting story.
“Imagine a continuum with Obama on one end and McCain on the other,” he said, stretching his arms wide.
“I’ve always leaned Democratic but this time I started out about 80% for McCain and 20% for Obama. When Obama picked Biden, I moved to about 50:50.” He moved his left hand in a bit.
“But this week, after his pick of Palin,” he continued, “I’m now 80% for Obama.”
His wife shook her head sadly. “What is he thinking?” she asked quietly.
He, too, signed a volunteer form and filled out the voter registration paperwork. As we said our goodbyes, the two of them thanked me for what I was doing.
This is a scene playing out again and again. People who who have been undecided about the election are seeing this transparently pandering vice-presidential pick for what it is: choosing politics over country. And they’re moving Democratic. This will continue as the McCain campaign continues to lie and evade and flip-flop on the issues.
So don’t sweat the polls. Obama supporters have been far more energized throughout this campaign and the Palin pick was just a shot of caffeine to keep us going. Soon enough the Republican Convention hangover will wear off and the Republicans will wake up and look at who they went to bed with.
And they are going to realize that their Convention Goggles have led them astray.
I leave you with this thought:
“Being out of touch doesn’t make you a maverick.”
Coming soon to a bumper or t-shirt near you.
I’m just sayin’…
