I'm excited to see what Obama can do in the General Election.

[More Than A Feeling]

That isn't an endorsement, but rather an admission. Obama will be second-best to John Edwards unless and until he wows us with massive amounts of progressive legislation, including equality for gays (to make up for his obvious failings in that area on the campaign trail). However, I'm excited for him to have that chance. Yeah, he's a gamble, but think of it this way: if he were to get elected, he'd have to deliver the goods, because there is no way he'd be able to replicate his bravura performance in this campaign if he doesn't.

Also, that he's a gamble makes it more exciting. I feel like he has a higher upside than Hillary (who in this atmosphere, with strong Democratic majorities, also has the ability to deliver progressive legislation as an alternative to triangulation). Hillary, at her best, could win the Kerry states, plus just enough to get in, and would be a highly competent president. If Obama fulfills his potential, we could be talking landslide, and I can't say how high he might go in office without sounding high myself.

[flyarm]

1. well considering he won the states that are predominately repig and the majority vote repig..

he doesn't have a fat baby's fart of a chance to win against McCain.

fly

[More Than A Feeling]

2. If that's true, then neither does Hillary, and it doesn't matter which is ultimately the nominee.

It's probably not the best mindset to go into the general election with, but your mileage may vary. Personally, I'd rather get really psyched up.

[AndyTiedye]

3. I'd Rather Be Psyched Up Too, But We Must Face Reality. We Are In Trouble

We have two extraordinarily weak candidates left. McCain beats them both in most matchup polls.
Intrade also now shows McCain as the favorite to be elected in November.
The Mighty Slime Machine has been building up McCain for years, so most people think he is a "maverick" and a "moderate", even though he promises more and bigger wars, and continuation of Bush** policies in all other things. NONE of Bush**'s unpopularity is rubbing off on McCain.
They can ALWAYS play the "terror" card, and it always helps them when they do.
Then there is Diebold and the rest of the Repiglickin election stealing machine.
Our party is badly divided by a bitter primary campaign, while the Repiglicans are rapidly coming together behind McCain.

This could go very badly for us.
We need to try to shore up support for our Congressmen and Senators to limit the damage that a blowout for McCain could do there.

I am not saying that it is hopeless and we should give up, but we need to shed the overconfidence we have been afflicted with lately. This is going to be an uphill battle.

[More Than A Feeling]

6. First off, he doesn't beat them by very much at all.

Either of our candidates will drive McCain's negatives through the roof. I have never doubted Hillary's ability to wage partisan war, but Obama has started to show me a little something as well, and that eases my doubts that he'd be off floating in a beltway-induced haze of bipartisanship defined as "Thank you sir, may I have another?" Once people meet the real McCain, just like the real Rudy Giuliani, they will turn on him.

Just like the ones who already know him best have turned on him. McCain has a real problem holding the conservative base, to the point where some conservative activists would rather sabotage his campaign by staying out of it and staying home. More than a few in the conservative movement want very much to see McCain get his ass whipped.

Meanwhile, our party is riding the sapphire wave of legendary turn-out. We are shattering record after record, and among the average Democrats, there really is no animus like we've seen between Romney and everyone else in the GOP. Polls show that roughly 70 percent of Democrats would be alright with the candidate they don't support getting the nomination, which is pretty good. We will reconcile and are reconciled because, contra DU, most of our party feels like we have an embarrassment of riches. This time around, we have the rock star candidates, not the GOP. The GOP, meanwhile, is spent as a force because the social conservatives, the fiscal conservatives, and the neocons are all at odds. The "Reagan Coalition" is no more.

When they play the terror card, we haul out Biden's "a noun, a verb, and 9/11" snark, and shove the fearmongering back in their faces.

DIEBOLD will be a problem for the foreseeable future, but they aren't infallible. We did win 2006, lest we forget. Congress was not stolen from us. Obama has a background in elections law and has a mass movement of followers ready to move to his lead if there is fraud, and Hillary wouldn't let a silly thing like voting machines stand in her way, so its less likely that either would just give up.

Optimism can be healthy, sometimes. You should try some. You'll enjoy this election a lot more.

[AndyTiedye]

7. Can't Do It

Optimism can be healthy, sometimes. You should try some. You'll enjoy this election a lot more.

I used up most of my optimism in 2004, when it appeared that Kerry was going to win.
(You may recall that we had record turnout that year too).

The last of it was consumed in 2006, when we did win, at least on paper, and then it turned out that we had won nothing.

As for candidates fighting the inevitable election fraud, we have heard that one before. I'll believe it when I see it happen.

[OPERATIONMINDCRIME]

4. I Can't Wait To See What He Can Do Too! He'll Be A Total Asset To Hillary's Campaign, And

I think he's gonna DESTROY whoever the republican VP candidate when it comes time for their debates.

I can't wait to see what he can do!

[More Than A Feeling]

5. Would she give him the government reform portfolio?

If he were her VP, he'd have to have a portfolio, just like Al Gore (environment) and Dick Cheney (unmitigated evil) have had. What I like best about him is his platform of instituting public financing, upgrading government technology, and then using that upgraded tech to conduct government in the sunshine through disclosure requirement laws, bans on lobbying, and generally putting things on the internet. Hillary also has a government reform agenda, but she has not made public financing of congressional elections a key part of her platform. If she does support that, it strikes me as very tepid support. Would she allow a VP Obama to reform campaign finance and government while she continues collecting lobbyist checks? :shrug: