Reports of Barack Obama's Political Demise Are Greatly Exaggerated

"You don't understand. I coulda had class. I coulda been a contender. I coulda been somebody, instead of a bum, which is what I am, let's face it."
-- Anonymous Democratic Presidential candidate

The Contender

The media is rife with stories that Barack Obama's national Presidential campaign is floundering. John McCain supposedly is pulling even with Obama in such critical states as Michigan and New Jersey, while Obama support in Minnesota is waning and McCain support in Florida, a state Joe Biden was supposed to help the Democratic ticket, is waxing. Obama is not doing so well in Ohio, which he lost to Hillary Clinton during the primaries.

Of course, part of this is the result of three major polling organizations re-weighting their surveys to give equal representation to self-described Democrats and Republicans, whereas the numbers of registered Democrats far outweigh the numbers of registered Republicans. Why did they do it? Well, why did the cable TV networks pretend the Democratic Presidential nomination was still competitive after it was clear that Obama had built up an insurmountable lead in delegates? The media are advertising driven and need a dramatic narrative to attract viewers, and advertising dollars.

During the 1964 election, in which the hapless Barry Goldwater fell so far behind incumbent President Lyndon Johnson, who would blow him out in the greatest landslide, in terms of share of the popular vote, in American history, polling was suspended after late September. (The original maverick, Goldwater -- who preached hatred for big government while his state of Arizona fed like a price F-H Club sow at the federal trough, played spiritual godfather to Ronald Reagan, Sarah Palin and John McCain, whose seat in the Senate he now occupies. Goldwater was perceived as a warmonger who called for the rollback of Social Security and other vestiges of the welfare state. It was similar to McCain's platform, though the media doesn't cover his Bush 43-like proposal to roll up Social Security, likely as it can never be implemented.)