Fill in the blank: I’ve seen more _________ yard signs in my NoVa neighborhood. (Lynchburg: school, taxation)

[LynchburgLover]

Originally Posted by IndiaLimaDelta

Y'all really shouldn't put too much stock in polls, period. The electorate is highly fickle and polls are a backward snapshot of what people tell pollsters they supposedly think at a given moment (or over a short time period). And that's not even considering the conflicting claims of sampling accuracy. Neither 2008 nor 2010 can be used as a model for 2012.

Directionality is far, far more useful though that's not the be-all, end-all of it either.

I agree with you but polls also affect a candidate's volunteer and voter enthusiasm. And, as of now, Romney has the momentum. The polls show Obama has lost crucial support among African-Americans, Jews, Women and the youth.

I don't think another debate will recreate the Hopey-Changey thrill up the leg. Once a "hero" has been knocked off that pedestal, it rarely gets put back.

[CAVA1990]

Originally Posted by LynchburgLover

I don't think another debate will recreate the Hopey-Changey thrill up the leg. Once a "hero" has been knocked off that pedestal, it rarely gets put back.

Performance in the town hall style debates seem to be more important nowadays. Obama should be able to erase Romney's momentum if he does well in that one. Last will likely be seen as just a "bump in the road". Plus as I said before the dems are doing very well now in the down ballot races in the swing states, including VA where Kaine is way up. The RNC should probably be looking at shifting resources away from those losing efforts and to the presidential campaign.

I still don't see any way though for Romney to get to 270. I think this will end up as a typical ho-hum re-election of an incumbent, not even as close as Bush-Kerry.

[LynchburgLover]

I agree the Town Hall "debate" will probably show Obama at his best, schmoozing. . . especially since ABC picked "independent" Martha Radditz. Move along, no bias there, forget that wedding thing, forget that husband FCC appointment thing, nothing to see. Not only that, but ABC will be sure to "balance" the audience, right? wink wink

However, even after that, there has been a real trifecta this month.

1. The economy is still sluggish at best. The U-6 unemployment is around 14%. People don't look at the government numbers and so "oh, good", they look around their world. And outside the DC bubble, things are not pretty.

2. The mess in Benghazi. When will politicians ever learn that the cover-up is always the worst part? More is dribbling out of the old media about that every day even though right-leaning and foreign papers have shown the mess for weeks. Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama BOTH messed up the 3:00 a.m. phone call.

3. Obviously, the debate debacle. We're not seeing too many commercials any more, are we? I'm not even getting phone calls like before. But we don't know what is being shown in Ohio, Colorado, Wisconsin where Obama's numbers are falling. Not that I expect Romney to carry California, but Romney's numbers there have climbed eight points.

Lastly, I think a lot of people are just plain tired of seeing Obama EVERYWHERE. Our American Idol President said it best on The View. . . "I'm just eye candy".

[hilsmom]

Originally Posted by LynchburgLover

We're not seeing too many commercials any more, are we?

Apparently, you're not watching the same channels I am. Because campaign commercials are STILL all I see. When I watch TV live, that is - I zap them when I watch DVRed shows. But I sure as heck am still zapping a ****ton of campaign spots.

[cdmurphy]

Originally Posted by hilsmom

Apparently, you're not watching the same channels I am. Because campaign commercials are STILL all I see. When I watch TV live, that is - I zap them when I watch DVRed shows. But I sure as heck am still zapping a ****ton of campaign spots.

I'm still not sure how I'm going to vote on Maryland Question 7!

[hilsmom]

Originally Posted by cdmurphy

I'm still not sure how I'm going to vote on Maryland Question 7!

No kidding. It has me all in a tizzy.

[LynchburgLover]

Originally Posted by hilsmom

Apparently, you're not watching the same channels I am. Because campaign commercials are STILL all I see. When I watch TV live, that is - I zap them when I watch DVRed shows. But I sure as heck am still zapping a ****ton of campaign spots.

Probably true -- I'm kind of a business channel/C-Span junkie.

[hilsmom]

Yeah, not a lot of commercials on C-Span. But practically any other channel is flooded with them - and I have the news networks on in the background a lot of the day.

I'm just glad I don't have a landline anymore - I've gotten no political calls this year.

[spencgr]

Originally Posted by hilsmom

I'm just glad I don't have a landline anymore - I've gotten no political calls this year.

I think they used to employ volunteers; essentially people somewhat knowledgeable about their preferred candidate's platform. Not so sure this year. Below is the exact conversation I had with a political pollster the other night.

Me: Hello?

Insider Digging up Information on Other Team (IDIOT): Mam'm, Could you take a few moments to answer some questions about the upcoming election?

Me: Certainly.

IDIOT: If the election were held today, would you vote for Obama or Romney?

Me: I'd likely not vote for either.

IDIOT: So you are not planning on voting?

Me: No, I'm 100% going to vote, but I'm probably not voting for Romney or Obama. I am still undecided, though.

IDIOT: Ummmmmm (long, silent pause) OK. (longer, silent, pause). Are you planning to be a volunteer for the campaign?

Me: Which campaign?

IDIOT: Any of them.

Me: Um...no. Nice talking to ya!

[LynchburgLover]

Romney will be appearing at Ida Lee Park on Wednesday, October 17. The doors open at 4:30 p.m. and the event starts at 6:00. You have to go to a headquarters or online Romney campaign to get a ticket.

Obama will be appearing in Leesburg on Friday, October 19. No other details were in the paper.

In 2008, Obama had a huge rally at Ida Lee Park and this year has already had one rally at Loudoun County High School. I think the crowd estimate was about 3,000.

The park is a much larger venue. It is where they do the fireworks display.

Should be interesting. . . and a traffic nightmare both days.