Yeah, yeah but everybody wants to BE rich, like Joe the Plumber wants to buy that business (when he actually becomes a plumber). You libs are stealing peoples' dreams!

John and Sarah go on and on about being Mavericks (or do I mean maverhicks?) as if by saying the very word, voters will be cooed into casting their vote for mcCain/Palin.

Saying middle-class actually proves that Obama has class.

John, with more houses than most men have suits, is not exactly a champion of the middle-class.

Sarah, who claims to be a pitbull/hockey mom with lipstick has had her handlers spend non-middle-class type amounts on her duds and lipstick.

How does taxing my employer-based health insurance help me?

That last truth about McCain's plan is probably the single biggest attack on the middle-class that
most people haven't quite fathomed that John would try and do!

McCain had every opportunity to craft a message or rather offer the people a legitimate option. Why he hasn't is beyond me. This year (the Dem. nominee) was ripe for the picking. He ended up playing to the worst in us and it doesn't look like it'll be enough.

A slightly less skewed tax plan, a more restrained military vision, etc. Some seemingly minor adjustments and he could have had this thing.

He became a liar, he could have even lied about these things.

How McCain came to choose his campaign staff if curious. These guys really suck. In hindsight, they will really suck.

One possible key to the failure of the Joe the Plumber tactic (besides McCain's bizarre obsession with it) is that a lot of middle class people resent plumbers. Butt cracks aside, plumbers look like guys who only went to high school but still will always have a secure job, even when you get laid off from yours. It always costs you more to hire a plumber than you want to pay. A lot of middle class people these days are thinking, "Why didn't I go to vocational school? At least my job would be secure. These plumbers make a fortune." Come to find out, plumbers don't make a fortune, but who knew? And here's Joe the Plumber about to buy a $250,000 business. Not likely to generate a lot of sympathy in this climate.

Yeah, yeah but everybody wants to BE rich, like Joe the Plumber wants to buy that business (when he actually becomes a plumber). You libs are stealing peoples' dreams!-- GOPer Troll

yeah, yeah i want to be rich too. but it might help if the economy had something of a leg to stand on. mccain ain't gonna help...

McCain has only one hope left: The Full Bulworth!

. . . voters are more comfortable with the idea of Obama handling a crisis; and voters don't seem to mind the notion of raising taxes on those making more than $250,000 a year.

Just what are you saying? $250K/year is upper-middle lower-upper income bracket. The middle-income brackets (middle-class is a social designation) will get a tax break under Obama's plan. However, if he is indeed getting strong support from people making $250K and up, people who may be paying more in taxes in 2009, that's a good.

Then again, Kerry had strong support amongst the super rich whereas Shrub's support was merely the millionaire income and status insecure tax-hating "class."

I think there are a couple of other factors that have helped put Obama in the lead:

1] Palin/McCain redefined "Maverick" to mean "batshit loonyballs."

2] Joe the Plumber is a plumber [sorta], not an economist. With the economy in the shitter, no one wants to hear from a plumber.

3] McCain might as well have picked Pauly Shore to be his running mate.

4] If John McCain hadn't veered so wildly from the person he used to be, say, eight years ago, he could have been a contender.

5] As much backlash as there was over Monica Lewinski for Al Gore, people are waking up to the fact that George W Bush is Satan in semi-human form.

6] Whoever coined the phrase "Culture of Corruption" a few years ago to describe Republicans gets a lot of credit. The brand stuck thanks to near constant proof.

7] Jon Stewart, Steven Colbert and Tina Fey are geniuses. Their satirical barrages aimed at Bush/Cheney and now Palin/McCain have always been rooted in reality and never crossed the line into mean-spirited attack. They've given us a lot of smart ammunition with which to keep pounding away at the evil fortress in daily conversation and email.

8] Steve Benen. Just sayin'.

Excuses are not results. Add the dangerous non-results of the last 8 years to McSame's erratic behavior and his seemingly entitled mannerisms, throw in a dash of a historic, unflappable opponent and you have a perfect storm that reduces the Republicans to a shadow of their former selves. It will be many years before they recover once the "elites" and the "fundies" go their separate ways.

'Spreading the Wealth Around' never sounded so good for so many. How and why this was ever considered frightening or wrong is beyond me. It's not like those who are wealthy are going to suddenly become impoverished or have to radically change their lifestyle.

Paying higher taxes if you are in a higher income bracket IS patriotic. After all, we ARE ALL IN THIS TOGETHER--er, aren't we?

Those who advocate a flat tax are living in make-believe land. Until teacher are paid what they deserve, until women earn the same amount on the dollar that men do, until all schools offer equal substantive education and opportunity, until Physicians don't feel coerced into choosing Plastic Surgery over Family Practice in order to pay off their debt--the discussion of a "Flat Tax" is ludicrous.

"...Far more than being a "center-right" country..."

Damn that really makes me angry that such mis information is now just casually accepted without question as fact. THIS IS NOT A CENTER RIGHT COUNTRY...as much as the leaders of both parties being also members of the money party try to use this to justify their policy making and inability to listen to the citizens of our nation in which the majority of our citizens poll progressive liberal on all the issues.

The carpetbagger once ran an article showing the polls which prove we are not a center right or conservative nation...that's what the right has been shoving up our butts for years and it is not now true by any means. We are predominately a progressive liberal nation...get used to it wingers...you are the minority by a huge number. Plus...there is no such thing as "FAR LEFT OF LEFTIST" in America...we are just not right or center right... period.

How McCain came to choose his campaign staff if curious. These guys really suck. In hindsight, they will really suck.

I'd like to see a panel discussion with Schmidt, Salter, Davis, Scheuneman, Penn, Wolfson and Ickes. Imagine the massed arrogance combined with hysterical finger pointing.

McCain might as well have picked Pauly Shore to be his running mate.
Who is Pauly Shore??

it is not as though Obama was Hillary Clinton or Mitt Romney -- someone who was seen coming into this crisis as an economic savant.

That's odd. I never attributed any economic acumen to either.

Hil didn't seem to claim any special advantage and Romney's wealth would have been offset greatly by his royal Charley Foxtrot known as "the Big Dig". This is not a man who watched budgets carefully.

>24% said Obama's plan would benefit all classes equally,

Hey, that is a gem!! Finally everybody get it that "small businessmen/women", even those who net over $250K - and I've seen stats showing that is pretty damn rare - benefit most by having economically confident customers.