Obama Election Watch

With Obama riding high in the polls, many pundits have written off John McCain’s chances of winning the presidential election. But in American politics, four weeks can be an eternity. Only four weeks ago, John McCain had a lead in most national polls.

McCain has pulled out of Michigan, once thought to be his best chance of picking up a blue state that had been won by John Kerry in 2004. McCain continues to spend a pile of money on television advertising in Pennsylvania. He visited the state with Sarah Palin on Wednesday. But most polls in Pennsylvania show that Obama now has a double-digit lead.

It seems likely that all the blue states in 2004 will remain blue in 2008. This gives Obama a solid base of 252 electoral votes. Also, it appears that Obama may win the states of Iowa and New Mexico, two red states in 2004. This would give Obama 264 electoral votes, only six short of the total needed to win the presidency. (Click Here to Read More)

There are an estimated 64 million people in the United States who were raised in the Roman Catholic Church. More than 12 million non-Hispanic Catholics attend Mass at least once a week. The Catholic vote is huge.

The voices of Catholic voters have the power to control the outcome of national elections. In eight of the past nine presidential elections, the winner of the Catholic vote won the White House.

Millions of Catholic Americans — and many evangelical Protestants as well — have a litmus test which a presidential candidate must pass before that candidate can win their votes. First and foremost in these voters’ minds is the candidate’s view on abortion. For millions of Catholic voters the most important political goal over the last 30 years has been to assemble enough votes on the Supreme Court to overturn Roe v. Wade.

Barack Obama does not pass this litmus test. And, for now, John McCain does. The question is, How can Barack Obama still marshal a case that convinces Catholic voters to support his candidacy? (Click Here to Read More)

One of our viewers asked us to write down some compelling facts, or so-called “killer lines,” that Obama could use possibly to put an end to the McCain contention that he is on the side of ordinary American voters.

This viewer said to us, “I don’t mean gentle lines like, ‘John, I agree with you
but . . . .’ I mean lines that could put a stake in the heart of the McCain campaign.”

Here are our suggestions: (Click Here to Read More)

One of the major myths at large today is that John McCain can be trusted to stand up for veterans and their families. Not so!

John McCain glorifies the United States military. Yet over a long, 22-year career in the United States Senate, he has voted against no less than two dozen measures that would have improved benefits for disabled veterans and their families.

He has even voted against providing funds for improving veterans hospitals as well as for research into prosthetics for veterans who have have returned home with missing limbs. (Click Here to Read More)

Over the course of his Senate career John McCain has voted at least seven times against funding of treatment, prevention, or research on AIDS.

Since Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) was first identified over 30 years ago more than 1 million Americans have been diagnosed with the disease. More than 565,000 Americans have died of AIDS.

AIDS is no longer an issue of sole concern to gays, lesbians, or low-income blacks. Recent years have seen a surge in AIDS rates among whites, Hispanics, women, as well as heterosexuals.

AIDS imposes a huge economic burden on all voters. There are about 450,000 Americans currently living with AIDS. Government estimates put the medical costs per AIDS patients at about $25,000 per year. This puts the annual total cost for AIDS care at more than $11 billion.

McCain’s voting record on AIDS has a special urgency in the state of Florida where AIDS has become a major public health problem. South Florida has the highest rate of new AIDS cases in the nation. (Click Here to Read More)