Obama/Biden vs. McCain/Palin

[heyzeus]

I started an office pool on electoral votes last week. I have Obama at 333.

[PujolJunkie]

I started an office pool on electoral votes last week. I have Obama at 333.

338 is probably the best bet. If my mind is envisioning the map right, 333 is McCain carrying Nevada, Missouri, Indiana and North Carolina, but losing Florida. You're probably dead on except for him carrying Nevada. And I mean dead on. Even though my map is 368-170, the best conservative estimate is 338.

[PujolJunkie]

Makeshift polling update as of 2:53 PM central time. The 538 update will be out later tonight because CNN is releasing battleground polls, I believe. Not sure about that.



EDIT: Speak of the grail, per NS -

BONUS EDIT: Here's a fun little reality check for those of you who are sweating the trackers. Since our last update yesterday evening, I have added 34 polls to my database, including both state and national numbers. Barack Obama is ahead in 32 of those 34 polls. The two exceptions are in Arizona and Alaska, the home states of John McCain and his VP nominee, respectively.

[BW23]

So the infomercial is airing on a church night, eh? Really cares about those evangelicals, huh?

[KyCardinalFan]

So the infomercial is airing on a church night, eh? Really cares about those evangelicals, huh?

He might care about them, but he knows he's not getting their votes. They're voting for Palin.

[ghostrunner]

Wow.

As we wrote in this post earlier, "Joe the Plumber" -- Samuel Joe Wurzelbacher of Holland, Ohio, the man who has become a favorite symbol of "real America" for Republican presidential nominee John McCain -- has moved up another notch in the celebrity spectrum. He now has a publicist.

Actually, as we've since found out, he now has a team of folks backing him up. There's country singer Aaron Tippin. Music industry manager Bobby Roberts. And there's Nashville publicist Jim Della Croce.

More on how they got involved in just a bit. First, here's the audio of a phone conversation we had with Joe a short time ago:



Among the highlights of what Joe had to say:

• He plans to "keep speaking for middle-class America."

• "I do have a book that is going to be coming out shortly ... couple of weeks." It will be "dignified."

• Why should people listen to him? "I speak straight. I'm not going to tap dance around anything."

• On Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin, who he met today at a campaign rally in Bowling Green, Ohio: "She'll really serve America. ... She doesn't see it as her due. She sees is as a privilege to serve the American people."

• On whether he views the Democratic ticket as "a danger" to the nation: "Yeah, I do. ... I think it is dangerous, I've got no problem saying that."

• Does he have a political future? "That's a huge commitment and I'd have to learn a lot."

• Perhaps a singing career, since he's become buddies with Tippin? "They talked about possibly throwing me into the studio. I think we're going to have a good laugh" and that will be it. "I never ever have entertained the notion."

• But will he keep plumbing? "I'm not going to rule it out." It's a career you can "always fall back on."

• Isn't he just trying to make a quick buck of his sudden fame? "People are going to have to decide for themselves."

[Popeye_Card]

Joe the Plumber, you're officially on minute #14.

[ghostrunner]

I think Joe's head may be bigger than mine. That's no mean feat.


I'd love it if he showed up at another Obama rally and said:

"I'm about to sign a book deal for $250,000.....

[JL21]

Joe, please allow me to introduce you to Willie Horton and the little girl that got blown up by a nuclear bomb. Get comfortable hanging out with them in the dustbin of history.

[Michael]

Anybody think that tonight's television appearance will sway some votes in Obama's direction? It'll be interesting to see the polls this weekend.

One of the biggest impacts is it's now even harder for McCain to control the news cycle. He doesn't have much time and he needs to change the press narrative.