Obama's Hope Fades in VirginiaExcitement indeed. I for one plan on voting at least once come November 6.
By Robert Stacy McCain, The American Spectator
Virginia is one of the 11 battleground states in this year's presidential election currently rated a "toss-up" by Real Clear Politics, and it may well be that as Virginia goes, so goes the country. Polls close in Virginia at 7 p.m. -- one of the first battlegrounds to report on Election Night -- and if the GOP can win the state by enough of a margin that the networks call it early for Romney, that encouraging news may have a ripple effect westward in Colorado, New Mexico, Iowa and Nevada.
Not long ago, this hopeful prospect might have seemed impossible for even the most optimistic Republican to imagine. As recently as Oct. 2, a Roanoke College poll reported President Obama leading by 8 points in Virginia, but in the past two weeks, the Old Dominion has shifted sharply toward the GOP challenger. Romney has led five of the seven most recent polls and, although the RCP average for Virginia still shows Obama with razor-thin lead, the Republicans here sense a strong enough momentum to carry them to victory on Nov. 6.
This year, however, the shiny newness that made Obama such a historical phenomenon four years ago has worn off, as Hope and Change have given way to economic stagnation and political gridlock. Nearly all the excitement now -- in Virginia, as across the country -- is on the Republican side and, with less than three weeks remaining until Election Day, it appears unlikely the Obama campaign can close the "enthusiasm gap" that has broken wide open since Romney's decisive win in the first debate. Although the grassroots core of the Democratic Party was somewhat encouraged by Biden's performance in last week's vice-presidential debate and Obama's showing in Tuesday's town-hall debate, neither of those seemed to have the impact of Romney's stunning Oct. 3 breakthrough. The Gallup tracking poll released Wednesday showed Romney surging to a six-point lead nationally -- with the GOP challenger clearing the critical 50-percent threshold -- and there are now clear indicators that even Obama's campaign leadership knows the president's re-election chances are dwindling. [link]
By the way, I reported the other day my first sighting of an Obama yard sign here in Bland County. well, today it's gone. Either the owner sobered up or someone took it and burned it.
An Obama supporter in Bland County, Virginia? I don't think so.
0 comments:
Post a Comment