"so it's worth keeping in mind that beneath the jokes a very serious and high stakes game is often being played."

Well, yeah. The whole world is watching. We're working our butts off. We know this is more than a joke.

But it's nice to smile while we see the game. It beats name-calling.

A point I tried to make in a blog post I wrote earlier is that the Republicans are not starting from zero here. Over the last eight to twelve years, they've already managed to get a substantial chunk of their base--white working class conservatives--convinced that progressive taxation is immoral and bordering on communism. The idea may be new and entertainingly absurd to bloggers and reporters and people inside the Beltway, but to a lot of rural working class white conservatives, he's just repeating something they already fervantly believe.

Check out the whole story on the Cuban Americans who were surrounded by an angry mob:

McCain Miami Rally, Getting Ugly Down Here Look in later today for our On the Road piece from Wilmington, North Carolina. We're a bit ahead of our coverage, which occasionally happens out here with the long distances, input, output and timing demands. Tonight we'll be at the Obama-Clinton rally in Kissimmee, Florida, and we're breaking in from Miami, where John McCain just concluded his "Joe the Plumber" rally at Everglades Lumber.

After the rally, we witnessed a near-street riot involving the exiting McCain crowd and two Cuban-American Obama supporters. Tony Garcia, 63, and Raul Sorando, 31, were suddenly surrounded by an angry mob. There is a moment in a crowd when something goes from mere yelling to a feeling of danger, and that's what we witnessed. As photographers and police raced to the scene, the crowd elevated from stable to fast-moving scrum, and the two men were surrounded on all sides as we raced to the circle.

The event maybe lasted a minute, two at the most, before police competently managed to hustle the two away from the scene and out of the danger zone. Only FiveThirtyEight tracked the two men down for comment, a quarter mile down the street.

"People were screaming 'Terrorist!' 'Communist!' 'Socialist!'" Sorando said when we caught up with him. "I had a guy tell me he was gonna kill me."

Asked what had precipitated the event, "We were just chanting 'Obama!' and holding our signs. That was it. And the crowd suddenly got crazy."

http://www.fivethirtyeight.com/

I just don't want to win, I want to bury their sorry asses in a landslide.

It only took O-bambi two and half years to push back on this tack aggressively. Sheesh! Is he trying to lose the election?

The only thing that I don't like about this is the rebuttal is too easy. McCain will simply say, "well Obama is free to share his sandwich, but we don't need him to share out money". The line almost writes itself, and feeds into the theme that McCain has been pushing.

Hopefully, there's more behind this line, as there hasn't been much that Obama has done on the stump that hasn't been well thought through. But whatever it is, it needs to play out quickly. There's only six days left, which is just enough time for McCain's push to eat at Obama's lead on the margins without significant pushback. It's probably not enough to lose the election, but it could cost Obama a couple red states that he's currently in line to win right now.

I think that the Dems need to talk more about Palin's efforts to redistribute wealth in Alaska. Here is a quote from Think Progress attributed to Palin:

Took me about five seconds after they started the "socialist/wealth distributor" attacks to realize that it was all code for, "he's going to give money to poor black people."

Outside of the very wealthy, the one income bracket where Obama tends to struggle the most is with the $50-75K group. It's where you find your plumbers, your contractors, cops, nurses, plant supervisors, bus drivers, military professionals, etc. A large majority are white. These people make enough to live comfortably but they work hard for it and there is always a cloud of insecurity hanging over them - they're a layoff away from big trouble. They don't get any government assistance because they make too much money but they also don't benefit from the Bush tax benefits that have been lavished upon the upper income levels. Their investments, if they have any, are in underfunded 401k or college savings plans.

In my experience, these are the people who, when they feel economic heat, are quickest and the most likely to blame the country's and their own personal fiscal woes on illegal immigrants and freeloading blacks. Some of it's outright racism, some of it is soft bigotry. But in many cases, it's just lashing out at an easy scapegoat/target. And while it's never right to do this, you can understand how some of them may react this way when times are tough.

This is who McCain and co. are targeting as they lay charges of socialism and wealth distribution on Obama. Most of these people couldn't define socialism if you asked them, nor do they really realize that our entire tax system is built around wealth redistribution - both up and down, to states, to schools, to the military, etc. But they for damned sure don't want their money going to pay for emergency room bills for illegal immigrants or food stamps for lazy black folks.

And bonus for the McCain campaign - sadly, it's a lot easier for them to get these people on their side because, well, Obama's black - he's obviously going to help his people. (ie - blacks)

The irony, of course, is that these same people a) will never be in the top 5%....NEVER, and b) would do MUCH better under Obama's - or and Democrat's - tax/economic policies than they would under a Republican administration/Congress. And the number of poor/working/middle class white people who would benefit under the Obama tax plan is MUCH, MUCH larger than the number of poor minorities who would similarly benefit.

It's great that Obama is highlighting just how ridiculous these charges are. It's the best defense he has, along with pounding home the fact that 95% of American families (households making under $250K) will do better under his tax plan.

Lead expanding in state polls and narrowing in nationwide polls. Can someone explain?

Also, I agree this is just softball. I think socialist meme, surprisingly, has gained more traction than expected. Time for a few hard hitting ads.

But we're steeling in a good place, looks like we're placed to win easily.

Rest easy, boys and girls. The most accurate Presidential poll has announced its results: Obama in a landslide.

Oh By the way. Obama camp still look pretty composed and in control.

It's a good sign.

I was there in Raleigh today. First candidate rally I have attended since Dukakis at the NC State Fairgrounds in '88.

It was wonderful! The communal (socialist?!?)atmosphere of optimism, goodwill and good vibes was heartening and inspiring. Obama is such a powerful (but not overpowering) speaker, and he seemed totally at ease with the crowd. His warm sense of humor came through often and he seemed to connect with everyone. He delivered the secret communist/pbj sandwich thing in the offhand manner of the best standup comedians.

I love this guy! Smart, funny, thoughtful, A+ people skills, progressive politics - what's not to like? And he brings people together, not with jingoistic fervor but with a sense of "We're in this together so let's make it better." I WILL be volunteering this weekend and hoping to see NC in the Obama column next Tuesday evening.

First candidate rally I have attended since Dukakis at the NC State Fairgrounds in '88.

No offense but can you keep information like this to yourself. J/K. LOL....

Rasmussen released his weekly issues numbers today and there is some evidence (although it could just be noise) that the "give money to nigras" attacks are working a bit. Key data:

Trust more on...

Economy
McCain - 48(+2)
Obama - 46(-1)

Taxes
McCain - 47(+1)
Obama - 45(-2)

Social Security (????)
McCain - 45(+2)
Obama - 44(-2)

Obama did improve on energy issues, going from a 46-46 tie to a 51-45 lead, but I think that issue has receded as gas prices have dropped. The first two above and, to a lesser extent, the third, are the ones that matter. That Obama even had a lead on taxes last week and only trails by two this week is actually pretty amazing given that this was always a "gimmee" for GOP candidates. But as recently as 9/30, he led on the economy by 9, 51-42. A McCain lead on this issue - by far the TOP issue of the election - isn't exactly great news. That said, Rasmussen historically has shown the gap on the economy between Obama and McCain MUCH closer than other pollsters. That 9pt lead Obama had on 9/30 was, by far, his largest in Rasmussen polling.

People, Bill-O's an INDEPENDENT!! That means this map of his has to be right on!

OK, I went as long as I could without busting up!

PINEAPPLE EXPRESS has a better shot at Best Picture this year at the Oscars than Bill-O's "electoral map" has at being accurate. Oh wait, he made Texas and Alabama red, so something on there's right!

Time/CNN Battleground Polls:

Colorado: Obama 53 McCain 45
Florida: Obama 51 McCain 47
Georgia: McCain 52 Obama 47
Missouri: McCain 50 Obama 48
Virginia: Obama 53 McCain 44

http://thepage.time.com/

Democrats dominate early voting in key states

http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5iXAkBilVhjbpsgAAHfgp6kGEShvwD944B1D00

Well, I can assure you that Obama will win NC.

I can also tell you that a line like this resonates in NC, because it speaks to the common sense shared here. These are the common values of most Americans - we do believe in taking care of each other, not just "everyone for him/herself." We know how that works.

I should also point out that Obama auditioned his anti-gas tax message in NC by pointing out the ludicrous nature of the proposal. He did this, too, through humor. The pundit wisdom said that he would lose ground running against a tax cut (one which both Hillary Clinton and John McCain were pushing). The pundit wisdom said that a "conservative" state like North Carolina would "punish" Obama for that position.

Instead, he won here by a larger margin than I believe he would have in the wake of an all-Wright, all-the-time spring and a Pennsylvania loss. He also came much closer in IN, for the same reason. And I think the fact that he treated voters as adults, by taking the issues apart and pointing to the ridiculousness of attacks on him, always helps him.

He's winning because he's the ADULT in the race. When he shows McCain's attacks and "policy" up for the same-old, same-old, non-serious, non-useful politics that it is, then he wins. It's a good strategy.