my 2-cents, penny for your thoughts and GOPers keep the change

[radfringe]

not a done deal yet, still have Texas and Ohio as major players, and to a lesser degree Pennsylvania, but Obama is on a roll, and Clinton is faltering.

the biggest "complaint" I keep hearing over and over again from people in my neck of the woods is the incessant and annoying attacks and smear. It's turning many people off, although dem participation in the primaries/caucuses are setting records and are more than doubled repub participation - the longer the mud throwing goes on the less enthusiastic people become.

The campaign for the general election is going to get muddy and dirty enough. GOPers are cornered, and they know it. They are also wounded greatly by bush's record - and that makes them extremely dangerous.

Specific to each of candidates - the concern with Obama is his age/experience. whereas the concern with Clinton is that she's a GOP-attack magnet and if president will have to spend 90% of the time fending off the GOPers as opposed to doing her job. Whether or not you agree with these assessments is besides the point - this is how the general public sees it.

according to the ARG poll - bush is at 19% approval.
overall average has him at 29% approval ( http://www.realclearpolitics.com/polls/ )

McCain is in the catbird's seat. his only competition is Huckabee, and not a serious one at this point. This give mccain at least a 4-month head start on framing and running his general election campaign while Obama and Clinton are still attacking each other.
McCain has already started attacking Obama based on the assumption that Obama will be the dem nominee

The recent story about mcCain's affair is going to fizzle - mccain is not running on family values at this point (depending on his choice for VP that may change), and we've been there, done that, bought the t-shirt and wore it out during Bill Clinton's term.

McCain's weak point is BUSH, and mccain's gravitation toward 'staying the course' with bush's policies - not only in regards to Iraq, but also with the economy, energy/fuel, health care and social security - big domestic issues.

Obama and Clinton have to turn their attention to McCain NOW and define him as MORE-OF-THE-SAME-MCCAIN.

just as many of us say - once there's a dem nominee the party will rally around him/her, the same thing is happening now with mccain as the presumptive GOPer nominee. GOPers may hold their noses in november, but they will and are coalescing around mccain and they are doing it NOW.

the general concern is not which dem candidate has a better plan for doing 'x' - it's which one can beat mccain and turn this country around. yes, it's ELECTABILITY, and all the more reason for Obama and Clinton to start drawing contrasts between themselves and MORE-OF-THE-SAME-MCCAIN.

I'm sure some of you are aware of the general opinions being expressed regarding the caliber of posts in the GD-P, if not then take a few moments and browse through the GD and Lounge forums. the same attitude towards the GDP that exists on the DU at large, is the same attitude the general public has of Obama V Clinton.

Frankly, I don't care who started what first - that's crap you hear on a grammer school playground. I'm interested in getting the country back on the right road - and that means kicking MORE-OF-THE-SAME-MCCAIN's ass.

well, that's my 2-cents, you can grab a penny for your thoughts, but if it's the same old crap - then GOPers will keep the change and the whitehouse