Thanksgiving stuffing

I think you could go far deeper than superficiality on this trending. For one Clinton peaked at 50% in some national polling and now has fallen in the mid-to-upper 30′s when the actual campaigning began. Her losses have been in the mild support section of those expressing her as a favorite. This part of her support is still a significant portion stemming from the partisan Democratic voter who will vote for the eventual nominee and nationally this is still presumptively to be Senator Clinton. But when you go into the details of her support it comes closer to Obama’s which has the highest strident support. Inevitablility is that the other candidates will eventually end their campaigns where these active Democratic supporters will desire to find a home, their second choice where again Obama leads Clinton and Edwards.
So in fact the atrophy of Clinton is the loss of less strident supporters as the question of Obama’s electability becomes answered. More telling will be when the campaigns release their fund-raising data showing total treasury, cash on hand and more importantly number of donors which rumors are surfacing that Obama is approaching or has surpassed half-million. Compare that to Senator Clinton’s less than 150,000 you start seeing the number colliding.
The focus on the polling should be on Iowa and then New Hampshire where Obama continues to grow in support as Clinton degrades. Degrading as a front-runner is a dangerous place for it exposes the support that is based on backing a winner instead of backing candidates’ plaform.
One thing is for certain, in business or sports a trending like Clinton has since October major changes would be in store.

I tried something new this Thanksgiving, the Hillary Turkey. It was actually pretty tender. This bird was bred to have fat thighs, small breasts, and a left wing. Okay, I couldn’t resist. But no matter what the statistics, the American people will not put Bill Clinton back in the White House. Not so long as the people believe in representative government. And as you may recall, there are lies, damn lies, and then there are statistics. Besides, unlike her namesake fowl, Hillary has a fatal flaw. Hillary Clinton: definitely duplicitous, mercilessly malevolent, ultimately unelectable

Thanks for the thoughtful comments above… and Happy Thanksgiving to my fellow political junkies…
I see this all more simply… Mrs. Clinton’s poll decline happens because the more voters see of her the less they like her…
This is because of large screen televisions… she comes across as too intense and shrill… her campaign is modulated for ’91-92 and ’95-96…
The participation of lots of voices via blogs is also a great detriment to her because she engenders so much dislike…
Go to any blog associated with mainstream media (ABC, USAToday, DesMoines Register…)and there are legions of posters, men and women, who really don’t care for her…
How would she turn those voters around? And I think we could expect those folks to amplify their dislike of her as the campaign progresses…
This election cycle differs in fundamental ways from previous cycles.
The Clinton campaign has all the old techniques down pat… establishment endorsements, big money and lobbyist fundraising, big media spinning…
But the grass roots are breaking out… and they are not breaking her way…
Yup, Hillary Clinton on a 60″ TV is not something many Americans want to spend the next 4 years with…

Cate, very interesting analysis!
In 1960 most pundits credit the better appearance on TV by the “young, athletic, handsome, and poised” John F. Kennedy (wearing makeup) as compared to the “tired, pallid and sweaty” Richard Nixon (refused to wear makeup), who was recovering from a bout with the flu in their first debate, as being the difference in J. F. K. winning the election. Yet polls indicated that those who listened to the debate on radio leaned towards Nixon as having won that first debate. Nixon appeared better in the last three debates, but no amount of makeup was going to make him look better than J. F. K.
You are absolutely right, with so many HD TVs out there negative facial expressions (not to mention blemishes) could make a difference in a very close election.

Well since your are so smart why don’t you campaign for the presidency? Are you jealous of Hillary because you didn’t progress in life like she did? Don’t get mad at her get mad at yourself. What have you been doing thru the years. Don’t tell me. NOTHING!! And you don’t have the millions she has and probably never will unless you win the lottery. You could stand on the stage with Obama and his run of the wife Michelle and campaign for him. That will make you appear like you know at least something outside of nothing. Hillary is going to win the nomination and I would like to read your comments and the people like you after it is over. You can cry on the shoulder of Obama and Edwards because they will need someone to talk to when that happens.

How can Obama be trustworthy when he is already telling people he has new ideas. You mean to tell me the public is eating that up? Could they be that dumb? He does’t know what a new idea is. I don’t know if he even knows what foreign policy is. I can imagine if he was president how world leaders would be laughing at us and training him so he would know what is going on in the world and have the ability to know how to speak to them. Right now I don’t think he has those capabilities or intelligence. Like Hillary stated he would need training and I go along with that. He hasn’t wiped his ears dry yet. They are still wet.

She stood by Billy as he lied and what about health care being solved when Billary was in the White House, more lies. As far as I know health care is STILL an issue, so she lied about fixing it then who says she isn’t lying about it now? 8 years was a long time to at least get some of her little ducks in a row, what makes her think she can fix it all this time? Sorry Hill your out! Let’s elect Obama and try someone who as yet hasn’t lied to the American Public!

Obama hasn’t lied to the American public. Where have you been? If Novak didn’t bring out the dirt you would never know about his drugs and booze. He possessed to be so holy, holy but whatever was in the dark came to the light. Would he take his drugs and booze in the white house? Could be? Would his run of the mouth wife make all the speeches because apparently he can’t. Every time he starts to talk he doesn’t make sense its like he has to think about what he’s going to say before he gets it out. That’s too bad for him because he’s going nowhere even with Oprah’s help. The only reason for her campaigning for him is because he’s black like her and she would like to see a black president in the white house forgetting the white people made her rich. Having Bill Clinton on the show then endorsing Obama. Her audience is 95% white. What happened to all the black people that should be attending her show?

Any bets on how many times and where the Clinton campaign will trot out the former President to try to support sagging poll numbers?
I don’t think he was adding much in Iowa… maybe New Hampshire?

Two errors need correcting:
Mariann Pepitone, you wrote: “If Novak didn’t bring out the dirt you would never know about his (Sen. Obama’s) drugs and booze.” Actually Sen. Obama’s autobiography, “Dreams from My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance,” describes his drug and alcohol use.
Cate, you wrote: “Geez… what about President Bush endorsing Clinton as the Democratic nominee?” President Bush didn’t actually endorse Sen. Clinton. He only expressed his opinion that she would win the Democratic nomination. He also said that he believes she would lose the general election.

Hillary was a New York senator for 8 years. Did she do anything to improve the healthcare system in New York during those 8 years. As a representative for New York, she has not done anything to improve their healthcare system. She screwed up the chance to improve healthcare while Bill gave her a chance to do something. She did nothing for New York. She is not going to do anything about if she gets elected either. We shouldn’t take a chance on her anymore. Somebody please ask her in the next debate why she has not done anything for New Yorkers with their healthcare system. If she has a valid answer (which I doubt very much) then she can talk about how she is gong to fix healthcare. Otherwise it is all just hot air. She is as phony as it comes.

Hillary Clinton should not even have been a senator of New York state. It is not her home state and Bill bought her a house just so she could run for office. She voted to go into Iraq, wants endless war in Iran, voted for the horrendous Patriot Act and now has voted for H.R. 1955, the Violent Radicalization and Homegrown Terrorism Prevention Act of 2007, which is an unbelievably despicable attempt at arresting people for what they might be thinking when they post on the internet. The Dems are not the Dems anymore and the Pubs are not the Pubs anymore. Except for one. You guessed it. Ron Paul.

Some who see her a untrustworthy and don’t particularly like her, are buying the myth she is the strongest one to beat the republicans. Any viewing of head to head match ups would tell people she shows the weakest numbers against republicans of the big 3.
With her stumble the media is now starting to give the full story and not just Hillary’s numbers. This is waking people up that she is not the strongest. But, for a long time they gave the impression she was as they only would give part of the story and only Hillary’s numbers.
As the rivals are playing up her lack of stands on issues, this also highlights her problems with trust. And people are remembering the 90s as not a golden time but, a very mixed bag. Add to it that we’ve had one of the most dishonest president’s with both Clinton and Bush.
People are tired of it. They are assessing the qualities of all the candidates.
I look for Obama to continue to rise and Biden to be a dark horse who will do better than many think.
Edwards is the one I have no idea of as far as voters choice.
But, I also think Hillary peaked in September and is just now beginning to show the results of it.
People have been waiting for Obama and Edwards to make their move. I think many were disheartened as it looked they would not go after her due to the Lazio effect. But, now that they are taking her on, people are seeing these two are just as capable of hitting back at republicans and showing their strength.
I would add, both probably decided to hold back until now as fighting would do nothing when few were paying attention. Better to hit later when people are listening to what they are saying.

MY NAME IS MARIANN . I’m very sorry about my previous comments. The problem is that I reason like a donkey. Please forgive my stark ignorance and stupidity. Before I open my mouth next time, I will research the facts.
# I WROTE THAT Obama had been a Senator for only 1 year: – Anyone who has the slightest clue about American politics knows that Obama was elected to the United States Senate in 2004.
# I SAID OBAMA knows nothing: – I didn’t even know that OBAMA GRADUATED TOP OF HIS CLASS AT HARVARD and that he was President of the Harvard Law Review. To have this kind of achievement means that you don’t have to know SOMETHING – you have to know A LOT OF THINGS and know it better than the best of the bests. Even a brain-dead idiot understands that.
# I WROTE THAT if it were not for Novak, we wouldn’t have known about Obama’s drug use as a teenager. Actually, Obama himself detailed his youthful mistakes in his book, DREAMS OF MY FATHER, written in 1995. Yes, 1995 – 11 years ago – Before he even dreamt of running for President.
To tell the truth, I’m obsessed about Hillary just because I want a woman President. Now I have to admit that I need THE RIGHT WOMAN president, not just a woman. I’d rather have an HONEST MAN WHO UNDERSTANDS WOMEN, than have a DISHONEST WOMAN WHO UNDERSTANDS HERSELF.
Thank you for enlightening me.
OBAMA for PRESIDENT – Obama ’08.

I support Senator Clinton. She is the most qualified person to lead this country. Obama is not electable. Not now. Maybe never. The Hillary Haters are naive to think most women will vote for their candidate. I will not. Never. The man positively scares me. Almost all new Presidents make one or two horrible mistakes the first years in office but unlike, JFK and Bill Clinton, I do not believe Obama is that smart or wordly to recover. He is so in-experienced and somewhat cowardly. And remember Hillary Haters, there are four debates remaining and Obama’s debating skills are sophmoric. Do you think the people of Ohiio, Indiana, Nevada, New Mexico will vote for him? No! They will give the PC answers to the pollsters so as not to appear that the color of his skin is influencing their decision. But it is. Undeniable. It is the 800 pound gorilla in the room. I fervently wish this was not the case. There are many sound reasons not to vote for the man.