Thursday, August 21, 2008

Not generic candidates

Susan Estrich:
The generic Democrat beats the generic Republican by as much as 15 points in generic match-ups for Congressional seats. But generic candidates don't run: real ones do, and Barack Obama is running behind the generic Democrat and John McCain is running ahead of the generic Republican, at least if you believe the current polls.
Something I've said before: In late 1995, I believed that any Republican could beat Bill Clinton. But in 1996, "any Republican" wasn't on the ballot; Bob Dole was.

3 comments:

  1. Juan McAmnesty makes Bob Dole look like Robert Taft.

    Is having someone with an (R) rather than a (D) next to their name preside of the dissolution of the United States really something worth fighting for?

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  2. Something missed, perhaps, is that the function of the polls is not incorrect. If one considers what a Democrat is by action, then John McCain could easily be considered a Democrat. As such, the choice is between a hard left and a middle left Democrat, not between a Democrat and a Republican.

    What I cannot believe is how many in the Republican base eat McCain up (enough to nominate, support, and probably vote). We will see if that transfers to the election, but so far, it seems, so good. I won't be voting for either Democrat, but that is me.

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  3. The problem for many of us though, this election cycle, is that we favor Generic Republican over McCain Republican.

    Guess that means many of us need to vote for the real Republican in the race: Libertarian Bob Barr.

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