Based on almost everything I've read on this site, my fellow Kossacks understand that while things look good, we have a great deal of work to do before we can inaugurate Barack Obama. If this important truth is over lost on you, then simply step outside and talk to someone who doesn't post at Daily Kos.
Zachpunk wrote a very important diary a couple of weeks ago, citing an NBC-WSJ poll from the middle of June of 1988. In that poll, Michael Dukakis had opened up a 15-point lead over George H.W. Bush. Turns out that all the Democrats who were dancing in the streets were doing so prematurely.
I belabor this point not to be a concern troll, but to remind my buddies about the strong - very strong - narrative that John McCain has built about himself. We're up against some powerful stuff.
Read this Associated Press poll, asking specifically how voters view each candidate's ability to handle Iraq and the War on Terror. Who would do a better job in Iraq? McCain gets 39% compared to Obama's 33%.
Seriously, look (emphasis mine):
The public's stance on the war is as equivocal as McCain's is not: A strong majority of Americans oppose it and believe it was wrong in the first place, but more find McCain better suited to handle Iraq than his Democratic presidential rival, Barack Obama.
"He's more experienced militarily," said Ann Burkes, a registered Democrat and retired third-grade teacher from Broken Arrow, Okla. "And I don't know if I agree with stay-the-course (policy), but I think the good probably outweighs the bad with him, experience-wise."
To repeat, even though the public overwhelmingly disapproves of John McCain's approach to the war in Iraq, they STILL trust him more than the n00b. It boggles the mind, but that's where we are. Sound familiar? Like Ohio in 2004, all over again? Those people voted against their own beliefs/interests too, in case you don't think it's possible:
It's no coincidence Bush is coming to Ohio. Ohio's work force has been among the hardest-hammered since Bush took office. No Republican has won the presidency during the past century without winning Ohio, and Bush wants to keep the Buckeye State's 21 electoral votes in his column.
Back to the topic at hand. Ann Burkes aside, what else do we learn from this poll? People want to redeploy our troops from Iraq, but they also want someone to tell them that they're wrong. Here's another registered Democrat who has cold feet about instituting a phased redeployment, and thinks that John McCain knows better than everyone else because he served in Vietnam 40 years ago:
"I do believe that he will do better in Iraq," she said of McCain. "Because he's served in the military and he has said we can't just pull out. ... I think we're just kind of stuck with it now and we have to finish."
Even among Democrats, 21% trust McCain more in Iraq. No wonder he wants the entire campaign to be fought on this front. Bottom line: the economy should be the number one issue (and it is), but YOU and I need to do a better job of communicating to people why Iraq is such a disaster and that making plans to leave is the only responsible course of action, because the media certainly doesn't think it's a story.