Obama cruises

September 24 2008

Barack Obama continues to cruise toward victory according to polls.

It took a very big economic whack at the right time to validate Obama's economist message. The public says it's the worst economic situation since 1973.

"Just 9 percent of those surveyed rated the economy as good or excellent, the first time that number has been in single digits since the days just before the 1992 election. Just 14 percent said the country is heading in the right direction, equaling the record low on that question in polls dating back to 1973."(1)

Nonetheless, even when polls shifted in Obama's favor over the economic crisis, they did so among college-educated voters, not those with less education.

"Whites without college degrees favor McCain by 17 points, while those with college degrees support Obama by 9 points. No Democrat has carried white, college-educated voters in presidential elections dating back to 1980."(1)

Democrats have always appealed to economic fears while Republicans have gone after military and racist fears.

Palin's favorability rating fell among college-educated:

"Her favorable rating among whites without college degrees remained largely steady, but among those with college degrees, it dropped nearly 20 percentage points."(1)

The change for Palin already vindicates what MIM said September 10:

"Kmart moms for Palin is a real possibility. NOW has defined feminism almost as a kind of word game for the college-educated and into the vacuum evangelical Palinism can rush."

For those who thought Obama would "re-polarize society" as a means to class conflict awakening the "working class," the poll results prove yet again a perverse result as predicted by MIM. If there is re-polarizing, it is proving that it is the Republicans who are the party of the white working class. If Obama wins as it appears he will, it will be because he has more bourgeois appeal than McCain. Right in MIM's FAQ, we validate Black Panther George Jackson's observation that we are better off looking for progressives in the upper middle-class.

We stand by our last article on the "White Vote," in terms that it will be difficult for McCain to beat Bush's 2004 white vote without Rove's gay-bashing referenda. Since that article, another poll on whites shows the same thing, this time with McCain winning 56 to 36%. However, that was a poll finished just before the bank crisis.(2)

We also stand by the likelihood of Obama's beating Kerry's non-white turnout. Obama leads 71 to 24% among non-whites.(3) However, the media insists that all indications are that people are paying more attention than ever, thanks to the low credibility of Congress and Bush. Perhaps the 2004 voters will turn out and then some.

The petty-bourgeoisie is vacillating faster than ever, but MIM fails to see real direction. It's like a spinning top that spins faster while staying in the same location. The reformist pseudo-Marxists think Obama hits all the right economic notes, but when change comes, it's with the college-educated.

Notes:
1. "Economic Fears Give Obama Clear Lead Over McCain in Poll," http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/story/2008/09/23/ST2008092303897.html
2. http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080923/pl_nm/us_usa_politics_race;_ylt=Agtedam1I5mc78xweCdb77BsnwcF
3. 23Sept2008, http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/election_20082/2008_presidential_election/daily_presidential_tracking_poll