Midterm elections prediction thread

[coachkf]

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I am mostly shocked by the fact that ford is going to lose in tennesee. He seems to be a very moderate level headed democrat. Maybe he is just in the wrong state where race and other factors(ie incredibly hateful and borderline racist commercials) play too big of a role but he seems like a no brainer.

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That is so annoying. The "playboy bunny" ad was not racist. It showed a white "bunny" telling "Harold" to call her, and he is black. So friggin what? From all accounts of the actual Super Bowl party that Ford attended in Florida, ALL of the bunnies were white.

While the ad creators may have been trying to bring out some old racist "protect our women from that sumbitch!" feelings... I just don't buy it.

Most of the "incredibly hateful" racists that would crush their beer cans when they see the ad, either live too far out in the sticks to get tv reception, or were making a beer run during commercials before Nascar came back on. I can make that statement because I'm from rural Tennessee. [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

Seriously. I think all the folks screaming "racist ad!" must be racists themselves, because most of us regular ol' ignorant white folks didn't even notice.

For the record, even though Ford's email replies to me this past summer were to say "online gambling is illegal," I still hope he wins to give the GOP a much needed spanking.

I know it probably wasn't the posters intention, but the continued stereotyping of people in the south as all living in trailer parks with KKK memberships is just getting old.

[WichitaDM]

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I am mostly shocked by the fact that ford is going to lose in tennesee. He seems to be a very moderate level headed democrat. Maybe he is just in the wrong state where race and other factors(ie incredibly hateful and borderline racist commercials) play too big of a role but he seems like a no brainer.

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Borderline racist? What commercials are you referring to? If it's the commercial where the white woman says he saw Ford Jr at the Playboy mansion and says call me, you are wrong. Hearing this commercial called racist, which I have on other forums, is absurd. If you have ever lived in Memphis, you quickly learn every issue is a race issue if you ask the right/wrong, people. The political members of the Ford family are these people. Don't be afriad to think for yourself. Just because someone says it's racist, take the time to look at it yourself and evaluate it. If some religous right idiot said something was immoral would you just believe them?

Josh

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If you dont think they were racist i think it is you who have not heard/listened to the ads. The Playboy commercial is just one example of this in this race. I am not basing this off of hearing it in the media on a forum, i am basing it off of watching some of these types of commercials and seeing a hint of racism in them. Notice i did not say overtly racist, i said borderline racist. They use it very carefully, and if you think it is completely absent i think you are very misguided...

[solucky]

In the US the reps forever, for the most europes noone understood that a boy like G W B got on the last elections a second chance to make anything wrong.

And yes the US will block ISP and kill poker and any other fun for the average american [img]/images/graemlins/smirk.gif[/img]

[WichitaDM]

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[ QUOTE ]
I am mostly shocked by the fact that ford is going to lose in tennesee. He seems to be a very moderate level headed democrat. Maybe he is just in the wrong state where race and other factors(ie incredibly hateful and borderline racist commercials) play too big of a role but he seems like a no brainer.

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That is so annoying. The "playboy bunny" ad was not racist. It showed a white "bunny" telling "Harold" to call her, and he is black. So friggin what? From all accounts of the actual Super Bowl party that Ford attended in Florida, ALL of the bunnies were white.

While the ad creators may have been trying to bring out some old racist "protect our women from that sumbitch!" feelings... I just don't buy it.

Most of the "incredibly hateful" racists that would crush their beer cans when they see the ad, either live too far out in the sticks to get tv reception, or were making a beer run during commercials before Nascar came back on. I can make that statement because I'm from rural Tennessee. [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

Seriously. I think all the folks screaming "racist ad!" must be racists themselves, because most of us regular ol' ignorant white folks didn't even notice.

For the record, even though Ford's email replies to me this past summer were to say "online gambling is illegal," I still hope he wins to give the GOP a much needed spanking.

I know it probably wasn't the posters intention, but the continued stereotyping of people in the south as all living in trailer parks with KKK memberships is just getting old.

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Accusing people who see race as an issue in this race of being racists is laughable. I think Ford is one of the most inspiring young politicians that we have in this country. Most of that has to do with the fact that he doesnt back down from believing what he wants and being who he is rather than adhering to the party line. The guy has the Ten Commandments on his buisness card, and is very very conservative on many hot button issues that put him against many of his democrat brethren(Frankly i dont even agree with him on some of these issues, im not religious and far more liberal than him, i just think its noble for a politician to believe what he believes even if it costs him politically...See Al Gore). Would it matter to me if he was white, black, space alien, gay etc? No. I think that the problem with todays political landscape is that politicians mainly adhere to the party line rather than thinking for themselves.


My original post was discussing that i couldnt believe Ford couldnt win this race. Seemingly he has more moderate views, has more experience on the federal level, etc. It is somewhat shocking to me that he is going to lose to an old white guy unless you consider where the election is being held. If this elecion was held in California or New York I think the results would be far different. So you have to ask yourself why isnt this guy electable in Tennesee. Is it because he is a democrat? No probably not since Al Gore was a senator from Tennessee (actually 13 of the last 16 senators from Tenn have been democrats) and this is a very trendy election to be a democrat. IMO in a state wide election it is still hard for an AA to get elected. I would guess when all is said and done Ford will win the more urban areas and lose the rural vote in Tennessee by a landslide. Running for the House in Tenn he was electable because of the area voting as opposed to this election where it is statewide. If you want to call me a racist thats fine but i think that completely ignoring how much of a factor race is in the south in general still compared to the rest of the country is more ignorant than thinking that it is being called upon to win this election.

Fact the south has never elected an African American Senator since reconstruction. Granted there have not been many total but none have come from the south, Ford would be the first.

[Poofler]

I also live in MO, and have been following the race pretty closely. McCaskill and Talent have been exchanging insignificant leads for months, although McCaskill has had the momentum. So, while the margin of error is a real factor here, the recent trend gives some optimism.

The stem cell debate is a little bit like gay marriage part deux, where a slight majority of MO voters support it. I think what is more important is that this initiative will bring out voters who would not vote otherwise, just as gay marriage in 2004 made white Christian's a force to be reckoned with. This time, most of the research I've seen suggests the pro side is more fervent than the con side. Talent actually tried to remain opinionless, until his base made him take a stand against it.

Also MO has been hit real hard by manufacturing closures (Ford cut 2K jobs for instance), and I've seen less and less support our troops ribbons. They were everywhere in 2004, and the mood has quickly changed. Talent has been repeatdly linked to rubber-stamping Bush. Don't underestimate the magnitude of pissed off blue collars and anti-war soccer moms, versus a fairly apathetic Republican base in the state. I'm a Democrat, and I'm trying not to be biased. But the atmosphere reminds me a lot of when I live in California and Arnold was elected. A flat incumbent party and an energized anti-incumbant party attamepting to knock off an unethusiastic candidate without much of a stomping issue.

[EvanJC]

of course the adds have racial undertones. how thick and obvious do the implications have to be in order to be considered overtly racist?