By November Will There Be Any Non-Mormons Left Voting For McCain?

It's well known in Arizona political circles that Barry Goldwater always hated McCain and avoided him whenever he could. McCain's crooked approach to politics and sleazy relationships with bribe wielding big money men, coupled with his nasty personality and suck-up attitude always made Goldwater's skin crawl. If the book Barry Goldwater, Jr. (penned with John Dean) about his dad, Pure Goldwater, wasn't enough to convince you that Barry, Sr. had passed his antipathy towards McCain on to his whole clan, be sure to read his granddaughter's post at HuffPo. She and her siblings joined other members of the Goldwater family in endorsing Barack Obama.

We believe strongly in what our grandfather stood for: honesty, integrity, and personal freedom, free from political maneuvering and fear tactics. I learned a lot about my grandfather while producing the documentary, Mr. Conservative Goldwater on Goldwater. Our generation of Goldwaters expects government to provide for constitutional protections. We reject the constant intrusion into our personal lives, along with other crucial policy issues of the McCain/Palin ticket.

My grandfather (Paka) would never suggest denying a woman's right to choose. My grandmother co-founded Planned Parenthood in Arizona in the 1930's, a cause my grandfather supported. I'm not sure about how he would feel about marriage rights based on same-sex orientation. I think he would feel that love and respect for ones privacy is what matters most and not the intolerance and poor judgment displayed by McCain over the years. Paka respected our civil liberties and passed on the message that that we should conduct our lives standing up for the basic freedoms we hold so dear.

Long before the current Goldwaters were born, their antecedents changed their name from Goldwasser and changed their religion to something that was more upwardly mobile at the time. Today it's ok to be Jewish and there are even some Jewish Republicans-- just like their were a few self-loathing or just really stupid Jews in the early 1930s who supported the Nazis in Germany. But the vast majority of Jews do not support right-wing parties and the GOP never fares very well with Jews. Every election cycle Republicans say this year we will get the Jews They never do-- and 2008 will not be the exception. A new Gallup poll shows that since the summer, more and more Jews have embraced the idea of a President Obama. He now leads McCain 74-22%. That's around the same number of Jews who voted for Bush in 2004. As you can see from the graph, Jewish support for Democrats has been pretty steady for three decades.



But this morning's big news isn't that Scotty McClellan endorsed Obama or that much of the Bush electoral coalition is swinging in Obama's direction or that most Jews are doing exactly what most Jews always do-- vote for the better candidate. No, it's the quality of the exhaustive 3 page NY Times Obama endorsement. The warm-up:

The United States is battered and drifting after eight years of President Bush’s failed leadership. He is saddling his successor with two wars, a scarred global image and a government systematically stripped of its ability to protect and help its citizens — whether they are fleeing a hurricane’s floodwaters, searching for affordable health care or struggling to hold on to their homes, jobs, savings and pensions in the midst of a financial crisis that was foretold and preventable.

As tough as the times are, the selection of a new president is easy. After nearly two years of a grueling and ugly campaign, Senator Barack Obama of Illinois has proved that he is the right choice to be the 44th president of the United States.

And for a newspaper that actually endorsed McCain just a few months ago and has been part of the media cabal that has helped him create a false myth that he was a straight talking and honest maverick, they have certainly soured on him under long overdue scrutiny.

Senator John McCain of Arizona has retreated farther and farther to the fringe of American politics, running a campaign on partisan division, class warfare and even hints of racism. His policies and worldview are mired in the past. His choice of a running mate so evidently unfit for the office was a final act of opportunism and bad judgment that eclipsed the accomplishments of 26 years in Congress.

Given the particularly ugly nature of Mr. McCain’s campaign, the urge to choose on the basis of raw emotion is strong. But there is a greater value in looking closely at the facts of life in America today and at the prescriptions the candidates offer. The differences are profound.

Mr. McCain offers more of the Republican every-man-for-himself ideology, now lying in shards on Wall Street and in Americans’ bank accounts. Mr. Obama has another vision of government’s role and responsibilities.

...The American financial system is the victim of decades of Republican deregulatory and anti-tax policies. Those ideas have been proved wrong at an unfathomable price, but Mr. McCain-- a self-proclaimed “foot soldier in the Reagan revolution”-- is still a believer.

Mr. Obama sees that far-reaching reforms will be needed to protect Americans and American business.

Mr. McCain talks about reform a lot, but his vision is pinched. His answer to any economic question is to eliminate pork-barrel spending-- about $18 billion in a $3 trillion budget-- cut taxes and wait for unfettered markets to solve the problem.

It will should come as no surprise to anyone-- though it will-- that McCain-Palin is dragging the entire Republican Party down the toilet with it. Last night the Politico reported on GOP warnings of a rout.

An internal document circulating among House Republicans warns of an impending congressional bloodbath, listing 58 Republican-held House seats being at risk, and 11 already considered as good as gone. As many as 34 GOP-held seats are in serious jeopardy of swinging to Democrats, the assessment shows.

The seats that they know they're losing are many of the ones we've been talking about all year here at DWT and pushing at Blue America. According to the memo they've written off the seats currently held by Randy Kuhl (NY-29), Don Young (AK), Tim Walberg (MI-07), Joe Knollenberg (MI-09), Tom Feeney (FL-24), Ric Keller (FL-08) as well as almost all the open seats from which Republicans-- some facing prison, some just sick of politics-- are retiring.

Ironically, the only blue to red switch, will be in FL-16, where the Republicans are going to beat a corrupt Republican who switched his voter registration to Democratic a few months before the 2006 election. Rahm Emanuel explained to him that Foley had a problem about to break and that if Mahoney became a Democrat he could promise him the seat. Mahoney did win (as a "Democrat") but has voted with the GOP more than almost any other Democrats in the House. Evan a lowlife like Emanuel is afraid to defend him now. Let the GOP take the district back. It will mean a net pick up of 36 instead of 37 seats-- or maybe 40 instead of 41.

To be honest with you, I would rather the Democrats win far fewer seats as long as they are real Democrats, not these phony nominal ones from the Republican wing of the Democratic Party who are just as bad as actual Republicans. How do you know who the real ones are? We did the work for you. If you can help... even $5 or $10 helps.


UPDATE: ANOTHER MAINSTREAM REPUBLICAN DUMPS McCAIN

Former Massachusetts Bill Weld (R), just endorsed Obama. "Senator Obama is a once-in-a-lifetime candidate who will transform our politics and restore America's standing in the world," Weld said in a statement. "We need a president who will lead based on our common values and Senator Obama demonstrates an ability to unite and inspire. Throughout this campaign I've watched his steady leadership through trying times and I'm confident he is the best candidate to move our country forward."