The Mad Rants of an Unconventional Soccer Mom

There are essentially three “givens” in the General Election:

1. Democrats vote for Democrats
2. Republicans vote for Republicans
3. Independents decide the Election
   

Electability starts and ends with these often educated, often affluent voters who are allergic to Hillary's Brand. In states that Independents were allowed to vote in the democratic primaries Obama won them over by large margins. Here are some examples:

In Missouri Obama won Independents 67%-30%
In Wisconsin Obama won Independents 64%-33%
In Virginia Obama won Independents 69%-30%

Of the two remaining candidates, only Obama has a shot at besting McCain in the race to win over Independents, the holy grail of the voting demographic. Right now Obama is leading McCain:

McCain's shift to the right to all but lock up the nomination has had mixed success. Nearly half of conservative Republicans say his positions on the issues are not conservative enough. And his support with independent voters is slipping. Currently, Obama edges McCain by 49% to 43% among independents in a general election match up.

And let's face it, right now McCain is out there getting a free pass doing his "look at me" tour while Hillary is trying to kneecap Obama. He seems to be a somewhat likeable, principled war hero whom they trust on national security. Very few realize that he supports privatizing Social Security, that he opposes universal health insurance, that he supports free trade without qualification, and so on. Once the voters learn these things, many are likely to abandon him.

The pattern is clear... Independents + the core Democratic group + all of the new votes he has energized and brought into the party + the overwhelming support of the African American population creates the victory for Obama in November.

And that, my friends, is another reason why Obama is the better candidate to go up against McCain and how we will take back the Whitehouse.