« A, O, WAY TO GO OHIO | Main | Spring VON Pre-Con – Competition Policy »
March 05, 2008
Oh, No, Way to Blow Ohio
One of my first memories was of the Nixon-McGovern Presidential race in 1972. My Dad was a McGovern Delegate. All my friends’ parents were voting for McGovern, except for the parents of the stupidest kid in school. They were voting for Nixon. By my primitive polling technique, McGovern was going to win by about 90,000,000-to-2. That was the first time I recognized that my view might be skewed (maybe I should be named Jonathan Askew, not Jonathan Askin) – that maybe I wasn’t in touch with prevailing American opinion.
Or, maybe, I’m just the kiss of death for whatever I care about. Perhaps the Clinton or McCain forces should pay my way to campaign around the country for Obama?
Yesterday was the latest in a long line of mis-estimations of American sentiment and behavior. I’m one of those who thought American Idol, Survivor, the Apprentice, and every other reality program could not possibly compete for American eyeballs against quality narrative fiction.
I also figured Obama had to win Ohio. I was on the ground. I felt the enthusiasm. Polls be damned. My few days in Ohio convinced me that the polls could not possibly account for Obamania. Once again, I was living in some bubble with little interaction or appreciation of the popular zeitgeist.
It looks like we’ll have at least seven more weeks of winter for the Democratic Party as the campaign gets progressively more negative, as the Democratic candidates fight for every delegate, as the Republicans step in line behind their nominee.
What I find most disturbing is that, if it comes down to Ohio in the General Election race between Obama and McCain, the ugly primary has already planted a heavy seed in the minds of Ohio voters against Obama, with mischaracterizations about his view on NAFTA and his ability to make the hard and immediate life and death decisions when the call comes in at 3am.
Tags: Jonathan Askin, Ohio, Democratic Primary, Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton
Posted by jonathan.askin at March 5, 2008 09:18 AM