From November 2008:
To live in Ithaca is to live in a city alive with anti-Bush, anti-war protest. I often joke that the directions to my house in Ithaca read as follows: Take a right at the fifth Obama sign, a left at the third “Impeach Bush” placard, bear right at the “Support Our Troops, End the War” poster, and we are the house just after the “There’s a Village in Texas Missing its Idiot” banner.
Please don’t use these directions, they don’t work anymore.
There’s still some anti-Bush and anti-War signage, but you’ll miss the turn at the “fifth Obama sign.” Because there is none.
Obama signs are hard to come by this year in Ithaca. Not that there aren’t any, but you really have to look to find them, and they are more likely to be faded from four years of exposure to the weather.
For the first time I’m seeing anti-Obama bumper stickers in town.
Sure, Ithaca will vote Obama by a wide margin, for those who show up. But then again, that’s just inbred voting patterns.
There is no enthusiasm for Obama evident either in town or up on the hill on campus. This is not 2008 in the heart of wacko liberaldom, not by a long shot.
It’s purely anecdotal, but in anecdotes sometimes there is truth.
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Same here in Saratoga Springs, NY, another college town home of Skidmore. I like it!
But, but, but, the POLLS tell us that El Presidente al Obama is way ahead of his opponents, whoever they are! And, the Ex Madame Speaker of the House says that Obama is a sure thing. So, are the many, many Obama fans simply saving their energy for the big, huge election celebration, by not putting up their many yard signs? Huh!
./Sarc off and sanity returns, maybe.
There is no enthusiasm for Obama evident either in town or up on the hill on campus. This is not 2008 in the heart of wacko liberaldom, not by a long shot.
That’s encouraging. Enthusiasm for Romney in vote-rich areas would be even more encouraging.
It’s real world observations like yours (and mine…and most other people’s, too) that add to the frustration of poll results. Sure, we’ve all talked about how the polls are misleading and, in some cases, perhaps deliberately influenced towards Dems. But the differences in the real world versus the pundit world are pretty remarkable lately.
My anecdotal observation – even in MA and CT there is a dearth of Obama signs compared to 2008. I don’t see that many Romney sings, either. But the enthusiasm has gone in the reliable New England, it would seem. I see a number of Scott Brown signs, even in the ‘Republic of Northampton’, MA. The towns around Northampton voted at least over 75% for Obama in 08, and some favored him has highly as 86%. I suspect this lack of energy will translate more to a low voter turnout, although Warren his doing her best to keep the emotions high with her latest attacks on Brown. So, that may bring people out to vote.
The MSM are nearly an extension of Obama’s campaign. Why is it, then, that he devotes so much time to campaigning. After all, if he was really producing substantial results, he has a willing “broadcast” arm ready to declare it to the world!
On the same page as Operation Demoralize, remember that things had occurred in the past fours years that are unheard of–even miraculous, if you will. The guy who seconded Obama’s nomination in 2008 is a Republican in 2012. NY Congressional District is represented by a Republican in 2012. Can Ithaca turn Republican? I wouldn’t bet on it, but I didn’t bet on Artur Davis and NY-9 coming to their senses, either.
True in Virginia……although I have not been down to Progressives-On-The-Potomac NoVa very often. Most of the voters in that area will vote Obama, no doubt. Richmond and Norfolk/Hampton Roads area are both densely populated and blue-dominant, as is Charlotte, home of UVA. Nearly all the rest of the state is RED. So VA is truly a tight race.
But fewer signs are up – and MANY anti-Obama and pro-Romney campaign signs are common, and prevalent.
Don’t buy into the Operation Demoralize polling the MSM is pushing. This swing state is looking less Purple every day…..leaning ever more RED daily, for Conservatives and Romney.
And, this Middle East fiasco, along with the horrific murders with sickeningly un-American, compassion-less response will, I believe, sway a LOT of people away from Obama. Not to mention all the college/univ. bomb threats happening (btw-there were more than 3…Drudge had links to several)!
Haven’t heard about those? No surprise; the MSM is too busy trying to exonerate Teh Won and demonize Romney to report such “trifles” as domestic terror threats.
I live in a county that voted 82% for Barack in 2008. This year, I see few Obama 2012 stickers and none of the elation of 4 years ago. He’ll probably only get 80% of the vote this year.
There are millions upon millions of white progressives that will never vote for an R under any circumstances and will proudly march to the polls to vote for BO. Maybe it is because I live in an overwhelmingly Left wing area that I am not very confident that Romney will win this November. I hope that I am wrong. Another four years of BO will be a disaster for this country. The sad part about it is that there are millions upon millions of lawyers, social workers and other supposedly educated people who just don’t get it. They may make all of us pay this November.
Sounds like some of the lemmings are waking up.
I live in Santa Fe, New Mexico, really truly Lefty Libbylandia. I’ve seen ONE bobo yard sign: “Obamanos, Gotta Vote.” Worried about turn out? One only bumper sticker. At this time in ’08 and ’04, tons of bobo (or Kerry signs).
Minneapois recently: Just drove through one area. No bobo signs. One Klobuchar, and she is doing well so far.
If you pass the orange and black house, you’ve gone too far.
There are two Obama/Biden signs in our bluest of blue town now. Signs are plentiful for the local race, though, and there used to be tons of “Recall Walker” signs.
Check out this graph to see how Democrat-friendly the polls have been:
http://www.smalldeadanimals.com/archives/021335.html
Last week I voted in the Dem primary in Massachusetts. When I got to the section for senator, I wrote in “Scott Brown”.
I’d love to know how many others did that, or just left it blank.
Same here in Newton MA (Barney Franks district), 4 years ago, the place was crawling with Obama Stickers and Lawn Signs. Now there are more Elizabeth Warren stickers and signs than Obama, and more Scott Brown and Sean Bielat signs than either Warren or Obama. People may still be planning to vote for Obama, but they don’t want their neighbors to know. You get the feeling that the press might be in for a surprise as big as Howard Dean in Iowa 8 years ago.
In Boldest Blue state of Hawaii I am probably the only conservative in my precinct…or so I thought.
At a recent part someone came up behind & whispered that they too were conservatives.
So now we have a 100% increase.
Believe in the “popcorn or soda cup” poll at the movies [if you have the money]. That never lies.
The professoriate spouts socialistic cliches which I doubt even they believe in. It is all about money.
The academics and would-be academics (undergraduates and graduate students)know their incomes depend on receiving taxpayer money to continue to do whatever they do or want to do. Republicans are more inclined to question the value of what the taxpayer is spending his/her money on.
I live in Ithaca too and I agree that Obama signs are very rare. On the other hand, the only Romney sign I’m absolutely sure I’ve seen is the one in front of my own house. I’ve been trying to get a Reed for Congress sign because his feckless Dem opponent is Ithaca’s own Nate Shinagawa, but the Reed campaign doesn’t make it easy.
I live in Princeton, a liberal bastion (though not like the people’s republic), and I see essentially zero Obama signs and bumper stickers. Yesterday I actually saw more Romney stickers than Obama.
Now, this place too will go strongly for Obama on election day but enthusiasm is frozen cold, not interested. Even strong Democrats are focused (finally) on the economic and foreign policy failures. Everyone has something to complain about, and my own theory is that it doesn’t matter what the details of the specific gripe might be, only that no one I know can get excited about voting for the President.
Elsewhere in upstate NY…..I’ve seen ONE obama sign. No Romney signs. Bumper stickers as follows; only a few old ’08 obama stickers, one new one and probably a dozen Romney stickers.
My real anecdotal observation though? The comment sections in online articles. A huge difference in sentiment over even the past few months. I used to be able to count on fawning pro-obama comments everywhere I looked. Either that or the commentators would gang up to viciously attack a commentator who had written negatively about obama. Now the obots are MIA. I had noticed the slow swing a bit over a year ago, but it’s grown to the point where it’s shocking. Even sometimes on HuffPo the right overwhelms the wrongs.
On Mail Online it is very apparent too. It used to be that the brits were far more in love with obama than is evidenced now. Heh, sometimes it seems like they are bashing Bush, but no – it’s obama. And the Americans that post there have also swung towards anti-obama observations.
The online obama supporters seem to have receded into the background. Shame that Romney cannot manage to create any enthusiasm for himself, because in spite of the profound media bias this would be THE moment to win votes.