by Mark Silva
Beyond the obvious sense of disappointment that most supporters of either Barack Obama or John McCain would feel if their presidential candidate lost the election, how else would they feel?
Worried.
Seventy-four percent of those supporting the Democrat, Obama, say they would be "worried'' if he lost. And 69 percent of Republican John McCain's supporters say the same thing about him losing.
There might be more anger among the Obama crowd, however: 37 percent telling the Pew Research Center that they would be angry with a loss. Only 18 percent of McCain's supporters say they would be angry, suggesting that an Obama as president-elect would have an easier time winning over doubters after election.
Also, 33 percent of Obama's supporters would be depressed if he lost, as opposed to 17 percent of McCain's supporters if he lost - suggesting McCain would have a harder time cheering people up.
The survey also found that voters, particularly in those hotly contested 'battleground states,'' are getting inundated with "robo-calls'' and mailers from the campaigns. Sixty-two percent of those surveyed in the battleground states have received camapign mail. And 52 percent have received pre-recorded calls. Just 34 percent have received personal phone calls from canvassers and 17 percent visited at home.
The Pew survey of 2,599 registered voters was conducted Oct. 16-19. Don't worry. The margin of error is really low.
Comments
There's a lot of reason for people to worry regardless of who wins or loses. Neither candidate has the ability to implement anything approaching a direct fix. That's because the system in place does not permit it. We do not have a command economy. Heck, the government doesn't even have direct control over the money supply. The Bailout was just so much political flailing to do something for the sake of doing something.
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We will recover - if and when we recover, that is - in spite of, and not because of, anything the federal government does in the near term. Stay tuned. It could get even more interesting.
Posted by: John W. | October 23, 2008 4:30 PM
The reason so many more would worry or be angry for a loss by Senator Obama is that they know how much is truly at stake for America!
Posted by: George Stanley Liebowitz | October 23, 2008 4:39 PM
Worried-YES
If Comrade Obama is elected --Will our America still be our America, with his background-
Posted by: George | October 23, 2008 4:41 PM
with all the lame smear attempts from the Repuglican leadership, Obama is the clear choice for voters who value honesty, integrity and maturity!
Posted by: g.Smith | October 23, 2008 5:23 PM
Obama honesty--
With friends like Rekzo
Posted by: George | October 23, 2008 5:40 PM
To get normal in perspective; once we ferret out Bush, the mediocrity of the beltway with be vividly obvious in contrast to Obama and his intelligence if he is to get elected. McCain will offer no contrast, and we will be continuing to deal with lies, manipulating, losing our country to a "special" kind of democracy/dictatorship, and we will have raised a generation of Americans who have no idea what good faith and goodwill mean.
Posted by: shannon | October 23, 2008 6:06 PM
I am hoping that McCain/Palin win. We need to restore our super power status to the world. Our country would be much safer with McCain in office over Senator Obama.
Posted by: Joanne | October 23, 2008 8:37 PM
Just wanted to point out the mindless parroting of talking points by McCain supporters.
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Comments like, "If Comrade Obama is elected --Will our America still be our America, with his background-"
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Is an example. With baseless dishonesty they imply Obama is a communist who will take "our America" away from us if elected. No one buys that kind of brainless scare tactics, but they keep posting it anyway.
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Posted by: mystylplx | October 23, 2008 8:57 PM
Joanne--You can't project power in the world if you're broke. Under Bush, the economy has collapsed, the armed services are overextended and nearly broken, Pakistan, which already has nukes, is more radical than ever, Afghanistan is failing, Iraq is a war to nowhere, and our policies have created a whole generation of terrorist. McCain suported Bush's failed policies 90% time, so why do you think he'll make us safer?
Posted by: dt | October 23, 2008 9:10 PM
McCain's Hero: More Socialist Than Obama!
McCain can call Obama a socialist or he can call Teddy Roosevelt his hero. He can't do both.--Timothy Noah
Posted by: dt | October 24, 2008 3:40 AM
Mark, how did you miss the headline on the home page of Pew?
The headline that shows the latest Pew Poll results, saying that by a 70%-9% margin, people believe the media (including the Swamp) is in the tank for Obama? See http://people-press.org/, or click on the article's link above.
Guess part of the media's pro-Obama bias is suppressing news of media bias....
Which is just another reason nobody trusts the media any more.
Posted by: Disgusted | October 24, 2008 2:51 PM