How can Obama win over McCain voters?
[cnn-photo-caption image= http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2008/images/11/06/art.obama.grant.ap.jpg caption="How can Obama win over McCain voters?"]
FROM CNN's Jack Cafferty:
One of the longest, nastiest and most divisive presidential races is now in the history books. Thankfully.
Now the next chapter: Moving forward and getting this country back on its feet.
Obama supporters are ready. They're fired up, but that isn't exactly the case when it comes to many of John McCain's supporters.
Amidst all the jubilation over the election of Barack Obama broadcast all over the world, it's worth noting that 56 million Americans did not vote for Obama and are not thrilled that he won. In the popular vote, Obama won by less than eight million votes out of more than 120 million votes cast.
Obama has talked about repairing this divided nation. In Grant Park on Election Night, he said that he would be a president for the people that didn't vote for him as well as for those who did. But with emotions running high, supporters of John McCain are having trouble letting go.
Here’s my question to you: What will Obama have to do to win over wary McCain supporters?
Interested to know which ones made it on air?
Priority one for new Pres and Congress?
(PHOTO CREDIT: GETTY IMAGES)
FROM CNN's Jack Cafferty:
For President Barack Obama and the new Congress, January brings the message, "OK, you made the team, now it's time to find out if you can really play." The list of problems confronting our country is long, the list of solutions not so.
Obama will enjoy Democratic majorities in both houses of Congress, so it should be possible to get things done more quickly. But where to start? There are two wars going on and a global economic crisis that could get worse. The terrorists are still around. Our health care system is in disarray. Our reputation overseas is on life support.
Oh, and don't forget taxes, a lack of any coherent energy policy and illegal immigration. No question about it, it's not quite the same country George Bush inherited from Bill Clinton.
Did I mention $10 trillion of debt and budget deficits projected north of $400 billion for next year?
Here’s my question to you: What is priority one for the new president and congress?
Interested to know which ones made it on air?
Meaning of first African-American Pres.?
Click the play button to see what Jack and our viewers had to say. (PHOTO CREDIT: AP PHOTO)
FROM CNN's Jack Cafferty:
There was perhaps no more profound way to slam the door on eight years of the Bush administration than to elect the first African-American to replace him. The symbolism is powerful; the history is breathtaking. We changed a lot more than our political orientation last night. The country finally grew up.
Something stirred us in a profound way. The disillusionment and disappointment of failed polices everywhere you look were the catalysts. Barack Obama was the spark. Watching him in Grant Park last night, it occurred to me that just like Hemingway was born to write and Tiger Woods to hit a golf ball, this man, Obama, was born to do this, to lead.
Watch: Cafferty: African-American Pres
He has single-handedly carried the country on his back beyond the racial boundaries that have divided us for more than 200 years. That's a pretty good day's work, but he has done more. He has rekindled hope and optimism in a country that was running short on both.
When he says, "Yes we can," it's hard not to believe him.
Here’s my question to you: What does it mean that the U.S. has its first African-American president?
Interested to know which ones made it on air?
What issue is most important to you?
Click the play button to see what Jack and our viewers had to say.
FROM CNN's Jack Cafferty:
A lot can change in politics in a year. Just think about it. Last year at this time, the race for the White House looked entirely different. John McCain was far from being the front-runner on the Republican side. And Barack who? Senator Hillary Clinton and former V.P. candidate John Edwards had to be considered the odds on favorites for the Democrats.
And, of course, most of us had never even heard of Sarah Palin.
Different issues held different weight with voters and candidates too. In late August of last year, a CNN poll found that 31 percent of voters saw the war in Iraq as the top issue facing America, while 23 percent said it was the economy. Health care came in at 17 percent and terrorism at 10 percent.
Watch: Cafferty: Most important issue?
Flash-forward to this fall and everything has changed. In a CNN poll released Sunday, more than half of voters listed the economy as the top issue - 57 percent– followed by health care and the war in Iraq, tied for second at 13 percent each. Just 11 percent felt terrorism was the top issue.
Here’s my question to you: What single issue was most important to you?
Interested to know which ones made it on air?
How will your life change if your candidate loses?
(PHOTO CREDIT: GETTY IMAGES)
FROM CNN's Jack Cafferty:
Voters have a distinct choice between John McCain and Barack Obama in this presidential race– two very different approaches to arguably the most serious set of challenges we have faced in a hundred years. Whoever wins will have his hands full.
But what about the rest of us? Our part is finished after we cast our ballots on November 4th, and after all the votes have been tallied, the excitement will be over.
Most of us will be happy with the outcome, but if you look at the latest polls, a good number of us won't be rushing to embrace the new leadership.
Either way a new administration means new faces at the top and new policies that will trickle down to all of us little people. The form of that trickle will determine the way a lot of our lives will go in the future.
Here’s my question to you: How will your life change if your candidate loses?
Interested to know which ones made it on air?
How close is the White House race to being over?
This CNN Electoral Map shows Barack Obama's lead, if the Election was held today. (PHOTO CREDIT: CNN.COM)
FROM CNN's Jack Cafferty:
The signs are increasingly ominous that John McCain's dream of being president is just about over. In one battleground state after another, Barack Obama's lead continues to grow. CNN's electoral map has been adjusted to suggest that if the election were held today, Barack Obama would get 291 electoral votes - it takes 270 to win - while John McCain would get just 163 - leaving 84 electoral votes up for grabs.
Barack Obama holds substantial leads in Pennsylvania, Nevada, Colorado and Virginia… all red states won by President Bush in 2004.
Obama also leads in Florida and North Carolina .
The Associated Press quotes GOP consultant Tom Rath in New Hampshire where McCain trails by double digits as saying the race is all but over, quote, "I get the sense it's shutting down," unquote.
AP also cites a senior GOP aide in Congress speaking on condition of anonymity as saying McCain advisers are now being asked by some Republican leaders to focus McCain's travel on states with close senate races… essentially abandoning his White House ambitions to help re-elect GOP Senators.
Here’s my question to you: How close is the White House race to being over?
Interested to know which ones made it on air?
Why isn’t President Bush campaigning for McCain?
Click the play button to see what Jack and our viewers had to say. (PHOTO CREDIT: GETTY IMAGES)
FROM CNN's Jack Cafferty:
Of all the differences between Barack Obama and John McCain, here's one that could really make a difference down the home stretch: One has a president to help him and the other one does not. And at first glance, it's not what you might think.
After his appearance with Barack Obama tonight at a rally in Kissimmee, Florida, former president Bill Clinton plans to criss-cross the country on behalf of Obama in the closing days of the campaign. Tonight will mark President Clinton's first joint appearance with Obama on the campaign trail. Despite his lukewarm support at first,President Clinton as well as Hillary Clinton will campaign hard in the next few days to help Obama try to close the deal.
Watch: Cafferty: Cafferty: Bush support McCain?
But what about John McCain? He has a sitting president in his party. President Bush has been dubbed "the invisible man" when it comes to campaigning for his dear friend and fellow Republican, John McCain.
Here’s my question to you: President Clinton is campaigning for Barack Obama. Why isn't President Bush campaigning for John McCain?
Interested to know which ones made it on air?
McCain vs. Obama: Who would be bigger spender?
[cnn-photo-caption image= http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2008/images/10/29/art.white.house.gi.jpg caption="McCain says Obama will be a tax and spender if he's elected."]
FROM CNN's Jack Cafferty:
In a last ditch effort to pick up those undecided voters, John McCain's message is focused on portraying Barack Obama as a socialist who wants to raise your taxes and redistribute your wealth.
A socialist? Really? A couple of weeks ago the government effectively nationalized some of the nation's largest banks– a plan signed into law by the current republican president, George W. Bush. A law Senator John McCain voted in favor of. Is nationalizing our banks socialism?
McCain says Obama will be a tax and spender if he's elected. Consider this: The Republican administration of John McCain's good buddy, President Bush, has doubled our national debt since 2000. Bush rewrote the definition of spending money, and McCain supported him more than 90 percent of the time.
We're fighting two wars and facing a giant financial crisis. My buddy, CNN Senior Political Analyst Gloria Borger, says in a column on CNN.com, quote: "No matter who is elected, the new president will find himself trying to figure out a way to keep some of his campaign promises without breaking the bank." Borger says in a week that means someone is going to have to start figuring out how to govern.
When Clinton left office the economy was sound, the government was running a surplus, we were at peace, and the banks were still private institutions. Then what happened. John McCain 's friend George Bush happened.
Here’s my question to you: Who would be the bigger spender in the White House: John McCain or Barack Obama?
Interested to know which ones made it on air?
Why do citizens in 70 countries prefer Obama to McCain?
This billboard in Belgrade, Serbia states, 'Change that we can believe in' posted by a group called 'Europe has no alternative' and depicts an image of John F. Kennedy and Barack Obama. (PHOTO CREDIT: AP PHOTO)
FROM CNN's Jack Cafferty:
Senator John McCain says when it comes to foreign policy he's light years ahead of Barack Obama. Over and over again, McCain has insisted Obama lacks the necessary experience to conduct business with foreign countries on behalf of the United States.
So how do you explain this?
Citizens of dozens of foreign countries prefer Barack Obama over John McCain as our next president by a margin of almost 4 to 1, according to a massive poll conducted by the Gallup Organization. About 30 percent of those surveyed prefer Obama, while just 8 percent favor McCain.
Watch: Cafferty: Obama favored abroad?
This was no daily tracking poll either. Gallup polled people in 70 countries in Africa, Europe, Asia and North and South America, representing nearly half the world's population, between May and September of this year.
Citizens of the Philippines and Georgia were the only ones who preferred McCain to Obama. Not exactly the super-powers we're looking to mend fences with.
Here’s my question to you: Why do citizens in 70 foreign countries prefer Barack Obama to John McCain by a margin of nearly 4-1?
Interested to know which ones made it on air?
Rep. Murtha’s 'redneck' and 'racist' remarks to hurt Obama in PA?
[cnn-photo-caption image= http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2008/images/10/21/art.murtha.gi.jpg caption="John Murtha wants citizens to vote on the issues."]
FROM CNN's Jack Cafferty:
Democratic Congressman John Murtha from Pennsylvania is challenging Republican Governor Sarah Palin for who can say the stupidest things on the campaign trail.
You may remember about a week ago Murtha called some of his constituents in western Pennsylvania "racist," and said many would not vote for Barack Obama. He later apologized. Rule of holes: When you're in one, stop digging. Murtha tried to further explain his comments yesterday. Big mistake. He told a Pittsburgh TV station that until five to 10 years ago the entire region was "redneck" and what he really meant was that it's hard for many of those people to change their beliefs. He said only certain segments of the population hold on to racist feelings...And may have a problem voting for a black candidate.
But Murtha said he's telling voters there to vote on the issues...Not to vote on whether a candidate is black or white. There is no indication that anyone has asked Murtha for his advice on anything.
Here’s my question to you: Will Democrat Rep. Murtha calling some people in Pennsylvania “redneck” and “racist” hurt Barack Obama?
Interested to know which ones made it on air?
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