Democrats are dumbfounded that the race is as close as it is? I’ll admit, in the beginning, I was too. But several points started to make themselves clear.

RACE: I think we underestimate the amount of racism still alive in the country. How a person feels inside, as opposed to what they’ll say when being questioned / polled are many times two entirely different things.

STUPIDITY: We’ve been barraged with the message “America is #1″ since birth. No matter what the subject, this was the case. Same for education. Well, truth is, it’s all been a lie. We really are a dumb country. We have dumb health care. We build dumb cars. And we certainly vote dumb.

EASILY SWAYED: This actually is a subset of “stupidity”. This is for those who can count backwards from ten, while standing on one foot and touching their nose… but still can be taken in by slick, negative advertising - such as the type McCain’s campaign has been churning out lately.

RELIGION: Last, but not least, religion. It plays a big role in politics. When election season rolls around you know it’s time for wedge issues to be discussed… to death. But religion has a conservative bias, which I find strange. One would think “bearing false witness against your neighbor” (as McCain and his band of merry rethuglicans have done, and are still doing, against Obama) and shitting on “the least amongst us” (this one is a no-brainer) would turn true believers away from the GOP. But, nope. I guess I missed that part in the Bible on sinning: IOKIYAR!

Sad thing is, many of you feel somewhat rested and relaxed that Obama does have a lead, even if a small one. You shouldn’t be. Have you forgotten the last two presidential elections? Do you remember how close they were? Did you forget that the underdog in both still managed (against all logical odds) to come out the winner in the end? Have you forgotten about our republican supreme court or our republican-built voting machines? Wake the hell up people!

Why White House race is a close call

You can’t keep a good man down.

That might be the simplest way to sum up John McCain’s campaign for the US presidency right now. He’s not winning, but he’s running stronger than anyone knows how to explain. [...]

CNN Deputy Political Director Paul Steinhauser says the Democrats are “dumfounded [sic] that this election is closer than it should be, at least according to the national polls.”

So what’s happening?

Obviously, people like McCain personally in a way that has nothing to do with his party, his support for President Bush or the wars the president has been leading.

But also, think of the US election as a referendum on Obama that Obama isn’t winning. He’s doing well, but many Americans still won’t vote for him and McCain is the beneficiary.