Obama's Incredibly Shrinking Voter Base

By Alan Caruba

As we watch the Democrat Convention with its divisions and disappointments, it strikes me that Barack Obama’s voter base is shrinking. Considering that he is locked into a virtual tie so far as polling results are concerned, by November we well may be looking at a Democrat shut-out, at least at the top of the ticket.

At this point one is inclined to believe that his acceptance speech at Invesco Field is going to be greeted with the same lack of enthusiasm as his recent overseas tour and speech in Berlin. There is a growing perception that Obama’s ego is such that he requires huge audiences to satisfy it. By contrast, a bit of humility is the kind of thing voters appreciate and want.

What we can discern at this point is that Hillary, her committed supporters, feminists, and a significant portion of women voters will withhold their vote from Obama. Surely not all women will do this, but enough women are of the view that he stole “their” candidate’s opportunity in 2008 to want to punish him.

Obama is not likely to get the votes of veterans who served in America’s military going back to the days of the Korean conflict and earlier. The idea that the nation called on its National Guard and active, voluntary military to fight the wrong war in the wrong place is not one that sits well with men and women who took an oath to serve and, by extension, to go where the Commander-in-Chief told them they were needed.

Not everybody disagrees with President Bush’s decision to drive the Taliban out of Afghanistan after 9/11 and to enforce the United Nation’s many resolutions against Saddam Hussein. Events in Iraq seem to confirm that the sacrifices were worth it.

There is a growing perception that, if Bill and Hillary Clinton can “roll” Obama, he may lack the backbone required of a Commander-in-Chief should events heat up.

Several religious components, too, are less than thrilled with Barack Hussein Obama. Catholic bishops have taken issue with his views and those of his running mate, Joe Biden, on abortion and it is the key issue for evangelical Christians. When you add in the doubts that Jews have about him, you can kiss off the electoral votes of Florida and the usual support that the small nationwide Jewish community has usually given the Democrat Party.

It is doubtful, too, that Obama is going to find much support among the eighty million gun owners in America.

Union members that used to be automatically counted in the Democrat column are no longer a guarantee. Obama has struggled unsuccessfully to identify himself with the working class of America. Small business owners may not be too thrilled at the prospect of more increases in the minimum wage.

Then there is the “investor class” which now includes millions of Americans who, in one fashion or another, depend on having someone in the White House who does not want to sock it to the “rich” with increased taxes on capital gains. They’re not all rich, but they understand that Republicans provide a friendlier environment for economic growth.

Obama can count on the vote of dedicated environmentalists, but as the global warming hoax recedes along with Al Gore’s hairline, they are not going to constitute a voting base of significance. Gays may want to vote for Obama who favors the marriage issue on their behalf. That leaves clusters of unrepentant Marxists who, like the Communist Party USA, will vote for him.

So, as we watch his voter base begin to shrink, barring any unforeseen events, Obama’s dreams these days and nights must be haunted by the ghosts of McGovern, Mondale, Dukakis, Gore, Kerry, and the unlamented Jimmy Carter.