What percentage of the vote will Obama lose because of the following "issues"?

[JSojourner]

-Those "bitter" comments made 4 months ago (and almost 9 months before the election.)

So McCain's "100 years in Iraq" comments won't be an issue, right?

It should be.  Since McCain has yet to answer the questions ---

If you meant 100 years, only if Iraq is safe for our troops, as you later claimed -- then when and how will it be safe?  At what point would you accept that it is unsafe and remove our troops to honor your clarified claim?  Ten years?  15?  25?

[JSojourner]

-Those "bitter" comments made 4 months ago (and almost 9 months before the election.)

So McCain's "100 years in Iraq" comments won't be an issue, right?

It should be.  Since McCain has yet to answer the questions ---

If you meant 100 years, only if Iraq is safe for our troops, as you later claimed -- then when and how will it be safe?  At what point would you accept that it is unsafe and remove our troops to honor your clarified claim?  Ten years?  15?  25?

Then why shouldn't Obama's comments be an issue?

I'm not sure those remarks shouldn't be an issue.  I think it would be quite reasonable to criticize Obama's comments as possibly indicative of a jaded or elitist attitude.

[JSojourner]

Obama's "bitter" comments clearly leave a distaste in people's mouthes. While it's not an issue like abortion where many voters will say "I'm voting for X because he's pro-life," it's part of a larger macro-issue of personality.  Some people WILL vote against Obama because he seems like an overly-educated, out-of-touch, elitist, black man.  These comments reinforce this perception and will hurt him somewhat, but are hardly fatal anywhere, as we can see in the current polls.

Most of the rest of these non-issues either help Obama, are non-factors, or contribute insignificantly towards this macroissue of personality.

Right.  Some voters fear we are electing Cornel West.  Others fear we are electing Al Sharpton or Jesse Jackson.  In fact, Obama doesn't fit into any mold -- any more than McCain does.  But I agree -- Obama's "bitter" comment was and is worth criticism and scrutiny.