by Scott Ott for ScrappleFace · 54 Comments (2008-11-03) — Barack Obama has reportedly confided to close associates his fear that when millions of Democrats go to the polls Tuesday, they’ll do exactly what he did about 130 times in the Illinois State Senate: When faced with a tough choice, they’ll vote ‘present‘.
“Leaders tend to attract followers who are like them,” the source said. “Obama knows that it’s one thing to show up for an event with a crowd, but quite another to take bold personal action alone.”
“Barack can just see them standing there in the booth, wavering,” said one unnamed source. “It’s such a big decision. He knows how they feel — the sweaty palms, the tremors, the dry mouth. He pictures them freezing up, or just moving on to the less consequential races without voting for president.”
“What scares him most,” the source added, “is that John McCain might have attracted followers who are just like…you know…like John McCain. You don’t need as many of those to get things done.”