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Oh, Chillicothe

So the day of the election was spent knocking on doors and making sure people were voting or had voted. I knocked on roughly 200 doors and spoke with so many people in both Hamilton and Chillicothe. James was in Carrolton today, while Liz was in Trenton, and Veronica was focusing on Chillicothe. And after it was much too dark to see the numbers on the houses we finally packed it in. And then we were done....

It was so strange to suddenly be finished. And then the waiting began.

The Chillicothe Democratic Headquarters slowly filled with people gathering around an old color tv to watch the results come in (as an aside...by filled I mean instead of having 8 of us here, we had about 25). Shortly after the local and Missouri polls closed a woman ran in out of breath saying that the results for our area, Livingston Co., had been posted and Obama had won Chillicothe by 1 vote. Liz, Veronica, and I raced across the street to see the posting for ourselves...after all of our work, walking
every street numerous times, talking, persuading, explaining, cajoling, arm twisting at times we said that it would be so fulfilling to have one by a single vote.

We waded into a crowd of locals right out of a Jimmy Stewart movie -- the big stone courthouse in the town square filled to overflowing with the people we'd been calling on: teachers and farmers, union workers eating homemade cookies, pastors, grocers, children playing on the floor...all of them watched the numbers come in underneath a big draped American flag. Unfortunately it wasn't to be. As the court clerk came down the granite stairs again and again to hand updates to the man running the board, the numbers slowly changed to show McCain winning 60% - 40%.

But back at our headquarters the mood was electric and it took very little time for us to come around and feel better again. We may have lost Livingston Co. and Missouri as a whole but we significantly improved the percentages for the state as a whole. There is no debate regarding that statement. Without all of the volunteers here the state would have been one of the few Republican blowouts.

And so we sat, stood, paced, laughed and nervously nibbled on the pies, cakes, brownies, and cookies that the local women had been putting in front of us all week.We watched as thousands of people in Chicago gathered together to celebrate history. We saw the beaming faces of the people in Los Angeles flocking together. Philadelphia, San Francisco, Miami, Boston, Columbus so many people gathering their collective selves shoulder to shoulder to share this historic moment in our nations history. They would always remember where they were, how they felt, the faces they saw, the people they embraced.

And here I was in Chillicothe, MO. The birthplace of sliced bread and the seat of Livingston County. I was here with Liz from DC, Veronica from Oakland, and James from San Francisco. And we were all here with fifteen diehard Democrats of this small rural town. And we were crying and embracing and so happy that we were about to burst.

And there was no where else I wanted to be.

Dreams From My Father

Stephen Roddick from the New Republic

I entered my Brooklyn voting booth this morning uncertain who would get my vote.

Let me explain. My father was a Navy pilot who attended the Naval Academy not long after John McCain. I grew up in Navy towns where you did not see your dad for six months at a time, you went to sleep wondering if he was safe, and you comforted your buddies when their fathers did not come back at all. When I was 13, my father did not come back; he was killed in a plane crash off the USS Kitty Hawk.

There are few things I know with certainty that my father would have done if he had lived. One would have been to vote for John McCain. As his only son, that seemed the least I could do for him.

But it wasn't that simple. I spent almost a decade living in Chicago, working in politics. I labored for black candidates in lost causes, not far from Barack Obama's district. I shed tears when they lost. I then worked on Capitol Hill for a Democratic predecessor of Obama's in the Senate, and, inexplicably, helped draft the first Senate prayer given by a Muslim, Wallace Mohammed.

For months, I watched the campaign develop with a sense of dread. McCain seemed like a lost, tragic hero more than a plausible president. Still, John McCain was my kin, in a sort of way. I bit my lip all fall. I watched the markets fall and McCain's botched response remove the last doubt that he was going to lose, perhaps badly. I avoided political conversations for the most part, but found myself at a friend's house on the Upper West Side watching the last debate with a group of Ivy Leaguers and policy wonks. The derision of McCain began early. After the 17th joke about his strange facial expressions, I left, telling my host that I didn't have a problem with folks not supporting him, but the vilification of a man who spent longer in a prison camp than Obama spent in the Senate wasn't how I wanted to spend my evening.

After that, I became more open about my McCain empathy. I argued how he had a proven record of working across the aisle and despises Bush and why his administration would be nothing like Bush's, particularly with heavy Democratic majorities in both houses. But I knew it was window dressing.

I just went to vote. The line snaked so long that I was able to concentrate on the excitement on the faces of African-Americans as they entered the voting booths with their children. I was more than a little envious of their joy. I wondered if the past was really past. Finally, I entered the booth, closed the curtain, and stared at the names. I stared so long that I could hear folks behind me begin to grumble. I delayed by individually pulling the Democratic levers for all the local offices. My finger went to McCain/Palin, but I didn't pull. I moved my hand over and grasped the Obama/Biden lever. I pulled it hard and departed. There were tears in my eyes.

Want an Eye Opener?

If there is one shocker on election night in the presidential race, cast your eyes to Georgia.

1,994,990 people voted early in Georgia.

3,301,875 total voted in Georgia's presidential race in 2004.

Let that sink in.

Good Mornin', folks....it's you're election day....let's go do it!

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National Polls

Live From the Ground

I'm getting alot of emails asking how things are going here in Missouri, so here's a little update to tide you all over.
The last 3 days have been spend canvassing like crazy while the nights are about entering data and making phone calls.
The area of the state we're in is very farm oriented, economically depressed, generally poor, and mostly genial.

I'm staying with some Obama supporters in Hamilton, MO which is about 25 minutes from Chillicothe. Dan and Kate have been so warm, welcoming, and spend their days canvassing the outlying rural areas of Hamilton. Here's a picture of their beautiful house:


I've personally canvassed about 200 different houses with many of the residents home, very opinionated, and well past the point of voter fatigue. The poll numbers are a very accurate representation of Missouri...one house will be McCain and the next will be Obama. I won't focus on the negative but I also won't sugar coat things either. People here can be very open about their racial biases (there are very few minorities here). I've had the sweetest looking grandmother types smile and giggle as they say, "Thank you for stoppin' by, but I don't vote for n***ers". Another woman told me, "I wouldn't vote to have a darky in my dog house; why would I elect one to be in the White House?" Today I has heckled by a man who followed me as I knocked on supporters doors to made sure they knew where their polling places were. As I drove away he threw a rock hitting my car and called me a "n****er lover".

On the flip side I'm finding a huge number of older people in their 70's and 80's who are excited and all smiles as they tell me how they can't wait to elect "that fine Obama". An older lady made my day just as I was finishing my route last night. She invited me in for some sweet tea and told me, "I've waited all of my 86 years to finally see this country accept a black man as a capable candidate for president and it brings tears to my eyes to think this might just happen before I die. I'm hopefully going to get to see the act of this country evolving".

I've yet to see a McCain volunteer or canvasser, but there is a steady stream of local volunteers for Obama here. They make us cookies, cakes, pies, muffins, and bring us dinner as we work late nights. Last night an amazing 86 year old volunteer named Mary had us over for a dinner of fried chicken, salad, potato salad, and tea. This is a volunteer from DC, Liz, with Mary:

Here's some of Mary's delicious food:


I'm leaving now to drive to a small town called Carrolton to canvas there and then it's back to Chillicothe to enter data and prepare for tomorrow! Please comment and remember that I love you all!

A Real Life Witch

Remember what Glenda the Good Witch said, "You have no power here! Now begone, before somebody drops a house on you!"

More Than Just Numbers

From Huffington Post:

From the beginning of the campaign, the people behind Barack Obama's bid for the presidency have been pretty adamant that one should expect big things from their ground game. They'd be up in all fifty states, socially networked, plugged in, and microtargeting their way to success.

Sean Quinn, along with photographer Brett Marty, have been in pursuit of the ground game, and they've been dropping by field offices for both candidates to take pictures and chronicle the activity. And if there's one thing that's been revealed, nearly consistently, in comparing the two operations, is that there seems to be no comparison:

The busiest McCain office we saw was in Arlington, at the national HQ, but tight security prevented us from getting any pictures. Ironically, that was our first full office, in our 11th battleground state.

Offices in Troy, Ohio were closed on Saturday October 11. With perfect coincidental timing, two elderly women dropped by to volunteer but found the office shut. At Republican state headquarters in Columbus later the same day, one lonely dialer sat in a sea of unoccupied chairs. In Des Moines on September 25, another empty office. In Santa Fe on September 17, one dialer made calls while six chatted amongst themselves about how they didn't like Obama. In Raleigh this past Saturday, ten days before the election with early voting already open, two women dialed and a male staffer watched the Georgia-LSU game. In Durango, Colorado on September 20, the Republican office was locked and closed. Indiana didn't have McCain Victory offices when we were there in early October.

In Cortez, CO, we had Republican volunteers pose for action-shot photos. The same in Española, New Mexico. Posed. For some time at the outset, we were willing to give Republicans the benefit of the doubt. They convinced us they were really working, and that we had just had unfortunate timing. It wasn't until the pattern of "just missed it" started to sound like a drumbeat in our ears that we began to grow skeptical. We never "just missed" any of the Obama volunteer work, because it goes on nonstop, every day, in every office, in every corner of America.

We found scattered nuggets of activity. Colorado Springs, Colorado held eight dialers and two front office volunteers. Albemarle County, Virginia had a busy office of 15 volunteers, and we reported that. Last night in Tampa, nine phonebankers were busy dialing at the Republican Party of Florida Hillsborough County HQ when we arrived at 8:00 pm. Seven dialers sat in McCain's Hickory, North Carolina office this past Saturday afternoon.

Those offices seemed busy to us, naturally, because they were explosively full relative to other offices we've stopped in on. But even the Colorado Springs office was dwarfed by the Obama Colorado Springs operation. These ground campaigns do not bear any relationship to one another. One side has something in the neighborhood of five million volunteers all assigned to very clear and specific pieces of the operation, and the other seems to have something like a thousand volunteers scattered throughout the country.

USA TODAY/Gallup estimate: Obama, 53%; McCain, 42%

Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama leads Republican John McCain by 11 percentage points in the last USA TODAY/Gallup national poll of likely voters before Election Day.

With less than two days to go before polls open, the contenders' support is estimated to be:

• Obama, 53%.
• McCain, 42%.

CBS Poll: Obama Maintains 13 Point Lead

With two days left until the presidential election, Barack Obama continues to lead John McCain by 13 points among likely voters, 54 percent to 41 percent, a new CBS News poll finds. The margin in the new poll, released Sunday, is identical to that in a CBS News poll released Saturday

Why He's Winning

Over 80,000 Have Complained About Voting Problems

Today, Barbara Anwine of the Election Protection Coalition (1-866-OUR-VOTE), a nonpartisan group, told MSNBC about voter suppression tactics they have witnessed around the country.

The group says it has received over 80,000 voter calls at the Election Protection Command Center.

Some emerging trends:

- Broward County leads Florida in voter requests for assistance.

- Registration-related problems rank #1 in nearly every battleground state - hundreds of calls focus on that problem, most often in Texas, New York, New Jersey, Georgia, Florida, Colorado, and California

- Georgia voters are reporting more incidents of voter intimidation than any other state. Other reports of voter intimidation, scams or misinformation are also emerging in Ohio and Missouri.

- Florida voters rank #1 in requests related to criminal status and voting.

- Early voting problems are also being noticed, particularly Ohio, Missouri, Georgia, Florida and California

If McCain Wins All Toss-Ups He Still Loses

With two days before Election Day, the final NBC News map shows Obama remaining above the 270 electoral-vote mark, with a 286-157 lead over McCain. Last week, Obama held a 286-163 advantage. Our changes: We moved Montana and North Dakota (which has same-day voter registration) from Lean McCain to Toss-up. In addition, we moved Michigan, Minnesota, Wisconsin, and New Jersey (the latter of which we should have moved a couple of weeks ago) from Lean Obama to Likely Obama. So here's where we stand:

Likely Obama: CA, CT, DE, DC, HI, IL, ME, MD, MA, MI, MN, NJ, NY, OR, RI, VT, WA, WI (227 electoral votes)

Lean Obama: CO, IA, NH, NM, PA, VA (59 votes)

Toss-up: FL, IN, MO, MT, NV, NC, ND, OH (95 votes)

Lean McCain: AZ, GA, NE 02, SD, WV (24 votes)

Likely McCain: AL, AK, AR, ID, KS, KY, LA, MS, NE (the rest of the state), OK, SC, TN, TX, UT, WY (133 votes)

On Meet The Press Sunday morning, Chuck Todd tells Tom Brokaw that even if McCain wins all of those toss-ups, he'll still lose.

My Wife Made Me Canvass For Obama

CHARLOTTE, N.C. - There has been a lot of speculation that Barack Obama might win the election due to his better "ground game" and superior campaign organization.

I had the chance to view that organization up close this month when I canvassed for him. I'm not sure I learned much about his chances, but I learned a lot about myself and about this election.

Let me make it clear: I'm pretty conservative. I grew up in the suburbs. I voted for George H.W. Bush twice, and his son once. I was disappointed when Bill Clinton won, and disappointed he couldn't run again.

I encouraged my son to join the military. I was proud of him in Afghanistan, and happy when he came home, and angry when he was recalled because of the invasion of Iraq. I'm white, 55, I live in the South and I'm definitely going to get a bigger tax bill if Obama wins.

I am the dreaded swing voter.

So you can imagine my surprise when my wife suggested we spend a Saturday morning canvassing for Obama. I have never canvassed for any candidate. But I did, of course, what most middle-aged married men do: what I was told.

At the Obama headquarters, we stood in a group to receive our instructions. I wasn't the oldest, but close, and the youngest was maybe in high school. I watched a campaign organizer match up a young black man who looked to be college age with a white guy about my age to canvas together. It should not have been a big thing, but the beauty of the image did not escape me.

Instead of walking the tree-lined streets near our home, my wife and I were instructed to canvass a housing project. A middle-aged white couple with clipboards could not look more out of place in this predominantly black neighborhood.

We knocked on doors and voices from behind carefully locked doors shouted, "Who is it?"

"We're from the Obama campaign," we'd answer. And just like that doors opened and folks with wide smiles came out on the porch to talk.

Grandmothers kept one hand on their grandchildren and made sure they had all the information they needed for their son or daughter to vote for the first time.

Young people came to the door rubbing sleep from their eyes to find out where they could vote early, to make sure their vote got counted.

We knocked on every door we could find and checked off every name on our list. We did our job, but Obama may not have been the one who got the most out of the day's work.

I learned in just those three hours that this election is not about what we think of as the "big things."

It's not about taxes. I'm pretty sure mine are going to go up no matter who is elected.

It's not about foreign policy. I think we'll figure out a way to get out of Iraq and Afghanistan no matter which party controls the White House, mostly because the people who live there don't want us there anymore.

I don't see either of the candidates as having all the answers.

I've learned that this election is about the heart of America. It's about the young people who are losing hope and the old people who have been forgotten. It's about those who have worked all their lives and never fully realized the promise of America, but see that promise for their grandchildren in Barack Obama. The poor see a chance, when they often have few. I saw hope in the eyes and faces in those doorways.

My wife and I went out last weekend to knock on more doors. But this time, not because it was her idea. I don't know what it's going to do for the Obama campaign, but it's doing a lot for me.

Jonathan Curley is a banker.

Latest Electoral College Map

Click image to enlarge

McCain's Name Nowhere to be Seen at Palin Rally

POLK CITY, Florida (CNN) — At a boisterous Sarah Palin rally in Polk City, Florida on Saturday afternoon, one name was surprisingly absent from the campaign décor — John McCain’s.

Looking around the aircraft hangar where the rally took place, one could see all the usual reminders that it was a pro-McCain event. There were two large “Country First” banners hung on the walls along with four enormous American flags meant to conjure the campaign’s underlying patriotic theme. Many of the men and women in the audience wore McCain hats and t-shirts.

But on closer inspection, the GOP nominee’s name was literally nowhere to be found on any of the official campaign signage distributed to supporters at the event. Members of the audience proudly waved “Country First” placards as Palin delivered her stump speech. Those signs were paid for by the Republican National Committee.

The other sign handed out to supporters read “Florida is Palin Country,” but those signs were neither paid for by the Republican National Committee nor the McCain campaign.
...................

Does anyone else find it funny that McCain's low road VP pick is totally backfiring on him now...kinda like rats fleeing a sinking ship.

The State Of the Race

Washington Post

Barack Obama and the Democrats hold a commanding position two days before Tuesday's election, with the senator from Illinois leading in states whose electoral votes total nearly 300 and with his party counting on significantly expanded majorities in the House and Senate.

John McCain is running in one of the worst environments ever for a Republican presidential nominee. The senator from Arizona has not been in front in any of the 159 national polls conducted over the past six weeks.

Obama leads in every state that Democratic Sen. John F. Kerry won four years ago, which gives him a base of 252 electoral votes of the 270 needed to win. He also has leads of varying sizes in five states Bush won: Iowa, New Mexico, Virginia, Colorado and Nevada. Were he to win all of those on Tuesday, he would claim the presidency with 291 electoral votes.

The tossup states include traditional battlegrounds such as Ohio, Florida and Missouri, as well as North Carolina, Indiana and Montana, which have been firmly in the Republican column in the past. They account for 87 electoral votes, and if Obama were to win several of them, his electoral vote total could push well into the 300s.

It's Fall in Chillicothe

Click image to enlarge:

If You're Having Any Doubts About Prop 8

New GOP Mail Goes After Obama On Lobbyists, Taxes, And Socialism

The anti-Obama mail keeps piling up. A reader forwarded a set of pieces that go after the Illinois Democrat for not, really, being a thorn in the side of lobbyists and for planning to raise taxes alongside his liberal allies in Congress,

The first piece accuses Obama of funneling the "hard-earned money of America's taxpayers to pay his friends and family with political favors."

As evidence the literature cites the Senator's relationship with Tony Rezko and two earmarks that Obama helped bring to Illinois in short, thin gruel.

The second mailer is a more boilerplate charge. It accuses "Obama and liberal Democrats" of planning for "higher taxes," over a photo of the Senator and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. What follows is a greatest hits list, of sorts, in Republican criticisms: Obama plans to spread the wealth, he took huge amounts of contributions from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, and is promising "socialist" spending plans that would balloon the deficit.

A Presidential Vanishing Act, by Design

It’s the week before Election Day. Do you know where your president is?

Probably not, and that is by design. With Senator John McCain lagging behind in the polls and many other Republicans fighting for their political lives, the nation’s top Republican — President Bush — is intentionally lying low this week, and is likely to do so until after Americans cast their ballots to pick his successor.

Mr. Bush, an ardent student of politics, knows what it feels like to be down in the polls, and he is keeping a careful eye on the campaign. Earlier this week, he made a surprise visit to the headquarters of the Republican National Committee to offer thanks to those who have served him for the past eight years, and deliver a little pep talk to lift the spirits of beleaguered McCain supporters.

“He talked about how he was never supposed to win a campaign,” said one person who attended, speaking anonymously because the session was off-the-record. “He talked about how in ’94, 2000, 2004, they always said he had no chance, and he just encouraged us, to say it’s just important to keep doing what we’re doing and keep working hard.”

The message was not entirely surprising. What was striking is that Mr. Bush chose to deliver it in private. Presidential visits to campaign headquarters are routine business in election years; the day before voters cast their ballots in 2000, President Bill Clinton dropped in on Democratic headquarters in Little Rock, Ark. to buck up campaign volunteers, even as he conceded that he had no idea which way the race between Vice President Al Gore and Mr. Bush, then the governor of Texas, would go.

Mr. Bush, though, has made himself increasingly scarce as Election Day approaches. His campaign season effectively ended on Oct. 21 — two weeks before the election — when he attended his last political fund-raiser, a $1 million event for the Republican Senatorial Campaign Committee. (His wife, Laura, is still on the stump; on Thursday she headlined a get-out-the-vote rally in Mississippi.)

With Mr. Bush’s job approval ratings at historic lows, political analysts have long said Republican candidates simply do not want to be seen with him. But now, with the election just days away, it seems that Republican candidates do not want Mr. Bush to be seen, period.

“One of McCain’s biggest challenges has been how to deal with Bush, and he never quite got it right,” said Scott Reed, a Republican strategist who ran Bob Dole’s 1996 presidential campaign. “Now, the best thing is silence.”

Former Reagan adviser endorses Obama

(CNN) — Former Reagan chief of staff Ken Duberstein told CNN's Fareed Zakaria this week he intends to vote for Democrat Barack Obama on Tuesday.

Duberstein said he was influenced by another prominent Reagan official - Colin Powell - in his decision.

"Well let's put it this way - I think Colin Powell's decision is in fact the good housekeeping seal of approval on Barack Obama."

Not Waiting in Vain

http://link.brightcove.com/services/link/bcpid1274025729/bclid1886195620/bctid1892187453

Live From The Ground

So here's a little update as to how things are going here in Chillicothe, MO...by the way it's pronounced "chilli-COTH-ee".
Chillicothe is a small town of about 6,000 people in the northern part of Missouri. Many people here are farmers with most living in smaller towns outside of the Chillicothe area, right now I'm being hosted by a family in Hamilton, MO which has a population of about 1800. I'm at the counties Democratic headquarters working with three other people and we're covering all of the northern quadrant of this state (roughly 20,000 voters). We have a small stream of very dedicated, really interesting local folks who show up early, stay late and never seem to tire of assembling literature, answering phones, handing out buttons, and talking to their neighbors who drop in with questions.

Our leaders here are two people who absolutely astonish me. One is from the Bay Area and has been here since September 1st and the other is from Washington, DC and has been here since late September. Neither of them has had a day off since they arrived and they both are still at the headquarters when we all leave at 1am and working away when we arrive at 7am.

I know the term "battle ground state" gets thrown around more than it should but I can honestly say that Missouri is a battleground right now. It's really amazing. People are very vocal and upfront about their support for their candidate and there are a few things I'll post after the election that I'm sure you'll find very interesting (read into that what you will). I will say that people here are at least open to listening to what you have to say and as is the case in the midwest, folks are at least polite in their opposition. From what I've been told and seen myself, farm issues (subsidies, sustainability, etc) are extremely important. People are really hurting in this area as the economy and W's farm policies have hit the area really hard.

The last couple of days we've been preparing for this weekend and the canvassing that today and tomorrow will bring. Lots of walking, talking, explaining, giving out literature, and making sure that everyone knows when and where to vote. Election day voting begins on Tuesday at 6am and continues to 7pm.

Here's a picture of what made Chillicothe famous...the fact that they invented slicing of bread!

More later!

Rachael Maddow Interviews Obama

Latest Poll Numbers

RCP Average Obama 49.7 43.8 Obama +5.9

Rasmussen Reports Obama 51 McCain 47 Obama +4

Reuters/C-SPAN/Zogby Obama 50 McCain 43 Obama +7

GWU/Battleground Obama 49 McCain 45 Obama +4

FOX News Obama 47 McCain 44 Obama +3

Gallup (Traditional)* Obama 50 McCain 45 Obama +5

Gallup (Expanded)* Obama 51 McCain 44 Obama +7

Diageo/Hotline Obama 48 McCain 42 Obama +6

ABC News/Wash Post Obama 52 McCain 44 Obama +8

CBS News/NY Times Obama 52 McCain 41 Obama +11

IBD/TIPP Obama 48 McCain 44 Obama +4

Obama Columbia, Missouri

I just arrived in MO yesterday and hit the ground running in Chillicothe. Today much to my surprise
my assignment was to drive to Columbia, MO to see Obama talk! Here are some pictures I took, click
to enlarge:

Global Electoral College

Very interesting map:

Click here

The Economist: It's Time

America should take a chance and make Barack Obama the next leader of
the free world

IT IS impossible to forecast how important any presidency will be. Back
in 2000 America stood tall as the undisputed superpower, at peace with
a generally admiring world. The main argument was over what to do with
the federal government's huge budget surplus. Nobody foresaw the
seismic events of the next eight years. When Americans go to the polls
next week the mood will be very different. The United States is
unhappy, divided and foundering both at home and abroad. Its
self-belief and values are under attack.

For all the shortcomings of the campaign, both John McCain and Barack
Obama offer hope of national redemption. Now America has to choose
between them. THE ECONOMIST does not have a vote, but if it did, it
would cast it for Mr Obama. We do so wholeheartedly: the Democratic
candidate has clearly shown that he offers the better chance of
restoring America's self-confidence. But we acknowledge it is a gamble,
yet it is one America should take, given the steep road ahead.

The immediate focus, which has dominated the campaign, looks daunting
enough: repairing America's economy and its international reputation.
The financial crisis is far from finished. The United States is at the
start of a painful recession. Abroad, even though troops are dying in
two countries, the cack-handed way in which George Bush has prosecuted
his war on terror has left America less feared by its enemies and less
admired by its friends than it once was.

Mr McCain has his faults: he is an instinctive politician, quick to judge and
with a sharp temper. And his age has long been a concern (how many global
companies in distress would bring in a new 72-year-old boss?). Yet he has
bravely taken unpopular positions--for free trade, immigration reform, the
surge in Iraq, tackling climate change and campaign-finance reform.

That, however, was Senator McCain; the Candidate McCain of the past six
months has too often seemed the victim of political sorcery, his good
features magically inverted, his bad ones exaggerated. The fiscal
conservative who once tackled Mr Bush over his unaffordable tax cuts
now proposes not just to keep the cuts, but to deepen them. The man who
denounced the religious right as "agents of intolerance" now embraces
theocratic culture warriors. Yet rather than heading towards the centre after
he won the nomination, Mr McCain moved to the right.

On the great issue of the campaign, the financial crisis, he
has seemed all at sea, emitting panic and indecision. Mr McCain has
never been particularly interested in economics, but, unlike Mr Obama,
he has made little effort to catch up or to bring in good advisers.

The choice of Sarah Palin epitomised the sloppiness. It is not just
that she is an unconvincing stand-in, nor even that she seems to have
been chosen partly for her views on divisive social issues, notably
abortion. Mr McCain made his most important appointment having met her
just twice.

There is no getting around the fact that Mr Obama's resume is thin for
the world's biggest job. But the exceptionally assured way in which he
has run his campaign is a considerable comfort. It is not just that he
has more than held his own against Mr McCain in the debates. A man who
started with no money and few supporters has out-thought, out-organised
and out-fought the two mightiest machines in American politics.

Political fire, far from rattling Mr Obama, seems to bring out the
best in him. On the financial crisis his performance has been as assured
as Mr McCain's has been febrile. He seems a quick learner and has built
up an impressive team of advisers, drawing in seasoned hands like Paul Volcker,
Robert Rubin and Larry Summers. Of course, Mr Obama will make mistakes; but
this is a man who listens, learns and manages well.

It is hard too nowadays to depict him as soft when it comes to dealing
with America's enemies. Part of Mr Obama's original appeal to the
Democratic left was his keenness to get American troops out of Iraq;
but since the primaries he has moved to the centre, pragmatically
saying the troops will leave only when the conditions are right. His
determination to focus American power on Afghanistan, Pakistan and
proliferation was prescient.

So Mr Obama in that respect is a gamble. But the same goes for Mr
McCain on at least as many counts, not least the possibility of
President Palin. And this cannot be another election where the choice
is based merely on fear. In terms of painting a brighter future for
America and the world, Mr Obama has produced the more compelling and
detailed portrait. He has campaigned with more style, intelligence and
discipline than his opponent.

Whether he can fulfil his immense potential remains to be seen.
But Mr Obama deserves the presidency.

Rednecks for Obama

Palin Talks 2012

Yesterday Sarah Palin shocked her own handlers when she said that she was already thinking about her 2012 campaign.

CNN's Dana Bash told cohort Wolf Blitzer that a senior McCain advisor was rendered "speechless" by Palin's comment. "There was a long pause, and then I just heard a 'Huh.' on the other end of the phone. I mean, this is certainly not a surprise to anybody who has watched Sarah Palin that she is interested in potentially...a future national run. Certainly she is being urged to by a lot of people inside the Republican Party if they do lose." Gov. Palin has already been called a "diva" and "rogue" by people within the McCain campaign who see her straying from prescribed narrative in her speeches, having "lost confidence in most of the people on the plane."

It's rather unprecedented for someone in Palin's position to make the slightest acknowledgment of a potential loss at this stage of the campaign.

Current Poll Numbers (10-30-08)

Reuters/C-SPAN/Zogby Obama 50 McCain 43 Obama +7

Rasmussen Reports Obama 50 McCain 47 Obama +3

Gallup (Traditional) Obama 49 McCain 46 Obama +3

Gallup (Expanded) Obama 51 McCain 44 Obama +7

Diageo/Hotline Obama 49 McCain 42 Obama +7

ABC News/Wash Post Obama 52 McCain 44 Obama +8

IBD/TIPP Obama 47 McCain 44 Obama +3

GWU/Battleground Obama 49 McCain 46 Obama +3

Ipsos/McClatchy Obama 50 McCain 45 Obama +5

Pew Research Obama 53 McCain 38 Obama +15

People in the Middle

Synchronized Presidential Debating

If you thought the three presidential debates were similar, here's proof you were right. This video show how eerily similar the candidates' canned arguments were.

Get the latest news satire and funny videos at 236.com.

Joe The Plumber, meet Dave The Fisherman

Analysis: Obama on his way toward election win

Barack Obama has pulled ahead in enough states to win the 270 electoral votes he needs to gain the White House _ and with states to spare _ according to an Associated Press analysis that shows he is now moving beyond typical Democratic territory to challenge John McCain on historically GOP turf.

Even if McCain sweeps the six states that are too close to call, he still seemingly won't have enough votes to prevail, according to the analysis, which is based on polls, the candidates' TV spending patterns and interviews with Democratic and Republican strategists. McCain does have a path to victory but it's a steep climb: He needs a sudden shift in voter sentiment that gives him all six toss-up states plus one or two others that now lean toward Obama.

Obama has 23 states and the District of Columbia, offering 286 votes, in his column or leaning his way, while Republican McCain has 21 states with 163 votes. A half dozen offering 89 votes _ Florida, Indiana, Missouri, North Carolina, Nevada and Ohio _ remain up for grabs. President Bush won all six in 2004, and they are where the race is primarily being contested in the homestretch.

Though sounding confident, Obama is still campaigning hard. "Don't believe for a second this election is over," he tells backers. "We have to work like our future depends on it in this last week, because it does."

The underdog McCain is pressing supporters to fight on: "Nothing is inevitable here. We never give up. And we never quit."

Less than a week before Election Day, the AP analysis isn't meant to be predictive but rather provides a late snapshot of a race that's been volatile all year.

It's still possible McCain can pull off an upset. Some public and private polling shows the race tightening nationally. And, roughly one fourth of voters in a recent AP-GfK poll were undecided or said they still could change their minds. It's also still unclear how racial feelings will affect the results in voting that could give the country its first black president.

Shays: McCain Can't Win; Lost His "Maverick" Brand

The first ballot has yet to be tallied, but some Republicans are already hammering nails into the McCain-Palin campaign's coffin.

Locked in a tight congressional race, Rep. Chris Shays of Connecticut's 4th district is the latest in a slew of Republican incumbents, including Sen. Elizabeth Dole of North Carolina, to concede a near-certain victory to the Obama camp.

"I just don't see how [McCain] can win," Shays said in an interview here on Sunday.

Shays, the Connecticut co-chair of McCain's campaign, said he was disappointed by the standards of McCain's race, which has increasingly relied on mudslinging.

"He has lost his brand as a maverick; he did not live up to his pledge to fight a clean campaign," Shays said.

Palin Target Of New Ethics Complaint

Alaska Governor and Republican Vice President hopeful Sarah Palin may be facing another round of scrutiny, this time for charging the state for her children to travel with her while conducing official state business.

CBS News has obtained a copy of the complaint that Frank Gwartney, a retired lineman in Anchorage filed last Friday, with Alaska’s Attorney General, Talis Colber in Juneau. “Palin ran on the platform of ethics, transparency and anti-corruption. I’m tired of the hypocrisy that exists in Government and people need to know the truth,” said Gwartney.

The complaint against Governor Palin, alleges Misuse of Official Position: “Gov. Palin attempted to and in fact did use her official position for personal gain by securing unwarranted benefits for her daughters...” All the allegations contained in the complaint are related to state reimbursed travel.

Bristol, Piper and Willow, Palin’s daughters, accrued $32,629 in travel expenses while Palin’s husband Todd raked up $22,174 - all billed to the state for a total of $54,803.00.

“The Governor’s office has expended $54,803.00 in Alaska state dollars for family travel since December 2006,” according to the Governor’s Administrative Services Director, Linda Perez. “The documentation related to family travel has changed and you have to keep in mind that the governor and her family are very popular,” added Perez.

FL Gov. Crist Extends Voting Hours: "Blows it" for the GOP

This is a very big deal: Florida Governor Charlie Crist, to the shock and dismay of Florida Republicans, just moved to extend early voting hours, a move likely to widen the Democrats' lead under a program on which the Obama campaign has intensely focused.

"He just blew Florida for John McCain," one plugged in Florida Republican just told me.

The Buzz reports:

At a hastily arranged news conference, Crist said the right to vote is sacred and that "many have fought and died for this right." He said he consulted a leading Democratic legislator, Rep. Dan Gelber of Miami Beach, before issuing his order, and that Gelber knew of a similar order issued by Gov. Jeb Bush in 2002 that dealt with helping voters deal with new equipment.

As to the perception that more early voting helps Democrats, Crist said: "This is not a political decision. This is a people decision."

Democrats had urged the extension, which means that votes will be cast 12 hours a day, not eight hours a day.

McCain in His Own Words

Michelle Obama appeared on the Tonight Show last night and spoke with Leno about Barack's grandmother, campaigning, their children, the economy, military spouses, negative ads, wardrobe expenses, Sarah Palin, and a few other topics. Watch it here:

SC Senate Candidate Mick Mulvaney in Sick Robocalling Scheme

South Carolina Republican state senate candidate Mick Mulvaney has created one of the most disgusting robocalls of the election season, attempting to connect his Democratic opponent Mandy Powers Norrell, to a "scary" gay group.

A group that doesn't even exist.

The call is intended to send voters rushing to Mulvaney using that old chestnut >cue scary music<, "The Frightening Homosexual Agenda".

In the call, the fake group, called the Alliance for the Advancement of Gays and Lesbians, says:

"Hi, this is Alison calling from the Alliance for the Advancement of Gays and Lesbians. We are a pro gay rights, pro-choice grassroots organization. I'm calling to let you know we're supporting Mandy Powers Norrell in the race for state senate. A proven Democrat, Mandy Powers Norrell supports homosexual unions and abortion rights. We can count on Mandy Powers Norrell to promote a progressive agenda in the state senate and to fight the right-wing fringe at every turn. Again, this is the Alliance for the Advancement of Gays and Lesbians asking you to vote for Democrat Mandy Powers Norrell on Tuesday, November 4th."

Here it is:

GOP Doubts Grow

HERSHEY, Pa. — Doubts about John McCain's chances for the presidency grew louder among fellow Republicans on Tuesday as a White House race largely focused on Florida, Ohio and Pennsylvania entered its final week.

Even two Republicans once on McCain's short list for vice president sounded skeptical. In a fundraising e-mail on behalf of Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, Mitt Romney referred to "the very real possibility of an Obama presidency." In the Midwest, Gov. Tim Pawlenty gave a dour assessment of McCain's chances in his state, saying Barack Obama "has a pretty good advantage in Minnesota right now."

Nationally, a poll by the Pew Research Center found Obama with a 16-point lead among registered voters. The survey said Obama had 52 percent and McCain 36 percent, with independent voters supporting the Democrat by a 48-31 margin.

Reno Dinner

Click image to enlarge:


Some of the folks eating dinner after canvassing/data entry/phone banking all day in Reno.

Canvassing in Reno

Massive Obama Phonebank

There was a big Obama phonebank this last weekend in Yerba Buena Gardens that I took part in. Beautiful day,
great people everywhere you look all involved in taking back our countries future. I spend most of the day calling
more than 200 North Carolinan's and all in all everyone I spoke with was very open to at least discussing the issues at hand. I didn't get any "socialist" "terrorist" craziness.

Click image for a bigger little picture:

Latest Electoral College Map

Click to enlarge:

Keep in mind it takes 270 to win

Early Voting Numbers

9 percent of voters have already cast ballots:

Their preference: Barack Obama over John McCain, by 60-39 percent.

That leaves 91 percent yet to vote, but more are coming. A total of 34 percent of likely voters intend to vote early, including those who’ve already done so and those who say they will in the next week. This overall early voting group favors Obama over McCain by 59-39 percent, essentially the same as it is among those who’ve gotten it done already.

SANITY IN INDIANA: Dozens Of McCain Robocallers Walk Off Job

TPM reports:

"Some three dozen workers at a telemarketing call center in Indiana walked off the job rather than read an incendiary McCain campaign script attacking Barack Obama, according to two workers at the center and one of their parents. Nina Williams, a stay-at-home mom in Lake County, Indiana, tells us that her daughter recently called her from her job at the center, upset that she had been asked to read a script attacking Obama for being 'dangerously weak on crime,' 'coddling criminals,' and for voting against 'protecting children from danger.' Williams' daughter told her that up to 40 of her co-workers had refused to read the script, and had left the call center after supervisors told them that they would have to either read the call or leave, Williams says. The call center is called Americall, and it's located in Hobart, IN."

Fake Flyer Tells Virginia Democrats To Vote On November 5th

A phony Board of Elections flier being circulated in the Hampton Roads area of Virginia announces that Republicans must vote on November 4th, Democrats on November 5th.
The somewhat official-looking flier - it features the state board logo and the state seal - is dated Oct. 24 and indicates that "an emergency session of the General Assembly has adopted the follwing (sic) emergency regulations to ease the load on local electorial (sic) precincts and ensure a fair electorial process."

The four-paragraph flier concludes with: "We are sorry for any inconvenience this may cause but felt this was the only way to ensure fairness to the complete electorial process." No emergency action has been taken by the General Assembly. It is not in session and lacks the authority to change the date of a federal election.

State Board of Election officials today said they are aware of the flier but disavowed any connection to it. "It's not even on our letterhead; they just copied the logo from our Web site," said agency staffer Ryan Enright, noting the flier has been forwarded to State Police for investigation as a possible incident of voter intimidation.

Ok...it's Official...I'm going to ........

Chillicothe, MO!

Chillicothe, population 8,968, has a total area of 6.6 square miles. The racial makeup of the city is 93.86% White, 3.69% African American, 0.41% Native American, 0.40% Asian, 0.35% from other races, and 1.29% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 0.96% of the population.

Chillicothe is also known as The Home of Sliced Bread.

So here I come!!

Keep an eye on the blog as I'll be uploading images and information as to how things are going on the ground.

Again...thank you all for your support!

The Top Ten Reasons Conservatives Should Vote For Obama

From Andrew Sullivan:

10. A body blow to racial identity politics. An end to the era of Jesse Jackson in black America.

9. Less debt. Yes, Obama will raise taxes on those earning over a quarter of a million. And he will spend on healthcare, Iraq, Afghanistan and the environment. But so will McCain. He plans more spending on health, the environment and won't touch defense of entitlements. And his refusal to touch taxes means an extra $4 trillion in debt over the massive increase presided over by Bush. And the CBO estimates that McCain's plans will add more to the debt over four years than Obama's.

8. A return to realism and prudence in foreign policy. McCain's knee-jerk reaction to the Georgian conflict, his commitment to stay in Iraq indefinitely, and his brinksmanship over Iran's nuclear ambitions make him a far riskier choice for conservatives.

7. An ability to understand the difference between listening to generals and delegating foreign policy to them.

6. Temperament. Obama has the coolest, calmest demeanor of any president since Eisenhower. Conservatism values that kind of constancy, especially compared with the hot-headed, irrational impulsiveness of McCain.

5. Faith. Obama's fusion of Christianity and reason, his non-fundamentalist faith, is a critical bridge between the new atheism and the new Christianism.

4. A truce in the culture war. Obama takes us past the debilitating warfare that has raged since the 1960s. Nothing has distorted our politics so gravely; nothing has made a rational politics more elusive.

3. Two words: President Palin.

2. Conservative reform. Until conservatism can get a distance from the big-spending, privacy-busting, debt-ridden, crony-laden, fundamentalist, intolerant, incompetent and arrogant faux conservatism of the Bush-Cheney years, it will never regain a coherent message to actually govern this country again. The survival of conservatism requires a temporary eclipse of today's Republicanism. Losing would be the best thing to happen to conservatism since 1964. Back then, conservatives lost in a landslide for the right reasons. Now, Republicans are losing in a landslide for the wrong reasons.

1. The War Against Islamist terror. The strategy deployed by Bush and Cheney has failed. It has failed to destroy al Qaeda, except in Iraq, where their presence was minimal before the US invasion. It has failed to bring any of the terrorists to justice, instead creating the excresence of Gitmo, torture, secret sites, and the collapse of America's reputation abroad. It has empowered Iran, allowed al Qaeda to regroup in Pakistan, made the next vast generation of Muslims loathe America, and imperiled our alliances.

Those conservatives who remain convinced, as I do, that Islamist terror remains the greatest threat to the West cannot risk a perpetuation of the failed Manichean worldview of the past eight years, and cannot risk the possibility of McCain making rash decisions in the middle of a potentially catastrophic global conflict. If you are serious about the war on terror and believe it is a war we have to win, the only serious candidate is Barack Obama.

Widespread Touch Screen Vote Flipping!!

I know people don't like this subject. But we must confront it, right now, with our eyes open to prevent total chaos and, more importantly, total heartache from happening on November 4th.

ES&S iVotronics touch screens have already been observed in four completely separate States, flipping the votes of people voting for Obama to McCain. Eye-witnesses report repeated, consistent flipping of votes already occurring in the States of: West Virginia, Tennessee, Missouri, and Texas that have had early voting. Missouri, of course, is a key background State in McCain's electoral vote math.

These are not "glitches".
This is also not the result of just "one faulty machine".
How about some straight-talk:

Fact: This is not a "glitch".
Fact: This is not a one machine problem.
Fact: This is not a one State problem.
Fact: This is not a one Election problem.
Fact: This is neither a "theory", nor speculation. It's real.
Fact: The Democratic candidate is getting their vote systematically stolen.

Still think it's not possible?
Here's a video of a confession made under oath by a computer programmer:

Pro-Business Financial Times Endorses Obama

US presidential elections involve a fabulous expense of time, effort and money. Doubtless it is all too much – but, by the end, nobody can complain that the candidates have been too little scrutinised. We have learnt a lot about Barack Obama and John McCain during this campaign. In our view, it is enough to be confident that Mr Obama is the right choice.

Mr Obama fought a much better campaign. Campaigning is not the same as governing, and the presidency should not be a prize for giving the best speeches. Nonetheless, a campaign is a test of leadership. Mr Obama ran his superbly; Mr McCain’s has looked a shambles. After eight years of George W. Bush, the steady competence of the Obama operation commands respect.

Nor should one disdain Mr Obama’s way with a crowd. Good presidents engage the country’s attention; great ones inspire. Mr McCain is an adequate speaker. Mr Obama is as fine a political orator as the country has heard in decades. Put to the right purposes, this is no mere decoration but a priceless asset.

We applaud his main domestic proposal to achieve nearly universal insurance without the mandates of rival schemes: it combines a far-sighted goal with moderation in the method. Mr McCain’s plan, based on extending tax relief beyond employer-provided insurance is too timid and would widen coverage much less.

Rest assured that, should he win, Mr Obama is bound to disappoint. How could he not? He is expected to heal the country’s racial divisions, improve middle-class living standards, cut almost everybody’s taxes, transform the image of the United States abroad, end the losses in Iraq, deal with the mess in Afghanistan and much more besides.

Succeeding in those endeavours would require more than uplifting oratory and presidential deportment even if the economy were growing rapidly, which it will not be.

The challenges facing the next president will be extraordinary. We hesitate to wish it on anyone, but we hope that Mr Obama gets the job.

Palin's Nightmare

Now does Sarah mean a state:

* That snatches its victims off the street, denies them all form of legal process and whisks them away to secret sites where they can be tortured using all the techniques described in Arthur Koestler’s 'Darkness at Noon'?
* That arrests and prosecutes its political adversaries for imaginary crimes so as to eliminate them from the running in election cycles in which they could do some damage?
* That destroys the careers of professional military men because they got promotions under a prior regime and therefore considers them disloyal?
* That believes it can detain and hold its enemies forever without any charges or any evidence against them, denying them access to courts to prove their innocence?
* That constantly manipulates the population’s fear whenever its public popularity slips and elections begin to approach?
* That believes that it can make no errors, and that those who point to its errors are traitors?
* That systematically spies on millions of its citizens in direct violation of a criminal statute which forbids such surveillance?
* That lies to its people about threats from abroad in an effort to build popular support for a series of wars and then cites the existence of those wars as a reason to suppress dissent?
* That nationalizes the debt of predatory capitalists so they suffer no punishment for their misconduct and then nationalizes major financial institutions, converting the nation’s free market system into a socialism in which crony capitalists are a privileged elite?

Sarah, honey, it's going to be ok....you have no need to fear the future.

Latest Poll Results (10-27-08)

RCP Average Obama 50.4 McCain 43.1 Obama +7.3

Rasmussen Reports Obama 51 McCain 46 Obama +5

Reuters/C-SPAN/Zogby Obama 50 McCain 45 Obama +5

Gallup (Traditional) Obama 50 McCain 45 Obama +5

Gallup (Expanded) Obama 52 McCain 43 Obama +9

Hotline/FD Obama 50 McCain 42 Obama +8

ABC News/Wash Post Obama 52 McCain 45 Obama +7

IBD/TIPP Obama 47 McCain 43 Obama +4

Newsweek Obama 53 McCain 41 Obama +12

GWU/Battleground Obama 49 McCain 46 Obama +3

CBS News/NY Times Obama 52 McCain 39 Obama +13

FOX News Obama 49 McCain 40 Obama +9

October Surprise? U.S. CHOPPERS STRIKE TARGETS IN SYRIA

DAMASCUS, Syria (AP) - U.S. military helicopters attacked territory inside Syria close to its border with Iraq Sunday, killing eight people in a strike the Syrian government condemned as "serious aggression."
A U.S. military official said the raid by special forces targeted the foreign fighter network that travels through Syria into Iraq in an area where the Americans have been unable to shut it down because it was out of the military's reach.

"We are taking matters into our own hands," the official told The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because of the political sensitivity of cross-border raids.

The attack came just days after the commander of U.S. forces in western Iraq said American troops were redoubling efforts to secure the Syrian border, which he called an "uncontrolled" gateway for fighters entering Iraq.

The U.S. military in Baghdad did not immediately respond to a request for comment after Sunday's raid.

Alaska's Largest Newspaper Endorses Obama

Alaska enters its 50th-anniversary year in the glow of an improbable and highly memorable event: the nomination of Gov. Sarah Palin as the Republican vice presidential candidate. For the first time ever, an Alaskan is making a serious bid for national office, and in doing so she brings broad attention and recognition not only to herself, but also to the state she leads.

Palin's nomination clearly alters the landscape for Alaskans as we survey this race for the presidency -- but it does not overwhelm all other judgment. The election is not about Sarah Palin, and Sen. John McCain, is the wrong choice for president at this critical time for our nation.

Sen. Barack Obama brings far more promise to the office. In a time of grave economic crisis, he displays thoughtful analysis, enlists wise counsel and operates with a cool, steady hand. The same cannot be said of Sen. McCain.

Since his early acknowledgement that economic policy is not his strong suit, Sen. McCain has stumbled and fumbled badly in dealing with the accelerating crisis as it emerged. He declared that "the fundamentals of our economy are strong" at 9 a.m. one day and by 11 a.m. was describing an economy in crisis. He is both a longtime advocate of less market regulation and a supporter of the huge Wall Street bailout. His erratic behavior in this crisis --a kind description -- shows him to be ill-equipped to lead.

Sen. Obama warned regulators and the nation 19 months ago that the subprime lending crisis was a disaster in the making. Sen. McCain backed tighter rules for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, but didn't do much to advance that legislation. Of the two candidates, Sen. Obama better understands the mortgage meltdown's root causes and has the judgment and intelligence to shape a solution, as well as the leadership to rally the country behind it. It is easy to look at Sen. Obama and see a return to the smart, bipartisan economic policies of the last Democratic administration in Washington, which left the country with the momentum of growth and a budget surplus that President George Bush has squandered.

Sen. McCain describes himself as a maverick, but it is Sen. Obama who truly promises fundamental change in Washington. You need look no further than the lies and distortions of the McCain campaign to see how readily McCain embraces the divisive, fear-mongering tactics of Karl Rove.

On the most important issues of the day, Sen. Obama is a clear choice.

AP Report: Palin Curbed Pipeline Bids

ANCHORAGE, Alaska — Gov. Sarah Palin's signature accomplishment _ a contract to build a 1,715-mile pipeline to bring natural gas from Alaska to the Lower 48 _ emerged from a flawed bidding process that narrowed the field to a company with ties to her administration.

Beginning at the Republican National Convention in August, the McCain-Palin ticket has touted the pipeline as an example of how it would help America achieve energy independence.

"We're building a nearly $40 billion natural gas pipeline, which is North America's largest and most expensive infrastructure project ever, to flow those sources of energy into hungry markets," Palin said during the Oct. 2 vice presidential debate.

Despite Palin's boast of a smart and fair bidding process, the AP found that her team crafted terms that favored only a few independent pipeline companies and ultimately benefited the winner, TransCanada Corp.

In interviews and a review of records, the AP found:

_Instead of creating a process that would attract many potential builders, Palin slanted the terms away from an important group _ the global energy giants that own the rights to the gas.

_Despite promises and legal guidance not to talk directly with potential bidders, Palin had meetings or phone calls with nearly every major candidate, including TransCanada.

_The leader of Palin's pipeline team had been a partner at a lobbying firm where she worked on behalf of a TransCanada subsidiary. Also, that woman's former business partner was TransCanada's lead lobbyist on the pipeline deal. Plus, a former TransCanada executive served as a consultant to Palin's pipeline team.

_Under a different set of rules four years earlier, TransCanada had offered to build the pipeline without a state subsidy; under Palin, the company could receive a maximum $500 million.

Palin's team was led by Marty Rutherford, a widely respected energy specialist who entered the upper levels of state government nearly 20 years ago.

What the Palin administration didn't tell legislators was that in 2003, Rutherford left public service and worked at the Anchorage-based Jade North lobbying firm. There she did $40,200 worth of work for Foothills Pipe Lines Alaska, Inc., a subsidiary of TransCanada.

Foothills Pipe Lines Alaska Inc. paid Rutherford for expertise on topics including state legislation and funding related to gas commercialization, according to her 2003 lobbyist registration statement.

Palin has said she wasn't bothered by that past work, but Rutherford wouldn't have passed Palin's own standards: Under ethics reforms the governor pushed through, Rutherford would have had to wait a year to jump from government service to a lobbying firm.

Obama Pitches Self in New Ad

Flailing Christian Right Intensifies Attacks on Obama

Terrorist strikes on four American cities. Russia rolling into Eastern Europe. Israel hit by a nuclear bomb. Gay marriage in every state. The end of the Boy Scouts.

According to a campaign conversation called "Letter from 2012 in Obama's America," produced by the conservative Christian group Focus on the Family Action, all are plausible scenarios if Democrat Barack Obama is elected president.

The imagined look into the future is part of an escalation in rhetoric from Christian right activists who are trying to paint Obama in the worst possible terms as the campaign heads into the final stretch and polls show the Democrat ahead.

The tenor of the strikes against Obama illustrate just how worried conservative Christian activists are about what should happen to their causes and influence if Democrats seize control of both Congress and the White House.

"It looks like, walks like, talks like and smells like desperation to me," said the Rev. Kirbyjon Caldwell of Houston, an Obama supporter who backed President Bush in the past two elections. The Methodist pastor called the 2012 letter "false and ridiculous."

"Everyone uses fear in the last part of a campaign, but evangelicals are especially theologically prone to those sorts of arguments," said Clyde Wilcox, a Georgetown University political scientist. "There's a long tradition of predicting doom and gloom."

McCain Faces Palin Problems

Four Republicans close to Palin said she has decided increasingly to disregard the advice of the former Bush aides tasked to handle her, creating tense situations as she travels the country with them. Those Palin supporters, inside the campaign and out, said Palin blames McCain for a tarnished public image -- even as others in McCain's camp blame the pick of the relatively inexperienced Alaska governor, and her public performance, for McCain's decline.

"She's lost confidence in most of the people in the McCain camp," said a senior Republican who speaks to Palin. He said Palin had begun to "go rogue" in some of her public pronouncements and decisions.

Anger among Republicans who see Palin as a star and as a potential future leader has boiled over because they see senior McCain aides preparing to blame her in the event he is defeated.

"These people are going to shred her after the campaign and divert blame from themselves," said a McCain insider.

A timely take on an old favorite:



And my favorite:


This blog entry sent from an iPhone

McCain's Pennsylvania Campaign Communications Director Implicated In Mugger Hoax

John Verrilli, the news director for KDKA in Pittsburgh, told Election Central that McCain's
Pennsylvania campaign communications director gave one of his reporters a detailed version
of the attack that included a claim that the alleged attacker said, "You're with the McCain campaign?
I'm going to teach you a lesson."

Verrilli also told Verrilli that the McCain spokesperson had claimed that the "B" stood for Barack.


This blog entry sent from an iPhone

Maybe Anger Management Issues Run in the Family....

John McCain's Brother Calls 911 To Complain About Traffic



Why does John McCain's brother hate our patriotic police officers?

Operator: 911. State your emergency.
Caller: It's not an emergency but do you know why on one side at the damn drawbridge of 95, traffic is stopped for 15 minutes and yet traffic's coming the other way?
Operator: Sir, are you calling 911 to complain about traffic? (pause)
Caller: Fuck you. (caller hangs up)

The 911 operator, apparently, unnerved by use of the 911 emergency number to complain about bad traffic, called back the phone number that placed the call. The operator reached a voice mail message that said,

"Hi this is Joe McCain I can't take this message now because I'm involved in a very (inaudible) important political project... I hope on Nov. 4th we have elected John." Outraged by the operator's action, the man called 911 a second time. That conversation went as follows:

Caller: Somebody gave me this riot act about the violation of police.
Operator: Did you just call 911 in reference to this?
Caller: Yeah.
Operator: 911 is to be used for emergencies only, not just because you're sitting in traffic.

Newspaper Endorsements: Obama 127 vs. McCain 49

Obama continues to dominate with newspaper endorsements:

At least 28 papers have now switched to Obama from Bush in 2004, with just four flipping to McCain.

McCain Adviser Endorses Obama

Charles Fried, a professor at Harvard Law School, has long been one of the most
important conservative thinkers in the United States. Under President Reagan, he
served as Solicitor General of the United States. Since then, he has been prominently
associated with several Republican leaders and candidates, most recently John McCain,
for whom he expressed his enthusiastic support in January.

This week, Fried announced that he has voted for Obama-Biden by absentee ballot.

He has also asked that his name be removed from the several campaign-related committees
on which he serves. In that letter, he said that chief among the reasons for his decision "is the choice
of Sarah Palin at a time of deep national crisis."

Palin's Makeup Artist Is McCain's Highest Paid Staffer For First Half Of October

If Palin's $150,000 shopping spree had Republicans disgusted, then the report that her
makeup stylist cost $22,800 for the first two weeks of October should have them livid.

The stylist, Amy Strozzi, was apparently paid more than any other McCain staffer during that period.

Two weeks people!

Fox News regarding the McCain Campaign Worker

A prominent Fox News commentator states:

If the mugging incident turns out to be a hoax, Senator McCain’s quest for the presidency is over;
he will forever linked to race-baiting.

and here's how folks are commenting on the revelation that it IS a lie:

1). "I just found out that the attack was a hoax and I have NO choice but to vote for Obama. This is much worse than
McCain/Palin's lies about raising taxes, not being a natural born citizen and taking his oath of office on the Koran.

This is so much worse.

I now understand why you Obama people like the Obama Kool-Aid.

2). "I'm so fed up with what my party (GOP) has been doing that I'm jumping ship. Until they can decide to be civil and
run a campaign based on ISSUES I'm voting Democrat. Obama and his camp have so much more class and much better
ideas. Ugh!"

3). "Can I just go ahead and vote for Obama and get this election over with? As a life long republican, right now I feel so dirty!"

McCain Campaign Worker Who Claimed Mugging: "I Lied"

Police say a McCain campaign volunteer confessed to making up a story that a "dark-skinned black man"
mugged her and cut the letter B in her face after seeing her McCain bumper sticker; now she's facing charges.

At a news conference this afternoon, officials said they believe that Ashley Todd's injuries were
self-inflicted. Todd, 20, of Texas, is now facing charges for filing a false report to police.

Todd initially told police that she was robbed at an ATM in Bloomfield and that the suspect began
beating her after seeing her GOP sticker on her car.

Police investigating the alleged attack, however, began to notice some inconsistencies in her story
and administered a polygraph test.

Investigators asked Todd to return to the police station today for more questioning and to help them
release a composite sketch of the suspect.

When she did, police say she admitted that she made the whole thing up and that it snowballed out
of control. Todd told investigators today that she "just wanted to tell the truth" – adding that she was neither
robbed, nor attacked.

According to police, Todd said she thought of Barack Obama when she saw the "B" in her rearview mirror.

Officials say they do not believe any other people were involved; and Todd's friends believed the story about
the attack – encouraging her to call police.

Halloween

New York Times Endorses Obama

The United States is battered and drifting after eight years of President Bush’s failed leadership.
He is saddling his successor with two wars, a scarred global image and a government systematically
stripped of its ability to protect and help its citizens — whether they are fleeing a hurricane’s
floodwaters, searching for affordable health care or struggling to hold on to their homes, jobs,
savings and pensions in the midst of a financial crisis that was foretold and preventable.

As tough as the times are, the selection of a new president is easy. After nearly two years of a
grueling and ugly campaign, Senator Barack Obama of Illinois has proved that he is the right
choice to be the 44th president of the United States.

Mr. Obama has met challenge after challenge, growing as a leader and putting real flesh on his early
promises of hope and change. He has shown a cool head and sound judgment. We believe he has the
will and the ability to forge the broad political consensus that is essential to finding solutions to this
nation’s problems.

In the same time, Senator John McCain of Arizona has retreated farther and farther to the fringe of American
politics, running a campaign on partisan division, class warfare and even hints of racism. His policies and
worldview are mired in the past. His choice of a running mate so evidently unfit for the office was a final
act of opportunism and bad judgment that eclipsed the accomplishments of 26 years in Congress.

Mr. Obama has withstood some of the toughest campaign attacks ever mounted against a candidate. He’s been
called un-American and accused of hiding a secret Islamic faith. The Republicans have linked him to domestic
terrorists and questioned his wife’s love of her country. Ms. Palin has also questioned millions of Americans’
patriotism, calling Republican-leaning states “pro-America.”

This country needs sensible leadership, compassionate leadership, honest leadership and strong leadership.
Barack Obama has shown that he has all of those qualities.


Click here to read the full endorsement

Chris Matthews Plays Hardball

Eesshh....remind me to be really prepared if I ever go on this show.....