BS: Notes on the Presidential Campaign

Subject: RE: BS: Notes on the Presidential Campaign
From: Charley Noble
Date: 04 Nov 08 - 10:27 AM

According to Goggle:

"Number of Cities, Towns and Villages in the United States ( Answered 5 out of 5 ... we arrive at a total of 18,218 places in the 50 states."

So only 18,216 to go!

Cheerily,
Charley Noble

Subject: RE: BS: Notes on the Presidential Campaign
From: Charley Noble
Date: 04 Nov 08 - 10:22 AM

Two towns down! How many left to rack up?

Charley Noble

Subject: RE: BS: Notes on the Presidential Campaign
From: curmudgeon
Date: 04 Nov 08 - 05:55 AM

Obama has won his first two towns in NH, the first Democrat to do so since Hubert Humphrey.

More details   here.

Subject: RE: BS: Notes on the Presidential Campaign
From: Riginslinger
Date: 03 Nov 08 - 10:12 PM

Okay! He'll be gone on 1/21/09.

Subject: RE: BS: Notes on the Presidential Campaign
From: Amos
Date: 03 Nov 08 - 07:54 PM

I think the absence of a despot at the top is an improvement, but one which is badly obscured by (a) the ham-fisted mismanagement of the whole military campaign until the "awakening", and (b) the presence of a whole slew of lesser despots desperately trying to preserve their despotic spheres against any improvement.


That said, I am completely in agreement about the wisdom of the initial choice made by Bush in launching the invasion; it was a profoundly misguided, unintelligent, misestimated, and immoral step.


A

Subject: RE: BS: Notes on the Presidential Campaign
From: Riginslinger
Date: 03 Nov 08 - 07:35 PM

"...the Rev Wright was right."


             So what's your beef?

Subject: RE: BS: Notes on the Presidential Campaign
From: McGrath of Harlow
Date: 03 Nov 08 - 07:06 PM

If you're an Iraqi who is still alive and if you haven't had too many of your family killed, and if you aren't one of the millions who have been driven into exile, I suppose it's possible that life might be better than before the invasion.   But those are pretty big "if"s!!!

Subject: RE: BS: Notes on the Presidential Campaign
From: Bill D
Date: 03 Nov 08 - 07:00 PM

Here is the group running those ads in Maryland (just saw it again!)

Nasty ....

Subject: RE: BS: Notes on the Presidential Campaign
From: Richard Bridge
Date: 03 Nov 08 - 06:51 PM

As I have pointed out before, slimeball, the Rev Wright was right.

And Amos - you may be right (funny that more Iraqis have been dying since the invasion) or you may be wrong that life for Iraqis has improved (I don't think I believe you) - but the USA had no right to invade Iraq on that cause. How would the USA respond if Russia invaded it to improve the US's economics?

Subject: RE: BS: Notes on the Presidential Campaign
From: Riginslinger
Date: 03 Nov 08 - 06:11 PM

It's about time, too!

Subject: RE: BS: Notes on the Presidential Campaign
From: Bill D
Date: 03 Nov 08 - 05:54 PM

The GOP in Pennsylvania is now running THIS ad!. Wouldn't you know it?

The thing is, some other GOP umbrella group is running one VERY similar in Maryland! I have seen it 3 times now. It is not 'officially' being done BY the McCain campaign, but it is despicable.

Subject: RE: BS: Notes on the Presidential Campaign
From: Amos
Date: 03 Nov 08 - 05:40 PM

Well, to be fair now, Barry, the hard-oppressed tribal peoples of Iraq put up with worse while Saddam was in power. Their lot has improved a little . Aside from that I generally agree with you completely.


A

Subject: RE: BS: Notes on the Presidential Campaign
From: Barry Finn
Date: 03 Nov 08 - 05:38 PM

BB
Your copy/paste about fears of an overwhelming Democrate government are what we had to deal with for the past 8 yrs of Republician majority rule & they really fucked it up, royally. A House & Senate & an administration (& an SS Court) that saw fit to fight the American people tooth & nail while fighting the world to boot. They trashed civil & human rights at home & abroad, started 2 wars, caused a world economic bankruptcy, divided not just a nation but pit a world against it's self, tried to justifiy the destruction of the earth's enviorment for profit, put faith before future, crippled our educational & health care systems instead of improving them, tried to rape our Social Security system (imagine where it would've been if they succeeded?) stole our civil liberties that were granted us as citizens when this nation was first founded & were part of the reason this nation was founded. We, the American people have indured the without revolt what no other nation would suffer & this election is our revolt against all the injustices that have been heaped upon US for the past 8 yrs. Tomorrow is the people's day & they will reign rightous, have no fear, it'll be a celerbration to remember.

Barry

Subject: RE: BS: Notes on the Presidential Campaign
From: Amos
Date: 03 Nov 08 - 05:33 PM

So glad to see you and Justin have found each other, Rig. You really deserve each other; just don't talk about religion, okay?


A

Subject: RE: BS: Notes on the Presidential Campaign
From: Riginslinger
Date: 03 Nov 08 - 05:20 PM

"Famed boxing promoter Don King, who backed George W. Bush in the 2004 US presidential election, urged Americans to set aside race issues and support Barack Obama's historic bid for the White House."


             He's punch drunk. That's why his hair stands straight up all the time.

Subject: RE: BS: Notes on the Presidential Campaign
From: GUEST,Justin Urquart
Date: 03 Nov 08 - 05:07 PM

Obamas granny just joined the nightshift.

Subject: RE: BS: Notes on the Presidential Campaign
From: Amos
Date: 03 Nov 08 - 04:39 PM

Obama and the Better Angels of Our Nature (The Nation)


...At the close of his first inaugural address, Abraham Lincoln spoke to those who would divide the United States.

"We are not enemies, but friends," said the 16th president. "We must not be enemies. Though passion may have strained it must not break our bonds of affection. The mystic chords of memory, stretching from every battlefield and patriot grave to every living heart and hearthstone all over this broad land, will yet swell the chorus of the Union, when again touched, as surely they will be, by the better angels of our nature."

Almost 150 years after Lincoln uttered those words, America is again divided.

The question that will be answered by voters on this first Tuesday in November is whether the land must remain divided.

Eight years of George Bush's tragically flawed attempt at a presidency have strained the very fabric of the American experiment. Our debates about war and peace, taxes and spending, civil rights and civil liberties have developed bitter edges that suggest we are enemies: Democrat versus Republican, Red State versus Blue State, liberal versus conservative.

The banner-carrier of Lincoln's Republican party in this fall's election, John McCain, has torn open holes in that fabric, exploiting the oldest and ugliest of our differences.

And yet, most Americans are still touched by the better angels of our nature.

We still believe that this great nation can and should be what Lincoln imagined: "the last best hope of Earth."

That, more than any of the vagaries of campaign finance, battleground-state calculations or simplistic candidate comparisons, explains why Barack Obama's campaign for the presidency has been so successful -- and why its success has become an imperative no less consequential than those of other historic candidacies: Jefferson in 1800, Lincoln in 1860, Roosevelt in 1932.

It may be mere coincidence that Obama is, like Lincoln, an Illinoisan with a relatively short resume of electoral service.

But as Obama submits himself to what his home-state predecessor called "this great tribunal of the American people," we are reminded of the essential message of Lincoln's distant campaigning: "The dogmas of the quiet past are inadequate to the stormy present. The occasion is piled high with difficulty, and we must rise -- with the occasion. As our case is new, so we must think anew, and act anew and then we shall save our country."

The more cautious among us still suggest that to support Obama requires too great a leap of faith, just as it has always been suggested of young men who bid for the presidency before the established order judges it to be their time. But the American people have a history of understanding, as they did with Lincoln, Teddy Roosevelt, Franklin Roosevelt and John Kennedy, that sound judgment and an ability to inspire should count for more than a long resume and the burden of knowing too much of what is not supposed to be achievable and too little of the infinite possibility of this unfinished American project.

Subject: RE: BS: Notes on the Presidential Campaign
From: Amos
Date: 03 Nov 08 - 04:27 PM

Leonardo DiCaprio is crossing his fingers for a US election win by Democrat Barack Obama and said Monday he believes the rest of the world is, too.

"I think it is the true ideals and dreams of America to have an African-American president named Barack Obama to be the representation of the United States at a time like this," said DiCaprio, in Paris as co-star of Middle-East themed movie "Body of Lies."

Obama, DiCaprio went on, is "a man that has great policies, a man that is a great intellectual, who knows what he's doing."

"I've my fingers crossed that he will win because I think he'll make some dramatic changes in our country that we're looking for, but the rest of the world is as well."

Talking to reporters about his role as a gritty CIA operative tracking terrorists in Ridley Scott's latest movie on conflict between the West and the Arab world, DiCaprio added that in this troubled world, most countries were rooting for Obama.

Subject: RE: BS: Notes on the Presidential Campaign
From: Amos
Date: 03 Nov 08 - 04:22 PM

Famed boxing promoter Don King, who backed George W. Bush in the 2004 US presidential election, urged Americans to set aside race issues and support Barack Obama's historic bid for the White House.

"If Barack Obama was white, it would be a landslide win in this election," King said.

"For those Americans who just can't fathom voting for an African-American when you go into the voting booth, as God to help you pretend that Barack Obama is white."

King, known for his high-standing gray hair and over-the-top talkative nature when hyping fights, is in China to promote a boxing card.

But that did not stop him from releasing a statement Monday urging support of Obama, a fellow African-American, in Tuesday's US election to decide a replacement for Bush, an unpopular US leader and political foe of Obama.

"To my fellow Americans who feel they just can't vote for a black man, I want you to know that I am emphatic, sympathetic and commiserate with your plight," King said.

"After more than three centuries of being taught, conditioned and indoctinated to hate the black man as your inferior, it is unrealistic to think that now you can just change to respect him. That's easier said than done.

"Try not to think of Barack Obama as a black man but as an American fighting for what's best for your children and your country."

Subject: RE: BS: Notes on the Presidential Campaign
From: McGrath of Harlow
Date: 02 Nov 08 - 07:44 PM

Here's a handy site for anybody obsessed with American politics - Real Clear Politics Seems to link to about everything.

Subject: RE: BS: Notes on the Presidential Campaign
From: Amos
Date: 02 Nov 08 - 07:17 PM

I just sent his (Obama) campaign another $25, despite the lead, despite the polls. I can't afford not to have him in the White House. I think a McCain presidency would drag us deeper into Hooverville.

HEre's to Obam in 08!!!



A

Subject: RE: BS: Notes on the Presidential Campaign
From: heric
Date: 02 Nov 08 - 06:55 PM

(Yeah, that's what I meant. If we knew who they really prefer, we'd know who not to trust.)

Subject: RE: BS: Notes on the Presidential Campaign
From: McGrath of Harlow
Date: 02 Nov 08 - 06:53 PM

"If they could isolate and identify the financial elite in each country, then it might hold some interest. "

You'd hardly want to take the advice of those buffoons on anything, in the light of what they've done to the economy.

Subject: RE: BS: Notes on the Presidential Campaign
From: katlaughing
Date: 02 Nov 08 - 05:21 PM

I liked this from the CSM:

This election is not about major policies. It's about hope.
By Jonathan Curley

from the November 3, 2008 edition

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. He voted for George H.W. Bush twice and George W. Bush once.

Subject: RE: BS: Notes on the Presidential Campaign
From: Riginslinger
Date: 02 Nov 08 - 03:23 PM

That must be Alaskan for Biden/Obama, what?

Subject: RE: BS: Notes on the Presidential Campaign
From: Ebbie
Date: 02 Nov 08 - 03:22 PM

This morning I was sent a new lawn sign: Geezer ________ Dingbat

Subject: RE: BS: Notes on the Presidential Campaign
From: Amos
Date: 02 Nov 08 - 09:22 AM

Actually, Riginslimer, it is because it happens to be his name.



A

Subject: RE: BS: Notes on the Presidential Campaign
From: dick greenhaus
Date: 01 Nov 08 - 05:38 PM

I sort of like Pilin's warning that Obama's policies would wreck the economy. From where it is now, a wreck would be a considerable improvement.

Subject: RE: BS: Notes on the Presidential Campaign
From: Riginslinger
Date: 01 Nov 08 - 03:44 PM

You can see why they call him "Blow."

Subject: RE: BS: Notes on the Presidential Campaign
From: Amos
Date: 01 Nov 08 - 02:58 PM

Charles Blow, NYT Columnist:

"...So McCain's final volley was to brand Barack Obama a socialist, assail his associations and rile up the rurals. For that to work, everything else would have to fall in McCain's favor. To say that it hasn't is a gross understatement.

Oct. 19: Colin Powell endorses Obama.

Oct. 20: Al Qaeda endorses McCain.

Oct. 22: Sarah Palin gets smacked down for dressing up. (You know it's hard out here when you primp.)

Oct. 23: The candidates personally reach out to a campaign volunteer who claimed that a black man had carved a backward "B" on her face during a mugging to punish her for not supporting Obama. The volunteer later confesses to fabricating the story. Scars all around.

Oct. 24: $22,800 for makeup. Wow.

Oct. 25: McCain's people begin to turn on Palin, making her sound like the title character of a bad movie: "Whack job," "diva," "gone rogue."

Oct. 28: The Pew Center reports that Obama leads among early voters by a margin of 19 percent.

Oct. 29: Obama buys a chunk of prime-time and broadcasts a love-in to himself, then he has a late-night rally with his former grudge buddy Bill Clinton. It looks like a coronation. McCain responds on Larry King in a room that looks like the lobby of a funeral parlor.

Throughout October: The Republican Egghead Revolt: the party's highbrows huff that the appeal of the Grand Old Party needs to be broader than the audience of the Grand Ole Opry. Many defect to Obama.

And there you have it — a calamity of missteps and misfortunes.

Of course, anything could happen. There are three days left. McCain could still win. And, a drunk man wearing a blindfold could get a puck past Marc-André Fleury.

Yeah, unlikely. It's a wrap. Fade to black.".


A

Subject: RE: BS: Notes on the Presidential Campaign
From: Janie
Date: 01 Nov 08 - 12:38 PM

As of Thursday, more than 50 % of the registered voters in my county (Orange Co., NC) have already voted.

Subject: RE: BS: Notes on the Presidential Campaign
From: GUEST,heric
Date: 31 Oct 08 - 08:55 PM

And if the world gets what they want, then what happens? Nothing.



"[B]y no means scientific" is surely an understatement. If they could isolate and idenify the financial elite on each country, then it might hold some interest.

Subject: RE: BS: Notes on the Presidential Campaign
From: Amos
Date: 31 Oct 08 - 08:51 PM

"...First and foremost, Republicans are actively seeking to suppress the voter turnout among the youth and minorities and poor people likely to support Obama.

In Indiana, for example, Republicans filed a lawsuit to block early voting in and around the struggling industrial city of Gary. Republicans lost the suit, but they are appealing.

Republicans are sending private investigators to intimidate lower-class Democratic voters in New Mexico who were legitimately registered by ACORN and other grassroots organizations. (Please see related postings exposing the fraudulent swiftboat-style attacks on ACORN to distract public scrutiny of the Republican vote scams.)

Under the Help America Vote Act (HAVA), voter ID laws or being erratically enforced around the country. Some (not all) Republican election officials have been accused of requiring government-issued photo IDs from all voters, which impacts those in poverty as well as legal immigrants who often lack the means to obtain birth records and other documents needed for photo IDs.

While Ohio now allows voters to prove their identity with any array of documents, for example, Republican dominated states like Kansas and Missouri are enforcing the strictest possible interpretation of the law in urban areas likely to vote Democratic.

Another tactic is removing American citizens from the voter registries for dubious reasons. Here in Colorado, for example, as reported by the New York Times, more than 37,000 names were purged from the registration database by the Republican Secretary of State Mike Coffman, who critics contend should have resigned his post from the conflict-of-interest when he won the Republican nomination to run for congress. The Colorado court of appeals on October 30 ordered these voter registrations restored, fortunately.

Also here in Colorado, as another example, Republicans last month told students at liberal Colorado College (in conservative Colorado Springs) that students could not register to vote if their parents live out of state, which as untrue.

And right here in predominantly Democratic Denver, Republican-owned Sequoia voting systems company failed to deliver to the post office more than 10,000 mail-in ballots while telling city election officials that all of the expected 21,000 ballots had been mailed. (This incident represents only one of the required mailings.) Sequoia now admits they made a "technical" error, and the ballots have been mailed to waiting voters.

Elsewhere around the country, as you can learn with a simple Web search, we're seeing Republican voting officials being accused of disenfranchising voters in Democratic districts by not printing enough paper ballots, not assigning enough voting machines, or even reducing the number of polling places....

(Huffington Post)

Subject: RE: BS: Notes on the Presidential Campaign
From: Amos
Date: 31 Oct 08 - 03:35 PM

IF the rest of the world could vote in this election how would they vote?

Seems off hand that it would be the biggest Democratic landslide ever.

Except for Georgia, et alia.


A

Subject: RE: BS: Notes on the Presidential Campaign
From: Amos
Date: 31 Oct 08 - 03:08 PM

"Washington: Is there any reason I should have more confidence in Florida's ability to run a fair election this time around?

Dan Seligson: Florida has certainly been the "poster child" for election reform since 2000... but no state has done more to try address the problems it's been facing. The amount of change in the Sunshine State has been staggering - in South Florida they'll be using the third separate voting technology in as many presidential elections. That said, the Secretary of State (himself a former county election official) has repeatedly told his colleagues that they must do whatever they can to "not be the next Florida."

_______________________

Loudoun County, Va.: Please be sure to let everyone know that if they have any problems at their polling location -- if they have their drivers license or other valid identification and are turned away for any reason, or if they have any issues with the voting process, ballots or voting machine -- they immediately should call 1-800-OUR-VOTE. Volunteers will assist them. Don't walk away without voting!

Dan Seligson: Agreed. The only vote that is definitely not going to count is the one that doesn't get cast. "

_______________________

Other helpful questions about voting procedures on this site.

ALso of interest:www.elections.gmu.edu --the United States Election Project hosted by Prof. Michael McDonald of GMU--

The Washington Post's Vote Monitor page covers issues that come up.

HEre, also, is their Twitter string.

A

Subject: RE: BS: Notes on the Presidential Campaign
From: Amos
Date: 31 Oct 08 - 11:39 AM

The number of early voters throughout Illinois could top 700,000, said Dan White, executive director for the State Board of Elections. With absentee voters, White estimated nearly 1 million Illinois residents have voted.

By Wednesday, the top number of early voters turned out in Chicago's 42nd Ward, where 7,530 people cast ballots. The next four highest early voting totals were on the South Side: the 6th, 8th, 34th and 21st wards.

Rosemarie Bitner waited more than two hours Thursday to cast her vote at a library in Lake View.

Was it worth the wait?

"Oh absolutely," she said. "I would wait much longer for Obama anytime."

Before the polls opened Thursday morning, 85 people were in line at the 6th Ward polling place. The first people in line got there at 6 a.m., said James Allen, Chicago election board spokesman.

"They win the award for most patient, vigilant voters on the planet," Allen said.

Among Cook County suburbs, Orland Park led the pack with the most early voters, with more than 12,000 votes cast by Wednesday, according to County Clerk David Orr's office.

"I can't believe we waited in this line," Marion Caselberry said as she smoothed a fresh "I Voted!" sticker on her shirt after voting in Evanston. "Can you imagine what Tuesday will be like?"

...

---

THese are historic times, my friends....

Subject: RE: BS: Notes on the Presidential Campaign
From: Riginslinger
Date: 31 Oct 08 - 08:57 AM

Hopefully!

Subject: RE: BS: Notes on the Presidential Campaign
From: Charley Noble
Date: 31 Oct 08 - 08:44 AM

The ads from the Republican Trust PAC are on in full force in Maine. The Rev. Wright is back screaming "God damn America!" from the pulpit, the association with known terrorist Bill Ayers, association with Pro-Palestinian groups, the rise of socialism, and much much more. Weird that they would spend the money on such ads in Maine where Obama is leading in all polls by almost 20%.

The morning talk shows are discussing weather Palin was unfairly treated by the media, compared with Biden. Will a sympathy vote for Palin carry the day for McCain?

Charley Noble

Subject: RE: BS: Notes on the Presidential Campaign
From: beardedbruce
Date: 30 Oct 08 - 04:46 PM

Washington Post: (main editorial- after endorsing Obama.)


Can One Party Rule?
Neither Democrats nor Republicans have a monopoly on policy wisdom.

Thursday, October 30, 2008; Page A22

OUR OLD-FASHIONED inclination would be to wait for the election before discussing its results. But since Republican presidential nominee John McCain has introduced the specter of Democratic control as an argument in his favor, it seems reasonable to examine the case. Should voters choose Mr. McCain over Democrat Barack Obama so as not to empower the Obama-Reid-Pelosi triumvirate that Mr. McCain paints in such ominous shades? Alternatively, as some down-ballot Republicans are urging, should voters stick with GOP senators or members of Congress to keep a President Obama in check?

For true partisans of either stripe, there's no quandary here. Most true-blue Democrats would be delighted to see their party in charge of both ends of Pennsylvania Avenue, though some worry that subsequent overreaching might harm the party in the long run. Most true-red Republicans have mirror-image feelings. So the question is most pertinent for centrists and independent voters, who tend to have contradictory emotions. On the one hand, they bemoan gridlock in Washington and would like government finally to come up with answers on some big issues such as health care and energy. On the other hand, they worry about what those answers would be if formulated by one party alone.

We worry, too, though we support Mr. Obama even knowing the result may be one-party rule. A political theorist might root for the Democrats to win the White House, a 60-vote majority in the Senate and a clear majority in the House. Then voters could find out what the Democrats really stand for and render a thumbs-up or thumbs-down in two and four years -- just as they passed judgment in 2006 on the one-party rule (though short of 60-vote control in the Senate) of Tom DeLay, Ted Stevens and George W. Bush.


But we don't believe either party has a monopoly on policy wisdom. We liked Mr. Bush's insistence on accountability in education, tempered by Sen. Edward M. Kennedy's reminder that you couldn't fix urban schools without some money. We don't support the Democrats' plan to allow unionization without secret ballots, but we agree with them that National Labor Relations Board rules have tipped too far toward management. And so on. We like to think, in other words, that a process in which both parties play a role can sometimes lead to better outcomes and not always to dead ends.

That's harder to imagine, though, as each party's moderate wing shrinks. A Democratic sweep might bring to Washington some relatively centrist freshmen who would provide a check on the most liberal wing of the party. But it might claim as victims some of the few remaining Republican moderates, such as Sen. Gordon Smith of Oregon and Rep. Christopher Shays of Connecticut, and some of the real workhorses who are more interested in legislating than grandstanding -- the capable New Hampshire senator John E. Sununu, for example. The defeat of such politicians would be a loss for the country, not just for their party.

Subject: RE: BS: Notes on the Presidential Campaign
From: Amos
Date: 30 Oct 08 - 03:06 PM

Obama    McC       Net

RCP Electoral Count 311      142 Obama +169
No Toss Up States    364       174 Obama +190
Battleground States       Obama McCain Spread
Florida                     48.5 45.0 Obama +3.5
North Carolina             48.7 46.2 Obama +2.5
Virginia                   51.0 44.5 Obama +6.5
Ohio                        49.2 43.4 Obama +5.8
Missouri                   48.0 47.8 Obama +0.2
Colorado                   50.8 44.3 Obama +6.5
Nevada                      50.4 43.0 Obama +7.4


Keep your fingers crossed, your powder dry, and your eyes open.


A

Subject: RE: BS: Notes on the Presidential Campaign
From: Amos
Date: 30 Oct 08 - 01:40 PM

The stark contrast between the whiz-bang Clinton years and the dreary Bush years is familiar because it is so recent. But while it is extreme, it is not atypical. Data for the whole period from 1948 to 2007, during which Republicans occupied the White House for 34 years and Democrats for 26, show average annual growth of real gross national product of 1.64 percent per capita under Republican presidents versus 2.78 percent under Democrats.

"That 1.14-point difference, if maintained for eight years, would yield 9.33 percent more income per person, which is a lot more than almost anyone can expect from a tax cut.

"The two Great Partisan Divides combine to suggest that, if history is a guide, an Obama victory in November would lead to faster economic growth with less inequality, while a McCain victory would lead to slower economic growth with more inequality. Which part of the Obama menu don't you like? "


Cited from here

The quotation is from an article by Alan S. Blinder, a professor of economics and public affairs at Princeton and former vice chairman of the Federal Reserve."

Subject: RE: BS: Notes on the Presidential Campaign
From: Riginslinger
Date: 30 Oct 08 - 10:35 AM

I just hope the wrong guy doesn't steal this one!

Subject: RE: BS: Notes on the Presidential Campaign
From: Amos
Date: 30 Oct 08 - 10:27 AM

Stolen elections and media blackouts: An interview with Mark Crispin Miller is worth reading.


A

Subject: RE: BS: Notes on the Presidential Campaign
From: Amos
Date: 30 Oct 08 - 08:50 AM

To all those who name the name of Christ who plan to willfully disobey Him by voting for Obama, take warning... No, this election is not about race. It's not about the economy. It's about obeying God... Obey Him in the voting booth and out of it. If not, do us all a favor and quit calling yourself a Christian."
-- radio host and commentator Janet Porter


Ya gotta wonder how nutballs like this even get started. The election is about "obeying God"????? WTF??

I'm all for obeying GOd, mind youm when you can find Him. But the last time I checked he was not messing with the elections. He leaves that to his Fallen Friends.

Witness 2000, 2004, Nixon, and the fall of Carter.


A

Subject: RE: BS: Notes on the Presidential Campaign
From: heric
Date: 29 Oct 08 - 04:15 PM

>"There are many ways to lose a presidential election," wrote David Frum, Bush's former speechwriter, in the Washington Post. "John McCain is losing in a way that threatens to take the entire Republican Party down with him."" (Der Spiegel)<

Well, there's one prominent Republican who has got it ass-backwards. They'll want to blame McCain, when anyone who breathes knows it's their own damned fault, en masse. Are they able to learn?



(Or will we just have to endure eight years of Democratic incompetence and switch back to incopmetent Republicans?)

Subject: RE: BS: Notes on the Presidential Campaign
From: Riginslinger
Date: 29 Oct 08 - 03:59 PM

It's going to be interesting to see how god intervenes.

Subject: RE: BS: Notes on the Presidential Campaign
From: Amos
Date: 29 Oct 08 - 03:58 PM

The Atlantic reveals the Republican operative and Rove disciple who is Sarah Palin's Personal Shopper.


A

Subject: RE: BS: Notes on the Presidential Campaign
From: Amos
Date: 29 Oct 08 - 03:54 PM

"In an interview posted online Wednesday, Sarah Palin told Dr. James Dobson of "Focus on the Family" that she is confident God will do "the right thing for America" on Nov. 4.

...

She also thanked her supporters — including Dobson, who said he and his wife were asking "for God's intervention" on election day — for their prayers of support.

"It is that intercession that is so needed," she said. "And so greatly appreciated. And I can feel it too, Dr. Dobson. I can feel the power of prayer, and that strength that is provided through our prayer warriors across this nation. And I so appreciate it."

From this we can deduce that:

Sarah Palin believes God personally chooses our Presidents and Vice Presidents.
Sarah Palin believes that God should choose her as Vice President.
Sarah Palin believes that without God's intervention she will lose.
Sarah Palin is out of her mind. " (FireDOgLake)

Subject: RE: BS: Notes on the Presidential Campaign
From: Amos
Date: 29 Oct 08 - 03:42 PM

""We are one nation, all of us proud, all of us patriots," Obama said in Ohio. "Patriots who believe in Democratic policies and those who believe in Republican policies." And those who have served in the armed forces, he said, have not served a red America or a blue America, but the United States of America. These words echo his speech to the 2004 Democratic Party Convention -- the speech that made him famous.

It is a long-planned thematic arc, the finale of a clever drama, and nothing can put him off this course. The speech in the key swing state of Ohio -- where Obama for the first time returned to the hope rhetoric to go along with the key topics of taxes, health care, economy, education, foreign policy and energy -- was described by reporters as his "closing statement." The candidate was returning to the tenor of his beginnings in order to end his run with "a kind of positive appeal." The speech will also be sent to registered fans as a Web video.

McCain Uses Every Speech to Raise Fears

The way the two candidates are presenting themselves to the voters says a lot about them and about the quality and state of their campaigns. While Obama is demonstratively acting the statesman, McCain has decided in the face of poor opinion polls to go in the opposite direction.

The themes of McCain's speeches and appearances have narrowed considerably -- and become much more negative. While Obama is already coming up with scenarios for a new America after Jan. 20, 2009, McCain is still bitterly fighting over the issue of character, over his unfortunate running mate Sarah Palin, and over "Joe the Plumber," his poorly selected symbol of the average American.

He does whatever he thinks it will take. Instead of using the final stretch to present his own abilities and to reiterate his heroic biography, McCain prefers to use every appearance to raise fears of a "Democratic takeover." His speeches consist almost exclusively of attacks on Obama. Accompanied by boos from his audience, he attacks him for being a socialist or, indirectly through his mouthpieces on US television, a communist.

It is a glaring discrepancy -- a political generation gap that is obvious to those who visit an Obama and a McCain event back-to-back. That is what many undecided voters are doing in the swing states as the candidates often appear on the same nights in Ohio, Pennsylvania and Florida.

How much these impressions will have an impact on the election result is hard to say, despite what is being described as Obama's "comfortable lead." ... And Obama is not resting on his laurels. "That's why we cannot afford to slow down or sit back," he said in Ohio. "We cannot let up for one day, or one minute, or one second in this last week."

And so Obama is planning a double assault for Wednesday evening. He has bought a half hour of prime-time TV on the big networks -- CBS, NBC, Fox and Univsion, the biggest Spanish-speaking station in the US. Each slot costs around $1 million. Later on the same evening he is appearing in Florida with former President Bill Clinton for the first time -- an open air even at a theme park, which should attract tens of thousands of people.

But McCain, whose people insist that their internal polls have him gaining support, is fighting for every last vote. In particular in Pennsylvania, which he has declared central to his election strategy, even though Obama has a two-figure lead there. He also has to fight to hold on to traditional Republican states like Florida, Nevada, North Carolina and Colorado -- he cannot afford to lose any of those states that George W. Bush won in 2004.

An increasing number of US media outlets are already predicting an Obama victory. Newsweek put him on the cover with the words "President Obama," while New York Magazine had a feature on how an Obama presidency would look. The big newspapers have endorsed Obama, including the New York Times and Washington Post and, between the lines, even the Wall Street Journal. In all, 162 newspapers are backing Obama, compared to 62 backing McCain.

The New York Times Magazine even shocked McCain with a story about the disputes within his team and the mismanagement of his campaign. It was the beginning of a wave of leaks, showing that McCain and Palin loyalists are apparently already trying to save face.

One prominent conservative after the other is jumping ship and the Republicans are also threatened with major losses in Congress. "There are many ways to lose a presidential election," wrote David Frum, Bush's former speechwriter, in the Washington Post. "John McCain is losing in a way that threatens to take the entire Republican Party down with him."" (Der Spiegel)

Subject: RE: BS: Notes on the Presidential Campaign
From: Alice
Date: 29 Oct 08 - 02:55 PM

"After the rally, we witnessed a near-street riot involving the exiting McCain crowd and two Cuban-American Obama supporters. Tony Garcia, 63, and Raul Sorando, 31, were suddenly surrounded by an angry mob. There is a moment in a crowd when something goes from mere yelling to a feeling of danger, and that's what we witnessed. As photographers and police raced to the scene, the crowd elevated from stable to fast-moving scrum, and the two men were surrounded on all sides as we raced to the circle.

The event maybe lasted a minute, two at the most, before police competently managed to hustle the two away from the scene and out of the danger zone. Only FiveThirtyEight tracked the two men down for comment, a quarter mile down the street.

"People were screaming 'Terrorist!' 'Communist!' 'Socialist!'" Sorando said when we caught up with him. "I had a guy tell me he was gonna kill me."

Asked what had precipitated the event, "We were just chanting 'Obama!' and holding our signs. That was it. And the crowd suddenly got crazy."

Full Article Here