McCain not as forked as the McCain Forked thread, but still forked

[Equipoise]

@Lantern

This reaches the level of parody: Obama’s strength in so many unexpected states is really a weakness.

Ha, the one right before it was an even bigger hoot.

Early Vote: The Obama campaign has promised that their early vote and absentee efforts will change the composition of the electorate. They have sold the press on a story that first time voters will turn out in droves this election cycle. Again, the facts undermine their argument. In our analysis of early voting and absentee votes to date: The composition of the electorate has not changed significantly and most folks who have voted early are high propensity voters who would have voted regardless of the high interest in this campaign.

Apparently they don’t read The Huffington Post.

In other news, here’s an October Surprise (a day late, and hopefully a dollar short) we’ll be hearing about (screamed about, I’m sure) over the weekend:

Obama aunt from Kenya living in US illegally

WASHINGTON – Barack Obama’s aunt, a Kenyan woman who has been quietly living in public housing in Boston, is in the United States illegally after an immigration judge rejected her request for asylum four years ago, The Associated Press has learned.

Zeituni Onyango, 56, referred to as “Aunti Zeituni” in Obama’s memoir, was instructed to leave the United States by a U.S. immigration judge who denied her asylum request, a person familiar with the matter told the AP late Friday. This person spoke on condition of anonymity because no one was authorized to discuss Onyango’s case.

…

Close your ears, here it comes.

[Equipoise]

Peggy Noonan(!!) writes a nice piece on Obama.

Obama and the Runaway Train

The race, the case, a hope for grace.

The Wall Street Journal: October 30, 2008

The case for Barack Obama, in broad strokes:

He has within him the possibility to change the direction and tone of American foreign policy, which need changing; his rise will serve as a practical rebuke to the past five years, which need rebuking; his victory would provide a fresh start in a nation in which a fresh start would come as a national relief. He climbed steep stairs, born off the continent with no father to guide, a dreamy, abandoning mother, mixed race, no connections. He rose with guts and gifts. He is steady, calm, and, in terms of the execution of his political ascent, still the primary and almost only area in which his executive abilities can be discerned, he shows good judgment in terms of whom to hire and consult, what steps to take and moves to make. We witnessed from him this year something unique in American politics: He took down a political machine without raising his voice.

A great moment: When the press was hitting hard on the pregnancy of Sarah Palin’s 17-year-old daughter, he did not respond with a politically shrewd “I have no comment,” or “We shouldn’t judge.” Instead he said, “My mother had me when she was 18,” which shamed the press and others into silence. He showed grace when he didn’t have to.

There’s much more. It’s a very good read. I never thought I’d have anything nice to say about Peggy Noonan, but damn, good for her!

[Equipoise]

I meant to add that she does get critical of Obama, so it’s not a gusher, but I’m having trouble wrapping my head around the fact that she’s saying anything nice at all about a Democrat.

[Equipoise]

Ugh, am I the only one who didn’t know that Gore Vidal was a racist dick?

I recently interviewed Gore Vidal, one of the last old-school aristocrats left in this country, and asked him how he felt about the state of the American republic – the subject that has fired his political radicalism and a large portion of his literary output over the past half-century.

Vidal, now 83 and in indifferent health, bemoaned the lack of a transcendent figure to match the political skills of a Franklin Roosevelt or the oratory of a General MacArthur. When I asked him about Barack Obama, with his formidable rhetoric and cool temperament, he gave me a look of pure contempt and uttered perhaps the most reactionary single comment of this election season.

“Slaves have a hard time making poetry,” he said, relishing the shock factor, “unless it’s got a beat.”

Vidal, like many of his generation and social standing, clearly cannot fathom how the son of a single mother from Kansas and a Kenyan father could presume to occupy the Oval Office. And while he expressed his distaste with an extraordinary degree of frankness, not to mention racial venom, he is far from the only one.

…

Also, I just found out that Janine Turner (Northern Exposure) is stumping for McCain. That makes me so sad.
On the other hand, one of the many celebrities stumping for Obama is Jason Alexander (Seinfeld).

“Seinfeld” Actor Jason Alexander Rallies Jewish Voters in Crucial Swing-State Florida

Race has been an issue, as have been the rumors of Obama being a Muslim, and Alexander was prepared for both.

“We all know that a Jew is determined by their mother,” he half-cracked. “By that standard, Barack Obama is a white guy. So we should have no issues.”

As for the bit about Obama being Muslim, well, Alexander noted that those rumors were spread on the Internet, and to adhere to that standard of truth would also mean you could say the Holocaust is a myth.

“Are you prepared to admit the Holocaust never happened?” he asked. “I didn’t think so.”

Alexander even addressed taxes, which, under Obama’s proposals he’ll undoubtedly be paying more of.

“Do you know what happens when the middle class gets squeezed out?” He asked. “The French Revolution. I don’t know about you, but I like my lifestyle, and I don’t want it burned down.”

“And why shouldn’t I pay more taxes if my country needs it?” he added. “I can afford it.”

[Jolly_Roger]

@Equipoise

Ugh, am I the only one who didn’t know that Gore Vidal was a racist dick?

Also, I just found out that Janine Turner (Northern Exposure) is stumping for McCain. That makes me so sad.
On the other hand, one of the many celebrities stumping for Obama is Jason Alexander (Seinfeld).

I never thought the show Seinfeld was that funny, but I’ve always liked Jason Alexander.

I’ve said this before but it was good to see someone else say it. At least i know i’m not the only one that felt that way.

But the fact that McCain was willing to place our country in the hands of a woman whom he had met only once isn’t what angers me most. It’s that he put his candidacy ahead of his country. Country first? Hardly. Candidacy first.

From this article.

[jayjay]

@aldiboronti

Now we get the threats.

Erica Jong Tells Italians Obama Loss ‘Will Spark the Second American Civil War. Blood Will Run in the Streets’

OK, she’s batshit insane but I’ve heard milder versions of this from other quarters in the Obama camp. Elect him or else!

Crap like this does the guy no favors at all.

Erica Jong is not a member of “the Obama camp”. She is someone who will vote for him, but she’s not speaking for the campaign at all. Unless she’s speaking for the campaign, she’s got no more connection to Obama than Al Qaeda has to McCain.

[Lantern]

A rare bit of good news for McCain. The latest Rasmussen pollshows him down just 4 in Penn. This is the third poll in recent days which shows the race in mid-single digits there though there have a couple with double digit leads for Obama as well. It’s still a long shot for McCain but perhaps not quite as long as it seemed a few days ago. It wouldn’t be a bad idea to schedule a late rally by Obama in PA.

[Jophiel]

McCain’s been pouring everything in to Pennsylvania so I’m not surprised to see it tighter there. But I think that +4 represents McCain’s best case scenarion than the average. Like you said, there’s been a range of results from Penn lately and +4 is the low end of the spectrum.

Usually I consider Rasmussen to be pretty solid but they have a (somewhat) smaller sample size than everyone else and a single day of polling. In other words, for this state poll, they don’t seem to have a lot to hold over anyone else as opposed to their 3000 voter, rolling national samples. I don’t mean that they’re wrong, or polled poorly, just that I think they’re ranging low due to statistical variation.

[Lantern]

Morning Call also shows some tightening to 8 points. Overall my guess is that the PA has tightened from a 10 point race to maybe 6 points. Turning that into a victory in three days will be very tough for McCain but I still would like to see Obama do another rally there.

[Fish]

Obama now officially endorsed by Ron Reagan.

[The_Understander]

@Fish

Obama now officially endorsed by Ron Reagan.

I was listening when he did it. Absolutely shocking that the son of the most beloved Republican president of recent vintage would endorse Obama. In my opinion, this seals the election.

[Captain_Carrot]

@Enfant Terrible

most beloved Republican president of recent vintage

You misspelled ‘worshipped’ and ‘of all time’.

I sure am glad he decided to do that the Saturday before the election, so that everybody would have a chance to hear about it. Oh, wait…

[Sam_Stone]

@Enfant Terrible

I was listening when he did it. Absolutely shocking that the son of the most beloved Republican president of recent vintage would endorse Obama. In my opinion, this seals the election.

Ron Reagan is a Democrat. I believe he supported Kerry last time around. This isn’t exactly shocking news.

[Fish]

I dunno about “of all time.” Lincoln was a Republican; Jefferson was a Democratic Republican.

[Liberal]

Obama now leads, for the first time, by double digits in the Gallup Daily Tracking poll among traditional likely voters.

[Shayna]

@Sam_Stone

Ron Reagan is a Democrat. I believe he supported Kerry last time around. This isn’t exactly shocking news.

Yeah, the only thing I’m surprised about regarding his endorsement is that it wasn’t “official” a long time ago. I listen to him regularly on Air America, and he’s brutal against McCain.

[Discordia]

@Liberal

Obama now leads, for the first time, by double digits in the Gallup Daily Tracking poll among traditional likely voters.

But it’s tightening!! How can you doubt Rick Davis???

[jayjay]

The right-wing Reagan-worshippers have more or less considered Ron to be an effete East-coast liberal since at least his father’s first term. Regardless of his father’s influence on them, he, personally, has none and hasn’t ever.

[jayjay]

@Discordia

But it’s tightening!! How can you doubt Rick Davis???

Heh. If Rick Davis said the sky was blue, I’d pull out my Pantone chips to double-check.

[Lantern]

Sheesh, anyone notice the smiley? Enfant Terrible was obviously joking about the impact of Ron Reagan’s endorsement.