Palin Watch

We were wondering last night about the Ted Stevens fiasco in Alaska and whether the governor (Palin) appoints a replacement if Stevens is expelled from the Senate. The following paragraph is excerpted from electoral-vote.com
Also....be sure to catch Newsweek's 7-part behind-the-scenes analysis of the campaigns. They were given a great deal of access, knowing that the information would not be published until after the election. Plays out like a made-for-TV movie.

Alaska has another Senate race whose winner is in doubt. At present, Sen. Ted Stevens (R-AK) holds a 4000-vote lead over Anchorage mayor Mark Begich. However, 4% of the precincts haven't reported yet and there are 70,000 absentee ballots yet to be counted. A Stevens victory could have national implications, however, as Democrats will likely try to expel the convicted senator from the Senate if he wins and Republicans would be forced to make a difficult vote on the expulsion motion. If he is expelled, there will be a special election to fill the seat and many people expect Sarah Palin to run and win, giving her four years of national exposure before a possible 2012 run for the White House. Not all Republicans are happy at seeing someone with such high unfavorables and who was repeatedly mocked as a lightweight with expensive taste in designer clothing becoming the de facto party leader. Once you have acquired a bad public image, it is hard to shake it. Just ask President Quayle.

Weapons-Grade Stupidity

Can I just say, "bullet dodged"? Surely... surely this can't be totally true. Still, FOX News is reporting it about Palin so you'd think they would try to make excuses if they could. Maybe it's more true that FOX prefers the sensational to the partisan.

Fox News Chief Political Correspondent Carl Cameron appeared on The O'Reilly Factor tonight and described in much fuller detail the truly astonishing behavior, and lack of knowledge, of Sarah Palin on the campaign trail, as well as the nasty infighting that resulted from, some would say, Palin's "diva" behavior. (Earlier today, Palin said reports of her "diva" behavior and any tension within the campaign were "absolutely false.")

Cameron relates how McCain aides were terrified of Palin's lack of knowledge of international and national issues, and even basic civics. Cameron reports that Palin was unfamiliar with the concept of "American exceptionalism," and that not only did she not understand that Africa was a continent rather than a single country but also that during debate prep Palin was unable to name all the nations in North America.

And I thought the report that her clothing spending was tens of thousands beyond the originally-reported $150k, and that she was making aides put clothing purchases on their credit cards was interesting. A campaign spokesperson denied that she made them put clothes on their credit cards, and then exposed the lie by going on to explain that aides were reimbursed for any purchases put on their cards. That is hard to fathom. The 2nd Grade civics and geography aptitude blows that out of the water. I'm going to have this information on speed-dial. I can't wait until the next person tries to convince me that she would have made a good VP. Luckily, we DON'T HAVE TO WORRY ABOUT THAT!

Obama is Irish

A friend of mine sent me this link, and I think it's just what we need to begin this evening. Take a look. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EADUQWKoVek

Stay Cool, Everybody. We're Almost There.

Here we go!

After months of semi-obsessive monitoring of this great democratic process (we won't argue about the level of greatness of the process itself), we are within sight of the finish line. I want to thank everyone for making this blog so much fun, and for making it a discussion, rather than just me tossing out opinions and ideas. 127 posts and many comments from its beginning, I'd like to think we all have been able to use this site as a coping mechanism of sorts. It's nice to be associated with people who "get it".

So... take a deep breath or two. Grab some snacks. If anyone has any good ideas for election-themed foods, let us know. The show is about to begin, and the critics say we're going to like it. Keep your fingers crossed!

Joe Biden, yesterday in Lee's Summit: "They are calling Barack Obama every name in the book, but ladies and gentlemen, listen to me closely. Tomorrow night they will be calling Barack Obama something else. The 44th President of the United States."

Montreal comedians prank-call Sarah Palin

According to the Associated Press, a couple of Montreal comedians prank-called Sarah Palin, pretending to be the president of France:

Here's the AP link

Here's the YouTube audio clip

Obama Raises More than McCain in Kansas

Last Updated: 7:39 PM Nov 2, 2008
Reporter: AP

LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) _ The Lawrence Journal-World reported today that Obama has raised $1.3 million from Kansas contributors, compared with $1.2 million raised by Republican candidate John McCain.

Statewide, more than 100 towns contributed more to Obama than
McCain, the paper reported after analyzing numbers released last
week by the Federal Elections Commission.

It's a surprising disparity as the reliably Republican-leaning
state hasn't elected a Democratic president since 1964.

Political experts chalk up the difference to a combination of
Obama's sophisticated use of technology and his ability to energize
the party's base, as well as McCain's strategy to target his
resources in parts of the country where he's less sure of receiving
votes.

(Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

Responses from phonebanking

I decided to put off my schoolwork for an hour and do some phonebanking instead. If McCain wins and implements a spending freeze, I would be wasting my time on this fellowship application anyway! If the university loses funding, I can't go to school anymore, so this was the best thing for me to do to further my education. :) Here are a few of the responses I got from Missouri voters:

Sarah: "Do you know who you'll be supporting for president?"

Voter 1: "Yes I do, and it will be Barack Obama! My entire family and I will be at that poll rain or shine."

Voter 2: "We are supporting Obama. I just wish this was all over -- we really NEED him to win! We've been screwed over by the last administration: we're older folks, and our life savings is gone, we've lost our health care coverage, and I can't wait for Obama to get in there and straighten this country out. We sure appreciate all that you're doing, and thank you for your hard work."

Voter 3: [yelling] "No way in hell am I voting for that nigger!!" (not joking.)

Voter 4: "Well, I don't know yet but I can tell you I ain't voting for no terrorist or no baby killer. Obama is a baby killer! And he's a terrorist. So I guess I only got one other choice."

Voter 5: "Obama... Keep up the great work!"



Overall, many more positive responses than negative ones. Phonebanking is SO EASY! You can pick where you want to call, and it gives you a good script and everything. If you haven't done it yet, I encourage you to give it a try:
http://my.barackobama.com/page/content/makecalls

2 days to go!!

Closing Remarks

I voted last week just in case Baby Rogers decided to arrive early and keep me away from the polls on Tuesday. As a result, I already have this feeling of finality and retrospect about the election. (It was so long!) I find that my thoughts keep going back to how an election can reduce the weak candidates to wallowing in a puddle of hypocrisy, lies, fear mongering and general immaturity. You know them by their attempts to scare the gullible into voting for them. Erik's last post was a clear example of that. The "Obama is the Antichrist according to Revelation" e-mail I received from a friend is another. The repeated use of Obama's middle name, the Ayers dead horse (or moose, if you will), the list goes on and on. I saw a Fox News poll this morning that showed a majority of respondents believed that their taxes would increase only if Obama was elected. Why? Because McCain lied to them and told them so, and after all, isn't that just something that the Antichrist would do? Oh, sure, maybe they only polled the upper class--I wouldn't put it past them. Back to my point: Here's my short list of candidates/politicians/pundits and other players who should forever hide their heads in shame, win or lose, for their disgraceful conduct and back-handed tactics.

The Obvious: John "Don't pay any attention to the fact that I also have assosciations with both of the 'terrorists' I accused my opponent of consorting with" McCain. He's for CHANGE, my friends, doesn't his past voting record make that crystal clear? And don't forget: our national security will be compromised and we'll all be in grave danger if we elect that outsider. (Be sure to check out Joe's new country album!) Does anyone else think he talks exactly like that obnoxious lady on the Spangles commercials?

The Other Obvious: Palin. I don't even know where to start, or where to end for that matter. Her past actions as mayor and then governor speak to her leadership style, and the extent to which she'll go to get what she wants. She has more poorly hidden agendas than Cheney, I'd be willing to wager. How, HOW can she pull out that Albright quote about women supporting (HELPING) other women when she makes rape victims pay to have evidence gathered against their attackers. Helen was right about her!

Joe. It's been found that he would actually get a tax break if Obama is elected (because he, you guessed it, lied about his career and his intention to buy a business), yet there he goes, making even more of an idiot out of himself by saying that a vote for Obama is a vote for the death of Israel. Which by the way is totally groundless.

Elizabeth "Liddy" Dole. Was she always like this? Her campaign reached a point so dirty and nasty with that "Godless" ad that she's getting sued! Kay Hagan is a Sunday School teacher and an elder at her church. And it's not just that ad--she's been going for the jugular for months.

Robin "Liberals hate real Americans that work and achieve and believe in God" Hayes. Lie about it, get caught saying it on video, then try to say that it came out wrong. Well, I for one can certainly see how that comment could be easily misconstrued. Give the guy a break.

Sean Hannity. Such a sad, angry little man. But he has no shame and there's very little hope that some day he'll look in the mirror and see the truth instead of the superhero he thinks he is. Rush Limbaugh falls into the same category, along with Ann Coulter and Rudy Guilianni. I'm just going to let them all descend deeper into their hole of hatred.

Feel free to add your "worst persons." Mine don't even scratch the surface. McCain/Palin: If you are elected--may you always remember to what you resorted in order to win. Losers--may the fact that you might have won had you behaved like adults always haunt you.