One Week to Go

Today is November 1.  In one week's time, Americans will go to the polls to elect the 45th President.  All evidence and polls indicates that, eight years after electing the first African-American President of the United States, we are about to elect the first female President of the United States.

I have not hidden that I am a Democrat - but I am also an American.  I will admit that the Democratic nominee for President is not an ideal candidate, she has flaws and she has trouble relating to people sometimes.  But she is a smart, policy driven, candidate, who truly believes in the greatness of America.  She is a fighter who will truly work for the best of every American.

The Republican nominee for President is unhinged, dangerous, and unfit for the office.  When he makes a declaration that he "will keep us in suspense" regarding the election results, and will contest them if they don't go his way, because the system is "rigged" - he undermines the very foundations of American democracy.

I have Republican friends and almost every single one of them, without exception, is not planning to vote for him.  They may not be voting for her, which is fine, but they cannot bring themselves for vote him, which is even better.

I am willing to let people have a difference of opinion - if people really want to vote for him, I can't stop them.  What I can't accept is that people can't vote for her because of statements (and misstatements) that have been perpetuated by the Republican party and nominee.  You can dislike her, but there is nothing about the Republican nominee that could ever get me to vote for him and I would hope that those who are considering voting for him might change their minds.

One Year Later - A Loud Message

[cross-posted from Order from Chaos]

One year ago, I trudged out into the cold frosty morning here in Washington, DC to be a part of history, at the inauguration of Barack Obama as the 44th President of the United States. While I was unable to get to my appointed station, I got home and watched the bulk of it on television (where it was warmer and there were donuts).

Yesterday evening, in a loud scream from the American electorate, specifically those in the Bay State, a message was sent to President Obama, "we're in trouble, and now, so are you." There is a lot of finger pointing going around today as to what happened, but congratulations to Scott Brown, the Senator-elect from Massachusetts. Although don't be surprised if some of the men listed below drop by and visit with you to make sure it all goes well. There have been some titanic figures in the Class I Senate seat from Massachusetts, and they may just want to make sure you are up to the task. Let's hope so.

On this day in 1961, people gathered for another historic inauguration, the first Catholic President of the United States, John F. Kennedy, who had also held the historic Senate seat that was delivered to Scott Brown last night, when he defeated Attorney General Martha Coakley. He was young, telegenic, and he delivered a stirring, moving address. (If you are interested, you can follow @JFK_1960, as the JFK Library commemorates the fiftieth anniversary of Kennedy's pursuit of the Democratic nomination for president. Here are some excerpts of JFK's inaugural address, which have some messages on how the President and the Congress might be able to proceed from this point.

"We observe today not a victory of party but a celebration of freedom - symbolizing an end as well as a beginning - signifying renewal as well as change."

"The world is very different now . . . And yet the same revolutionary beliefs for which our forebears fought are still at issue around the globe - the belief that the rights of man come not from the generosity of the state but from the hand of God."

"Let the word go forth from this time and place, to friend and foe alike, that the torch has been passed to a new generation of Americans - born in this century, tempered by war, disciplined by a hard and bitter peace, proud of our ancient heritage - and unwilling to witness or permit the slow undoing of those human rights to which this nation has always been committed, and to which we are committed today at home and around the world."

"This much we pledge - and more."

"To those old allies whose cultural and spiritual origins we share, we pledge the loyalty of faithful friends. United there is little we cannot do in a host of cooperative ventures. Divided there is little we can do - for we dare not meet a powerful challenge at odds and split asunder."

"So let us begin anew - remembering on both sides that civility is not a sign of weakness, and sincerity is always subject to proof. Let us never negotiate out of fear. But let us never fear to negotiate."

"Let both sides explore what problems unite us instead of belaboring those problems which divide us."

"All this will not be finished in the first one hundred days. Nor will it be finished in the first one thousand days, nor in the life of this Administration, nor even perhaps in our lifetime on this planet. But let us begin."

"And so, my fellow Americans: ask not what your country can do for you--ask what you can do for your country."

United States Senators from Massachusetts (Class I):

• Tristram Dalton, 1789-1791
• George Cabot, 1791-1796
• Benjamin Goodhue, 1796-1800
• Jonathan Mason, 1800-1803
• John Quincy Adams, 1803-1808
• James Lloyd, 1808-1813
  
• Christopher Gore, 1813-1816
• Eli P. Ashmun, 1816-1818
• Prentiss Mellen, 1818-1820
• Elijah H. Mills, 1820-1827
• Daniel Webster, 1827-1841
• Rufus Choate, 1841-1845
  
• Daniel Webster, 1845-1850
• Robert C. Winthrop, 1850-1851
• Robert Rantoul, Jr, 1851
• Charles Sumner, 1851-1874
• William B. Washburn, 1874-1875
• Henry L. Dawes, 1875-1893
• Henry Cabot Lodge, 1894-1924
• William M. Butler, 1924-1926
• David I. Walsh, 1926-1947
• Henry Cabot Lodge, Jr., 1947-1953
• John F. Kennedy, 1953-1960
• Benjamin A. Smith, 1960-1962
• Edward M. Kennedy, 1962-2009
• Paul G. Kirk, 2009-2010
• Scott Brown (Senator-elect), 2010-

2016: The Contenders

I know, I know. Let's not start down this road again, right? The never ending presidential campaign. Well something from the CNN Political Ticker caught my eye the other day. And with Sarah Palin in the race for 2012, who knows what could happen.

(CNN) – It appears that two high ranking members of the Obama administration haven't entirely ruled out seeking the presidency again.

First, Vice President Joe Biden said last month that a third White House bid in 2016 — when he would be 73 — is not something he has completely closed the door on.

"No, I won't. I won't rule that out. No," the vice president said on NBC's "Meet the Press."

Now, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who battled President Obama for the 2008 Democratic nomination, told a Thai television station she doesn't know if she will have White House ambitions in the future, though quickly made clear it's not something she has given thought to.

"I don't know, but I doubt very much that anything like that will ever be part of my life," Clinton, who would be 68 in 2016, told the television station, according to the Associated Press.

"I tried to be the president and was not successful," she added.

The First 100 Days

Something to look forward to . . . something to measure President Obama by (God doesn't that just look wonderful?)

The First 100 Days (the Good Sheet)

Depicts the first 100 days of the modern presidents (starting with FDR)

A New Day is Here

Here on the pulse of this new day
You may have the grace to look up and out
And into your sister's eyes, into
Your brother's face, your country
And say simply
Very simply
With hope
Good morning

- Maya Angelou, January 20, 1993

I went to bed last night overwhelmed. My wife and I drank champagne and toasted our president-elect and dreamed of a better country for our children. We reveled in the moment, unable to comprehend what had taken place. We were both moved to tears on several occasions last night - I again felt tears of joy when I saw this editorial cartoon in today's Washington Post and after hearing the commentator Colbert I. King on WTOP News this morning talk about growing up in a capital city where he had to enter buildings by the back door and now the Obama family will move into the Executive Mansion through the front door.

"If there is anyone out there who still doubts that America is a place where all things are possible, who still wonders if the dream of our founders is alive in our time, who still questions the power of our democracy, tonight is your answer . . .

We are, and always will be, the United States of America . . .

But above all, I will never forget who this victory truly belongs to. It belongs to you. It belongs to you . . .

This is your victory . . .

And I know you didn't do this just to win an election. And I know you didn't do it for me . . .

This is our moment . . .

This is our time, to put our people back to work and open doors of opportunity for our kids; to restore prosperity and promote the cause of peace; to reclaim the American dream and reaffirm that fundamental truth, that, out of many, we are one; that while we breathe, we hope. And where we are met with cynicism and doubts and those who tell us that we can't, we will respond with that timeless creed that sums up the spirit of a people: Yes, we can."

- Barack Obama, November 4, 2008

When I awoke this morning, there was a sense that, "was it really true?" Had we elected a man to lead us in a new direction and get us believing in hope again? Yes, we did. Some of my readers have commented and questioned the validity of the two candidates in this race. My response is yes, neither of them are perfect, but we have elected the best person out there right now. Barack Obama is the real thing. He has to be.

The road ahead is long, the hill we must climb is steep. There is no perfect solution to the ills that are before us. Barack Obama was elected as an agent of change and he will do everything in his power, which with Democratic majorities in the House and Senate might be a great deal, to make this country a great nation again.

I had pestered a family member to vote, which she finally did. Prior to this she had not voted for President since Gerald Ford. I tried to explain to her that yes there were issues with the way this country votes, but we finally had a candidate that might actually be able to do something about the system. If not a first-term United States Senator, an African-American, and a Democrat who should cruise to election in the anti-Republican wave that was building all summer, then who? Change is coming and many of us will benefit.

She tried to tell me that her vote didn't matter - and yet her state has not yet been called. Don't tell me that every vote doesn't matter. If one person feels that way - there are others and that's how apathy gets out of control. She lives in a state where the black population is overjoyed at the idea of a black president, but this election was not about race. To a point. Yes, we have elected a black man, who defeated a white man, but first and foremost, we have elected a man who truly believes in the future of this country.

As President-elect Obama has said on many occasions, we are not a nation of red states and blue states, we are the United States. He will have to govern that way. He must surround himself with the right people (Rahm Emanuel is a good first pick) for the big tasks that lie ahead. He must be careful to avoid the pitfalls that befell Jimmy Carter in 1976, who arrived in Washington as an outsider and he and his advisors could not contain the Washington mentality.

President-elect Obama must also beware of lofty ideals that could derail some initiatives. He is given to high oratory. There is surely an international crisis out there waiting to test the new leader (Joe Biden wasn't wrong). But possibly the biggest danger may be the President-elect himself. Although he received a significant mandate (no Democrat had been elected with more than 50.1% of the vote since Jimmy Carter in 1976), winning traditionally Republican states and securing a large margin in the Electoral College, he is sure to face resistance from many sides. Change may be a good thing, but in general, people hate it. President-elect Obama will need to temper his enthusiasm to try and do too much, too fast.

One of my regular readers has left me comments with her criticisms of the current political climate and the lack of an acceptable candidate to her views. I grant her that our two party system is broken and that we are in need of real change in the way we elect our leaders and the party structure which we subscribe to. But as I said earlier, we have found someone who, first is willing to take this job right now, and two, was truly the best choice we had.

It is up to him to see if he can surround himself with the right people and truly lead this country in a new direction. Hope is alive, change is coming. Our wish and dream should be that Barack Obama can "Let America Be America Again." May God bless and protect our President-elect and continue to look over our country.

Let America be America again.
Let it be the dream it used to be.
Let it be the pioneer on the plain
Seeking a home where he himself is free.
(America never was America to me.)

Let America be the dream the dreamers dreamed -
Let it be that great strong land of love
Where never kings connive nor tyrants scheme
That any man be crushed by one above.
(It never was America to me.)

O, let my land be a land where Liberty
Is crowned with no false patriotic wreath,
But opportunity is real, and life is free,
Equality is in the air we breathe.
(There's never been equality for me,
Nor freedom in this "homeland of the free.")

Say, who are you that mumbles in the dark?
And who are you that draws your veil across the stars?

I am the poor white, fooled and pushed apart,
I am the Negro bearing slavery's scars.
I am the red man driven from the land,
I am the immigrant clutching the hope I seek -
And finding only the same old stupid plan
Of dog eat dog, of mighty crush the weak.

I am the young man, full of strength and hope,
Tangled in that ancient endless chain
Of profit, power, gain, of grab the land!
Of grab the gold! Of grab the ways of satisfying need!
Of work the men! Of take the pay!
Of owning everything for one's own greed!

I am the farmer, bondsman to the soil.
I am the worker sold to the machine.
I am the Negro, servant to you all.
I am the people, humble, hungry, mean -
Hungry yet today despite the dream.
Beaten yet today - O, Pioneers!
I am the man who never got ahead,
The poorest worker bartered through the years.

Yet I'm the one who dreamt our basic dream
In the Old World while still a serf of kings,
Who dreamt a dream so strong, so brave, so true,
That even yet its mighty daring sings
In every brick and stone, in every furrow turned
That's made America the land it has become.
O, I'm the man who sailed those early seas
In search of what I meant to be my home--
For I'm the one who left dark Ireland's shore,
And Poland's plain, and England's grassy lea,
And torn from Black Africa's strand I came
To build a "homeland of the free."
The free?

Who said the free? Not me?
Surely not me? The millions on relief today?
The millions shot down when we strike?
The millions who have nothing for our pay?
For all the dreams we've dreamed
And all the songs we've sung
And all the hopes we've held
And all the flags we've hung,
The millions who have nothing for our pay -
Except the dream that's almost dead today.

O, let America be America again -
The land that never has been yet -
And yet must be - the land where every man is free.
The land that's mine - the poor man's, Indian's, Negro's, ME -
Who made America,
Whose sweat and blood, whose faith and pain,
Whose hand at the foundry, whose plow in the rain,
Must bring back our mighty dream again.

Sure, call me any ugly name you choose -
The steel of freedom does not stain.
From those who live like leeches on the people's lives,
We must take back our land again,
America!

O, yes,
I say it plain,
America never was America to me,
And yet I swear this oath -
America will be!

Out of the rack and ruin of our gangster death,
The rape and rot of graft, and stealth, and lies,
We, the people, must redeem
The land, the mines, the plants, the rivers.
The mountains and the endless plain -
All, all the stretch of these great green states -
And make America again!

Let America be America Again
- Langston Hughes

Are They On to Something?

One could get very tired of polls and projections, punditry, etc. Well there is one group out there that has picked the winner in 12 of the last 13 presidential elections. Yep, the students of Weekly Reader. C'mon - do it for the kids.

So the Big Guy Wins, Right?

So says the New York Times. But everyone expected them to endorse Obama anyway . . .

Finished Carving Your Pumpkins Yet?

Here are some ideas

I've got mine . . .

Humor from the Candidates

From the Al Smith dinner in New York last week:

First John McCain


Followed by Barack Obama

269-269

Don't say I didn't warn you. I have had this scenario in the back of my mind for some time now. But it's OK, because the Democrats win if it goes to the House. Probably.

Overtime? from DemConWatch.

But we're not going to worry about this, right?

I Like How He Thinks

from Daily Kos

I'm going to watch the debate now.

One of my favorites

This Kennedy commercial from 1960. It's not as good as the Sinatra one, but it's close.

Whither the Bellweather

People are quick to point out that Missouri has voted for the winning presidential candidate since like the dawn of time. But it would appear that Barack Obama is looking to redraw the map. Remember 270 is the magic number.

The Rothenberg Political Report looked at the Bellweather states.

The New Yorker Votes for Change

Won't you?

The New Yorker endorses Barack Obama.

Things I Try not to Think About

Most sports stars are Republicans . . . From Daniel Drezner (who got it from ESPN) by way of Marginal Revolution . . .

John McCain drew a record audience for his acceptance speech, and based on the distribution of viewers, part of what put him over the top was holdover viewers from the New York Giants/Washington Redskins game.

Could it be that Matt Yglesias is in the minority and that football-watchers are more likely to lean Republican? I don’t know — but that’s the best segue I can think of to link to Paula Lavigne’s fascinating ESPN.com article on which sports figures are backing which presidential candidates. The article is very long well-researched, but here are the tidbits I found interesting:

• Professional athletes and executives have given $445,334 to the two nominees — 55.8 percent to McCain and 44.2 percent to Obama, according to ESPN analysis of figures from the Center for Responsive Politics, a nonpartisan research group.
• The difference this election is that pro sports donors are more divided. In the past two presidential elections, the Democratic nominee has struggled to muster at most 16 percent of pro sports donations.
• Professional sports figures have given twice as much money to all presidential candidates combined during this election than they have to candidates in each of the past two races. And almost two months of fundraising remain for the two nominees.
• McCain has lots of friends in the dugout, but his biggest fans are in football. Six of McCain’s top 10 pro sports donors are with NFL teams, led by the San Diego Chargers, Dallas Cowboys and Houston Texans.
• NBA staff topped Obama’s list of pro sports donors at $24,360.
• [Rudy Giuliani] cashed in a total of $210,900 from pro sports donors, including $86,300 from NASCAR employees and drivers and $17,000 from his hometown New York Yankees.
  

Read the whole thing. And props to the athletes — their reasons for their various endorsements were very cogent.

Why Libertarians Should Vote for Obama

We live in a two-party country. Face it. Sure there are other parties and other candidates that will be on the ballot in November. But they are not going to win. It just doesn't happen here. And it won't happen any time soon. So here's an entreaty to Libertarians to not throw away their vote, and vote for Barack Obama for President.

From Marginal Revolution:

First, war. War is the antithesis of the libertarian philosophy of consent, voluntarism and trade. With every war in American history Leviathan has grown larger and our liberties have withered. War is the health of the state. And now, fulfilling the dreams of Big Brother, we are in a perpetual war.

A country cannot long combine unlimited government abroad and limited government at home. The Republican party has become the party of war and thus the party of unlimited government.

With war has come FEAR, magnified many times over by the governing party. Fear is pulling Americans into the arms of the state. If only we were better at resisting. Alas, we Americans say that we love liberty but we are fair-weather lovers. Liberty will flourish only with peace.

Have libertarians gained on other margins in the past eight years? Not at all. Under the Republicans we have been sailing due South-West on the Nolan Chart – fewer civil liberties and more government, including the largest new government program in a generation, the Medicare prescription drug plan, and the biggest nationalization since the Great Depression. Tax cuts, the summum bonum of Republican economic policy, are a sham. The only way to cut taxes is to cut spending and that has not happened.

The libertarian voice has not been listened to in Republican politics for a long time. The Republicans take the libertarian wing of the party for granted and with phony rhetoric and empty phrases have bought our support on the cheap. Thus - since voice has failed - it is time for exit. Remember that if a political party can count on you then you cannot count on it.

Exit is the right strategy because if there is any hope for reform it is by casting the Republicans out of power and into the wilderness where they may relearn virtue. Libertarians understand better than anyone that power corrupts. The Republican party illustrates. Lack of power is no guarantee of virtue but Republicans are a far better - more libertarian - party out-of-power than they are in power. When in the wilderness, Republicans turn naturally to a critique of power and they ratchet up libertarian rhetoric about free trade, free enterprise, abuse of government power and even the defense of civil liberties. We can hope that new leaders will arise in this libertarian milieu.

Jed Bartlet is my President

Couldn't he be? Please?

Maureen Dowd wonders . . . courtesy of Aaron Sorkin

BARACK OBAMA knocks on the front door of a 300-year-old New Hampshire farmhouse while his Secret Service detail waits in the driveway. The door opens and OBAMA is standing face to face with former President JED BARTLET.

BARTLET Senator.

OBAMA Mr. President.

BARTLET You seem startled.

OBAMA I didn’t expect you to answer the door yourself.

BARTLET I didn’t expect you to be getting beat by John McCain and a Lancôme rep who thinks “The Flintstones” was based on a true story, so let’s call it even.

OBAMA Yes, sir.

BARTLET Come on in.

BARTLET leads OBAMA into his study.

BARTLET That was a hell of a convention.

OBAMA Thank you, I was proud of it.

BARTLET I meant the Republicans. The Us versus Them-a-thon. As a Democrat I was surprised to learn that I don’t like small towns, God, people with jobs or America. I’ve been a little out of touch but is there a mandate that the vice president be skilled at field dressing a moose —

OBAMA Look —

BARTLET — and selling Air Force Two on eBay?

OBAMA Joke all you want, Mr. President, but it worked.

BARTLET Imagine my surprise. What can I do for you, kid?

OBAMA I’m interested in your advice.

BARTLET I can’t give it to you.

OBAMA Why not?

BARTLET I’m supporting McCain.

OBAMA Why?

BARTLET He’s promised to eradicate evil and that was always on my “to do” list.

OBAMA O.K. —

BARTLET And he’s surrounded himself, I think, with the best possible team to get us out of an economic crisis. Why, Sarah Palin just said Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac had “gotten too big and too expensive to the taxpayers.” Can you spot the error in that statement?

OBAMA Yes, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac aren’t funded by taxpayers.

BARTLET Well, at least they are now. Kind of reminds you of the time Bush said that Social Security wasn’t a government program. He was only off by a little — Social Security is the largest government program.

OBAMA I appreciate your sense of humor, sir, but I really could use your advice.

BARTLET Well, it seems to me your problem is a lot like the problem I had twice.

OBAMA Which was?

BARTLET A huge number of Americans thought I thought I was superior to them.

OBAMA And?

BARTLET I was.

OBAMA I mean, how did you overcome that?

BARTLET I won’t lie to you, being fictional was a big advantage.

OBAMA What do you mean?

BARTLET I’m a fictional president. You’re dreaming right now, Senator.

OBAMA I’m asleep?

BARTLET Yes, and you’re losing a ton of white women.

OBAMA Yes, sir.

BARTLET I mean tons.

OBAMA I understand.

BARTLET I didn’t even think there were that many white women.

OBAMA I see the numbers, sir. What do they want from me?

BARTLET I’ve been married to a white woman for 40 years and I still don’t know what she wants from me.

OBAMA How did you do it?

BARTLET Well, I say I’m sorry a lot.

OBAMA I don’t mean your marriage, sir. I mean how did you get America on your side?

BARTLET There again, I didn’t have to be president of America, I just had to be president of the people who watched “The West Wing.”

OBAMA That would make it easier.

BARTLET You’d do very well on NBC. Thursday nights in the old “ER” time slot with “30 Rock” as your lead-in, you’d get seven, seven-five in the demo with a 20, 22 share — you’d be selling $450,000 minutes.

OBAMA What the hell does that mean?

BARTLET TV talk. I thought you’d be interested.

OBAMA I’m not. They pivoted off the argument that I was inexperienced to the criticism that I’m — wait for it — the Messiah, who, by the way, was a community organizer. When I speak I try to lead with inspiration and aptitude. How is that a liability?

BARTLET Because the idea of American exceptionalism doesn’t extend to Americans being exceptional. If you excelled academically and are able to casually use 690 SAT words then you might as well have the press shoot video of you giving the finger to the Statue of Liberty while the Dixie Chicks sing the University of the Taliban fight song. The people who want English to be the official language of the United States are uncomfortable with their leaders being fluent in it.

OBAMA You’re saying race doesn’t have anything to do with it?

BARTLET I wouldn’t go that far. Brains made me look arrogant but they make you look uppity. Plus, if you had a black daughter —

OBAMA I have two.

BARTLET — who was 17 and pregnant and unmarried and the father was a teenager hoping to launch a rap career with “Thug Life” inked across his chest, you’d come in fifth behind Bob Barr, Ralph Nader and a ficus.

OBAMA You’re not cheering me up.

BARTLET Is that what you came here for?

OBAMA No, but it wouldn’t kill you.

BARTLET Have you tried doing a two-hour special or a really good Christmas show?

OBAMA Sir —

BARTLET Hang on. Home run. Right here. Is there any chance you could get Michelle pregnant before the fall sweeps?

OBAMA The problem is we can’t appear angry. Bush called us the angry left. Did you see anyone in Denver who was angry?

BARTLET Well ... let me think. ...We went to war against the wrong country, Osama bin Laden just celebrated his seventh anniversary of not being caught either dead or alive, my family’s less safe than it was eight years ago, we’ve lost trillions of dollars, millions of jobs, thousands of lives and we lost an entire city due to bad weather. So, you know ... I’m a little angry.

OBAMA What would you do?

BARTLET GET ANGRIER! Call them liars, because that’s what they are. Sarah Palin didn’t say “thanks but no thanks” to the Bridge to Nowhere. She just said “Thanks.” You were raised by a single mother on food stamps — where does a guy with eight houses who was legacied into Annapolis get off calling you an elitist? And by the way, if you do nothing else, take that word back. Elite is a good word, it means well above average. I’d ask them what their problem is with excellence. While you’re at it, I want the word “patriot” back. McCain can say that the transcendent issue of our time is the spread of Islamic fanaticism or he can choose a running mate who doesn’t know the Bush doctrine from the Monroe Doctrine, but he can’t do both at the same time and call it patriotic. They have to lie — the truth isn’t their friend right now. Get angry. Mock them mercilessly; they’ve earned it. McCain decried agents of intolerance, then chose a running mate who had to ask if she was allowed to ban books from a public library. It’s not bad enough she thinks the planet Earth was created in six days 6,000 years ago complete with a man, a woman and a talking snake, she wants schools to teach the rest of our kids to deny geology, anthropology, archaeology and common sense too? It’s not bad enough she’s forcing her own daughter into a loveless marriage to a teenage hood, she wants the rest of us to guide our daughters in that direction too? It’s not enough that a woman shouldn’t have the right to choose, it should be the law of the land that she has to carry and deliver her rapist’s baby too? I don’t know whether or not Governor Palin has the tenacity of a pit bull, but I know for sure she’s got the qualifications of one. And you’re worried about seeming angry? You could eat their lunch, make them cry and tell their mamas about it and God himself would call it restrained. There are times when you are simply required to be impolite. There are times when condescension is called for!

OBAMA Good to get that off your chest?

BARTLET Am I keeping you from something?

OBAMA Well, it’s not as if I didn’t know all of that and it took you like 20 minutes to say.

BARTLET I know, I have a problem, but admitting it is the first step.

OBAMA What’s the second step?

BARTLET I don’t care.

OBAMA So what about hope? Chuck it for outrage and put-downs?

BARTLET No. You’re elite, you can do both. Four weeks ago you had the best week of your campaign, followed — granted, inexplicably — by the worst week of your campaign. And you’re still in a statistical dead heat. You’re a 47-year-old black man with a foreign-sounding name who went to Harvard and thinks devotion to your country and lapel pins aren’t the same thing and you’re in a statistical tie with a war hero and a Cinemax heroine. To these aged eyes, Senator, that’s what progress looks like. You guys got four debates. Get out of my house and go back to work.

OBAMA Wait, what is it you always used to say? When you hit a bump on the show and your people were down and frustrated? You’d give them a pep talk and then you’d always end it with something. What was it ...?

BARTLET “Break’s over.”

Presidential Polls Update

With the two Conventions in the rear view mirror - the sprint is on for the final two months. Unless you live in a swing state, you will likely be left alone. But this race is going to be close and it will come down to the wire. It is inconceivable that anyone can not vote in this election - the stakes are too high. But they will. And then there are of course the crazies who will vote and God help us from those people.

One the up side, there are no polls that show Obama losing the Electoral Vote. Every single one shows him ahead. Of the various polls that I look at, two of them have him with enough EVs to carry the election, that is he has more than 270. I will believe it when I see it on November 4 (although it is sure to be November 5 by the time we know). I also fear for a 269-269 tie, there are just too many mathematical calculations that make it possible. But again, that works for Obama, for the Democrats hold enough of the delegations in the House and the Senate to carry the day for him.

Here's a good site that aggregates several of the polls into one graph.

The popular vote is a different story. It is incredibly tight, and it may indeed come down to a case where Obama loses the popular vote but wins the election in the Electoral College. Yeah, like that ever happens - oh, wait.

Fasten your seat belts folks, it's going to be a very bumpy couple of weeks.

The Race to the Finish

I haven't forgotten about you. It is just there is so much information and sometimes it is a little disheartening. Over on my regular blog, I will shortly be posting about the incredible importance of this upcoming election. I will get some poll / prediction numbers here soon.

For now, in case you have been under a rock somewhere, it's Obama-Biden and McCain-Palin. And for the most part - the race is dead even. May God have mercy on us.

Do I Go to This Movie?

Or is it just going to make me mad?

W - the Movie, by Oliver Stone.