New third-party ad on Roger Wicker "Denial"

post from Cotton Mouth on 06 October 2008 02:38:00 PM. © Cotton Mouth

From A Third Bush Term:

video details and more

Read The Full Article:
http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/blogspot/GsAJ/~3/413261829/new-third-party-ad-on-r
oger-wicker.html

Digg this

George Will's problem with democracy

post from Daily Kos on 06 October 2008 02:35:00 PM. © Daily Kos

George Will hates people voting.

So what is wrong with early voting? Even leaving aside the large matter of increased potential for fraud in voting by absentee ballots, there are two costs to early voting.

First, for tens of millions of early voters, the campaign process of informing and persuading is effectively truncated. Now, there is evidence that early voters are more partisan and informed than other voters and hence are less likely than the rest of the electorate to be swayed by events late in an election season. Nevertheless, early voting increasingly affects the rhythms of campaigns, forcing the front-loading of arguments [...]

The second problem with early voting is that one of its supposed benefits is actually a subtraction from civic health. The benefit is that it makes voting easier-indeed, essentially effortless. But surely the quality of the electoral turnout declines when the quantity is increased by "convenience voting."

Really, what this comes down to is that the true and tested GOP tactic of the "October Surprise" is blunted, as is late-game desperation smears. Witness the current one, as a desperate McCain/Palin campaign has abandoned all pretenses of running on the issues and has devolved to base character attacks on Obama. They've lost the policy arguments, and so are resorting to smear and innuendo.

But people are voting right now. Many have voted already. And as more and more states adopt early and no-fault absentee voting, it will be harder and harder for campaigns to use those late-breaking dirty attacks to shift the course of a race.

Furthermore, the fewer people depend on Election Day balloting to cast their vote, the harder it is for Republican dirty tricksters to implement systemic roadblocks to voter participation. Remember the eight-hour voting lines in Cuyahoga County, Ohio, in 2004? Democrats lost thousands of votes from people -- working class and elderly -- unable to sit in line long enough to cast their vote. While Republican-leaning suburban precincts had plenty of machines so that voters could be in and out in 15 minutes, in Democratic-heavy urban districts, Ken Blackwell made sure there were so few machines that tens of thousands would be disenfranchised.

And there's more, from voter intimidation at the polls, to a lack of paper trail. With absentee and early voting, those issues are addressed.

Ultimately, I'd love to see the Oregon model, with 100 percent vote-by-mail instituted. In California, over half of voters cast their votes by mail in 2006, and that number should rise this year. It won't be long before physical polling places are eliminated as costly and unnecessary. And when that happens, the GOP's ability to influence races with late-breaking "October surprises" and systemic efforts to disenfranchise voters will be virtually eliminated.

And that's why George Will and other conservatives are crying.

Read The Full Article:
http://feeds.dailykos.com/~r/dailykos/index/~3/ETA17aVrQ84/621692

Digg this

Early voting begins today in Indiana

post from DemConWatch on 06 October 2008 02:30:00 PM. © DemConWatch

Early voting began today in Indiana.

Indiana Secretary of State website is here.

You can read more information about the Obama Campaign in Indiana here.

Obama will be in Indianapolis on Wednesday:

Change We Need Rally with Barack Obama
Indiana State Fairgrounds
1202 E 38th St
Indianapolis, IN
Doors Open: 10 a.m. EDT
Program Begins: 12:15 p.m. EDT
The event is free and open to the public. Tickets are NOT required, but an RSVP is strongly encouraged. Members of the public can RSVP at IN.BarackObama.com/IndianapolisChange.
The campaign will also be selecting one of the Hoosiers in attendance to meet Sen. Obama backstage. To be considered, just text "MEET" to 62262 and you will receive instructions.

Read The Full Article:
http://www.demconwatchblog.com/2008/10/early-voting-begins-today-in-indiana.html

Digg this

Desperate

post from Talking Points Memo on 06 October 2008 02:30:00 PM. © Talking Points Memo

McCain Camp: Keating Five Didn't Really Happen. Late Update: Unfortunately for McCain, we're living in the Google era. [...]

Read The Full Article:
http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Talking-Points-Memo/~3/au6EEdxr6ig/222253.php

Digg this

Brother's Keeper

post from Talking Points Memo on 06 October 2008 02:22:00 PM. © Talking Points Memo

In a little-noticed comment at a Virginia rally over the weekend, John McCain's brother goofed and said that if elected McCain would chase Osama Bin Laden across international borders -- even though McCain has criticized Obama for saying he would do the[...]

Read The Full Article:
http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Talking-Points-Memo/~3/m911FhUHSEQ/222252.php

Digg this

McCains Latest Disgrace

post from Firedoglake on 06 October 2008 02:21:39 PM. © Firedoglake

The ad you knew was coming[...]

Read The Full Article:
http://attackerman.firedoglake.com/2008/10/06/mccainliesafghanistanobama/

Digg this

Double Digits In Virginia

post from MyDD on 06 October 2008 02:20:06 PM. © MyDD

Over the weekend we got word that the Virginia GOP is nervous about John McCain's possibly losing Virginia. Virginia Republicans are warning that John McCain's prospects for winning a state that has been in the GOP column in every presidential election[...]

Read The Full Article:
http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/mydd/~3/tFhOXCIT0pw/621

Digg this

Joel Gill Ad

This ran during the last debate.

video details and more

Read The Full Article:
http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/blogspot/GsAJ/~3/413243937/joel-gill-ad.html

Digg this

Was American Soldier Killed in Sadr City

Eyewitnesses in eastern Baghdad report that they witnessed what might have been a deadly shooting attack on an American convoy last week.

Read The Full Article:
http://www.iraqslogger.com/index.php/post/6428

Digg this

Did McCain Just Concede Election HUGE Cuts To
Medicare Should Put FL, Election Away For Obama

From the WSJ:McCain Plans Federal Health CutsMedicare, Medicaid Spending Would Be Reduced to Offset[...]

Read The Full Article:
http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/OpenLeft-FrontPage/~3/413025525/showDiary.do

Digg this