THE SCARLET "B" HOAX.

post from Ezra Klein on 24 October 2008 11:59:00 PM. © Ezra Klein

I've been offline much of the day, but yes, the Ashely Todd "mutilation" was, indeed, a hoax. That was clear pretty early on, as there was no plausible explanation for why the "B" was backwards save that this girl had scratched it on her own cheek (as[...]

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What Did The McCain Campaign Know And When Did
They Know It

post from Daily Kos on 24 October 2008 11:48:39 PM. © Daily Kos

Just how involved in pushing the now discredited fake attack story was the McCain campaign? Remember, before the police had released any details on the alleged attack, it was being reported that:

The McCain campaign later retracted their claims, and now tonight, are denying they were the source of the quotes in the first place. But that claim is flatly contradicted by the two reporters involved in the story:

Tonight McCain spokesman Brian Rogers denied the campaign gave out those quotes, telling Countdown, "They came from the police and were attributed to the McCain camp because of sloppy reporting." An account that does not explain why two television stations both quoted the McCain campaign, or the fact that one of them, KDKA Pittsburgh, specifically followed the McCain quotes with the line, quote, "Police, however, have not confirmed that." And tonight Countdown asked the reporter from the other station, WPXI, to check his notes. He says he got those quotes first, 4:08 pm yesterday, from McCain's Pennsylvania communications director.

video details and more

The McCain campaign's denial raises more questions than it answers.

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Coming Soon

post from TalkLeft on 24 October 2008 11:24:00 PM. © TalkLeft

Coming soon to a law enforcement agency near you: robotic bloodhounds.

[The Pentagon is] looking for contractors to provide a "Multi-Robot Pursuit System" that will let packs of robots "search for and detect a non-cooperative human".

The Pentagon gets it first. Eventually the tech works its way down to law enforcement. The U.S. Marshals would love to have packs of robots chasing down "non-cooperative humans."

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It's gray and gloomy, so a summer flashback

post from AMERICAblog News| A great nation deserves the truth on 24 October 2008 11:21:00 PM. © AMERICAblog News| A great nation deserves the truth

The melon is season is so short, or at least the good melon season. In July and August I can't get enough of them for breakfast or as a starter at dinner, covered with prosciutto or sliced in half and filled with sweat wine. They are out of season now so I'll have to settle for a cup of coffee and a fruit juice smoothie. Then it's time to prep for my Normandy dinner and that means butter and cream. I have a good looking guinea fowl, chestnuts and apples but I only have 500 ml of cream and that's not going to be enough.

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House Race Roundup: New Bachmann Polling!

post from Daily Kos on 24 October 2008 11:20:04 PM. © Daily Kos

MN-06: Two new polls show Michele Bachmann now trailing her Democratic opponent, Elwyn Tinklenberg:

Minnesota Public Radio. 10/21-22. Likely voters. MoE 4.7%.

Tinklenberg (DFL) 45
Bachmann (R) 43
Anderson (I) 5

She's three points back according to SUSA:

SurveyUSA. 10/21-22. Likely voters. MoE 4%.

Tinklenberg (DFL) 47
Bachmann (R) 44
Anderson (I) 6

As she hemorrhages support, Bachmann considered doing a public apology...which turned out to not be an apology at all:

video details and more

FL-08: Meanwhile, Democrat Alan Grayson has a terrific lead in internal polling, as he seeks to unseat incumbent Republican Ric Keller.

Benenson Strategy Group for the DCCC. 10/21-22. Likely voters. MoE 4.9%.

Grayson (D) 52
Keller (R) 41

Nice-looking numbers for Grayson, who looks poised to take a seat we came surprisingly close to winning in 2006 (with Charlie Stuart the Democratic nominee).

TX-22: The Republicans love to talk about voter fraud these days...the DCCC has a nice response in TX-22, home of Nick Lampson and former home for Tom DeLay.

video details and more

FL-16: So this is the full extension (we think) of the allegations against Tim Mahoney. Not for the faint of heart:

The settlement was reached after Allen hired a lawyer who sent the Congressman a "demand" letter, listing specific examples of Mahoney's alleged "gross misconduct" and "stalking" including:

"a) Calling Allen late in the evenings and demanding "phone sex;"

b) Demanding that Allen answer his calls or face termination;

c) Demanding that Allen attend fundraisers and "tease c-ck" to bring in more donations from the male members of the public;

d) Demanding that Allen engage in sexual conduct with another woman for his enjoyment."

Good riddance.

TX-10: Republican incumbent Mike McCaul (facing a strong challenge from Democrat Larry Joe Doherty) is running awfully scared:

The campaign of U.S. Rep. Michael McCaul, R-Austin, wasn’t exactly thrilled with the first few days of early voting.

McCaul campaign manager Jack Ladd told supporters on Wednesday night that, according to past primary history, Democrats in Harris and Travis counties outvoted Republicans two-to-one in early voting.

"This is very bad news," McCaul campaign manager Jack Ladd said in an email to supporters. "If you think your friends are volunteering, they are not. I know I’m not going to sit down and die, and I know you will not either. There are only 12 days left, and this is not a lifelong commitment, we are asking you just give part of a day or days and help keep CD10 Republican."

Another terrific data point in the "early voting" department.

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First Base

post from Talking Points Memo on 24 October 2008 11:07:00 PM. © Talking Points Memo

Looking forward to 2012, it seems Palin ain't quite the darling of the base some imagine. If Republicans had to pick for 2012 today, it'd be: Romney 35%, Huckabee 26%, Palin 20%. [...]

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Karmas a bitch: Ashley Todd edition

post from Firedoglake on 24 October 2008 11:00:45 PM. © Firedoglake

Ashley Stuart chose a familiar imaginary figure to accuse of her imaginary assault. I'm sure it's a remarkable coincidence that the fellow College Republican of Mssrs Rove, Abramoff and Reed imagined up a big black guy.[...]

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C&L's Late Night Music Club with Ann Peebles

post from Crooks and Liars on 24 October 2008 11:00:44 PM. © Crooks and Liars

I know very little about Ms. Peebles other than what anyone can crib from Wikipedia and her MySpace page, and that I thoroughly love this song.

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Senate Race Roundup

KY-Sen: Some high-profile friends of Bruce Lunsford have been in Kentucky: former President Bill Clinton campaigned there yesterday:

Former President Bill Clinton will be in Bowling Green and Paducah, Kentucky to stump for Bruce Lunsford Lunsford Friday October 24, 2008 (see details below). Unlike Mitch McConnell, Bruce Lunsford doesn't hide from regular Kentucky folks and this event is free and open to the public.

Meanwhile, former Senator Bob Kerrey is coming to the state shortly, per a Lunsford campaign release:

LOUISVILLE-Former Nebraska Governor and U.S. Sen. Bob Kerrey, a decorated military hero, will visit Kentucky to campaign on behalf of Bruce Lunsford, Democratic nominee for U.S. Senate. Kerrey and Lunsford will appear together in Kentucky on Saturday, Oct. 25.

Kerrey and Lunsford will be joined at a Hardin County rally by special guests Governor Steve Beshear and former Governor John Y. Brown, along with Democratic candidates David Boswell, running for congress in the 2nd district, and Mike Weaver, who is running for state representative in the 26th district.

GA-Sen: This one remains close as hell.

InsiderAdvantage. 10/23. Likely voters. MoE 3.8%. (10/9 results)

Chambliss (R-inc) 44 (45)
Martin (D) 42 (45)
Buckley (L) 2 (2)

Republican pollster Strategic Vision shows the race still tightening:

Strategic Vision. 10/20-22. Likely voters. MoE 3%. (10/5-7 results)

Chambliss (R-inc) 46 (47)
Martin (D) 44 (44)
Buckley (L) 5 (4)

Matt Towery on the race:

The Senate race appears in my judgment either headed for a runoff or a Martin win, and here's why I say that: over 15 percent of blacks say they still are undecided. The largest undecided segment among party affiliations are Democrats, who mirror that black percentage - 14.5 percent - and independents at 18 percent, who are leaning toward Martin by a margin of 45-33 percent. Generally speaking, at this point in a race, unless something were to turn it around, we would treat the undecideds two ways: we would either lop it off and redistribute it, or we would assign it based on the relative positions of the candidates as they stand today. Under either of those scenarios, Chambliss and Martin would be in a runoff.

The Atlanta Journal Constitution mulls over the possibility of a runoff:

If the Georgia race is thrown into a four-week runoff, the national political spotlight will shine brightly here, no matter who becomes president.

Democrats and Republicans almost certainly will pour mountains of money, time and big-name politicos into Georgia under that scenario in what could become one of the most bruising political contests in years.

They note that Martin is getting some high-profile friends to help him as well:

Former President Bill Clinton, meanwhile, will come to town to raise money for Martin, and former Democratic U.S. Sen. Max Cleland issued an appeal through the DSCC on Thursday for money to help defeat Chambliss, who beat Cleland six years ago in a come-from-behind win.

OR-Sen: Barack Obama has endorsed, and released an ad, for Jeff Merkley.

video details and more

MN-Sen: Hillary Clinton has done an ad herself, for Al Franken:

video details and more

LA-Sen: Mary Landrieu is cruising to victory.

Rasmussen. 10/22. Likely voters. MoE 4.4%. (9/25 results)

Landrieu (D-inc) 53 (54)
Kennedy (R) 43 (41)

NC-Sen: Elizabeth Dole has a mailer out smearing the hell out of Kay Hagan. Per ThinkProgress:

The North Carolina Republican State Executive Committee has sent out homophobic mailers targeting Senate candidate Kay Hagan (D), who is challenging Sen. Elizabeth Dole (R). The mailings warn that Hagan seeks to advance a “radical homosexual agenda” that includes legalizing gay marriage, removing “Under God” from the Pledge of Allegiance, and forcing the Boy Scouts to accept gay and atheist troop leaders.

It's unclear what the Pledge of Allegiance has to do with a radical homosexual agenda. But perhaps Elizabeth Dole can elaborate.

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Mahoney a no-show for debate.

A sell-out crowd at the Forum Club in West Palm Beach did not get what they came for this afternoon. A scheduled debate between Florida congressman Tim Mahoney (D) and his Republican challenger Tom Rooney did not take place as scheduled because Mahoney did not show up. He objected to the presence of TV cameras. Mahoney, who has admitted to having multiple affairs and may have paid off one of his mistresses, said the cameras would create a “circus” atmosphere. Rooney attended today had the entire event to himself, responding to questions posed by the moderator.