Sarah Palin has been palling around with a
convicted felon

post from AMERICAblog News| A great nation deserves the truth on 27 October 2008 08:23:00 PM. © AMERICAblog News| A great nation deserves the truth

Sarah Palin was the one who set the standard for associations. She's pals around with a convicted felon -- a felon who can't even vote for her or himself. And, apparently, Palin has no problem with a felon serving in the Senate:

Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, who has crafted a corruption-busting image as part of her Republican vice presidential campaign, wasn't talking tough Monday after Sen. Ted Stevens was convicted in a corruption case.

Palin did not call on Stevens to resign or drop out of his tight re-election race.

"I'm confident Senator Stevens will do what's right for the people of Alaska," Palin said in a statement.

Sarah and her felon pal:

video details and more

The Senate Republican's campaign committee did throw Stevens under the bus:

In a strongly worded statement, Sen. John Ensign (R-Nev.), head of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, said Stevens's conviction marked the end of his career and signaled that the GOP would not try to mount an effort to hold onto the seat he has occupied for 40 years.

"Ted Stevens served his constituents for over 40 years and I am disappointed to see his career end in disgrace," Ensign said. "Sen. Stevens had his day in court and the jury found he violated the public?s trust - as a result he is properly being held accountable. This is a reminder that no one is above the law."

Ensign's statement was the strongest yet by a high-ranking GOP official since the verdict was announced Monday afternoon. And it seemed to undercut any hope from Stevens's allies that he could defeat Anchorage Mayor Mark Begich (D) in next week's election.

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Late Afternoon/Early Evening Open Thread

post from Daily Kos on 27 October 2008 08:20:04 PM. © Daily Kos

Kos made his recommendation on who should steer the Republican Party in the future in The Right's Howard Dean.

MissLaura reviewed Beyond the Fields by Randy Shaw, which took a look at the organizing skills and legacy of Cesar Chavez and the United Farm Workers.

brownsox took a look at the likely candidates to replace Barack Obama in the Senate in IL-Sen 2009: Who's On Deck?

Hunter discussed the amazing feat that John McCain has managed to pull off -- in the course of one campaign, he managed to make people more sick of him than they are of George Bush in A Marginalized Party.

Devilstower wrote a magnificent farewell to the illusory lure of Any Rand's objectivism and its downfall at the hands of one of her disciples in RIP John Galt.

Meteor Blades reminded us of the forgotten in his somber Wall Street. Main Street. Why No Mention of Side Streets and Alleys?.

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http://feeds.dailykos.com/~r/dailykos/index/~3/Tn7hZmtjfD0/644023

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Before We Just 'Get Over It'

post from Everyday Citizen on 27 October 2008 08:16:33 PM. © Everyday Citizen

"The most historic result of the Freedom Rides was perhaps the least well known: J. Edgar Hoover's[...]

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http://www.everydaycitizen.com/2008/10/before_we_just_get_over_it.html

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News from the Real America

post from Jesus' General on 27 October 2008 08:06:00 PM. © Jesus' General

From that coffee place:

An 8-year-old boy died after accidentally shooting himself in the head while firing an Uzi submachine gun under adult supervision at a gun fair.
The boy lost control of the weapon while firing it Sunday at the Machine Gun Shoot and Firearms Expo at the Westfield Sportsman's Club, police Lt. Lawrence Vallierpratte said.

Police said the boy, Christopher Bizilj of Ashford, Conn., was with a certified instructor and called the death a "self-inflicted accidental shooting."

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http://patriotboy.blogspot.com/2008/10/news-from-real-america.html

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Listening to the Locals: Minnesota

post from Daily Kos on 27 October 2008 08:02:50 PM. © Daily Kos

((In the final days of an election, there is so much information from so many races, it's difficult to stay on top of every story and understand the subtle dynamics often at play on the ground. Thankfully, we have an expansive 50-state blogosphere to match our 50-state strategy. Over the last two weeks of the campaign, we've asked leaders of the state blogospheres to provide insight into late developments and share the stories of their states in a series we're calling "Listening to the Locals." SusanG)

Al Franken announced in early 2007 that he would run against Bush Republican Norm Coleman for the Senate seat once occupied by progressive hero Paul Wellstone. That event alone made Minnesota an interesting place to be during the 2008 election cycle.

Then, on September 17th, Republican Congressman Jim Ramstad announced his retirement, setting off a closely-watched race for his Third district seat. Excitement +1.

Just eleven days later, the Republican National Committee announced that it would hold its 2008 convention in St. Paul. Was the Republican Party looking to flip a state with a blue reputation but only went to the Democratic Presidential nominee by slim margins in the previous two elections? Excitement +5.

Minnesota is also the state first-term Republican Congresswoman Michele Bachmann calls home and sometimes does and says funny things that turn a race in an R+5 district into a tossup.

Needless to say, it's been a big cycle so far in Minnesota. Read all about it after the break.

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Monday Night at the Movies: Bama Girl

post from Firedoglake on 27 October 2008 08:00:26 PM. © Firedoglake

Rachel Goslins? smart and provocative documentary about the Homecoming Queen elections at the University of Alabama, highlights the issue of race in the 21st century and exposes a behind the scenes, all-white group called the Machine that has been[...]

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http://firedoglake.com/2008/10/27/monday-night-at-the-movies-bama-girl/

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Let's Hit 500 Donors For Better Democrats... 7 To
Go.. WE SMASHED IT...

post from Open Left - Front Page on 27 October 2008 07:59:28 PM. © Open Left - Front Page

Congressional campaigns are making their final advertising purchases over the next couple of days.[...]

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http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/OpenLeft-FrontPage/~3/434130789/showDiary.do

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Let's Hit 500 Donors For Better Democrats... 7 To
Go..

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Let's Hit 500 Donors For Better Democrats

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Presidential Forecast - 10/27 - 8 more days

Things continue to look good for Obama, as he improved his position once again, leading 338-200, up 4 EV from the last projection. Colorado and Virginia remain our two tipping point states. A couple of major changes on the map: Ohio moves to Obama-Lean for the first time, and Arizona turns a lovely light pink.

The state-by-state map consensus is Obama 306 (+20) (Strong-255, Lean-51(+20)), McCain 163 (Strong-127 (-10), Lean-36 (-10)), Tossup: 69 (-20).

Map changes: Towards Obama: OH: T->OL; AZ: M->ML.

Please also check out our Senate Forecast and House Forecast.

The sources are sorted by each projection's estimate of Obama's Electoral Votes (Algorithm at bottom). The states are sorted from Obama-Strong to McCain -Strong. The right column shows a running total of Obama's EVs. States in 3 or more categories: AZ, CO, GA, IN, MT, ND, OH, VA.

DCW Presidential ForecastState
EVs538
.com Open Left EV.
com Elect. Proj.RCP RM FHQ NBC CNNEVsDate

10/27.10/27.10/27.10/27.10/27.10/27.10/27.10/27.10/15.
Obama-Strong (O)

306282260238255260238175192
Obama-Lean (OL)

4740466851533511185
Tossup (T)

225910010075511028987
McCain-Lean (ML)

0258203011113952
McCain-Strong (M)

163132124112127163152124122
Obama Total

353322306306306313273286277
McCain Total

163157132132157174163163174
Obama Est.

351349348347339330323332324

California
55OOOOOOOOO55Conn.
7OOOOOOOOO62DC
3OOOOOOOOO65Delaware
3OOOOOOOOO68Hawaii
4OOOOOOOOO72Illinois
21OOOOOOOOO93Maryland
10OOOOOOOOO103Massachusetts
12OOOOOOOOO115New York
31OOOOOOOOO146Oregon
7OOOOOOOOO153Rhode Island
4OOOOOOOOO157Vermont
3OOOOOOOOO160Maine
4OOOOOOOOOL164New Jersey
15OOOOOOOOLO179Washington
11OOOOOOOOOL190Iowa
7OOOOOOOOLOL197Minnesota
10OOOOOOOOLOL207Pennsylvania
21OOOOOOOOLOL228Wisconsin
10OOOOOOOOLOL238Michigan
17OOOOLOOOLOLO255New Mexico
5OOOOLOLOOLOLOL260NH
4OOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOL264Colorado
9OOOLOLOLOLOLOLT273Virginia
13OOOLOLOLOLTOLOL286Ohio
20OOLOLOLOLTTTT306Florida
27OLTTTTOLTTT333Nevada
5OLOLTTTTTTT338N. Carolina
15OLTTTTTTTT353Missouri
11TTTTTTTTT364Indiana
11TOLTTTMLTTML375Montana
3MTTTTMMLMLML378N. Dakota
3MTTTTMMLMLML381
Georgia
15MMLTTMLMMMLML396
Arizona
10MMLTTMLMMMLM406
W. Virginia
5MMMLMLMLMMLMLML
S. Dakota
3MMMLMLMMMMLM
Arkansas
6MMMMLMMMMML
Louisiana
9MMMMMMMMML
Mississippi
6MMMMLMMMMM
Alabama
9MMMMMMMMM
Alaska
3MMMMMMMMM
Idaho
4MMMMMMMMM
Kansas
6MMMMMMMMM
Kentucky
8MMMMMMMMM
Nebraska
5MMMMMMMMM
Oklahoma
7MMMMMMMMM
S. Carolina
8MMMMMMMMM
Tennessee
11MMMMMMMMM
Texas
34MMMMMMMMM
Utah
5MMMMMMMMM
Wyoming
3MMMMMMMMM

538
.com Open Left EV.
com Elect. Proj.RCP RM FHQ NBC CNN....

Notes:
538 - FiveThirtyEight - Safe and Likely mapped to Strong (O or M), Lean to Lean (OL or ML), Tossup to Tossup (T)
CNN - Safe mapped to Strong, Leaning to Lean, Tossup to Tossup
Elect. Proj. - Election Projection - Solid and Strong mapped to Strong, Moderate to Lean, Weak to Tossup
EV.com - Electoral-Vote.com - Strong mapped to Strong, Weak to Lean, Barely and Tossup to Tossup
FHQ - FrontLoading HQ - Solid mapped to Strong, Lean to Lean, Tossup (Dem and Rep) to Tossup
NBC - Base mapped to strong, Lean to Lean, Tossup to Tossup
OpenLeft - Solid mapped to Strong, Lean to Lean, Tossup to Tossup
RM - Rasmussen - Safe and Likely mapped to Strong, Lean to Lean, Tossup to Tossup
RCP - RealClearPolitics - Solid mapped to Strong, Lean to Lean, Tossup to Tossup

The overall projection is just a straight average of each projections' estimate of Electoral Votes (EVs) for each candidate. For each projection other than FiveThirtyEight, we give Obama 100% of the EVs in a state that is solid for him, 80% of the EVs for a leaner, 50% of the EVs for a Tossup, 20% of the EVs for state that is McCain-Lean, and 0% of the Solid McCain states. Exact opposite for McCain. For FiveThirtyEight, we use their overall estimate of Obama's EVs, not the state-by-state categories.

Any state which is majority Strong, and has no Tossups, is considered to be Strong for all projections. The categories in the chart are original, but the final number for each projection is adjusted. For this week, the following states were affected by this change: IA, ME, MI, MN, NJ, PA, WA, WI (Obama), AR, LA,MS, SD (McCain). This change has added 3 EVs to Obama's total.

Read The Full Article:
http://www.demconwatchblog.com/2008/10/presidential-forecast-1023-8-more-days.htm
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