The Tryptophan is Gone

And there are still two open Senate races.

Georgia and Minnesota still have unfinished elections, with an on-going recount in Minnesota and a run-off election scheduled for Tuesday in Georgia.

Following up on earlier posts, let us start with Minnesota. Democratic challenger Al Franken is down by about 280 votes to Republican Norm Coleman with 12% of the votes yet to be recounted and over 5000 challenged ballots awaiting a ruling from the state canvassing board (according to the Star Tribune).

Things are so close in this race that its really difficult to predict how it will turn out (straight from the horse's mouth so to speak). Franken could pick up some more votes before it comes down to the challenged ballots and lots of ballots are getting challenged, more and more by both sides as the recount continues.

The Star Tribune offers a graphic on what types of winning percentages on the challenged ballots as things currently stand each side would need in order to win. The bottom line is that it's still a bit of a steep hill for Franken to win, but there is no way to account for the quality of the challenges so who really knows what it'll end up looking like.

Down in Georgia voters will be returning to the polls this week to vote for either Democrat Jim Martin or Republican Incumbent Saxy Chambliss (Libertarian Allen Buckley who helped necessitate the run off by snagging 3% of the initial votes and thus preventing any candidate from reaching the 50% plateau is no longer on the ballot).

Early voting closed before Thanksgiving and no one has any idea how to predict what turn out will look like. There has been a lot of national media attention applied to this race and to the fact that President-elect Obama has not campaigned for Martin despite many other political celebrity appearances on both sides. The polling all shows a close race with Chambliss in the lead but again remains largely irrelevant in the face of unknown turnout, basically it doesn't matter who people say they'll vote for if they don't end up voting on election day. The general feeling seems to be that Chambliss will eke out the win despite the swell of Obama organizers flocking to the state to bolster the Martin campaign.

If want to keep track of all this on your own; Five Thirty Eight still has that election jones, the Star Tribune and Atlanta Journal Constitution both have god election pages up still for a local perspective, and when something definitive finally happens this site will be one of many to have the news...

Read This Now - I hate to say I told you so...

A little post-turkey binge morning reading, or afternoon / lunch reading at this point.

Paul Krugman on how we got into this financial mess, he starts out with a bang...

A few months ago I found myself at a meeting of economists and finance officials, discussing — what else? — the crisis. There was a lot of soul-searching going on. One senior policy maker asked, “Why didn’t we see this coming?”

There was, of course, only one thing to say in reply, so I said it: “What do you mean ‘we,’ white man?”

Fire in the Sky

If you've ever gazed up at the stars, especially if you were hoping to catch a shooting star you've got to see this...



As the voice-over says the video came from a police cruiser dash cam (man those things are great).

(thanks to my Dad for pointing this out)

Minnesota Update

If only all of the children in Minnesota really were above average, then we wouldn't have had to deal with someone like Norm Coleman as a Senator.

If you're still looking for your daily poll fix, Five Thirty Eight crunched the numbers (guess they're having trouble packing it in as well) this weekend and are predicting that Al Franken will pull it out.

One of These Things...

Is not like the other. Just having a bit of fun with the internets this afternoon and this photo from Salon's home page caught my attention because I'd seen almost the same photo earlier during a bathroom reading session (that means EW time)...
















So which hand is the Commish using to ram that dude's head into an aquarium?

A Kinder, Gentler Recount?

The recount is on (has been for a few days actually) in the Minnesota Senate race race between Republican Norm Coleman and Democratic challenger Al Franken. When the recount got underway this week Coleman lead Franken by 215.

The squabbling has been intense, with challenged ballots and injunctions, but is pretty tame when compared to the Florida Fiasco.

According to Al Franken's staff after approximately 50% of the ballots have been recounted Coleman's lead has dropped below 100. The Franken camp also notes that the predominately Democratic districts have yet to be recounted so things are looking good.

The Star Tribune has Coleman leading Franken by 140 votes with 48% recounted and a little over 425 ballots challenged by the campaigns which will have to be ruled on by the state canvassing board beginning on December 16.

But don't wait for the board to rule, head over to the Minnesota Public Radio site and put in your two cents on how some challenged ballots should be counted...

(Franken photo from campaign wesite, Coleman photo from Senate website)

But That's So Rational

Reprinted in full from my new favorite Econ blog, NPR's Planet Money...

Corporate Jets So Bad?

Filed under: News

Imagine you're the CEO of a major auto manufacturer in danger of going bankrupt, countless jobs and arguably the financial health of the U.S. could hang in the balance.

Your day is packed packed packed with emergency meetings and phone calls, some just five minutes long. You're not sleeping.

You have to go to Washington DC to ask Congress for help.

Your company, like many other much smaller companies owns a corporate jet which you've used for years.

Do you really book a flight instead on a commercial airline? Wait in line for hours, risk flight delays? Is that really the best use of your time? And if you book that flight, won't lawmakers just say it's a cheap ploy?

Just asking.

David Kestenbaum

See below for a more emotional reaction.

Foto Friday - But You Can Eat It Too

This week's photo comes from Greg Takayama who blogs on food, photos, and life in general.
(photo from this post)

You Guys Should Have Jet-pooled

By Chip Somodevilla -- Getty Images, from WaPo

Or straight up flown commercial, but then that would indicate that the heads of the auto-industry were in touch with reality which it seems pretty clear that they have long since lost the touch of.

The heads of GM, Ford, and Chrysler each flew on their own private jet from Detroit to Washington in order to beg Congress to give them tax-payer money.

Give. Me. A Freaking. Break.

Lawmakers were not happy, and the often over the top Dana Milbank has the coverage...

Highlights include:

"There's a delicious irony in seeing private luxury jets flying into Washington, D.C., and people coming off of them with tin cups in their hands," Rep. Gary L. Ackerman (D-N.Y.) advised the pampered executives at a hearing yesterday. "It's almost like seeing a guy show up at the soup kitchen in high-hat and tuxedo. . . . I mean, couldn't you all have downgraded to first class or jet-pooled or something to get here?"

A Couple of Good Quotes (of course they have to do with Obama)

The first from new White House Chief of Staff to be Rahm Emmanuel:

The American people in two successive elections have voted for change, and change cannot be allowed to die on the doorsteps of Washington.

(via EK)

The second from Columbia recording artist Bob Dylan on election night:

I was born in 1941. That was the year they bombed Pearl Harbor. I’ve been living in darkness ever since. It looks like things are going to change now.

(via George Packer, which eventually leads here)

Read This Now - News of the Day, Daschle is Back

image from campusprogress

The news of the day is certainly the leak that former Senator Tom Daschle has agreed to be both the Secretary of Health and Human Services and health reform czar for the Obama administration.

Seems to me that means President-elect Obama is very serious about getting moving on health care reform and I'm very glad to hear it.

Ezra Klein, my go to health care wonk, has more on why this is big and you should be excited.

Read This Now - How Hillary Got Reported as Secretary of State

This is a good piece by John Koblin in the NY Observer on the media stories surrounding the possibility and rumors of Hillary Clinton becoming the State Department Chief in Barack Obama's Administration.

(Caveat: I've only skimmed it, via TPM)

As an aside the article does not appear to be available in single page view mode, I hate having to keep hitting the next page button while I'm trying to read an article. It's a much bigger nuisance than turning the page...

The LOIRP is Pretty Cool

The LOIRP is The Lunar Orbiter Image Recovery Project, what it boils down to is that NASA is in the process of digitizing and cleaning up old images from the early lunar orbiters in the late 60's.

They have a fairly interesting website complete with photo gallery explaining the process but also the long journey that the original data tapes went through before finally undergoing the current restoration and digitization.

The NYT had an editorial on the newly restored image and it's view of a younger, different earth today. Most interesting tidbit, in 1966 when the photo was taken Earth had roughly half as many people living on it as it does today.

Wild.

(If you're into the Moon, MoonViews looks like it's worth a gander)

58

image from Begich campaign website

This is already sort of old news, but it's finally official; Anchorage Mayor and Democrat Mark Begich has defeated Convicted Felon and Republican Incumbent Ted Stevens in their race for a Senate seat from Alaska.

You can read more in the Anchorage Daily News (I like going local for these stories) and listen to Begich on today's Morning Edition.

Gmail Makes You, You

So it turns out that Gmail makes your email address yours regardless of whether it has dots in it. I think it's really cool that yourname@gmail.com is the same as your.name@gmail.com.

Maybe that's just because I got some email from friends who inadvertently or because they had my address wrong stuck in some dots.

Google explains here.

In Which I Read the Outlook Section

Despite the fact that we get both the NYT and WaPo during the week and I read at least the front sections of both papers to start my day, I don't read much of the weekend paper at all. We only get the WaPo on the weekend and I read the comics and at least skim the front page but it had been a long time since I read much of the Outlook section, which I find weird but not weird enough to spend much time ruminating on.

This past Sunday was different for some reason and I skimmed most of Outlook and read and enjoyed three pieces, so I thought that I would share.



The cover piece was by Eliot Spitzer and was on the current economic situation and his thoughts on te deregulation and various other sketchy accounting practices that got us into this mess.

The reality is that unregulated competition drives corporate behavior and risk-taking to unacceptable levels. This is simply one of the ways in which some market participants try to gain a competitive advantage. As one lawyer for a company charged with malfeasance stated in a meeting in my office (amazingly, this was intended as a winning defense): "You're right about our behavior, but we're not as bad as our competitors."

Rememberthat as the state attorney general before becoming the Governor of New York probing wall street shenanigans was a big part of Spitzer's claim to fame. I also dared to wonder aloud if he might make a good Attorney General in the Obama Administration and just now I saw Steve Benen's notion of Spizter as Chairman of the SEC. Something to think about, after all he does know a bit about these things. So is Spitzer's rehab nigh, and if so what might be next for John Edwards?

Inside and still on the topic of the economy was Charles Morris (of whom I've never heard) explaining the need for a recession to clear out the muck of our current economic mess.

Our economic model is broken, and trying to restart it will just dig us deeper into a hole. The massive changes that are required can be made only through the violent rejiggering that takes place during recessions. That may sound coldhearted, but there's a precedent.

Morris goes on to detail Paul Volcker's actions as Federal Reserve Chairman in the early '80's and his eventual success. Worth noting that Volcker is one of Obama's economic advisers and has been getting some mention as Treasury Secretary.

On an entirely different topic I was happy to see that at least one Republican understands what this election actually means, that we are no longer a center-right nation. Tod Linberg, editor of Policy Review from Stanford's Hoover Institution and informal adviser to the McCain campaign makes the case as clearly as any liberal author has yet managed and with a really catchy title - The Center-Right Nation Exits Stage Left.

The only problem: It isn't true. Or at least, not anymore. If you'd asked me a year ago whether the United States is really a center-right nation, I would have said yes -- after pausing for a second to contemplate the GOP's big congressional losses in 2006. At the time, Republicans cheered each other up by assuring ourselves that the worst was over: If you were running for Congress and survived 2006, you could hold your seat forever.

Tell that to Christopher Shays. After 2006, he was the sole surviving GOP House member from all of New England, but he went down this year, 51 to 48 percent. We are now two elections into something big. This month's drubbing is just the latest sign that the country's political center of gravity is shifting from center-right to center-left. Republicans who fail to grasp this could be lost in the wilderness for years.

So there you go, I still read the newspaper. Do you?

Just Wow - Earth from Space

This video stitched together from still images by NASA astronaut Dr. Donald Petit is absolutely mind-blowing, you've got to see it.



(via Dot Earth, see also NYT profile of Dr. Petit)

Shockingly This Man Is Still the President for 66 More Days

That's not quite the real deal, but still if you run track for ASU that's priceless...

(via MS, see also the White House release)

Still Looking North

Figure I may as well keep updating the conclusion of the Alaskan Senate Race. At the end of the day Friday Democrat Mark Begich's lead over convicted felon and incumbent Republican Ted Stevens had grown to 1,022. Earlier in the day the Anchorage Daily News reported that it wasn't looking good for Stevens.

Change is in the Air

President-elect Obama has, not surprisingly, taken over the weekly Democratic address which is the counter point to the weekly Presidential address (I'm pretty sure this is right, I don't think that there is a separate Republican address other than what W has to say).

I'm pretty sure that the practice of the President giving a weekly radio address originated with FDR's fireside chats in the 1930's and has simply never gone out of style. Until now it had never really been upgraded either. While the Bush White House does post a transcript and audio of the address on the White House website it isn't available as a podcast or in video format.

With today's address however President-elect Obama has brought some (semi)exciting change, it's on You Tube.

The address is on the economic crisis and isn't terribly exciting in and of itself, still got to love technology...



I picked this up from the Change.gov feed but it turns out the story is everywhere.

Getting that Fix

If you're still weening yourself off of the election adrenaline and information overload be sure to check out Newsweek's big behind the scenes extravaganza (I haven't really jumped into it at all, but word on the street is that it's pretty cool and in seven parts). Also this week's New Yorker is available in its entirety online and free.

It's also the second straight week with an awesome cover...


This is last week's, a blue light of hope at the end of the long red tunnel. Metaphor much?

Alaska Update

Yes, this may feel like reruns since the election was last week but following the ongoing vote tabulation is a big step up from Alex's issues...


Seriously though, by the time they got finished counting votes last night in Alaska Democrat Mark Begich's lead had risen to 814 with about 40,000 ballots still left to count in the coming days.

Northern Exposure

Turns out this guy could be the next Senator from Alaska

photo from Begich campaign website

Well maybe I was a little quick on the draw in badmouthing the voters of America's northern outpost. After the first day of counting absentee and questioned ballots convicted felon and incumbent Republican Senator Ted Stevens is no longer in the lead. Anchorage's Democratic Mayor Mark Begich is now up by three votes.

There are still a bunch more votes to be counted later this week (it sounds like) so you never know what'll happen, but this certainly has me feeling better.

(via TPM, where the readers are all over it)

Super Obama World

You may have seen this already, if you haven't get those old school video game muscles stretched back out and dive in to Super Obama World (the title pretty much says it all).

It's been a long time since I played Super Mario and my skills are weak. It's still fun though...

via Salon's Five Things which linked to a BBC article (I borrowed their screen capture) on the game which failed to link to the game itself, what's up with that?

update - this game is more awesome than I expected, watch out for the lipstick wearing pigs and make sure to check out the bridge to nowhere in the first level.

Kenny Mayne is a Funny Guy

I don't watch much TV at all these days, and the time in my life when I regularly caught several Sports Centers was quite a while ago now. Today though I saw most of the 10am SC and they were hyping Kenny Mayne's new online show Mayne Street. Seeing as how Kenny was my favorite anchor back in the day (he and Dan Patrick regularly killed it, but I'd be remiss if I didn't throw Rich Eisen in there as well) I was glad to see he's still in the game and you know what else, he's still got it...



more stuff and future episodes at ESPN

So This is Pretty Cool

Follow the link, just trust me...

Oh, make sure you aren't in the middle of anything that you can't put off for a bit, this will distract you for at least a little while. There is just so much stuff going on, even more than it first looks like since you can hold the mouse at the bottom of the screen to scroll it down a bit and most of the icons are interactive, so yes you can press that button.

The woman speaking to you can be a teeny bit creepy though.

(via Kottke)

Mac vs PC - The Battle Continues

The folks at the Onion have the early comparison for you...

Apparently Snow Leopard isn't part of the joke.

(via Gadget Lab)

Harry Reid is a F***ing Moron, Joe Lieberman is an A**hole

I know progressives from Connecticut, progressives from Connecticut are friends of mine. Joe Lieberman is not a progressive from Connecticut.

The bottom line here is that Harry Reid has utterly and completely (and finally) lost my respect and support.

I'll put the video up so you can see for yourself, but if anyone wants to run against Senator Reid you've got my vote...



Harry Reid is a disingenuous, spineless, worthless excuse of a Democratic Leader. About the only thing worse than being Joe Lieberman is standing up for him by feeding the public a bunch of unbelievable horse shit.

(via TP)

Hey It Worked in 2000

This time around though, it's happening in Minnesota instead of Florida and it's in a Senate race and not the Presidential election.

Still the fact that Norm Coleman is trying to prevent all the votes from being counted is a disgusting and anti-American display of cowardice.

(via MS)

If You Like Photoshop

Or even if you just know what the window for it looks like, you'll enjoy this shot from Flickr user wandaaaa...

(via Kottke, full size here, Blogger keeps chopping it off)

Read This Now - Just What Exactly Happened in Alaska?

Reuters

Maybe it isn't the Stevens effect (where voters are too embarrassed to tell pollsters that they'll be voting for a convicted felon) after all.

The WaPo, in an online article from their investigative section does just about everything except for actually jump up and down and scream election fraud and manipulation.

Certainly something to keep an eye on.

(via EK)

New Site to Explore

This is the first time I've seen this and I'm loving it! I don't know if other transitions have had their own web sites and I'll say probably not because the last one was W in 2000 and I just don't see him having one coupled with how far we've come online in the past 8 years.

change.gov is the new site of the Office of the President-Elect.

It's topped by this quote from President-Elect Obama:

Today we begin in earnest the work of making sure that the world we leave our children is just a little bit better than the one which we inhabit today.

And there's a counter; 74 days until inauguration...

The Republican Train Wreck

I really don't want to waste my time paying attention to the Republican in-fighting in the wake of getting trounced on election day, but it's oddly fascinating and reassuring.

Pretty much the McCain vs. Palin hoohah that was boiling up in the last days of their campaign is continuing and even picking up the pace and fervor. Some of the recent developments include much more money having been spent on Palin's wardrobe and lawyers being dispatched to Alaska to retrieve the clothes. The nearly unbelievable report that Palin thought Africa was a single nation, not a continent and didn't know who the signatories to NAFTA were. Just wow.


(via TPM)

Not to be outdone, Palin supporters are vowing vengeance.

And now here it is, the absolute best thing about having Sarah Palin as John McCain's running mate...

Read This Now - But What Does It Mean?

Thomas Schaller (who's been a fantastic addition to War Room) asked a lot of people what Obama's election means and he has about 35 responses up. I've only read the first few but already I think that you should head over and have a look.

Foto Friday - Mr President

Here's another one from the Big Picture, it's from a new collection of images of our next President.

The Very Early Days

So it seems that among other things to do online in the wake of Obama's resounding election people are speculating on his probable staff and Cabinet.

So a few quick thoughts on that front:

I hope very much that asking Rahm Emmanuel to serve as Chief of Staff is indicative of tactical decisions and wanting to have someone on board who is notorious for being able to muscle legislation through congress, rather than being indicative of policy and ideological priorities (a desire to govern from the slightly conservative center as in the late Clinton years). A fear of that eventuality was why I was not on the Obama bandwagon in the primaries.

I'm also really really hoping that it turns out to be a vicious rumor that Larry Summers is the front runner for Treasury Secretary. We don't need a redo of Clinton's administration even if they did things much better than W. Plus Summers is an ass, need I remind you of his time at Harvard? And apparently he was pretty complicit in the deregulation mess that got us to where we are. From what I've heard I think Volcker would be a much better pick.

That being said, I'm very excited about how quickly things are moving ahead and I'm jazzed about some of the other rumors floating around. Including RFK Jr for EPA and Caroline Kennedy for UN Ambassador. I think Podesta is a good choice to help head up the trasition team and I was a little disapointed to here that he's not interested in being Energy Secretary but staying at the Center for American Progress is proably the right thing for him to do.

Bonus Note: The Oregon Senate race looks like it's final and another seat for the Democrats.

364!

Missouri and North Carolina are finally official and that makes the electoral vote tally 364-174.

I'd say that President Obama will have quite the mandate.

HuffPo has a page dedicated to Obama's transition team and future Cabinet, currently everyone is saying that Rahm Emmanuel will take the Chief of Staff job except for Emmanuel's people who are denying that it's a done deal.

Turns out there's still plenty of politics on the internets to keep you busy...

Just When I was Feeling Upbeat

Major Bummer. It looks like Prop 8 has passed in California effectively banning gay marriage and relegating many of our fellow Americans to the status of second class citizens.

I'd like to quote Kottke now - Fuck you California.

While we're quoting folks how about Ezra Klein (and my friend POH via email) - WTF Alaska?
I'd just like to add; If 7 felony convictions isn't enough to keep you from getting re-elected what is?
(there are still absentee ballots to count in this one and it is close so you never know, but come on shouldn't this have been pretty decisive and clear cut?)

I'm also ticked off that Slots passed in my home state of Maryland, I guess the whole vote yes on 2 to get $600 million for schools gambit worked, because it won big too.

Post Election Dump

Where I offer some stream of consciousness thoughts on last night and the campaign...

It was great to see people dancing in the streets, particularly here in DC where much of the celebrating took place along U Street which was still smoldering 40 years ago in the wake of the riots that consumed much of the city after Dr. King's assassination...

It might have been even better seeing the folks at the White House, especially hearing about the various chants and songs...

In fact a friend of mine (on his blog) remarked that it was like every city had just won the Superbowl. I'd say it was even better, in light of the fact that so many sports celebrations of late have been marred by violence and destruction and last nights celebration was nothing but hugs and dancing and high fives and jubilation...

The internets certainly got excited too, in my RSS my favorite responses included

Kottke:


and Ezra Klein:

I mostly watched CNN (it comes in HD) and I thought they generally did a good job, the touch screen map that John King was running was cool and he actually threw out useful info, and when Obama was projected as the winner they just let the celebrations play without commentary, A trick they managed again after Obama spoke...

Obama won Virginia and (I'm pretty sure) North Carolina which will put him up over 350 in the electoral college which is the number I designated as a blowout at the start of the evening, hell yeah...

There were so many touching stories and images throughout the day (the whole campaign too) of people young and old who were so proud to be voting and so enthused by the outcome it was just great, especially the diversity of it all...

I even think it's pretty cool that the younger generations and voters (under 30) aren't quite as bowled over as our parents and grandparents, many of whom thought they'd never see the day that anyone other than a white man would be President. It says something good about where our society is going...

The best headline this morning is below the fold in the WaPo, it says America's History Gives Way to Its Future...

The reporting maps on nearly every website were pretty cool(update: Kottke has examples), I relied on TPM and NYT for the most part...

I'm kind of glad that the campaign closed on such a negative note from the Republicans. They threw everything they had in the fear-mongering basket at Obama and none of it stuck. Obama won BIG, Hope Over Fear indeed. Voters didn't care about Obama's middle name or the color of his skin, and they didn't buy (or care about) charges of socialism or questions of patriotism. I hope that that type of divise campaigning is over and buried for good (see EK and EJ Dionne for more)...

Tom Toles was good this morning:


Both Obama and McCain gave good speeches. McCain's should have been a bit shorter but he struck a good note (his friends in the media who have been protesting that he wasn't behind the negativity in his campaign will be delighted no doubt to declare themselves proven right) and Obama pretty much nailed it...

The difference in the reaction of the crowds to the mention of the opponent's name was one of the most telling of the election and the campaigns and arguably of the nature of today's political discourse. Obama's crowd politely aplauded McCain, while McCain's crowd booed and hissed at the mention of Obama and McCains offer of congratulations and support...

Obama voters stood for something this election, McCain voters were just against something, and thats a huge and crucial difference (and a big change for Democrats who were more against W than for Kerry last time around). It also shows who paid attention to the issues and who paid attention to character attacks...

Here are the speeches (just in case):





Isn't great to have a President who can really give a speech again?

Welcome to a brave new world, it's morning in America...

President Obama

No, you know what, let me say his whole name; President of the United States of America Barack Hussein Obama.

Yeah, that felt pretty good.

I'd say the Internets are excited, so is the Country at large, and so am I.

Extra: watching the local news with folks streaming out onto U Street and swarming into Lafayette Square...it's a good thing. (Even if local Fox wants to know if there's any violence RESOUNDING NO - People are HAPPY!!)

Projections are Shameful

At least on CNN they make me laugh.

Wolf Blitzer just had to point to a screen showing Obama up by nearly 3,000 votes with less than 1% reporting and announce that they were calling it for McCain.

And now the talking heads are saying they used exit polls, but they would never do that if the state was close...

HA!

I Voted, Did You?

If you haven't stop reading this and go VOTE RIGHT NOW! We'll wait...

Okay, much better. My voting experience here in Takoma Park was swift and easy, the entire process including waiting took between five and ten minutes. (There was a reported 45 minute- 1 hour wait this morning and I'm sure there will be a line at lunch and again in the evening, seriously we should have a week to vote or at least move the day to the weekend.) It was fairly exciting actually, despite the fact that Maryland is continuing to use electronic machines without a paper trail which drives me nuts. Mostly it was exciting because this is the first election (other than this year's primary) for which I've voted in person. I've been voting for ten years now but always by absentee ballot until today.

So go vote already, it'll feel good, really good.

Bonus Link: If you enjoy prediction / poll sites like 538 and Pollster then check out the Princeton Election Consortium. The cool stuff is along the right margin, like this map of the states weighted for electoral vote count. (via PK)

Where and How to Vote

This just arrived in my inbox from Move On, and this is important information. If just one person sees this here and is helped by it, it will have been well worth it.

Now get out there and VOTE!

Election 2008 Voting Information

Today, November 4th, is Election Day! Remember to vote—not just for Barack Obama, but for Congressional, state, and local candidates as well.

Where and when do I vote?

Find your polling place, voting times, and other important information by checking out these sites and the hotline below. These resources are good, but not perfect. To be doubly sure, you can also contact your local elections office.

• Obama's VoteForChange site: voteforchange.com
• League of Women Voters' site: vote411.org/pollfinder.php
• Obama's voter hotline: 877-US4-OBAMA (877-874-6226)

What should I do before I go?

• After you've entered your address on either Vote For Change or Vote411, read the voting instructions and special rules for your state.
• Voting ID laws vary from state to state, but if you have ID, bring it.
• Check out all the voting myths and misinformation to look out for: http://truth.voteforchange.com/

What if something goes wrong?

• Not on the voter list? Make sure you're at the right polling place, then demand a provisional ballot.
• If you're voting on an electronic machine with a paper record, verify that the record is accurate.
• Need legal help? Call 1-866-OUR-VOTE.
• If you encounter a problem, try to videotape the situation and submit it to VideoTheVote.org

Want to do more?

• Text all of your friends: "Vote Obama today! Pass it on!"
• Make calls from home for Obama.

Now, everybody go vote!!!

If It's Monday Night

Then there must be a football game, and honestly I wouldn't even know who was playing this week if it didn't involve the 'Skins.

(Side note: DC is a Football town, if nothing else. When I was growing up the WaPo had four reporters assigned to the White House and six to the 'Skins.)

But the 'Skins are playing tonight, against the Pittsburgh Steelers if you must know, and that's just how the NFL and ESPN wanted it on election eve (or whatever the cool kids are calling tonight). Monday Night Football from the nation's capitol complete with interviews of both candidates with Chris Berman.

That's right folks the final interviews of this seemingly endless campaign will be conducted by this guy...

(see ESPN for earlier interviews of the candidates)

Obama is not a MNF rookie...

(this was back in December of '06)

Read This Now - Closing Strong Too

Salon's Joan Walsh on Barack Obama 2.o and how he has progressed as a candidate over the course of the campaign. It's worth a look just for the side by sides of speeches from February and November.

Closing Strong

This is just one snippet (if you're paying attention you've already seen plenty) but it's a strong point and a vital part of the closing argument that Obama's making.



It's simple but it's also a message that is true and powerful and that I for one, can really get behind:

The power of hope over fear, of unity over division, and of change over the status quo.

(via TPM)

And I Was Only Using a #2.5...

Yikes! who else got nervous that the scantron would somehow screw up their grade or that they'd inadvertently cause a catastrophe?

(Seriously people, just add xkcd to your RSS already)

Video Relief

Well folks the shit is about to hit the fan, and in 48 hours the campaign will (hopefully) have come to an end.

Things have certainly been a little less crazy then I thought they might be so far, and we get a Monday night football game to distract us for a few (ok like 4-5) hours later tonight, but tomorrow will definitely be a long and hectic day.

I'd like to remind you to vote (if you haven't already) and encourage you to vote for Obama and hope over fear.

You should know that it won't only be urban, socialist, elites voting for Obama...



And that if you don't vote I think Harrison Ford might come to your house and kick your ass...



(Seriously, he seems pretty p.o.ed.)

The Declare Yourself website seems pretty cool too.

Read This Now - The End is Near

It's almost over and, dare I say it, things are looking good.

This is Colin Delany (e.politics) on the end...

Palin Pranked

And I thought it had been a slow day, I went to the zoo, I had some nice dinner. Then I checked my google reader and found out that this happened...



Wow, just yeah, wow.

Think the call screener still has her job?

(via PA)