The Trip to the McCain Rally in Davenport, Iowa is On!

Some good news: the McCain campaign returned my call and said that I could get tickets at the door; hence the trip to see a McCain rally is on! So I am going to get fresh batteries for my camera and head out the door tomorrow morning.

Peoria area political junkies can take this as an open invitation to carpool. Yes, even Republicans are invited so long as they follow the following rules:

1. No smoking in the car; I’ll pull over at a rest stop if you need that nicotine fix.

2. Arguing is fine, but no “Obama is a Muslim Terrorist” BS. No, I don’t think that McCain is Hitler either.

3. No, atheists are not apriori bad people. The phrase “godless primate” is not an insult; in fact it is an accurate description of me! And ok, for this trip, I’ll lay off making fun of people who speak in tongues.

4. No, I will not pretend that creationism is anything but delusional. But don’t worry; I won’t bring my copy of The God Delusion or The Selfish Gene.

Now if I don’t return from the rally it may be either because the mob tar and feathered me, or because the Republicans turned me into INS and got me deproted. My wife has been instructed to auction off my Obama gear in this event.

Oh, one other bit of good news. My report of my friendship’s death has been grossly exaggerated, by me. In fact, my friend called our “fight” a “heated discussion” and said that she has changed her mind about Obama on some issues and is now leaning more toward him than before.

Note: the doors open at 8:30 and the rally starts at 10:30, so I am planning on leaving at about 7 am.

Why am I going

Basically I am going for a couple of reasons.

1. I am a political junkie. This is the first campaign where I actually went to a candidate’s rally (Obama’s two Springfield rallies) and it will be cool for me to be able to say that this time I actually heard both candidates speak in person.

2. Though I have hammered McCain for some of his conduct on the campaign trail and for what I see are his weaknesses as a candidate, at the basic human level I still have respect for him. I am a fellow Naval Academy graduate and I am proud of the success that he has had so far. Don’t get me wrong: I still see Obama as being smarter and more capable. Nevertheless, it is possible to have respect for one’s political opponent. I see John McCain as being wrong for the job but not as “evil”.

The invitation

Join John McCain
and
Your Iowa Ticket
for a “Road to Victory” Rally

Saturday, October 11th

Doors Open at 8:30 am
Program Begins at 10:30 am

River Center
136 E. 3rd Street
Davenport, IA 52801

I don’t believe this…

Workout notes 500 in 8:57, 500 drill/swim (zoomers), 1000 in 16:26, 500 strokes, 1000 in 16:56, 300 strokes, 200 cool down. Total: 4000 yards.

It was crowded again; a couple of decent swimmers and a ton of dog paddlers.

Then again, it was good practice for open water.

Election futures Even I don’t understand this.

Intrade has D’s at 77.5, and Iowa Electronic at 84.6.
The R’s are at 22.0 and 16.4 respectively.

Intrade has Missouri turning blue along with Virginia, North Carolina, Florida, and Ohio.

Sarah Palin:

This reminds me of Harriet Miers, Alberto Gonzales, and Michael Brown (FEMA). More of the same!