26 October 2008: Republicans in Panic

Workout notes 10 miles of walking in 2:05:23 (1:02:40/1:02:43). Pretty day (50’s) but windy, windy, windy. Hence the downhill leg (the second leg) was walked in the same time as the first; I walked to the road past the sign so it was slightly more than 10. Still it felt good; no post race sorness from yesterday.

Friends, Family, Bloggers
My sister Rosematuse sometimes talks about stuff on her mind. She walks, paints and sometimes has photos of stuff that she has seen on her walks. Check out her latest batch of photos.

I’ve also added to my blogroll: All That Matters, Concount, Tit for Tat and Workaholicrunner have been added.

Science Sandwalk (Professor Moran’s blog) gives an example from history to show why he is skeptical when the claim that a particular allele arose within the last 50,000 years and became fixed in the entire species (as opposed to an isolated subpopulation)

Politics: 2008 Election

(100,000 for Obama in Denver)

Here is a feel good story from rural Texas.

Here is a DNC ad in which McCain surrogates compare him to President Bush.

Christopher Hitches talks about the election.

Local Elections (IL-92 State House). Sometimes I wonder about the Illinois Democrats. They are backing Jehan Gordon against Joan Krupa in the IL-92nd House race. That is fine. They are sending out attack ad mailers on Gordon’s behalf. That’s fine too; politics is a mean game at times.

But the latest attack ad has a photo of Krupa with photos of Donald Trump on her left and Bill Gates on her right. Bill Gates? You mean the genius billionare who gives millions to charity? Sorry, but setting an association of your opponent with Bill Gates…well, let’s just say that I’d be flattered beyond words if anyone compared me to Bill Gates.

My wife told me “Honey, you are a nerd; of course you’d like Bill Gates. Others would associate him with being rich, and the ad associates Krupa with the filthy rich who don’t need to worry about money.”

Sorry, I think that I am right here. Note: I voted early, and yes, I voted for Gordon.

Fun maps to play with
How do you think the election will turn out? Here is a link to an interactive map where you can preset the map to a certain year (say, the outcome of the 2000 election) and then alter it to predict how this one will turn out.

Speaking of polls, did you know that the latest Arizona poll has it 44-40, McCain? No, Obama is not going to win Arizona, but this poll result is funnier than all get out. It is hard for me to believe that McCain isn’t really at least 55 percent or so.

There are other worse indignities however.

The Anchorage, Alaska newspaper endorsed Obama-Biden! Yes, they were kind to Sarah Palin, but the endorsement is funnier than all get out.

David Frum says that the Republicans ought to abandon the Presidential election and focus on the Senate and House races. Yes, he is voting for McCain. (he is a Republican shill and a former George W. Bush speechwriter)

But what is even funnier than Frum’s panic are the comments that he got on his article. Here is one of them:

This is the funniest thing I’ve read all week. So, once the Dems get into the Sentate they’re going to morph into Republicons? Because these ‘fears’ you’re quoting are the EXACT SAME THING Bush’s Republicon junta has been doing for the last 7 1/2 years. The GOP has been slowly alienating it’s supporters for YEARS, until suddenly all you have left is the radical fringe wingnuts, evangelicals waiting for the Rapture and the corrupt rich fatcats wanting to keep the status quo. You’ve sunk so far to pander to the lowest common denominator because THAT’S ALL YOU HAVE LEFT. But who’s fault is that?

Frum, I think you forgot to take your meds. You’re suffering from some GRAND delusions there.

BURN THE GOP TO THE GROUND, give it a mericiful death (more merciful than it deserves) and hope something of the HONOR and SUBSTANCE the party once held rises from the ashes.

Here is a general outline of the Republican crack-up.

Aides to George W.Bush, former Reagan White House staff and friends of John McCain have all told The Sunday Telegraph that they not only expect to lose on November 4, but also believe that Mr Obama is poised to win a crushing mandate.

They believe he will be powerful enough to remake the American political landscape with even more ease than Ronald Reagan did in 1980.

The prospect of an electoral rout has unleashed a bitter bout of recriminations both within the McCain campaign and the wider conservative movement, over who is to blame and what should be done to salvage the party’s future.

Mr McCain is now facing calls for him to sacrifice his own dwindling White House hopes and focus on saving vulnerable Republican Senate seats which are up for grabs on the same day.

Their fear is that Democrat candidates riding on Mr Obama’s popularity may win the nine extra seats they need in the Senate to give them unfettered power in Congress.

If the Democrat majority in the Senate is big enough – at least 60 seats to 40 – the Republicans will be unable to block legislation by use of a traditional filibuster – talking until legislation runs out of time. No president has had the support of such a majority since Jimmy Carter won the 1976 election. President Reagan achieved his political transformation partly through the power of his personality

They mostly talk about the fight between the intellectual Republicans and those who wanted them to get in line and back Sarah Palin.

I honestly don’t know how things will turn out; we still have 8 days and a lot can happen in that amount of time.

I’ll put it this way: I am still planning for that out of town GOTV trip on election day, and I wouldn’t be doing that if I thought that the election was “in the bag”. But the thought that maybe, just maybe we might get a chance to dance on their political grave warms my heart a bit.

What might be causing some of this discord?

There is some talk that Sarah Palin has “gone rogue” and is just saying what she feels like saying.

Here, she seems to indicate that Obama’s tax plan will somehow lead to a totalitarian socialist state?

Yep, that message ought to be a winner with independents! (not)

More Republican Whining and Delusions

Fox News asks if this advertising poster crosses the line and is an attack on Palin. Did they ask the same question when Hillary Clinton was satirized in this Pizza Hut ad?

Of course Sarah Palin was picked, in part, for her sex appeal (even some Republicans admit this) Evidently Palin’s husband is having some problems with this.

Republicans have started to make some rather lame ads:

Note: yes, the storm might get worse and no, you don’t want someone who has already run the ship aground on the bridge. After all, the captain of the Exxon-Valdez is “experienced”.

They are also sending out ads to Jewish voters which seem to imply that election Obama would be tantamount to risking a new holocaust.

They are having their media shills give high school caliber news interviews:

And hope still springs eternal for some. Here Morris says that if McCain brings back Rev. Wright, screams about Obama and socialism and then challenges Obama to agree to a gimmick:

McCain should jump on the issue and challenge Obama to agree to a two-year moratorium on increases in the capital gains tax. If Obama agrees, McCain will score points for leadership. If Obama refuses, or ignores the challenge, McCain can attribute much of the drop in the market to the fear of increased capital gains taxation once Obama takes over. After all, its pretty obvious that if you keep 85% of your capital profits right now but stand only to keep 80% or 72% once Obama takes over, it’s prudent to unload now. This pressure to sell is exactly what the markets do not need, and McCain can hammer the point home.

Yeah, sure. Mr. Morris: many Americans don’t remember all that much about “SOCIALISM”. The gimmick that you suggest would make McCain look as desperate as he really is.

As far as the Reverend Wright attack: remember that one of YOUR campaign principles is that negative attacks only work if they are surprising and contain new information. Rev. Wright has been beaten to death.

Besides, one of the things that we are finding out is that, well, white people aren’t as racist as either party thought. Oh yes, some are, but they are diminishing in significance.