Some election nights stand out more than others. I especially remember the soul crushing night in a bar in Atlanta in ’94. The multiple “election nights” of 2000 that ended up following me across the ocean and back. And ’06 wasn’t bad, either. I suspect, however, that 2008 will be one for the ages.
Category: Politics Page 35 of 73
It seems that Joe Klein has been kicked out of John McCain’s treehouse:
Time columnist Joe Klein, who’s been a forceful critic of the McCain campaign (and already said he’s unwilling to accept a post-election apology), has found himself without a seat on the McCain or Palin the past four months.
[ . . . ]
“I’ve done nine presidential campaigns and this is the first time this has ever happened to me,†Klein said. “I was even allowed—I won’t say welcomed—on the Clinton plane in the summer of 1996 after I was revealed as the author of Primary Colors.â€
I’m no fan of Joe Klein, and I think that this cold shoulder probably gets more credit for Joe’s increasingly negative takes on McCain than any sudden development of his analytical abilities. But it still shows the McCain campaign as being run (and headed) by remarkably petty people.  But here’s where I get to be petty:
UPDATE: Campaign spokesperson Michael Goldfarb responded that “we don’t allow Daily Kos diarists on board either.”
My feelings are *so* hurt. I’ll have to watch the campaign crash and burn from afar. Probably for the best, I suppose.
Crossposted to DailyKos.com, natch.
TPM brings us this moment of . . . bathos?
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yeeGzu9iYKU[/youtube]
“Listen to me! I’m the candidate!” This guy can’t get the one person who is supposed to back him on everything to stop embarrassing and undermining him in public, and he wants to convince us he can run this country?
Yard signs seem to be in great demand in my neighborhood these days – first by supporters, then by sad little thieves that decide to take a page from their party’s playbook by shutting down speech they don’t like.  At last count, six Obama and/or Warner signs have been stolen from a prominent spot on my street. The last time it happened, I duct-taped a short note to the McCain sign that replaced the stolen Obama sign. It invited the thief to leave future Obama signs alone, as no one has stolen a McCain sign around here, as best I can tell. Alas, the Obama sign just disappeared again. So, because I know we’re not the only ones with troubled and bitter little Republican thieves, I offer this handy HOW-TO:
In the weeks running up to the 2004 presidential election, my yard sign was often pilfered and/or destroyed. Â After the 4th time, I had had enough, and rigged up a fairly simple alarm to help protect my sign. Â This post documents how to do it in case you’re facing your own First Amendment-hating neighborhood antagonists.
What You’ll Need
• Duct tape
• A wire hanger
• Fishing line (string or twine can also be used)
• A personal alarm (more on this below)
Full instructions and pictures here.
Yes, 100,000 people in St. Louis. Yes, $150,000,000 in September. But there are still 18 days to go. Do not let up. Reed Hunt reminds:
Only if we win will McCain and Palin have to cope with the reputations they will have earned. If they win, they get to write the history.
Democrats need to knock on every door in those key states; respond to every charge, no matter how crazy, in every media forum that can be found; stay on the air; stay on the offense. And remember the essential voters in those key states won’t finally decide until the weekend before that Tuesday.
I think what little credibility Colin Powell had is in a little vial of white powder somewhere, and have no desire to help rehabilitate his image. Still such things are not aimed at me, but at that segment of the population for whom the recommendation of their first black friend might encourage them to get a second one.
I would never, in a million years, have imagined this possible:
That’s 100,000 people who went through a good amount of time and effort in order to participate in the American political process. It’s also a suggestion that I still have much to learn about this country, and the people in it. And I’m thrilled to be reminded of that like this.
Here’s a political attack that never occurred to me:
Republican gubernatorial candidate Roy Brown this week accused Democrats of spreading a false rumor that he is a vegetarian in this meat-loving state.
“I am not and have never been a vegetarian,” Brown said.
“I am disgusted by the baseless allegation that I am a vegetarian and that my personal eating habits should somehow be construed as opposed to the economic interests of Montana’s livestock industry.”
Really? I mean, I’m no stranger to people’s reactions to vegetarians. Hell, I might even be able to claim some special familiarity with the Montana political reaction to vegetarians – a couple of years ago, I was at a dinner table next to Sen. Conrad Burns (R-MT). Some sort of apparently wonderful sirloin steak was the menu for the evening, and when the server brought my plate, I declined and asked for something veg. It brought comment from the rest of the table (who were mostly the sort of folks one might imagine would want to have dinner with Conrad Burns), but he just briefly looked at me sideways, shrugged his shoulders, and kept on eating. He’s not exactly the most tolerant fellow in the world, so I figure if it wasn’t a big deal to him, I can’t imagine it’s a big deal to other Montanans.
Atrios points out the obvious, in response to “there are more voters on the rolls than people in town!” cries:
When people move, most do not bother to contact their local elections board and ask to be removed from the voter rolls. When people die, most do not bother to contact their local elections board and ask to be removed from the voter rolls.
I was probably part of this problem when I was in college. I suspect there was a time in Georgia in which I was listed on the voter rolls of at least three different counties in the Atlanta area. Whenever I moved I just registered in the new county. It never even occured to me that that action didn’t simultaenously remove me from the rolls of the previous county. I’d happily support a plan to put such a system in place, but there are about a dozen more important elections issues that should addressed first.