How close- or far- is this thing?

There's a bit of chatter this week about how the presidential race is tightening. It's a fair question, but what I've really been wondering is whether Obama was ever as far ahead as he seemed. Last week I remember reading about how some people at the networks were already thinking about an early election night, one in which it would be almost immediately apparent that Obama had won. It's easy to see why. Obama is way ahead nationally and leads in pretty much every swing state. He's even threatening McCain in traditionally Red territory like North Carolina and Indiana. Seems like this thing is over and done with.

The problem with this view is that electoral votes are, generally, an all or nothing affair. Obama might do unbelievably well in North Carolina, Indiana, West Virginia and Colorado, but that doesn't he'll actually beat McCain in any of these places. If he doesn't, that will bring the race back to traditonal swing states like Ohio and Florida, where things look more like a normal election. For instance, McCain has respectable, if not necessarily winning, support in Ohio. In other words, Obama's unprecedented strength in Red states could be great as fodder for political discussions and yet still be totally ineffective in terms of actually winning the election. Anyway, what do you all think? Just paranoia?

Franken's Got Map-Skills

In my continuing effort to promote the cool idea that Al Franken may soon unseat Norm Coleman for one of Minnesota's senate seats, I bring you a video of Franken drawing the continental US free hand. I found it via Digg, and a more extensive post on geography and Franken's drawing sills is available on the blog Parenting Squad. The Parenting Squad post sources Greg Laden for the story behind the drawing skills:

This [skill] stems from a bar bet Franken made some years ago in which he claimed to be able to name all fifty states. When he got to the end, the count was only 49, and there was no way to remember which state he had accidentally skipped. So he decided to learn how to draw a map of all 48 states so he could keep track.

A few friends from my study abroad trip to Rome used to razz a friend of ours who went to Waldorf Schools growing up about the fact that his alternate education should have endowed him with innate map-skills useful in any situation. Marky did, indeed, have quite a bit of cleverness... but I don't think his map skills were quite Franken-esque.

Mom, Dad, do you have a minute? We need to talk.

My friend Evelyn sent this clever little spot my way last week and it took me a couple days to post it up, but check out a nice little bit of advertising from my friends over at MoveOn.org. Makes me think of the famous, "I learned it from watching you!" anti-drug advertisement from back in the day.

Weekend Wrap-Up: Rachel Maddow, Endorsements, etc.

I've got a deep fondness for Rachel Maddow, and as she grows a bigger name on the national stage as a political pundit/voice in the national cable news blab-o-thon my respect for her grows. I think she's an interesting, playful, powerful and smart voice from the left, but I also think she represents the best possible version of progressive politics, an often polite, rarely shrill yet still strong, passionate and clear voice driven by a strong set of values. This last piece is important to me, as someone who has always identified his liberal bias as built off a foundation of values and as someone who has struggled with the right's easy ability to seemingly own the term "values" in the national debate.

This weekend the New York Times ran a nice piece profiling the private side of Maddow. It's a nice read for anyone who seeks balance in their life, since it depicts a rising star in the chattering class who counter-balances her life on a state in NYC with a quieter weekend existence 190 miles away in the woods of Mass. Maddow is a liberal lesbian who drives a pickup, takes her dog to the dump on Saturday mornings, and seeks out odd-ball art like the squirrel statue you see on the right. The questions the NYT posed were well chosen, including the following:

Worst thing about Obama: He’s measured to a fault. He is so calm and cool and collected that sometimes I want to know what he feels.

Best thing about McCain: He’s very funny...

Obsession: Loose nukes. I literally lie awake and worry that we haven’t paid attention to some of the real national-security threats that are out there.

Favorite item in house: The house mostly reflects Susan’s style, but I have to put my stamp on things. Once, I found a sculpture of a big, fat squirrel holding a reflector. You’re supposed to put it at the end of your driveway. We have it near the kitchen table; it’s the house mascot.

Meanwhile, back out on the trail, Obama's camp was celebrating Colin Powell's endorsement. We've written a couple things about that development already so I wont' dwell on it, except to raise a sad and strange little related news bit. The McCain campaign countered Sunday's endorsement with an email blast to reporters touting an endorsement of their own:

"As a Hispanic-American, I understand how important this election is for Hispanics," said Katie Barberi, a Telenovela actress currently on Telemundo's Dona Barbara. "We need a leader who can lower taxes, protect small businesses, and increase job creation nationwide. I have no doubt that John McCain appreciates the important role Hispanics play not only in the economy, but in our nation's culture as well...

Wow... um... so there you have it folks... two little tidbits that tell you a bit about how the weekend went. Seriously, I can't muster anything to say about this Telemundo Telenovela star's endorsement... except, "wow."

Oh, and the Tampa Bay Rays won the honor of going up against the Phillies in this year's World Series. Should be a good series, although I don't know how well it will do ratings-wise.

Powell's Endorsement

By now, we all know that Powell endorsed Barack Obama on Meet the Press today. I have no idea how much this will mean in the next 16 days-- though it certainly will be welcome by the Obama camp-- but for me personally it was a very powerful moment and not only because I respect Colin Powell. I have rarely agreed so whole-heartedly with a national political figure.

I shared each one of his concerns about McCain's campaign, from the free improvisation that was his response to the financial crisis to his shameful suggestion that Obama sympathizes with terrorists. I hope that this will serve as a wake up call to McCain and the rest of the Republican party: we are sick of the politics of personal destruction and we VOTE!

Spy Stuff... Random, but Fun!

Learn a little bit about Jay J. Armes, Private Investigator. My friend Adam sent this my way months ago, but for some reason I never really watched it until today. It's completely random but fun and worth 6 minutes of your time!

On A Lighter, But Just As Anti-American Note

This Thursday brought us a special edition of SNL Weekend Update, and the highlight was Kristen Wiig (so so so funny) as the crazy lady from the McCain rally. Video of Kristen, Amy Poehler and Seth Myers below.



Click here for the original footage this joke is based on.

Modern McCarthyism: Minnesota, Please Get This Woman OUT of Congress!!!

Wow, it's anti-America Saturday here at The Best Way, and I've got post number two on the subject for you now. I saw a truly bizarre and disturbing exchange on Chris Matthews' MSNBC show hardball yesterday in which a complete wingnut crazy lady who just so happens to be a Congresswoman, Rep. Michelle Bachmann from Minnesota, blathered and name dropped every questionable association Barack Obama has ever had, making it sound like each and all of these folks are Obama's closest advisors today.

She also ranted about how liberals are all anti-American, and how journalists should do an expose exploring what members of congress don't love this country. I can't tell if exchanges like this should make me angry or just scared, but I do know that I hope Ms. Bachmann gets booted from her seat in congress this fall.

Late in the clip you can see Matthews speak for a few moments with Stephanie Cutter, a smart and often unshakable Obama representative, and I think it's worth noting just how upset and off her game Cutter is. I would be too, if I were in her shoes and had just sat there listening to 10 minutes of this vile crap and suddenly had to respond as though any of it was reasonable enough to warrant a response. The clip is below followed by two sections of transcript I think are particularly illuminating.

Matthews - Do you think the 30% of this country that call themselves liberals, are they anti-American?

Bachmann - I think the people that Barack Obama has been associating with are anti-American by and large, the people who are radical leftists...

...and then later

Matthews - This is the strongest stuff I've heard since back in the 50s when they used to call up and say, 'Hey you know, this guys a communist...'

Stephanie Cutter - What do you want me to say, Chris? 2/3 of the American people think John McCain is running a low-road campaign... I'm not sure that Congresswoman really represents where the American people are right now...

Seriously, and honestly, if this isn't McCarthyism, I don't know what is. If it makes any of you feel any better, Ms. Bachmann's routine here has done wonders for the fundraising efforts of her opponent in this fall's election. What was already a close race will hopefully now be even closer with a new infusion of cash for Elwyn Tinklenberg, her fantastically named oponent.

Update: In the first 24 hours after Bachmann's remarks Tinklenberg raised over $438,000.00 for his campaign, and it has been reported that he has continued the windfall, raising well over $600,000 this weekend. That's not the only fallout for Bachmann, though, her remarks have also inspired her GOP primary opponent for this congressional seat to wage a new campaign to get Republicans and others outraged by Bachmann's remarks to vote for him as a write-in on their November ballot! Amazing how clearly Americans have responded, saying loud and clear, "We don't want a new era of McCarthyism!" Nice work everyone!!!

Biden Takes on the Idea of "Pro-American parts of America"

I think Americablog gets it right when they say that the video below shows, "Biden at his best." This short clip shows Biden reacting to Sarah Palin's recent remark about how she likes to visit, "Pro-American parts of this country." Biden says, among other things:

I've never been to a state that hasn't sent it's sons and daughters to fight and die for this country. It doesn't matter where you live! We all love this country.

WWCPD? What would Colin Powell do, and so what?

Huffington Post reports today that Colin Powell is almost certainly ready to endorse Barack Obama for President, and I for one am impressed and encouraged by this tidbit of news. Back in the 90s when I was both a teenager and much less knowledgable about politics Powell was someone who floated into my consciousness as uniquely impressive. Late in the 90s when he basically refused to run for President supposedly largely based on his wife's objections I took that as yet another reason to be impressed with his judgement and values.

While serving in the Bush administration Powell did a number of things that tarnished my opinion of him as both a leader and a person. When considering some of his most egregious acts during his tenure under Bush, I often imagined (and some reporst would support this idea) that he convinced himself to go along with Bush Cheney & Co. under the umbrella of serving our country best by working within their team to try and offer a stable, sensible voice among some truly nutty wingnuts, like Cheney. At the same time, and through all of this I know that Powell and I are two vastly different people in terms of our political beliefs and values.

So what's this all worth, and why does Powell matter? Well, I would suggest this tidbit is newsworthy, if accurate for two salient reasons:

1. Powell is understood primarily to be not only a military man, but an elderstatesman within the U.S. military establishment. The guy was Chairman of the Joint Chiefs (also only African American to serve on the Joint Chiefs so far), Secretary of State, and National Security Advisor to Raegan and Bush 1.
2. I believe Powell is seen and will continue to be seen as eminently either nonpartisan or, if at all partisan moderately Republican across wide swaths of undecided America. While Powell's own endorsement may not have an enormous measured impact, I do think it plays into a larger narrative about the middle of the American electorate slipping away from McCain based on a stew of different issues swirling around the economy, his choice of Palin, recent erratic behavior, and the simple sense that one candidate in this election has brightly out-shined the other in terms of confidence and leadership over the last month of rocky news for our nation.

Now, that said, I am sure there are parts of America, and I hate to say this, where folks will look at a Powell endorsement and simply see one African American man endorsing another. I would posit, however, that these folks are likely already decided and are waiting anxiously to tote out their monkey dolls or other bizarro paraphernalia to the next local Sarah Palin rally. Meanwhile many places in the land of the undecided I can see Powell's voice resonating in interesting ways.

Perhaps the larger trends are the real story, but I for one was pleasantly surprised (although not that surprised) to see this headline today, and I am encouraged to see Powell follow the undecided Matts of New Hampsire constituency in joining the Obama fold!

image from World Economic Form published under Creative Commons license.

Editor's Note: This post was originally posted on 10/15, but I have bumped it back up in response to Powell's upcoming appearance on national TV (Sunday morning).

Voter Fraud Facts, Fiction, Fury and Foolishnes.

As the campaign pulls into the closing stretch over the next couple weeks, expect to hear more and more and more from the right wing about how evil ACORN is, and how they are aiming to destroy democracy. John McCain lashed out hard against the group in Wednesday night's debate, and Sarah Palin has been whipping up the base with vaguely stated charges out on the campaign trail for weeks, not only accusing the group of organized fraud, but also Obama of collusion with these supposed efforts.

Meanwhile, in some states early voting has already begun, and reports are trickling in of actual attempts at voter fraud by supporters of the GOP ticket. Read one or two of these accounts on Andrew Sullivan's blog to get a feel for what I mean.

Also, whether informally or through some formal effort, emails have circulated in the past few months about voters being turned away from polling places if they wear anything showing support for a particular candidate. The validity of this rumor varies from state to state, so through a link off a snopes.com page on the subject I found an article that documents extensive research on the various state laws. This article says, among other things:

1. Laws in 10 states prohibit the “wearing” of a political message button

Ten States -- Delaware, Kansas, Minnesota, Montana, New Jersey, New York, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, and Vermont -- prohibit a voter from “wearing” to the polls the same type of political message button that I wore on Election day. State laws describe this type of political message/campaign button in language such as “badge, “lapel,” “button,” or “pin” (all hereinafter “button”). It is important to note that in Tennessee, the state that enacted a “campaign-free zone” law that was challenged in the Supreme Court,18 the statute explicitly notes that a person may wear campaign clothing only outside the legally appropriate polling place boundary...

2. Laws in 40 states and the District of Columbia prohibit campaign activities in and around the polls in other ways

Each of the other forty states and the District of Columbia also regulate activities in and around its polling places on election day. These laws are designed to preclude voter intimidation and reduce the opportunity for fraud. A group of states make it unlawful to “display” or “exhibit” campaign material (sometimes enforced against voters wearing buttons, t-shirts or hats) in and around polls. Several states ban “electioneering” in polling places (the definitions of the activities that constitute electioneering vary from state to state). The majority of states prohibit a person from “posting” or “distributing” campaign literature and materials around the polling area. Several states simply regulate campaigning near polls through anti-loitering statutes. All these statutes intend to prevent active, disruptive campaigning as voters cast their ballots.

Advice: if you have questions about what is permissable in your state, find information on contacting your state elections board here, and consider sending around the proper information far and wide once you have it.

So now you've got some context, but where's the story and what's really going on? The reality of the ACORN situation is that unfortunately some shady action is in fact happening. One of the things ACORN does is to pay workers who canvas, often in low-income communities, looking to register voters. These workers are often paid based on how many folks they register so it should come as little surprise to people that here or there one of these workers forges a name or 70, simply trying to pad their check by upping their numbers.

Should the fact that this is unsurprising make anyone feel like it's less disturbing? No, not really. However, what should is that every single state in the U.S. has systems to check voter registrations and weed out faulty ones along the way. ACORN is not collecting votes, merely registering people to vote, and the thinness of this GOP scare tactic is illustrated even more clearly when you look at an interview former U.S. Attorney David Iglesias recently did with Talking Points Memo. Iglesias was dismissed by the Department of Justice after he refused to chase after voter fraud claims in certain cases where he felt the investigations of said fraud showed little evidence worthy of prosecution. Discussing this latest controversy over ACORN, Iglesias said:

"I'm astounded that this issue is being trotted out again," Iglesias told TPMmuckraker. "Based on what I saw in 2004 and 2006, it's a scare tactic." ...

Iglesias, who has been the most outspoken of the fired U.S. attorneys, went on to say that the FBI's investigation seemed designed to inappropriately create a "boogeyman" out of voter fraud.

And he added that it "stands to reason" that the investigation was launched in response to GOP complaints...

As we noted earlier... changes made to DOJ's election crimes manual, lowered the bar for voter-fraud prosecutions, and made it easier to bring vote-fraud cases close to the election... Speaking today to TPMmuckraker, Iglesias called such changes "extremely problematic."

So... what is any of this worth? Well, if the current polls hold true and even if the race tightens a bit over the next few weeks, it looks like Obama may win a decisive enough victory that claims around voter fraud, etc. will matter very little in the larger picture. If, however, something happens over the next little bit and the results on November 5th look closer that we now expect, don't be surprised if these shrill shrieks about ACORN become even louder, and potentially a more divisive wedge pounded into the American electorate.

I, for one, hope that this issue becomes the non-issue I predict it could be simply because I think a lot of the hoopla about fraud focuses on fictitious and trumped up claims that provide a cover for more pernicious goals (namely continuing the existing disenfranchisement of low-income and minority voters to the benefit of those parties whose policies ultimately hurt these same populations).

That said, could we use cleaner, easier, more straightforward systems for both signing up to vote, and for the government to ensure the integrity of our votes? Yes, I am, and I think we can all be in favor of that idea.

Until better systems are achieved, I will keep my fingers crossed, and I would suggest that it might just be wise to consider leaving your candidate pin in the car when you go into the polling place November 4th. I would hate to see anyone turned away from voting in such an important election for any reason at all.

C'mon Fox News, Haven't the Mets Had Enough Already?

Now, as a Phillies fan, I can't feel too bad about people piling on the Mets. I am, however, dating a Mets fan, so I feel bad about the fact that Fox News, for whatever reason, felt the need to decapitate Mr. Met after this week's debate at Hofstra. I don't hold the Fox News folks in very high esteem to begin with, but violence against mascots? Seriously? This is just not right.