I got in an abortive argument on facebook.

I made an attack ad!

My job here is done.

So the autodialing system is some commercial product for which the campaign needs to buy licenses?

Oh! Oh! Also, I precipitated the greatest crisis in the American financial system in 80 years, thus creating a set of fundamentals as nearly assured of getting a Democrat elected as any ever noted or measured, even if the Democrat is (a) N[train horn]ear.

1: I did that! It was so fucking stupid.

2: And it is a joy. I *posted* it to Facebook.

(How sad was my life today?)

Oh, I gave BHO a bunch of cash. Making phone calls on Sunday.

3: Presumably. Writing your own would be possible but difficult, especially using volunteer labor.

4: Obama is nuclear? What does that even mean?

Following up from 3, perhaps all the nerds in the nerd thread could put their nerdy skills to good use and write an open-source auto-dialler.

Also, have I mentioned I don't have a TV?

Further research indicates many open-source diallers. So there is no excuse for those of you in the US!

I signed up to go to NH for a weekend. I'm really bad at calling people on the phone, but I don't mind canvassing.

I'm maxing out on contributions to Obama and have volunteered for TX down-ballot races and am a volunteer registrar.

I tell you the first thing so that you'll think to yourself, "Damn, either Sir Kraab is super dedicated to the cause or she's loaded and I should ask her for a bailout and/or mortgage," and the latter two to make sure I get proactive instead of waiting for the county party to contact me.

Also, I have a TV.

Something everyone can do: vote early if you can and get everyone you know to do so. That way you'll be available to do GOTV on election day and if you yourself are phonebanked or canvassed the campaign can check you off as someone who doesn't need to be contacted further. You'll also make the lines that much shorter on election day.

In more and more states, you can get a mail-in ballot even if you're not going to be (or claim to be) absent on election day. In some states, you can request ballots for your whole family and/or a few extra ballots to give to others.

I irritated Ben.

Mama Becks is running the early voting program in her part of Ohio, based partly on my bugging her. Go Mom!

I refinanced my house with Sir Kraab. Thanks SK! Everyone should do it, you pay like nothing much for the first couple of years and then it gets bigger later or something, but it was kind of complicated and I didn't really read it. I'm sure itr will all work out.

Actually I am trying to figure out how to split Obama vs. Jason Altmire (my congress critter) contributions. So far 100% to Obama. Altmire is a dweeb, but he is all that keeps straight out Repub nutjob Melissa Hart from getting her seat back. (Altmire is up 5 in polls in a district running 52-39 for McCain.) Right now I almost feel like helping build Obamamentum helps Altmire, and other congressional races (absent specific overriding local issues), as much as giving money to them directly.

Hey Kraab, will you buy me a TV?

OK, technically, I own one, but it's old, and I need to get one of those converter thingies. I'll probably spend all day on November 4 doing it, unless some loaded sugar-mama sets me up with one of them flat dealie-os.

Altmire is up 5 in polls in a district running 52-39 for McCain.

I've been wondering about him. He hasn't gotten much press either way, so I was a bit worried that, vs. Melissa Joan Hart, he wouldn't really have that incumbent advantage.

I was at a super-schmancy St. Pat's Day event the year after Hart lost her seat, and she was there. Oh, how I wanted to mock her to her face. Curse my combination of good manners and cowardice. McMegan, you are safe if ever I come to UnfoggeDCon.

Can someone explain to me the mechanics of maxing out my contributions to Obama for the general election? I made about $300 in contributions from January to June 2008, and then made another $100 contribution after the Democratic convention (on Sept. 4). Am I okay to donate $2200 to Obama now? Do I need to find out if any of my June contributions counted towards the general election? I've done some basic Googling and can't find a straight answer, even though (sadly) IAAL.

Becks,

Good on ya! And don't take this the wrong way but in my experience a hott woman on a hot day makes a very persuasive campaigner.

What did I do? I'm carefully laying my character foundation over at sidetaker. The back story is coming along and I think I've established the personal idiosyncrasies that make a character believable. I'm gonna slowly reveal my political leanings (America! America!) in a bit and people are gonna hate this bastard right-winger and hopefully the people he supports. Man it is hard to go slow.

Weak, I know, but it is what I can do.

I'm helping out with a mid-October trip to Nevada.

Where's Tweety's attack ad? I've been traveling, I miss stuff.

Ooh, I made arrangements to do some Spanish-language phone calls and canvassing this weekend/next week. Locally, the Obama folks are short-handed when it comes to Spanish speakers, apparently.

Oh, and I saw Michelle Obama speak yesterday, along with Jill Biden and Lilly Ledbetter. They were great.

Here's what I did: I forwarded this article (from a former national review publisher) to some friends/relatives who lean conservative, but know that Bush sucks:

http://tinyurl.com/4fsbe9

Here's my comment on the post from TAPPED, recommending that people read and forward the article to a select few folks:

"There's a decent sized strain of older people for whom that kind of conservatism--caution and prudence--means a lot. My father, e.g., never voted for a democrat in a national office (he voted against FDR, e.g.) until W came along, which drove him to Gore and Kerry on _precisely_ this issue. When we talk, the argument that Obama is a careful dude impresses him most--no stupid shit with Russia or Iran, no "deficits don't matter." This isn't the same as a good attack ad for moving a lot of votes, but you and I don't do that. We can sway a couple people at the margins to either (a) vote for Obama, (b) not vote for McCain, and/or (c) feel good about Obama going forward should he get the chance to govern."

The outcome? We'll see, but my mom (also old and conservative by disposition) gave money to O. My brother-in-law is bending. Maybe I'm tone deaf on these things, but I think that's a really nice article.

Also sent more money.

This week, I observed that Sarah Palin is the best thing that's happened to Maureen Dowd's career in the last ten years, but I did not share the observation with anyone until now.

20: http://thepoorman.net/2008/09/15/a-shocking-low/

I'm writing an article, meager compensation for which I've set aside to give to the campaign. The check is in the mail, Barry.

Also, I responded to every g-d email forward I received from family members.

I'm going to a Franken event tonight. Not to help, it just seemed fun.

My cat is very sick and has already wiped out my Obama support fund. That's right, I love my cat more than I love America. OTOH, I'll probably just scrimp and save and give to the Big O anyway. That's what credit cards are for.

I wrote an attack ad.

||

Weird stuff is happening in the comments again. I see an updated reference to new comments in the left sidebar on the main page, and the number of comments is incremented below the posts, but when I view the comments themselves they do not include the new comments.

I might be crazy but in this case I know something *is* happening. I wonder what? In the meantime I'll try to limit my irritating comments. I can always use them later.

|>

I hacked into Sarah Palin's personal email account and posted all her stuff on the internet.

||
I just walked downstairs at work and a woman I work with was coming in the door pushing the biggest stroller I'd ever seen, loaded with the triplets she just had a few weeks back. After oohing and aahing for a bit, I had to walk away quickly because I started feeling the urge to go make more babies. So tiny and beautiful. Gahhh. Stupid biological imperative.
|>

apo, this works with my wife when she gets that look in her eye.

"They get bigger you know."

It might give you that moment to collect yourself and come back to earth.

I had a severe attack of that a year or so ago -- not that I wanted more kids, but I wanted babies. It seems to have mostly passed. I think in my case Newt went through some growth spurt where he wasn't chubby-cheeked and babyish at all anymore, and I felt deprived. But now I'm used to it, and can hold out the eighteen years that family history says it'll be before Sally procreates.

Also, Apo?

the urge to go make more babies

Which urge, exactly, are we talking about here?

Within ten years we will be able to bonsai children to they stay cute and harmless forever.

My favorite age is 2-to-4, and I'd actually like kids you can reset at 2 as soon as they reach 4 or so. But that's further in the future.

My favorite age is 2-to-4

Comity!

As we approach 4.5, I'm seeing more things that I don't like, and no corresponding increase in things I do like (she listens a bit more to reason, but she's also experimenting with lying. Ugh).

Which urge, exactly, are we talking about here?

Heh. I'm so totally exhausted and broke right now that the thought of adding another kid to the mix is horrifying. But. So. Cute. Want to squeeze.

If those of you old enough had made more babies 18 years ago there would be more Obama voters. You let us all down.

My favorite age is 2-to-4

If my kids were only younger, and you lived in NY, this would be total babysitting synchronicity; I could send them over to you for two years, and take them back when they were older. I like infants and young toddlers, and I like school-age kids; I tolerated preschoolers because I knew they'd grow up and get rational. Mobile, strongwilled little crazy people with no sense who won't listen is not my idea of fun. (Oh, mine were generally pretty easy even through those years, but they were my least favorite years.)

Yeah, Noah turns 4 in January, and 2-3 have been extremely trying years. He's been getting easier as he moves out of that age (though I suspect he will always be the most challenging of children), and I'm really, really ready for the next stage. "Mobile, strongwilled little crazy people with no sense who won't listen" gets it exactly right.

the most challenging of children

Most challenging of *my* children, that is. I've certainly met worse.

Apo, you're an achiever. Your children are the most challenging EVAH!

Certainly that demonic blue-eyed one you just posted.

Y'all are refreshing my appreciation for Iris. Not at all crazy (in ways that affect us anyway), decent listener, and only moderately strongwilled. Easily distracted is a big one. She was throwing a huge fit before school the other day - really awful - and I was brushing her teeth through it. When I was done, I had her blow her nose into my hand (in the sink, as the water was still running). Her fit came to an immediate halt, and she asked, mystified, why I was doing that.

AB and her best friend used to say that they would raise kids cooperatively - AB was afraid of preverbal kids, whereas the friend wanted to truck with troublesome toddlers. But it turns out preverbal isn't that bad, although verbal is better.

LB,

The baby-urge may come back at unexpected times. Forewarned is forearmed. Our four of four lagged the leader by ten years.

"They get bigger you know."

"Mobile, strongwilled little crazy people with no sense who won't listen" gets it exactly right.

Man I hate being a downer, but add "knowing you completely, including all your flaws" and "able to argue with the best (because you trained them that way)" and you've nailed the 15-20 year olds.

YMMV and this will not apply to all but if this applies to not a one of yours you are very very lucky.

"Mobile, strongwilled little crazy people with no sense who won't listen". Except for the mobility, I'd have guessed John McCain.

See, you can pick up the pre-schoolers and hold them at arms length while they flail their little limbs helplessly.

The beloved 3.7 year old grandnephew has 6 or 7 adults cooperating in his care, not counting day care workers, and the load on any given individual is small. He's in the talking-constantly stage, which is why we're starting to think of resetting.

Dear God yes. My kids are great (apart from the experimenting with lying, and the relentless fighting, &c.) but coping with two five-year-olds is without question the most challenging thing I've ever done. And yet, the baby-making urge is still there.

I can testify that Jesus' twins are impossibly cute but probably demon-possessed. NTAWWT.

Did any of you watch "The Baby Borrowers"? It was a summer show that had "committed" older teen couples (I assume sexually active) who had to babysit a series of children: infants, toddlers, tweeners, teenagers and finally the elderly. It was hard to say which cohort was the most difficult to care for, although the elderly were for the most part self sufficient, with only some require help.

Jammies and I ordered "Low Maintenance W/ Volume Control" so we should be all set.

If anyone could take a stab at answering 18, that would be great -- I'm trying to give O some money here, people!

Just when I thought the labors of single-motherhood had cured me of the baby-making urges, my best friend went and had two of the most beautiful babies I've seen in nearly a decade. Rory, previously less than keen on the idea of me dating, suddenly came around and announced that I could, but only men who want (or perhaps already have) babies.

Definitely worth hiding behind anonymity for that one, GW.

only men who want (or perhaps already have) babies

Call me, Di.

52. Didn't you get the invite to the Streisand event?

55: If we're talking dating, I'm afraid I've adopted a pretty strict policy excluding men already in a committed, monogamous relationship with someone other than me.

If we're talking charitable donation of necessary genetic material coupled with reasonable financial support and a willingness to otherwise not bother me all that much, you're on!

What a perfect excuse to post recent pictures of babies >and toddlers. Even though the resolution somehow went to shit when I posted them on flickr. That last picture was supposed to be a smile, I think. Or maybe a shark face.

IME toddlers are much easier to deal with than babies. They're capable of rudimentary reasoning, which is much better than none. But mine only turned 2 a few months ago--maybe he's just not quite yet fallen off the deep end.

Fuck. This picture disappeared. I blame the internet.

57: Apo is obviously not in a committed monogamous relationship. Don't listen to Mrs. Apo.

"Not bother me at all": my ND sil uses "bother" to mean "try to get sex".

I'm afraid I've adopted a pretty strict policy excluding men already in a committed, monogamous relationship with someone other than me

But if he started dating you, he'd no longer be monogamous. Problem solved!

If we're talking dating, I'm afraid I've adopted a pretty strict policy excluding men already in a committed, monogamous relationship with someone other than me.

"Someone other than me" necessarily includes "themselves," right?

Don't be such a killjoy, Di. Think of the children.

I've adopted a pretty strict policy

Jesus, you need to read the fine print.

"Pretty strict policy" means "never while Rory is in my presence."

61: Excellent point. Policy language modified: "I exclude potential dating candidates in the event that a third party has a reasonable basis for believing that said candidate is already in a committed, monogamous relationship with said third party."

Then of course you get all caught up on what is a "reasonable basis" and is it a subjective or objective standard. It's all horribly complicated. So maybe I should just exclude dating, period, in favor of the donation of genetic material.

IME toddlers are much easier to deal with than babies.

You had colicky babies though, right? I find pre-mobile babies the easiest of all. They stay right where you put them and never wake you up by headbutting you in the testicles.

But mine only turned 2 a few months ago--maybe he's just not quite yet fallen off the deep end.

Hahahahahaha. They don't call it "the terrible twos" fer nuthin', ya know. I think it depends whether one is more inclined to favor physical suffering (babies- sleep deprivation is torture) or mental suffering (Why is the sky blue? What does blue mean? Who is my real Daddy?) or emotional suffering (It is now two hours past curfew, with no response to the cell phone calls or texts. Do I go look for her, or wait for the police to knock on the door?).

BGN smiling sincerely.

BGN">http://flickr.com/photos/25487208@N03/2695137023/in/pool-unfogged/">BGN being cool. He's really part Hawaiian, not doing a Tiki bar schtick..

I registered a voter in Minnesota in Singapore! He's one of my colleagues out here, but his last address was in MN, which helps out both Obama and Al Franken.

And I started The Palin Truth Squad. Currently it's seventh in google rankings for 'palin truth squad'. If I can get it to the top, everytime a reporter googles the term to see who the truth squad members are, they will be exposed to riotous mockery of the McCain campaign's lying!

But if he started dating you, he'd no longer be monogamous. Problem solved!

Brock is good.

64: "subject to the express, written consent of the Mineshaft"?

Looks like Brock and Will are hard at work drafting a suitable policy. I'm sure I'm in good hands leaving that to them...

Apo, you have such irresistable testicles.

I'll take an occassional headbutt to the testicles over crying all night any day.

72: I suspect my children are just attacking the "want more babies" urge at the source. They're crafty like that.

52: Have you tried searching for your own contributions in the FEC database? The Jan to June ones would be there and I think would indicate whether they were for primary or general. I'm not sure that self-verification is enough to rely on, but I don't have any better suggestion. I don't suppose the campaign has someone(s) who sorts this kind of thing out?

headbutting you in the testicles

There was a period, between about one-and-a-half and three years old, when my daughters were just the right size, and squirmy and strong enough, that picking them up put me at constant risk of debilitating kicks to the nuts.

I'll take an occassional headbutt to the testicles over crying all night any day.

Leave your kinky sexual preferences out of this, Brock. We're talking about the children.

You turn them away from you, Jesus.

I'm saving that for the teen years, John.

I'll take an occassional headbutt to the testicles overleading to crying all night any day.

The only real solution is to give in and just wear a cup every day.

Back to the topic of the thread.

I'm making calls for Barack right now from home. So far, all I've gotten is answering machines. The training video didn't say whether I should leave a message, but the form in front of me has a button to check for "left a message", so I have been saying "Hello my name is Rob and I'm a volunteer for Barack Obama's Campaign for Change here in Bay Village. I'll call you back a little later."

I am at least to the point where I am comfortable talking to a stranger's answering machine.

Also, a lot of undecided voters are really old.

Also, a lot of undecided voters are really old.

"Well, you know, I was happy to be a Republican back when I voted for that Lincoln fellow, but just lately I've started to be a little unsure."

Ok, I just actually talked to a voter. She said she was going for McCain, perhaps to get me to go away. I think I can get used to this. I think I can, I think I can.

||
Is it just me, or is this whole Spain thing, the flip-flops where he can't remem ber his positions from day to day, etc. indicative that McCain may be facing some kind of early stage senile dementia?

Even if it isn't, can we make the case anyway, emphasizing to people that he's old, possiby crazy, and won't release his medical records?
|>

52: I'm almost sure that the convention is the cutoff. Before that, BO wasn't officially the nomineen. Go ahead and send the $.

Trick or treat! Happy Nomineen!

When I donated online, the webpage was set up to keep track of how much you contributed before and after the convention. Weirdly, when I sent in my (way under the legal spending limit) donation, it was registered as a "before the convention" donation, even though this was a week after the convention.

Are there debts that he is still paying off with "before the convention" money?

52: I'm surprised that it's hard to find this info. $2300 to the nominee is the limit. That's after convention only - nothing you did before the convention counts. If you have more than that to give, downticket races aplenty need cash too.

for Papa Apo :)

all other dads can it enjoy too

enjoy it

She said she was going for McCain

I hope you gave her hell.

"What's wrong with you? Don't you know that the Republicans have been sending this country into the shitter, and McCain will just be worse? Do you want to see this country destroyed? Are you just so old and bitter that you don't care what happens to the rest of us, as long as you don't have to deal with a black President?

"Oh, I'm sorry, you meant that you were a little unsure about McCain? Could I send you some literature?"

Alternately:

"Well, we all get our say in a democracy. Don't forget to vote on November 5!"

downticket races aplenty need cash too.

I've been a little tight myself. And I'm a Democrat, so you can give in good conscience.

BTW, pretty much every time I leave the house someone asks if I'm registered to vote. Data point.

52: My understanding is that, if you don't specifically designate your contribution, it defaults to the next upcoming election. So undesignated contributions between the end of the primaries and the convention should by default go to the general. I suppose it's possible that a campaign might establish different defaults of its own, though.

It's also my understanding that you don't need to get too worked up about this: the campaign is required to keep track, and if you over-contribute to a particular election, they're required to return it or ask you to redesignate it.

See here, here, and here.

Unclear what happens if the campaign drops the ball such that you end up overcontributing, though, so maybe worth getting a little worked up. I imagine the campaign would be happy to let you know how they designated your prior contributions.

Combining the narratives of this thread, a friend of mine just agreed to volunteer this weekend and she's pregnant (and, therefore, tired all the time). So no excuses!

Now, if you could suggest a way that we might help the campaign by engaging in baby-making, you'd really tie up the thread!

That was dealt with in 38, Di.

a way that we might help the campaign by engaging in baby-making

Have one of those Mork from Ork babies that's born as an adult, so he can vote in November.

Repeat until it's a landslide.

97 - Di - You're not getting me to go near that one.

As far as kids and whacks to the groin go, my best one happened in a performance where I had to lift a kid from behind while she tried to run away. All staged. All choreographed. One night I must have been careless because the lift was too close and the heel of one of her thrashing legs rang the bell if you know what I mean.

You try singing baritone right after that.

Never, ever appear on stage with kids or dogs.

99: They'll just rebel, as kids do, and vote McCain. Fucking Young Republicans.

Kotsko agrees with me that Obama should license "Won't Get Fooled Again".

I just printed out the list of likely voters for a walking canvas generated for me by my.barackobama.com, and it is basically the list of people right here on my block. These are almost all people I'm at a "what was your name again?" level of familiarity with. The list also includes my immediate next door neighbors on either side, whom I exchange pleasantries with every couple days. I can't just knock on their door and follow the script, but I don't know how to transition from normal conversation with someone who also happens to be outside doing yardwork to proselytizing. Also, I don't want to mess up any of the cordial relationships I have now.

[/insecure outburst]

rob,

Are you looking for some advice?

If you've got it. If not, consider 103 venting.

I just clicked through the link in the most recent email I got from the Obama campaign. For some reason they want me to fill out yet another form with my name, address, etc. Okay. Then they they give me a list of things I can sign up to do:
- I will attend a Veterans to Veterans phone bank:
- I will attend a women to women phone bank:
- I will register voters in the Hispanic community:
- I will help with voter protection:
- I will register fellow students to vote:
- I will help out in any way I'm needed:

I'm not a veteran, or female, or Hispanic, or a student. I suppose I could reister voters in the Hispanic community, but not speaing Spanish and not being Hispanic makes this less than optimum. I feel so unwanted.

That reminds me of signing up to join the Peace Corps. I filled out all sorts of forms explaining everything I knew how to do (not much, admittedly). Then they sent me forms asking if I wanted to learn to be a beekeeper. I was fine with that (not that it came through in the end) but the effect was "All right, you're useless as you stand. Are you willing to at least be trained?" Or just, "Here's another loser -- let's throw 'er to the bees!"

South American Killer Bees?

It was going to be in South America, certainly. I hadn't quite done the math on the 'killer' aspect of it until now.

This thread rubbed raw my weak and latent desire for a puppy I know would be a bad idea anyway. Thanks, breeders.

rob,
I'm sorry if this is too basic. If it is just skip it. It's hard to give advice from a distance, without seeing a person.

For overcoming shyness - fake it. Mentally distance yourself from the event. Pretend you are playing the part of a canvasser. Take yourself out of the picture.

Yeah, you are a neighbor, but during this event you are a canvasser, a different person.

If you are a big dude (I mean like physically tall or big or for some other reason intimidating) then you start with a move that takes you down. Drop your pencil. Something like that. Just a quick first impression that tells the people you are not a threat.

Maybe the second part doesn't apply, I don't know. Take it or leave it.

If you can, try to enjoy the canvassing. If you can really enjoy it that by itself will cover most of the other stuff. My first advice was really for if you simply can't enjoy it at the start and need to get past that.

Thanks for making this effort on behalf of Obama.

my weak and latent desire for a puppy

That's really no substitution, dude. Just go buy a black market baby.

109. My former sister- in-law kept track of the progress of the South American Killer Bees, or Africanized if you prefer. I don't know if she saw too many sci fi movies- but she was really afraid of their impending arrival. Me, I could only think of John Belushi.

I actually canvassed for Greenpeace and SANE in high school & college. I was fired from both jobs. Basically, I was a nerdy kid who looked like a drug user, and I tried to deliver position papers on nuclear policy to people at their front door. I know not to make that mistake again. But the whole thing has really bad associations for me.

the link was supposed to close after SANE. Sorry.

The United States did offer me the training and experience necessary to become a veteran, but that was in 1971 and I declined.

If the Obama campaign could train me to be a woman it might make a better person out of me. Perhaps they know that they have the fat and lazy old white guy demographic nailed down. Perhaps he campaign needs more trained beeeepers. It's so hard to know

I'm dubious of the statement "The campaign doesn't have enough funds to let even all of the Obama offices use [the autodialing system]." I think that statement can be correctly translated to 'the campaign has things higher on the priority list than autodialers, such as TV ads, and prefers to spend its money on the ads'. For all I know, they're right: that another dollar in TV ads is worth more than a dollar spend improving the efficiency of volunteer phoners manyfold. But it does make me wonder how much of the phone banking is to actually reach people, and how much is to keep the phoners interested and enthusiastic and involved. That is, it is real, or is it campaign theater?

rob: just wait till Halloween, and then you'll have an excuse for knocking on their door, plus you get to wear a costume, which is always fun. (Downside: they'll probably miss the voter-registration deadline.)

Someone is stealing the k from beekeepers. I blame Homeland Security. And that was mostly in response to 107.

I may not get contacted, because I didn't want to give them my cell, which is my only phone, so I gave them the number for Harvard University Information. (They wouldn't let me leave it blank.)

I liked "beeeepers."

My understanding is that, if you don't specifically designate your contribution, it defaults to the next upcoming election.

The Democratic Party has been especially scrupulous about not dedicating any money to strengthening the Party between elections. They like to start all over again every four years. It was Bill CLinton, in fact, who pioneered the practice of blowing all "party-building" money on this year's emergency, and that way he made an enormous contribution toward giving us exactly the Democratic Party we have today.

I learned something today that made me really angry. Apparently the Republicans are going through urban areas, registering voters, then shredding the forms. Then we go in and everyone thinks they're already registered. What the fuck? Do people know about this?

Surely that's not legal.

Keep your repressive Twentieth-Century statist paradigms to yourself, Ben.

I just got a cold call from a McCain person. I ditched him fast because I'm preoccupied with my cat troubles. Otherwise I'd have tried to suck up as much of his time as possible and get the McCainiacs to waste as much time and money on me as possible by putting me on their GOTV lists and maybe get them to give me a ride to the polls.

Yglesias:

I can't help but notice that Gilchrest's endorsement of Obama/Biden came the same day as Lady Lynn Forester de Rothschild's endorsement of McCain/Palin. One is a sitting Republican member of Congress, one is a member of the DNC's platform committee. Why is the former treated as less significant than the latter? Maybe it's because the vast majority of the campaign press consist of immoral and incompetent people, but that's just a guess

Drum, Yglesias, and Josh Micah Marshal are turning into MManus / Emerson lite.

125 is actually kind of brilliant. No one will call me, of course, because everyone knows Obama has already won my state. But if I lived in a swing state! 125 is brilliant.

I was solicited for a cash donation for Obama in front of the Apple Store today. The pleasant girl said that she assumed that I was for Obama, but since we live in a blue state the funds would be used in a swing state, like Ohio or Nevada. It was pretty effective patter, but it also felt a little like a three card monte shill.

122: I recall documented examples of this in 2004 or 6. But I think that it's not official Party policy. More of a local go-getter thing.

129: I recall documented examples of this in 2004 or 6. But I think that it's not official Party policy

You are probably recalling some of the "registration" drives run by Nathan Sproul's group, often through libraries (librarians in several states busted them). Apparently his group got ~$8M all told from the Repubs, much of it in a suspicious manner. So at least some it was more than local. Of course no in the "real" media gave a fuck. Sproul is now head of a group called the Lincoln Strategy Group in Arizona. Appears to be just doing stuff in local AZ this time around (he apparently lost a lot of his big time lying, cheating and stealing cred when he didn't deliver on the gay marriage ban vote in Arizona) , but eyes should be kept open.

Deep Thought and Thank God for Small Favors: At least McCain running away from Bush means we don't have to hear very much from Incurious George.

It was pretty effective patter, but it also felt a little like a three card monte shill. It was pretty effective patter, but it also felt a little like a three card monte shill.

Funny how those feelings work. Whenever I hear Republicans talking about their tax plans, it feels like I might just as well empty out my bank account and hand the money to the nearest millionaire.

I just today noticed that someone had defaced my home made "Ignorance is Strength / vote Bush-Cheney '04" bumper sticker. What I don't know is whether this was done by a sarcasm resistant Obama supporter or a literate McCain supporter. So I ran off a new one that says "Ignorance is Strength / McCain-Palin '08"