Gallup: GOP +15 (Yikes!) - Democrat Mass Extinction Event

There's one big mother wave heading for the polling booths of this country:

The final USA Today/Gallup measure of Americans' voting intentions for Congress shows Republicans continuing to hold a substantial lead over Democrats among likely voters, a lead large enough to suggest that regardless of turnout, the Republicans will win more than the 40 seats needed to give them the majority in the U.S. House.

The results are from Gallup's Oct. 28-31 survey of 1,539 likely voters. It finds 52% to 55% of likely voters preferring the Republican candidate and 40% to 42% for the Democratic candidate on the national generic ballot -- depending on turnout assumptions. Gallup's analysis of several indicators of voter turnout from the weekend poll suggests turnout will be slightly higher than in recent years, at 45%. This would give the Republicans a 55% to 40% lead on the generic ballot, with 5% undecided.

Unprecedented is way too timid a description of those numbers. It's a Democrat Mass Extinction Event. The equivalent of the asteroid that took out the dinosaurs.

It's an electeroid!

I've been calling for a 56 seat gain in the House. I think I may be way too low.

UPDATE:  From IMAO on Twitter:

So basically the Gallup model says take some pictures of Democrats so you can one day tell your kids about them.

The First Pitch

Gotta love this video of the two Presidents Bush throwing the first pitch to Nolan Ryan:


How will this play with voters? Some thoughts from earlier today here.

Bush 41 is looking pretty frail.  I wish them both well.

20 Years Ago Tonight

Halloween, 1990:

She turned 22 yesterday.

*sigh*

Doper Central

There's a lot of laughs in these first three paragraphs about the people trying to legalize pot in California:

It is the home stretch in the battle over Proposition 19, the ballot initiative that would legalize and regulate marijuana in California, and at “Yes” headquarters in downtown Oakland last week, young volunteers were hustling for votes.

But while the setting was laid back — what with the couches, the Frisbees on the walls and the ample snacks — the mood was anything but, as a computerized system dialing potential voters kept phones ringing constantly.

“This is one of our generation’s most important issues,” said Evan Nison, a junior from Ithaca College in New York who has spent the last five months helping to coordinate the campaign on 40 campuses statewide. “Students are going to be the deciding factor, and I’m in charge of colleges. Talk about stress.”

I'll bet the toughest job in that place is keeping them stocked with "ample snacks". Staying ahead of a roomful of people with the munchies could be a full-time job.

And speaking of jobs, how did legalizing pot become "one of our generation's most important issues"? I guess they've completely given up on the idea of finding a job after they graduate.

I'm still hopeful that Californians haven't completely lost their minds and will vote Prop 19 down on Tuesday.

Final CNN Generic Poll: GOP +10

No sign of a Democrat surge, and this information from the poll is what has Democrats so worried:

Fifty-five percent of independents say they'll vote for the Republican candidate, with 32 percent saying they'll cast a ballot for the Democrat. The support of independent voters was a crucial factor in the strong showing by Democrats in the 2006 and 2008 elections.

"Six in ten suburban voters say they plan to vote for the Republican candidate for the U.S. House on Tuesday,” says CNN Polling Director Keating Holland. “That's not good news for the Democrats since most of the seats in play are in suburban districts."

These numbers are pretty consistent with all the other polls. We should get a final Gallup number tomorrow.

The Fight for Illegal Votes in Arizona

Democrats and the Obama Administration are fighting for them, Republicans against:

The Justice Department is sending a small pack of election observers to Arizona as Hispanic groups sound the alarm over an anti-illegal immigration group’s mass e-mail seeking to recruit Election Day volunteers to help block illegal immigrants from voting.

Hispanic voting rights groups say the e-mail is just an attempt to intimidate minority voters. But election fraud monitors say that there are hundreds of examples of duplicate registrations, wrong information and past unregistered voters getting ballots.

No minority voter who is a legitimate citizen of this country has anything to worry about. However, it's well known that there will be potentially hundreds of thousands if not millions of people casting ballots who do not have a legal right to do so. Early voting and vote-by-mail has made this even more likely since in many cases an individual doesn't even have to show up to vote. The left will do anything to win and they don't consider vote fraud to be cheating, illegal or even wrong.  Anything we can do to stop that is a good thing.

Bawney Fwank Calls in Michael Dukakis for Help

Desperation (h/t Michelle Malkin):

In a last-minute move of desperation, Barney Frank called in former governor and presidential-nominee, Michael Dukakis, to help him rally support…amongst his base in the liberal town of Brookline (well, maybe not so liberal anymore). Finding a Barney Frank event these days is harder to do than one might think. Despite the fact that Frank is truly fighting the reelection campaign of his life to republican challenger Sean Bielat, he’s staying peculiarly quiet and randomly popping up at small events amongst democrats.

There's video of Dukakis blaming Bush during the meeting. Not sure if Dukakis is still compos mentis enough to know which Bush he's ranting against.

Quartet Night November 13th

The third annual Quartet Night at Christ Community Church in Laguna Hills will take place on Saturday, November 13th, 6:30 pm.  The concert will feature The Crimson River Quartet (my group), The RSV Quartet from Bakersfield, and The Glory Gates Quartet from Laguna Hills.  Tickets are $12 in advance/ $15 at the door, and groups of 10 or more can get tickets for only $10 apiece. Tickets are available at CrimsonRiver.com.

Here's a little promo video we made:


The church is located at 25382 MacKenzie in Laguna Hills, near the I-5/La Paz Road exit. Hope to see you there!

41 and 43 To Throw Out the First Pitches for Tonight's World Series Game

How will this moment play out to the millions watching?

ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Former Presidents George H.W. Bush and George W. Bush will throw out ceremonial first pitches before Game 4 of the World Series on Sunday night.

The San Francisco Giants lead the Texas Rangers 2-0 in the best-of-seven series.

George W. Bush was managing general partner of the Rangers from 1989-94 and maintained partial ownership of the club until 1998, two years before he was elected the 43rd president.

A year ago Democrats would have loved to have this happen two days before an important election. Bush was a bogeyman to them and his ratings with the rest of the country weren't that good either. Reminding voters of Bush might have helped them.

However, today Bush is polling five points better than Obama when people are asked who is the better president.  And given that much of the anger in this election is directed at Obama and his policies, reminding people of both Presidents Bush won't hurt the GOP at all.

Democrat Gets A New Family Member

Looks like there's a child in Ohio that will share my daughter's birthday:

Ohio Rep. John Boccieri ran offstage Saturday during a speech by Bill Clinton after the congressman received word that his pregnant wife had gone into labor.

Boccieri quickly left the podium while the former president addressed a crowd of about 1,000 people in Canton, about an hour south of Cleveland.

"The baby is now being born!" Clinton announced as the crowd erupted with cheers. "You'd be amazed how many times I take a picture with a very pregnant woman and then she immediately gives birth."

Boccieri, a Democrat, is locked in a closely watched race with Republican Jim Renacci.

Congrats to the family.  Hopefully after Tuesday Rep. Boccieri will have a lot more time to spend with them.

Even More Political Cartoons of the Day

Halloween is providing a treasure trove of political cartoons:

There's More Than a Sugar High in Some California Candy

When you make pot legal in any form, whether as "medical" marijuana or as Prop 19 would do, a legal recreational drug, this kind of stuff is going to happen:

Trick-or-treaters in California have been warned to watch out for pot-laced candy this Halloween, the Los Angles Times reported Friday.

The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department issued the warning to parents in light of candy and snacks containing marijuana being confiscated from pot dispensaries.

The warning comes days before Californians vote on Proposition 19, a marijuana legalization measure.

California has state laws allowing the medical use of marijuana, but the sheriff's department said the confiscated items were untested and unlicensed.

Officials said in their warning that parents should check Halloween candy and other snacks for indications the items were tampered with.

California voters need to reject Prop 19, and then the Feds need to get serious about shutting down the pot dispensaries which are illegal under Federal law no matter what the State thinks.

Political Video of the Day

Sarah Palin takes on the "corrupt bastards" in the Alaskan press who are trying to destroy Joe Miller.  Mama Grizzly is ticked:

Bonus Political Cartoon of the Day

As a lifelong Peanuts fan when I saw this on Facebook I laughed out loud:

I still have my collection of Peanuts books that I got as a kid for birthdays, Christmas, and some I bought myself. You can see them here.

Political Cartoon of the Day

And oldie but a goodie:

Jon Stewart's Rally to Celebrate Ignorance

Real politically savvy bunch they had there in Washington yesterday (from The Daily Caller):

Most attendees The Daily Caller interviewed at Comedy Central political pundits Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert’s rally to “Restore Sanity and/or Fear” didn’t know for whom they are voting on November 2. They did, however, know they’re voting Democrat, down the line, because, they said, Republicans don’t fit their mold of “moving forward” in the country.

For instance, Liz Pifer, a student at Robert Morris University in Pittsburgh, Pa., told TheDC that though she plans to vote in the midterm elections on Tuesday, she didn’t know who was running for Pennsylvania’s open Senate seat. She later said that she thought Joe Sestak was running, and that she’ll probably vote for him because he’s a Democrat. As for House candidates, she said, “I don’t know who’s running.”

Tara Formica, a junior in college in New Jersey, told TheDC she’s not sure if she’ll vote on Tuesday, and that “it kind of just depends.” She said she came to the rally Saturday “just to come,” and that she didn’t know who was running in her district.

Jared Young, a California resident who attended the rally with fellow William and Mary student Chris McIntosh, told TheDC he already voted via absentee ballot in California’s heated Senate and Governor races – but not for Meg Whitman, Carly Fiorina, Barbara Boxer or Jerry Brown. He said he wrote himself in on the ballot for the Senator seat and voted for the Green Party candidate in the governor race – even though he had no idea who the candidate was.

“I’m not kidding,” Young said. “I really did that.”

McIntosh, who is registered in Virginia, said he plans vote Tuesday for Democratic candidates down the line, even though he doesn’t know who they are.

Melissa Miller, who came to rally from Texas with her husband Tom, said, told TheDC she’s voting for the Democrat House candidate, but couldn’t name the candidate from her district.

“I was mostly paying attention to the governor’s race,” Miller said.

And then there's this:

Anti-Tea-Party-ness and anger toward Fox News dominated most signs at the rally on the National Mall, a clear fit for comedian Stewart’s jabs at what he calls extremism.


Shoshana Senn, 15, of Arlington, Va., thinks Tea Partiers are “dumb.”

I'll bet most Tea Partiers could have named who they were voting for.  And don't miss this video.

Obama Heckled by Gays...Again

I think I've run that headline two or three times now.  From Say Anything:

President Obama went to Connecticut today to stump for Rick Blumenthal (who is running against Republican Linda McMahon to replace the retiring Chris Dodd). His speech was delayed at one point for about three minutes by hecklers.

There were two different groups protesting. One obviously protesting the President’s handling of AIDS funding, but the President at one point turns to another group and seems to indicate that their protest was on another topic.

There's video at the link. Obama said something stupid about Democrats funding AIDS research while the GOP does nothing, completely ignoring the 1.5 million people that were saved by George Bush's AIDS efforts in Africa.

With Obama it's always about him.

Random Shots

A couple of random photos from my afternoon wanderings.

First, my wife needed some fortune cookies for a theme lunch she's putting on so we stopped in the 99 Ranch Market in Irvine, a very Asian grocery store that advertises stuff like squid and pork stomachs.  As a 6'4" white guy I didn't stand out in there at all.

One of the aisle signs caught my eye:

At least the next time I need some dried fungus I'll know right where to go.

From there we headed off to a whole different world - Laguna Beach. In a couple of weeks we'll be spending a night at the Surf and Sand Resort so we decided to stop by and check out the neighborhood for restaurants and such. This is a shot of the pool area which is right on the beach. Pretty nice.

Should be fun.

We walked down to the lower level and watched as a wedding was getting ready to start on the beach.  Because it's a public beach others were walking along, including a lady with a couple of dogs.  There were two floral arrangements set up on the beach and as the dogs went by the second one stopped, hiked his leg and did this thing - right in front of the wedding guests.  Hilarious.

Political Headlines of the Day

Lots of stories today (from Drudge):

Signs at Stewart/Colbert rally show Republicans with Hitler mustaches...
Rally Sign: 'I masturbate to Christine O'Donnell'...
Comedians vowed no politics at rally, but DNC recruits volunteers...
Rally organizers seek to 'strictly prohibit filming' - on National Mall!
'Beat up' Obama hits the campaign trail one last weekend...
President argues with hecklers in CT...
Swing voters flocking to GOP...
NYT: Clinton's role in FL campaign costs black votes...
NPR Totenberg 'Very Afraid' of Elections; NEWSWEEK Thomas Thinks They're 'A Joke'...
MOCK TIME: SEND IN THE CLOWNS
Congresswoman: Estate tax hike has some planning death before Dec. 31...
Dem attacks Pelosi as 'authoritarian'...
Expresses 'heartbreak' over failure...
PAPER: Obama's world turned upside down as Dems face disaster...
SHOCK POLL: 47% of Dems want primary opponent for Obama... 
Dems Closing Argument: Personal Attacks...
TIME: Pelosi To Retire If Dems Lose House?
Candidate claims battery after firm handshake from opponent...

Every Time Obama Speaks a Democrat Loses His Seat

It's almost like the movie It's a Wonderful Life.  In the movie whenever a bell rings an angel gets his wings.  In real life whenever Obama speaks a Democrat loses his seat:

The Democrats' final push to woo undecided voters appears to have fizzled, potentially putting dozens of competitive House races beyond reach and undermining the party's chances in at least four toss-up Senate seats, according to party strategists and officials.

Independents, a crucial swing bloc, seem to be breaking sharply for Republicans in the final days of the campaign.

One nonpartisan prognosticator, Stuart Rothenberg, said Friday he thought the Republicans could pick up as many as 70 House seats—something no party has achieved since 1948. The Republicans need 39 seats to take the majority. Fading Democratic support among independents is also keeping alive the GOP's longer-shot hopes of taking the Senate.

President Barack Obama planned to make a campaign stop Friday evening in Virginia, and stops this weekend in Connecticut, Pennsylvania, Illinois and Ohio, to drum up support for congressional candidates. He triumphed in 2008 by attracting significant numbers of independents in key swing states.

I liked the movie. It was more realistic than the idea that all this campaigning Obama is doing this weekend will help Democrats.

Radical Islamist Included in Rally to Restore Sanity

Think the liberals are afraid of radical Islam much?

“The inclusion of Yusuf Islam in the Rally to Restore Sanity is sure to raise a number of eyebrows, given the controversy surrounding his alleged support of the fundamentalist Islamic fatwa against author Salman Rushdie. As Andy Levy tweeted ‘Rally To Restore Fatwas?’”

In case you don't remember Yusuf Islam is the former Cat Stevens, a singer who converted to Islam and endorsed the death of Salman Rushdie because of his book The Satanic Verses.

Liberals think if we just play nice with radical Islam that somehow we'll all just get along. In reality the best they can hope for is the radicals will cut their heads off last.

Seen on the Street

Errand running today, and while we were out I saw a couple of interesting things.

This is the season for lots of retail politicking in Mission Viejo, and that usually involves candidates standing on corners of busy intersections holding their signs and waving at passing motorists. I saw my buddy Dave Leckness, long time business owner and current City Council member doing his thing at La Paz and Marguerite. Didn't have a chance to stop and talk, but he's running for re-election Tuesday for one of three open seats in a field of thirteen candidates. It's kind of hard to shout over the noise.

We ate lunch at The Hat in Lake Forest which is right next to a Subaru dealership.  On the sidewalk in front of the dealership was a lone protester holding a hand-made sign that said "My new Subaru blew up twice".  On the back it said "HONK if you support me".  We honked.  He seemed like a nice guy who got stuck with a lemon and is having a problem getting a satisfactory resolution.  I wish I had had time to stop and get the whole story.  Sounds like it would have been interesting.

Jerry "Moonbeam" Brown: It's All a Lie

Our political ad of the day from Meg Whitman:

The Great Obama Plea for Ethnic Retribution

Charles Krauthammer:

In a radio interview that aired Monday on Univision, President Obama chided Latinos who "sit out the election instead of saying, 'We're gonna punish our enemies and we're gonna reward our friends who stand with us on issues that are important to us.' " Quite a uniter, urging Hispanics to go to the polls to exact political revenge on their enemies - presumably, for example, the near-60 percent of Americans who support the new Arizona immigration law. 

This from a president who won't even use "enemies" to describe an Iranian regime that is helping kill U.S. soldiers in Afghanistan. This from a man who rose to prominence thunderously declaring that we were not blue states or red states, not black America or white America or Latino America - but the United States of America.

This is how the great post-partisan, post-racial, New Politics presidency ends - not with a bang, not with a whimper, but with a desperate election-eve plea for ethnic retribution.

I guess "postracial" doesn't mean what I thought it meant. Read the rest of it here.

Half the Dems Think Obama Should Get a Primary Opponent

And I'll be most of them think it should be Hillary:

Democratic voters are closely divided over whether President Barack Obama should be challenged within the party for a second term in 2012, an Associated Press-Knowledge Networks Poll finds.

That glum assessment carries over into the nation at large, which is equally divided over whether Obama should be a one-term president.

A real Democratic challenge to Obama seems unlikely at this stage and his re-election bid is a long way off. But the findings underscore how disenchanted his party has grown heading into the congressional elections Tuesday.

The AP-KN poll has tracked a group of people and their views since the beginning of the 2008 presidential campaign. Among all 2008 voters, 51 percent say he deserves to be defeated in November 2012 while 47 percent support his re-election — essentially a tie.

Except that when an election ends 51-47 they don't declare it a tie. The guy with 47 loses.

She's just waiting to make her move.

Happy 22nd!

How is it that I'm the father of a 22-year old?  That can't be right...but it is.

Happy Birthday to my daughter in Northern California!  Wish we could be up there this weekend but we'll see her in three weeks.

Hipsters Rally to Restore Smugness

Don't you wish you could be in Washington today to see how well the Comedy Channel does a rally?

Well, no.

But the good news is anyone who was remotely politically active in that crowd will be tied up in traffic all day while the GOP is doing last minute campaigning and getting out the vote.

Our evil plan to hamstring the hipster doofus vote has worked.

Oh, and did the much-hated Glenn Beck try to ban photography during his huge rally? (from Instapundit)

JON STEWART’S WAR AGAINST PHOTOGRAPHY? “Rally to Resore Sanity” pledges to “strictly prohibit filming” at National Mall. “The claim that Comedy Central can prohibit filming on federal property during an event open to the public is completely wrong.”
But it’s revealing that they’d try. It’s really the Rally To Reassert The Failed Narrative. Plus, from the comments: “We smell their fear.”

I guess the revolution won't be televised after all.

Operation Alaska Chaos Has a Casualty

Well, two casualties if you count Princess Lisa Murkowski.  However, her campaign threatened to sue a radio station which immediately caved and pulled the host off the air who encouraged people to sign up as write-in candidates (from the Alaska Politics Blog):

From Kyle Hopkins in Anchorage --

A day after urging Alaskans to sign up as write-in candidates in the U.S. Senate race as an act of “civil disobedience,” a popular Anchorage talk show host was pulled from the air today.

KFQD 750 AM host Dan Fagan said he returned from lunch to learn that his 2 to 5 p.m. show had been canceled after a representative of Sen. Lisa Murkowski’s campaign called to complain. Fagan said he’s not fired and that the status of the show will be “re-evaluated” on Monday.

The caller said “that I should be punished for electioneering and that I may have violated electioneering laws,” Fagan said.

Listen to a clip from yesterday's show

The conservative radio host, a supporter of Republican nominee Joe Miller, rallied voters to register as write-in candidates to protest an order by the Alaska Supreme Court that allows election workers to show voters a list of write-in candidates.

The decision was expected to help Murkowski’s write-in bid by making it easier for people to get her name right at the voting booth. Fagan argues that it amounts to illegal electioneering on behalf of the state by promoting a candidate who failed to win a spot on the ballot in the primary elections.

"Some people might criticize throwing tea in the Boston harbor and some people might criticize having all these people register as a write-in candidate," he said. "But when the government acts illegally, you have to stand up to it."

I could write a response to the thuggish antics of the Murkowski campaign, but I don't have to because Sarah Palin absolutely took her apart:

Lisa, are you going to shut down my Facebook page for writing this?

Read it all.

Campaign Sign of the Day

My friend Bob spotted this campaign sign in Fullerton:

Bob explained the sign this way:

This sign is all around Fullerton. Roland Chi is running for City Council. He owns an Asian grocery that was cited for health code violations. Probably the only campaign sign you will ever see that has a picture of someone vomiting!

Turnout Way Up in California Early Voting

Gee, I wonder why?

If you remember the last mid-term election, you're in the minority. While the state and nation was approaching the precipice of economic tumult, folks were still working, their home values hadn't yet tumbled, and there were few budget crisis headlines.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, whose current approval rating is 28 percent, glided to victory in 1998 with 56 percent of the vote. Not that many bothered voting – just 39 percent of the state's eligible adults and 56 percent of those actually registered cast ballots.

It's a different story this time. As of Thursday, 225,215 mail ballots had been received by the Orange County elections office. Four years ago, it was 148,684 on the Thursday before the November election. About 685,000 county voters requested mail ballots this year, some 100,000 more than 2006, according to Registrar of Voters Neal Kelley.

Heightened interest seems to be the cause, not simply a shift in voters from the polling place to the mail box. The percentage of voters casting mail ballots has leveled off around 50 percent in recent years.

"Statewide, everybody's seeing higher than average returns," Kelley said.

Nothing like billions in state debt, double-digit unemployment, economic doldrums and a few Tea Parties to invigorate the democratic process.

Conservatives have been waiting for this election for months, and I guarantee you the majority of those early returns are coming from people anxious to vote against the liberal agenda. I just wonder how much fraud is included in those early numbers?

Andrew Breitbart on ABC for Election Night, Lefties Hardest Hit

Conservative pundit and frequent flamethrower Andrew Breitbart has been added to the Election Night line-up on ABC News:

ABC announced their election night coverage early on and Big Journalism Editor Dana Loesch will join the network in studio for 6 p.m. – 2 a.m. election night; Bigs founder and head of the Breitbart empire Andrew Breitbart will be bringing analysis live from Arizona.

Why would they add Breitbart and Loesch to their line-up? They're hoping that perhaps they can get some conservative viewers away from Fox News.  Not to mention the fact that both are big players in the Tea Party movement, and Breitbart's collection of "Big" websites generate a huge amount of traffic everyday.

What's really hysterical is the left is just going nuts. They hate Breitbart with a purple passion and the idea that a mainstream news broadcast would dare air his views is really setting them off. Poor Jake Tapper, ABC's White House Correspondent, has been getting slammed all night on his Twitter feed by angry lefties. Of course, Tapper had nothing to do with the decision and couldn't do anything about it if he wanted to. He keeps referring them back to ABC management.

Tuesday is going to be a major crack-up on the left.

Too Many Helmet-on-Helmet Hits

How else do you explain this?

The National Football League’s political action committee—Gridiron PAC—has weighed in on the hotly contested U.S. Senate election in Nevada that pits conservative Republican challenger Sharron Angle against Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid.

The PAC has given $10,000 to Reid—the maximum it can give in a single election cycle—and no money to Angle, according to Federal Election Commission data compiled by OpenSecrets.org.

The NFL’s PAC also contributed to other incumbent Democratic senators facing viable challengers this year, giving $5,000 to Blanche Lincoln of Arkansas; $5,000 to Russ Feingold of Wisconsin; $5,000 to Barbara Boxer of California; $5,000 to Michael Bennet of Colorado; and $5,000 to Patty Murray of Washington.

In none of these races did the NFL’s PAC contribute to the Republican challenger.

I wasn't an NFL fan before. I'm really not a fan now.

Today's Chris Christie Lesson in Government

What do you do when your predecessor in office lies to you about the state's financial condition and then pays off his buddies right before he leaves office? That was the dilemma facing Gov. Chris Christie when he took office. Listen to him explain the situation and what he did.

N.J. Gov. Chris Christie calls Jon Corzine quintessential limousine liberal Democrat in America

Obama to....Delaware...Three Days Before the Election?

Despite the best efforts of Saturday Night Live, it appears the Christine O'Donnell campaign still has life in Delaware.  Obama's going there to campaign tomorrow.  If she was really a dozen points down he'd be somewhere else trying to shore up a different race.

Her opponent, former self-described bearded Marxist Chris Coons, has chickened bailed out on the last two scheduled debates.  Why?  She was cleaning his clock every time they got together.  The more the people saw this guy the less they liked him.  The internal polling the Dems have must show him in trouble if his campaign is rating a POTUS visit...again...three days before the election.

And the latest attempted slander against O'Donnell is clearly backfiring on Coons.  I won't go into details here - it's all over the web elsewhere - but needless to say if you can get NOW to defend a Republican as they did in this case, the slander failed.

This race can still be won.

Democrats Don't Seem to Like...Well Anybody, Very Much

Take a look at this post from Bookworm Room.  It's got some interesting links to stories of misbehaving Democrat politicians who don't seem to like anybody very much. (h/t Reader Sam)

Al Qaeda Targeting U.S. Synagogues?

Osama bin Laden is doing his part for the midterm election.  On the Friday before the 2004 presidential election bin Laden released a tape which essentially called for John Kerry's election.  Game, set and match for George W Bush.

Today, just a few days after Minnesota Democrat Rep. Betty McCollum stated that al Qaeda was no longer a threat to the U.S., we have breaking news about an attempt to ship bombs to U.S. synagogues from ...wait for it...al Qaeda.  Hot Air has all the details at the link

The media is going wall-to-wall with this story which makes me think they're of the opinion this story will help the Democrats since it possibly show the administration stopping a bomb plot.

I doubt it.  As political scientist Larry Sabato said on Twitter:

No tweeps, the terrorist incident will have little impact on 11/2. Cake baked, cooled, iced. Except in small # of cases, over for long time.

However this was found out, good work by all involved. However, if this is an attempt to influence the election, and that's a very realistic possibility given the timing, it will fail.

Hispanics Not So Enthused About Illegal Immigrants These Days

This is kind of surprising:

Hispanics are growing more divided about how they view illegal immigration, and native-born Hispanics aren't as convinced of the contributions of illegal immigrants as they used to be, according to a study released Thursday.

Hispanics are split when asked to assess the effect of illegal immigration on Hispanics living in the United States: 29% say it has had a positive impact, 31% negative and 30% believe it made no difference, according to the study by the non-partisan Pew Hispanic Center. That is a sharp decline from a 2007 survey, when 50% of Hispanics said illegal immigrants were having a positive impact.

If anyone was counting on this issue to help swing Hispanics to Democrats they may have miscalculated. It could be backfiring on them.

I Pay Dead People

When the government says it can't operate without more of your money, keep this in mind:

Republican Sen. Tom Coburn wants to knife federal spending for dead people. It’s not like they’ll be hurt by it, right?

Just in time for Halloween, Coburn on Friday is releasing a report entitled, “Federal Programs to Die For: American Tax Dollars Sent Six Feet Under.”

Coburn’s office says that since 2000, at least $1 billion in taxpayer money has gone to 250,000 dead people.

Here are highlights of the report, in its own words:

• The Social Security Administration sent $18 million in stimulus funds to 71,688 dead people and $40.3 million in questionable benefit payments to 1,760 dead people.

• The Department of Health and Human Services sent 11,000 dead people $3.9 million in assistance to pay heating and cooling costs.

• The Department of Agriculture sent $1.1 billion in farming subsidies to deceased farmers.

• The Department of Housing and Urban Development overseeing local agencies knowingly distributed $15.2 million in housing subsidies to 3,995 households with at least one deceased person.

• Medicaid paid over $700,000 in claims for prescriptions for controlled substances written for over 1,800 deceased patients and prescriptions for controlled substances written by 1,200 deceased doctors.

• Medicare paid as much as $92 million in claims for medical supplies prescribed by dead doctors and $8.2 million for medical supplies prescribed for dead patients.

• Congress has established HIV/AIDS funding distribution based on historic numbers of deceased HIV/AIDS patients, while many individuals living with AIDS desperately wait for medical care.

This stuff shouldn't be that hard to fix, but since this money is probably disappearing into the pockets of various Dem interest groups it's going to be a fight to stop it.

And Dems throwing money at dead voters, they're also throwing money at dead candidates:

It might not seem unusual for the state Democratic Party to shower a district with mail pieces promoting an incumbent member one week before Election Day.

But one member for whom they are now spending, Democratic Sen. Jenny Oropeza, died unexpectedly last week at age 53.

State law prohibits replacing a candidate on the ballot or calling a special election to fill a vacant office this close to a scheduled election. So the name of the late Long Beach senator remains on the ballot against Republican John Stammreich and Libertarian David Ruskin.

If Oropeza wins in the safe Democratic district, a special election for the seat will be called in early December when members are sworn in. The state Democratic Party has spent $46,135 to explain that possible outcome to voters in the 28th Senate District.

After Tuesday Only the Crazy Dems Will Be Left

The House will look very different when the new Congress comes to town in January. Most if not all of the so-called Blue Dog Dems will be gone, many other Dems with them, and only the craziest of the bunch who come from districts that have been gerrymandered to elect anyone not named Hitler as long as he or she is a Dem will be left:

Based on the RealClearPolitics ratings of House races, 62 of 76 seats held by a member of the Progressive Caucus are “safe.” For the Blue Dogs, the picture is much more bleak. Of the 54 districts held by a member of that caucus, only six are “safe.”

With moderate and conservative Democrats in much greater trouble than progressives, it is a virtual certainty that the “average House Democrat” will be much more liberal when Congress reconvenes next year.

“You can call it the ideological paradox,” said Isaac Wood, the House race editor for Larry Sabato’s Crystal Ball. “If Republicans clean up in the elections next week, the House will become more conservative, but the Democratic Caucus will actually become more liberal. The ranks of the Blue Dogs will be decimated, but the Progressive Caucus will be largely untouched.”

Seats belonging to 82 percent of Democrats in the Congressional Progressive Caucus — a group bound together by liberal goals like universal health care and gay marriage — are considered safe contests. As a whole, 48 percent of Democratic House seats are safe.

On the other side of the aisle you'll have a much more conservative GOP in charge. This should make for some very entertaining moments in congressional hearings and floor debates.

Operation Alaska Chaos Update

Last night I posted about the effort in Alaska to flood the write-in list with dozens of names of other citizens who have registered for the Senate race.  Here's an update:

When a court bent over backwards to help Lisa Murkowski in her write-in campaign — allowing poll workers to give voters a list of registered write-ins — dozens of conservatives ran straight to the election offices and registered as write-ins in order to frustrate her plans and lengthen the list.

So if voters ask for help spelling Sen. Lisa Murkowski’s name, they will be given this list of 154 write-in candidates...

A complete list of names is shown at the link. Good work, Alaska!

Scary Movie of the Day (if you're a Democrat)

Something to watch on Monday night (from The Tonight Show):

Rasmussen: Meg Only 4% Behind Brown

There has been an assortment of bogus polls released lately showing Jerry "Moonbeam" Brown with as much as a 13 point lead over Meg Whitman.  An analysis of those polls, such as the one from the LA Times, shows significant overpolling of Democrats and Hispanics, not to mention first time voters making it into the likely voter screens.  Hack jobs...period.

Today Rasmussen has a poll showing a much closer race than the media has been reporting:

With only a few days until Election Day, Democrat Jerry Brown holds a slightly smaller lead over Republican Meg Whitman in California’s gubernatorial race.

The latest Rasmussen Reports statewide telephone survey of Likely Voters shows Brown picking up 49% support, while Whitman draws the vote from 45%. Two percent (2%) prefer some other candidate, and three percent (3%) are still undecided.

These numbers move the race from Leans Democrat back to a Toss-Up in the Rasmussen Reports Gubernatorial Scorecard.

This race is still very winnable for Whitman. Turnout will be the key on Tuesday, not to mention my theory about how time zones could change races in California. With three hours still to go in California the polls in about half the country will have closed and results will start coming in. That could have an affect on people who were thinking of voting after work.

Political Cartoon of the Day

Seen on Facebook:

Nice try, but it just isn't working anymore.

Go Ahead and Use Whatever Social Security Number You Want

It doesn't matter anymore (from the Denver Post):

The Colorado Supreme Court issued a controversial opinion this week that seems to have flown under the radar. It involves the propriety of charging someone with “criminal impersonation” for merely using someone else’s social security number.

The court, in a 4-3 decision, held that Felix Montes-Rodriguez should not have been convicted under the criminal impersonation statute because he “did not assume a false or fictitious identity or capacity.”

Furthermore, decision says the prosecution presented no evidence that a social security number was a legal requirement to get a loan, which is what the defendant was doing when he used the social security number that belonged to someone else.

And it's not just Colorado. This ruling came down a couple of days ago:

The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals has overturned Arizona’s requirement that people show proof of citizenship to register to vote.

The split decision by a three-judge panel determined that the requirement to show proof of citizenship — passed by voters in 2004 — is not consistent with the National Voter Registration Act.

Associate Justice Sandra Day O’Connor, temporarily sitting by designation, and Circuit Judge Sandra Ikuta, with chief judge Alex Kozinski dissenting, said Prop. 200 creates an additional hurdle, while the national act is intended to reduce “state-imposed obstacles” to registration.

We're not only losing our national identity, we're losing our individual identity.

Dem Congresswoman Wants Justice Department to Stop Tea Partiers

The Justice Department, which dropped a case against the New Black Panthers for intimidating voters with weapons in Philadelphia in 2008, has been asked to stop Tea Partiers from hanging out at polling places in Texas:

Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D-Texas) is asking the Department of Justice to investigate whether tea party groups are intimidating black and Hispanic voters in her district.

Jackson Lee has asked Attorney General Eric Holder to send poll monitors to her district on Nov. 2 to make sure the King Street Patriots, a local conservative voter turnout and tea party group, aren’t stopping people from voting.

“Many of these incidents of voter intimidation have been occurring in predominately minority neighborhoods and have been directed at African-Americans and Latinos,” she said in the letter. “It is unconscionable to think that anyone would deliberately employ the use of such forceful and intimidating tactics in 2010 to undermine the fundamental, constitutional right to vote.”

“I urge you to order an immediate investigation into these incidents and call for the Department of Justice to send poll monitors to Harris County immediately to ensure a safe and neutral voting environment during the Nov. 2 election,” Jackson Lee wrote.

Yeah, those white folks can get pretty scary.

Operation Alaska Chaos

How much do I love this?  A lot.

Apparently some folks in Alaska, angry that the Supreme Court ordered that write-in candidate names must be provided on a list to voters in polling places, have decided to bulk up the write-in list a bit.  This ruling came about as Lisa Murkowski desperately tries to keep her job after losing to Joe Miller in the primary.

It's pretty easy to sign up as a write-in Senate candidate:

The Anchorage office received 56 Senate write-in applications -- in person or by fax -- in just 45 minutes, said election clerk Raymond McAndrews at 5 p.m.

Hopefully when those lists are handed out there will be lots and lots of names to choose from.

Should Murkowski somehow manage to win this thing I'll be really ticked if the GOP doesn't strip her of her committee assignments and seniority. She will not go to Washington as a Republican, and she shouldn't be granted the perks of being a Republican even if she chooses to caucus with them.

UPDATE:  153 Alaskans answered the call and registered as write-in candidates.

Bill Clinton Tries to Talk a Qualified Minority Into Quitting

In favor of a rich white (or orange) guy.  If any Republican did this he'd be called "racist" in a New York minute:

Bill Clinton sought to persuade Rep. Kendrick Meek to drop out of the race for Senate during a trip to Florida last week — and nearly succeeded.

Meek agreed — twice — to drop out and endorse Gov. Charlie Crist’s independent bid in a last-ditch effort to stop Marco Rubio, the Republican nominee who stands on the cusp of national stardom.

Meek, a staunch Clinton ally from Miami, has failed to broaden his appeal around the state and is mired in third place in most public polls, with a survey today showing him with just 15 percent of the vote. His withdrawal, polls suggest, would throw core Democratic voters to the moderate governor, rocking a complicated three-way contest and likely throwing the election to Crist.

The last poll I saw showed Rubio over 50% which means even if all of Crist and Meek's voters got together they'd still lose.

This also proves the theory that should Crist win he'd caucus with the Democrats. That fix was already in.

UPDATE:  Crist advisor says he'd caucus with Democrats.  I saw that coming months ago.

Because They Cheat Vol. 12

In Illinois there are all kinds of crazy things going on, like the military ballots that didn't get sent to our deployed military.  But, if you're worried that the thugs locked up in prison might not get their ballots, worry no more (h/t Say Anything):

Meanwhile, the Chicago Board of Elections hand-delivers ballots to inmates in Cook County Jail. The board doesn’t even wait for the inmates to apply — it brings the applications with the ballots! More than 2,600 inmates have cast ballots — strikingly similar to the 2,600 soldiers who will likely not receive a ballot for Tuesday’s election.

I'll bet their being told if they vote the "right" way they could get some time knocked off their sentences.

Today's Quick Hit Headlines

Some quick hits on today's headlines:

POLL: 65% Would Vote to Replace Entire Congress..
ONLY 65%?

POLL: Majority Wants Obama Fired In 2012...
They'll probably get their wish.

GIANTS fans smoking marijuana at World Series?!
A preview of the entire state if Prop 19 passes.

San Fran pot shop offers free joints for each Giant home run...
Nice law enforcement you've got going up there.

RAHM VICTORIOUS: Top Opponent Suddenly Drops Out Of Mayor's Race... 
I guess the horse's head in the bed had the desired results.

Taxpayers covered $9 million in cosmetic surgery for NY teachers...
And most of their students can't even spell "boobs".

Man Shot Dead After Refusing His Turn in Russian Roulette...
I guess that's one of those "lose-lose" situations.

Bedbugs Try to Take Over the World, Spotted at UN building in NYC...
No surprise.  Have you seen the people that show up there?

Scientists discover sneezing monkeys!
Now maybe they can go back to trying to find global warming.

Mexican cops quit after station attacked with 1,000 bullets, grenades...
Perhaps we should take another look at that whole border fence thing.

Obama to visit Jakarta mosque...
We used to visit churches from our denomination when we traveled, too.

Mohammed most popular name for newborn boys -- in England!
They're losing their country.

Your Predictions Here!

How would you like to join political pundits everywhere and offer your predictions for the upcoming election?    I've been saying 56 House and 8 Senate for awhile, but I may be low on the House side.

Put your predictions in the comments below and we'll see how close everybody comes to the final results.

Bonus questions:

1.  Will Nancy Pelosi resign the House after losing the Speakership?
2.  Will Obama move toward to the middle to save 2012?
3.  Will Hillary run in 2012?

Barbara "Dumb as a Box of Rocks" Boxer May Get Detention Over Teacher Solicitation

It's well known that the teacher's unions are in the back pocket of the Democrats, but that doesn't mean candidates can ask teachers to get their students to volunteer for campaigns:

In a close election race against former Hewlett-Packard executive Carly Fiorina, California Democrat Sen. Barbara Boxer is facing new ethics complaints over asking teachers to send their students to work for her campaign.

In an Oct. 27 letter to California education authorities, the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association (HJTA), a non-profit group urging lower taxes, said, “In abject ignorance of California state law, the political campaign of Senator Barbara Boxer has openly solicited teachers employed by [Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD)] to urge their students to volunteer for her campaign.”

The HJTA letter refers to a letter obtained by the Flash Report, an influential California political blog, from the Boxer campaign that urges teachers to recruit their students to work for Boxer’s campaign.

“As you may know, Senator Boxer is facing her toughest race yet,” the letter from Boxer says, “please let us know if your students are able to help.”

Of course, thanks to a Democrat Secretary of State, Boxer likely will not face any sanctions whatsoever.

Scientists Discover Liberal Gene

I knew there had to be a reason why logic and common sense don't seem to affect certain people:

Researchers have determined that genetics could matter when it comes to some adults' political leanings.

According to scientists at UC San Diego and Harvard University, "ideology is affected not just by social factors, but also by a dopamine receptor gene called DRD4." That and how many friends you had during high school.

The study was led by UCSD's James Fowler and focused on 2,000 subjects from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health. Scientists matched the subjects' genetic information with "maps" of their social networks. According to researchers, they determined that people "with a specific variant of the DRD4 gene were more likely to be liberal as adults." However, the, subjects were only more likely to have leanings to the left if they were also socially active during adolescence.

"It is the crucial interaction of two factors -- the genetic predisposition and the environmental condition of having many friends in adolescence -- that is associated with being more liberal,” according to the study.

Liberals never progressed beyond high school.

Political Cartoon of the Day

h/t Don Surber:

The Crystal Ball Says 55 Seats

More and more political scientists are coming into line with their predictions:

With just days left until the Election, Larry Sabato from the University of Virginia Center for Politics says the election picture is getting clearer in his "Crystal Ball," upping the number of pick-ups for Republicans. Even before Labor Day, Sabato predicted Republicans would pick up 47 seats, but now he says they will take home 55 seats once filled by Democrats.

"If Republicans gain 55 seats, this will actually be there biggest gain since Franklin Roosevelt. The last time they will have done about this well was 1942. Even in 1994, which is a Republican landslide year, when Newt Gingrich came in during the Clinton Administration, Republicans gained 52 seats," Sabato said during an interview with Fox News Channel Thursday morning.

Sabato is predicting Republican gains in the Senate too. He says the GOP will pick up eight seats, which is short of the 10 they need to regain control. In a statement released Thursday, Sabato says he believes Republicans will pick up the open seats in Florida, Kentucky, Missouri, New Hampshire and Ohio, along with a few seats previously held by Democrats.

Sabato tends to be a bit conservative in his estimates, so if he's looking at 55 seats that's probably the minimum we could expect.

Will the Bush Book Help or Hurt Tuesday's Election?

Drudge has a big red banner up today claiming that President Bush's new book is being revealed just before the election (and before it's scheduled release date.  I'm guessing that more details are coming later today, but I have to wonder what effect the contents that will be revealed to day will have on the election, if any?

It's probably too late to make any significant impact for or against the GOP, but having Bush's name in the news could be a mixed blessing.

UPDATE:  Here's the report from Drudge:

"It was a simple question, 'Can you remember the last day you didn't have a drink?'"

So begins President George W. Bush in the opening chapter ["Quitting"] from the most anticipated book of the season, the DRUDGE REPORT can reveal.

With DECISION POINTS, set for release November 9, Bush pulls back the curtain with a strikingly personal work that takes very few shots at his critics.

The former president even stays clear of Obama!

**

From 911's "Day of Fire" to "Katrina" to "Financial Crisis", Bush explains how he returned to his faith, time and time again.

And the faith of others.

The president details how he bonded with Crown Prince Abdullah of Saudi Arabia -- and a magical bird!

Arriving angry at Bush's Texas ranch over the president's position on Israel and Ramallah, Abdullah quickly decided he wanted to leave.

But the prince spots a turkey on the road -- and takes it as a good omen, a sign from Allah!

**

The president reveals he gave the order to shoot down planes on September 11 -- and at first thought the plane in PA had been shot down.

**

In the chapter "Stem Cells", Bush describes receiving a letter from Nancy Reagan detailing a "wrenching family journey".

But ultimately, Bush writes: "I did feel a responsibility to voice my pro-life convictions and lead the country toward what Pope John Paul II called a culture of life."

In the book, Bush describes an emotional July 2001 meeting with the Pope at the pontiff's summer residence.

Savaged by Parkinson's, the Pope saw the promise of science, but implored Bush to support life in all its forms.

Later, at the Pope's funeral -- and after a prodding from his wife that it's a time to "pray for miracles" -- Bush found himself saying a prayer for the cancer-stricken ABCNEWS anchor Peter Jennings.

**

With 14 chapters and an epilogue, it's Bush's turn.

And he'll even do it on OPRAH.

A top Bush source explains: "You will find the president strong, loving life, and ultimately at peace with the decisions he made."

I'm beginning to think the answer is: It will help.

Global Warming Headline of the Day

From Drudge:

REPORT: Gore leaves car idling for one hour during speech; Opts for Swedish government jet over public transportation...

As Professor Glenn Reynolds says: "I'll believe global warming is a crisis when the people who tell us it's a crisis act like it's a crisis."

Wanna Get Away?

Check out the fares on Southwest Airlines today.  I don't normally do pitches for airlines, but they're having a whale of a sale right now for flights before and after Christmas.  In January my quartet will be making its 13th annual trip to Rockport, TX, and because we have to fly into Corpus Christi, air fares have always been a crapshoot.

We used to travel via American Airlines every year, and one year it cost us almost $2,200 for four round trip tickets.  We switched to Continental...one time...for lower rates but had an odyssey of delayed and canceled flights that jeopardized our ability to make the concerts in time.

A couple of years ago we switched again to Southwest.  Thanks to lower fairs, bigger airplanes on the Houston to Corpus Christi route, and NO baggage fees (which is a big deal when you have to bring a lot of stuff with you), and we've been very pleased with their pricing and performance.  Thanks to this fare sale I got the lowest priced tickets I've ever gotten in 12 previous trips - $90 each way per person (plus taxes and fees).

Our flight routing will be a little creative.  We'll actually fly from Ontario to Oakland and then on to Houston and Corpus, but we'll be saving at least half of what it would have cost any other way.

The specials are only good until midnight tonight.  As they say at Southwest:  You're now free to move about the country.

The Obama Coalition Drifts Towards the GOP

Fascinating stuff from the New York Times:

Critical parts of the coalition that delivered President Obama to the White House in 2008 and gave Democrats control of Congress in 2006 are switching their allegiance to the Republicans in the final phase of the midterm Congressional elections, according to the latest New York Times/CBS News poll.

Republicans have wiped out the advantage held by Democrats in recent election cycles among women, Roman Catholics, less affluent Americans and independents. All of those groups broke for Mr. Obama in 2008 and for Congressional Democrats when they grabbed both chambers from the Republicans four years ago, according to exit polls.

If women choose Republicans over Democrats in House races on Tuesday, it will be the first time they have done so since exit polls began tracking the breakdown in 1982.

The poll provides a pre-Election Day glimpse of a nation so politically disquieted and disappointed in its current trajectory that 57 percent of the registered voters surveyed said they were more willing to take a chance this year on a candidate with little previous political experience. More than a quarter of them said they were even willing to back a candidate who holds some views that “seem extreme.”

Sounds like there's hope for Christine O'Donnell and Linda McMahon yet.  And potentially a host of other newbie candidates who are running against Dem dinosaurs.

Dems Starting to Fish for Dirt on Potential Obama Opponents

The 2012 campaign is underway:

The Democratic National Committee formally has asked the Pentagon for reams of correspondence between military agencies and nine potential Republican presidential candidates, a clear indication that Democrats are building opposition-research files on specific 2012 contenders even before the midterm elections.

An internal Army e-mail obtained by ABC News indicates that the DNC has filed Freedom of Information Act requests for "any and all records of communication" between Army departments and agencies and each of the nine Republicans -- all of whom are widely mentioned as possible challengers to President Obama.

The agencies are asked to respond to the request by this Friday, just four days before Election Day.

The nine Republicans that Democrats are seeking information on are former Gov. Sarah Palin, R-Alaska; former Gov. Mitt Romney, R-Mass.; Gov. Haley Barbour, R-Miss.; Gov. Tim Pawlenty, R-Minn.; former Gov. Mike Huckabee, R-Ark.; former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, R-Ga.; Sen. John Thune, R-S.D.; Gov. Mitch Daniels, R-Ind.; Gov. Bobby Jindal, R-La.

Such requests are typical in the world of opposition research, which involves casting a broad net for publicly available material that may at some point prove embarrassing or incriminating to political candidates.

The request isn't for details of military service or lack thereof, but appears to be designed to find information on letters and memos sent to and from the potential candidates in official positions they've held.

Obama's going to have to do a lot more than dig for dirt to get re-elected in 2012.

Bill Clinton is Hoping for a Blowout

And not in the Dems favor.  His lackluster campaigning seems to indicate to Byron York the Clinton would prefer that Obama suffer a huge loss and perhaps pave the way for Hillary:

To some Democrats, former President Bill Clinton is the party's campaigner-in-chief. And if there's any place a big gun is needed, it's here in Chicago, where Democrats, represented by the lackluster and scandal-plagued Alexi Giannoulias, are in grave danger of losing a Senate seat to Republican Rep. Mark Kirk. And not just any Senate seat -- at stake is the seat formerly occupied by Barack Obama himself, a trophy Democrats would hate to lose. So on Tuesday, with the hours until Election Day ebbing away, the campaigner-in-chief came to the rescue.

The problem was, it wasn't entirely clear how much Clinton really wanted to help Democrats, and especially Obama, win next week's elections. In the course of a one-hour speech, Clinton, whose wife lost a bitter nomination battle to Obama just two years ago and might still be considering another run for the White House, offered faint praise for the current president and a steady stream of criticism for Democrats, who he said have failed to communicate their message to the voters. If Clinton, who also seemed deeply concerned with defending his own record as president, had simply wanted to fire up the troubled party faithful here, he could have delivered a rousing defense of Obama and his party. Instead, his message was at best mixed, and at the end a listener could not be entirely sure whether Clinton truly believes Democrats deserve to win in November.

You can read the rest of it here.

I'm still going with my prediction that Hillary, who has conveniently headed out of the country through Election Day, will be leaving her position in early 2011 to begin a primary challenge to Obama.

The Teanami

What do you get when you cross a Tea Party with a Tsunami?  A Teanami:

Gallup's latest figures on the composition of the 2010 electorate suggest that, consistent with an earlier Gallup report, those voting in this year's congressional elections across the country will be similar in gender, age, and education to 2006 voters. At the same time, they will be substantially more Republican in their party orientation, and more conservative than has been the case in the past several midterms.

The current and historical likely voter data reviewed here assume an approximately 40% turnout rate among national adults for each election, close to the typical turnout rate recorded in recent midterm years. (Gallup has also calculated the 2010 congressional vote using an assumption of higher turnout.)

Specifically, 55% of likely voters in Gallup's Oct. 14-24, 2010, polling are Republicans and independents who lean Republican. This is higher than the Republican showing in the past four midterm elections, although not too dissimilar to the 51% found in 2002. The corollary of this is that the 40% of likely voters now identifying as Democratic is the lowest such percentage of the past several midterms.

Buh-bye, many, many Democrats. And every time the House has changed parties so has the Senate. The Senate doesn't look that close right now - maybe 8 GOP pick-ups, but if the wave as big as it looks now there could be a number of Democrats who are currently leading that are in trouble.

Political Video of the Day

From Joe Miller, who defeated Lisa Murkowski in the primary but finds himself running against her again in the general election as a write-in candidate.

Harry Potter fans will appreciate the newspaper scene toward the end.

It was not a good day for Murkowski. She thought she could get election workers around the state to hand voters papers showing that she was a write-in candidate for Senate. A court said "no way". That's electioneering and it's illegal within 200 feet of a polling place in Alaska.

UPDATE: Supreme Court overrules lower court and allows write-in names to be displayed in polling places. Laws....we don't need no stinkin' laws!

Supreme Court Headline of the Day

From Drudge:

Kagan's first vote is against an execution -- over safety of lethal injection drug...

Yeah, we wouldn't want to execute somebody with drugs that aren't safe.

This is what you get when you put liberal law professors on the Supreme Court.

Killing Them With Kindness

Sharron Angle was the recipient of yesterday's Political Vitriol of the Day from "comedian" Joy Behar of The View.  Today Angle repaid the gift (from Beltway Confidential):

I reported last night that the Sharron Angle campaign had had a banner day fundraising, which the campaign attributed to the fact that The View co-host Joy Behar said of Angle on national television, “She’s going to hell, this bitch!”

The Angle campaign tells me that this morning they sent flowers and a thank you note to Behar:

Joy,

Raised 150K online yesterday –- thanks for your help.

Sincerely,

Sharron Angle.

Zing!

This was Behar's bitter response to the flowers:

“I would like to point out that those flowers were picked by illegal immigrants & they’re not voting for you, bitch.”

It must be awful to be such a miserable person.

Today's Reading List

Did you grow up thinking that by the time 2010 rolled around we'd all have flying cars? If you did, you'll probably enjoy this book:  The Wonderful Future That Never Was.

What Are You Voting For or Against?

Red State offers a pretty good list:

The ballot we cast is as much against the Democrat/Socialist/Progressive agenda as it is for all that we love about our country and wish to see restored. Those ballots are much larger than any of us could have realized two years ago. Multiplied by millions, they give us a voice, a voice that won’t stop with November 2nd, 2010. It is a vote of such vastness it cannot be contained. First, let me tell you what we are voting against in November. 

My vote is against President Obama/Pelosi/Reid and their Socialist/Progressive agenda. My vote is against the Communists who have seeped their way into the public consciousness and walk about with an air of respectability.
My vote is against another Bart Stupak betrayal against the unborn.
My vote is against a government that would enslave the people to generations of debt.
My vote is against the narcissism and elitism of a political class that seeks to be rulers over free Americans.
My vote is against Liberalism’s revision of history and their takeover of our educational system.
My vote is against a mainstream media that is like a malignant tumor across this great land.
My vote is against the corruption of government and a bureaucracy that lacks common sense.
My vote is against those that would take my freedom as an individual and my birthright as an American.

Now, what casting that ballot on November 2nd means to me, and I believe, all of you.
This year I will be casting my vote with optimism and the knowledge that our work is not yet done.

My vote is for The Constitution. That extraordinary document written so long ago by our Founding Fathers to establish a nation that would be self-governing and the people free. It includes those “Inalienable Rights endowed by our Creator.”
My vote is for the individual to succeed in his own right, on his own merit.
My vote stands for families, for future generations. My vote stands for the unborn - that they may live.
My vote stands for the elderly, the sick and disabled - it stands for humanity and humility.
My vote does stand for the oppressed - to show them America and how we are free.
My vote stands for freedom of religion, not from religion. I want to hear the church bells ring again.
My vote stands for a judiciary that supports the Constitution.
My vote stands for America and her awesomeness…her exceptionalism, her flag, her honor and her dignity.
My vote stands for her military - those who have died to keep her free, and those that die today that others may be free.
My vote stands with everyone else’s vote - for America - with love and pride in a nation that does not fail to open her hands and heart to the world.

Hard to argue with that.

I Love a Rainy Election Day

And according to the forecasts rain will be the GOP's best friend on Nov. 2:

In more bad news for Democrats, rain is in the forecast for much of the country on Election Day.

Weather tracking websites, including weather.com and The Old Farmer's Almanac, are calling for rain in the Midwest, Southeast and Northeast regions, with chances for precipitation in other parts of the country as well.

According to Laurel Harbridge, a Northwestern University political science professor, GOP voters are not typically discouraged by rain. “Republicans are helped by bad weather ... it does harm Democratic prospects.”

Wendy Schiller, a political science professor at Brown University, echoed Harbridge. “Bad weather almost always hurts Democrats,” she said. “The traditional Democratic base tends to include lower-income people and the elderly. Both of those demographic groups have a hard time getting to the polls.”

Political experts say the rain will especially help Republicans this year because the conservative base is motivated to win back control of Congress.

“It will require an even bigger get-out-to-vote effort by the Democrats if the weather is bad,” said Schiller.

Rain is also bad for Nancy Pelosi. If she gets wet, she melts.