I agree, and don't forget to factor in the Internet. Dear God, could you imagine if we had the Internet during some of the more volatile elections of the past century? Who knows what difference it could have made?

What is truly awful about the 24/7 coverage is that we probably learn less about the issues than anything. IMHO none of the debate hosts asked good questions and/or follow up questions, and no one called the candidates out on double talk and evasion. As in, "Senator McCain you keep saying you are going to push the wars and cut taxes. You also say you will balance the budget by cutting waste. Name 5 programs in the defense department you consider wasteful and five social programs you consider wasteful, and the degree to which you will cut them."

"Senator Obama we are trillions in debt, you say we need to draw down in Iraq and refocus on Afghamistan. We are in an economic meltdown and you want to add a national health care program to the mix. How will this be paid for?"

No, instead we get snide comments about who associated with whom, and a bunch of cable gas bags predicting what tomorrow's polls are going to say.

I think the complaints at the 24/7 networks are valid, but I think PBS gives time for the most part some reasonable and smart discussions on the topics, instead of 5 minute screaming fits?

Maybe that's just me.

LA Times endorses Obama; first nod since '72

The Los Angeles Times has endorsed Barack Obama for president, following up on the Washington Post's earlier editorial supporting the Illinois Senator.

It's the Times' first presidential endorsement since 1972, and Obama becomes the first Democrat to get the editorial board's support. The LAT editorial, which will appear in Sunday's paper, went online this afternoon.

So will the New York Times endorsement also be published in the fat Sunday edition? It will, at least according to Drudge, and unsurprisingly supporting Obama.

Andy Rosenthal, the NYT's editorial page editor, declined to comment on the Drudge teaser. But unlike the LAT, he told Politico, the paper has no intention of posting earlier online.

UPDATE: Editor & Publisher reports that Obama's endorsement lead is now a 3-1 margin.

http://www.politico.com/blogs/michaelcalderone/1008/LA_Times_endorses_Obama.html

UGH! I am so sick of this election already! I wish it were over, over, over.

Joe the Plumber should go hang out with the Hockey Moms and Joe Six Packs of the world.

On Meet the Press this Sunday, it is rumored that Colin Powell will endorse Obama.

Colin Powell might endorse Obama
By: Mike Allen
October 17, 2008 04:21 PM EST

Retired Gen. Colin Powell, once considered a potential running mate for Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), now may endorse his opponent, Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.), according to Republican sources. But an air of mystery surrounds Powell's planned live appearance Sunday on NBC's "Meet the Press," and no one is sure what he will say.

Powell’s unassailable national security credentials could sway voters who are vacillating about whether Obama is ready to be commander in chief, and his endorsement of the Illinois senator would make a national security emphasis by McCain in the election's closing days extremely difficult.

Powell, 71, a professional soldier for 35 years, has advised the last three Republican presidents.

The general’s camp is being coy about what he might or might not say on Sunday. But some McCain advisers suspect, without being sure, that Powell will endorse Obama.

“It’s going to make a lot of news, and certainly be personally embarrassing for McCain," a McCain official said. "It comes at a time when we need momentum, and it would create momentum against us.”

Powell, a four-star Army general, was national security adviser to President Ronald Reagan; chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff during the 1991 Persian Gulf war, when George H.W. Bush was president; and President George W. Bush’s first secretary of State,

Powell has consulted with both Obama and McCain, and the general’s camp has indicated in the past that he would not endorse.

On “Meet the Press” in June 2007, Powell said: “I’ve met with Sen. Obama twice. I’ve been around this town a long time, and I know everybody who is running for office, and I make myself available to talk about foreign policy matters and military matters with whoever wishes to chat with me."

Asked by moderator Tim Russert if he would come back into government, Powell said: “I would not rule it out. I’m not at all interested in political life, if you mean elected political life. That is unchanged. But I always keep my, my eyes open and my ears open to requests for service.”

Asked about an endorsement, he said: “It’s too early.”

NBC’s ‘Andrea Mitchell broke the news of Powell’s surprise “Meet the Press” appearance on the “Today” show Friday.

“In what promises to be a dramatic moment Sunday, Colin Powell — a lion of the Republican establishment, whom McCain and Obama both have courted for months — will finally speak out on a variety of issues, appearing exclusively on ‘Meet the Press,’” Mitchell said. “Of course, years ago, he was talked about as the possible first … African-American nominee of a major party.”

Last week, Powell appeared as a character witness at Sen. Ted Stevens’ (R-Alaska) corruption trial, telling jurors that Stevens is someone he trusts completely. "As we say in the infantry, this is a guy you take on a long patrol," Powell said.

Breaking: Obama Demands Special Prosecutor Investigate GOP Voter Fraud Activities

Charging that the FBI probe of ACORN represents an “unholy alliance” between Republican operatives and potentially illegal conduct by law enforcement targeting voter fraud, the Obama campaign demanded Friday that the U.S. special prosecutor looking into the U.S. attorneys scandal investigate the matter.

General counsel Bob Bauer sent a letter to Atty. Gen. Michael Mukasey charging that coordinated “misconduct” by McCain campaign representatives and GOP officials were relevant to the special prosecutor’s work, because the activities may relate to the dismissal of seven U.S. attorneys in late 2006.

The letter requests that the special prosecutor’s inquiry “include a review of any involvement by Justice Dept. and White House officials in supporting the McCain-Palin campaign [and RNC's] systematic development and dissemination of unsupported, spurious allegations of vote fraud.”

To advance the effort, the Obama campaign convened a conference call with national reporters, though Friday afternoon is not a time that campaigns usually push priority messages.

http://washingtonindependent.com/13548/b...gop-voter-fraud

From Peggy Noonan inthe Wall Street Journal:

"In the end the Palin candidacy is a symptom and expression of a new vulgarization in American politics. It's no good, not for conservatism and not for the country. And yes, it is a mark against John McCain, against his judgment and idealism."

Conservative Radio Talk Show host Michael Smerconish endorses Obama

On his talk show on WPHT today, conservative Philadelphian Michael Smerconish endorsed Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill.

Smerconish did so by reading a couple paragraphs from his pending op-ed in the Philadelphia Inquirer.

"I’ve decided," he said. "My conclusion comes after reading the candidates’ memoirs and campaign platforms, attending both party conventions, interviewing both men multiple times, and watching all primary and general election debates.

"John McCain is an honorable man who has served his country well. But he will not get my vote. For the first time since registering as a Republican 28 years ago, I’m voting for a Democrat for president.

"I may have been an appointee in the George H.W. Bush administration, and master of ceremonies for George W. Bush in 2004, but last Saturday I stood amidst the crowd at an Obama event in North Philadelphia," says the Republican.

Smerconish has given us some more from his op-ed:

"Terrorism. The candidates disagree as to where to prosecute the war against Islamic fundamentalists. Barack Obama is correct in saying the front line in that battle is not Iraq, it’s the Afghan-Pakistan border. Osama bin Laden crossed that border from Tora Bora in December 2001, and we stopped pursuit. The Bush administration outsourced the hunt for bin Laden and, instead, invaded Iraq.

"No one in Iraq caused the death of 3,000 Americans on 9/11. Our invasion was based on a false predicate, so we have no business being there, regardless of whether the surge is working. Our focus must be the tribal-ruled FATA region in Pakistan. Only recently has our military engaged al-Qaeda there in operations that mirror those Obama was ridiculed for recommending in August 2007.

"Last spring, Obama told me, 'It’s not that I was opposed to war [in Iraq]. It’s that I felt we had a war that we had not finished.' Even Sen. Joe Lieberman conceded to me just last Friday that 'the headquarters of our opposition, our enemies today,' is the FATA."

Smerconish is taking a lot of heat from his fellow GOPers, as one might imagine.

http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalpunch/2008/10/in-philly-conse.html

Mike is not all that conservative. If anything, he is fair to both sides.

North Dakota - Likely Voters

OBAMA: 45%
MCCAIN: 45%
OTHER: 3%

Note - Undecided is at 7%

http://politicalwire.com/archives/2008/10/17/research_2000_north_dakota_is_a_dead_heat.html

Bush-Supporter Dennis Hopper Switches His Vote: "I Pray Obama Wins"

One of Hollywood's few Republicans has switched his vote. Dennis Hopper, 72, told reporters in France that he's praying for an Obama victory, despite decades as a Bush supporter.

"I voted for Bush, father and son, but this time I'll vote for Obama," he told journalists at the opening of a show on his life and work.

"I was the first person in my family to have been Republican," he added. "For most of my life I wasn't on the left."

"I pray God, Barack Obama is elected," he said, calling the current administration's many "lies."

Hopper stars in "An American Carol," a conservative comedy that spoofed Michael Moore and last donated money, in 2004, the RNC.

French Culture minister Christine Albanel also named Dennis Hopper as Commander of the 'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres' medal on Monday night.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/10/14/bush-supporter-dennis-hop_n_134433.html

Regarding Senator Obama's plan to raise taxes on anyone who makes over $250,000 a year, I wish that McCain would have asked this question :

Will Senator Obama's plan to tax anyone who makes over $250,000 in a year affect someone who sells their home where their profit puts them at an income level that brings them over $250,000 for that tax year?

Under a bill that was passed several years ago, homeowners who sell their primary residence are allowed to take a ONE time tax exemption on the profits made from the sale of their home ( I believe the one time exemption is up to $500,000).

I wonder how Senator Obama's potential tax plan affects that homeowner's right to that one time tax exemption.

Keep in mind that federal income taxes are imposed on adjusted gross income less standard or itemized deductions. So, if one is taxed on $250k, they are grossing quite a bit more.

Funny, someone at that liberal-wanker Huffington Post blog is now worried that McCain's "October Surprise" will be proposing a new FLAT TAX.

Since unlike movies, foreign policy, and the Miami Dolphins, I'm rather ignorant on Economics...

Would a FLAT TAX actually work?

That's not his plan.
"Families making more than $250,000 will pay either the same or lower tax rates than they paid in the 1990s. Obama will ask the wealthiest 2% of families to give back a portion of the tax cuts they have received over the past eight years to ensure we are restoring fairness and returning to fiscal responsibility. But no family will pay higher tax rates than they would have paid in the 1990s. In fact, dividend rates would be 39 percent lower than what President Bush proposed in his 2001 tax cut. "

Yes, the exclusion is up to $500,000 if the couple is married and files jointly; it's $250,000 otherwise.

But strictly speaking it's capital gains taxes, not income taxes.

Right now there are some situations in which a wealthy person could theoretically pay less percentage in capital gains taxes than a working class person could pay in income taxes. See Warren Buffet's repeated example of paying less (%) taxes than his secretary.

Obama has proposed to raise the capital gains tax from 15% to 20%. But as far as I know he has not suggested eliminating either the exclusion of primary home sale proceeds from capital gains taxation or the mortgage interest deduction.

http://taxes.about.com/od/capitalgains/a/CapitalGainsTax_4.htm

http://www.irs.gov/publications/p523/ar02.html#d0e2048

http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalradar/2008/08/obama-clarifies.html

My take? No it wouldn't. To actually have a true flat tax you'd have to get rid of the mortgage interest deduction which is pretty politically unfeasible.

Also there's not enough money under a flat tax system to do everything that the government's doing now. While I think there are a lot of things the government shouldn't be doing (spying on people, bloated defense budget, etc) somehow I think those things would still be done and the shortfall would be made up in things I really care about (SS, Medicare, roads)

http://www.warresisters.org/pages/piechart.htm

But the main reason that I don't think a true flat tax would work is that it doesn't take into account the declining marginal utility of money. That is to say that at the extremes of income (one schmuck who makes $30,000 /year and one guy that pulls in $10,000,000/year taking a equivalent percentage of their income say (20%) is going to hit the smaller guy a lot harder than it will the wealthier fellow.

So even though the percentage taken is equivalent, the impact is far from equivalent. A person making 30K a year who loses 6K now has some very serious choices and trade offs to make about food, health care ,shelter and insurance, etc. A person making 10 million a year who loses 2 million still has all of his needs met and likely most of his hobbies/interests as well.

So much to cover. Just a few random political thoughts/opinions.

I am glad that the Obama camp his asking for an expansion of this "voter fraud" investigation. I've read it is possibly a Republican "exaggerated" story with political motivations (not surprisingly). As the lawyer put it, you don't want "legal manuerving" be able to pick off people one by one from having their votes cast. I read in one state (maybe Ohio) that they were excluding people who lost their homes due to foreclosure, because they basically had no address.

I know right now the economy is "the" issue, I too am interest in SS.

On lighter notes, I hear that Joe the Plumber (wait, he's not really a plumber is he?) may be joining the McCain campaign. Ha ha. Raise your hand if your surprised.

I also read (I think Daily Kos) that some audio tape of Michelle Obama on a rampage about how "they" are treating her husband was getting the right all excited, until it was proven to be an (obvious) fraud.

I didn't see it posted but did you guys see the SNL skit of the "crazy lady at the McCain Rally" that told McCain she didn't want Obama to win because he was "Muslim"?? Ha ha ha. This lady in the skit looked just like he lady at the rally. SNL has always walked the edge, histerically. I wonder what that lady thinks??? Btw, I am not Muslim, BUT since when is Muslim a bad thing? I mean really???? Does Muslim equal terroist?? I think not. I think it's politcal bullshit.

Finally, will there be an October surprise, or was the late September economy bust it????? Me, I think anything is possible. A terror threat comes to mind. Would that be the "turn-around" for McCain?

All I know is I'm taking Nov. 5th off figuring,(I never take any mid-week day off) one way or another, I'll need it. I know anything can happen, BUT, it's so hard not to think I won't be partying at this point.

And that's my rant for now.

TIS

I agree. John McCain is a very decent human being, and I can't see him being a party to that nonsense. Dear God, did you see that woman and her family on the news last night? When questioned about those Obama "food stamps," her fat ass daughter comes on and says "My Daddy's part Messcin, how can Mama be a racist?" And for the record, that's just how she pronounced Mexican (mess-kin). All that was missing was the banjo music and Ned Beatty. The scary part is, this was in California!

But getting back to McCain; he's a good man. And even though I'm voting Democrat this year, it soothes me to know that no matter what happens on Election Day, at the end of January we'll have a better man occupying the White House than we do right now. Whether it's McCain or Obama.

I'm not going to pretend I know anything about "flat taxes", but I heard a rumor that McCain's October surprise might be to announce that he will only serve 1 term if elected.

I'm watching McCain's rally in NC right now, and pretty much the whole speech has been about "Joe the Plumber".

"Joe the Plumber" should dream of paying his back taxes and actually getting his license, before buying a plumbing business.

Wouldn't that be counterproductive, as far as "October Surprises" go?

Probably not, since even most of McCain's supporters are concerned about his age. The thing is though, it's not much of a surprise since many believed he'd probably only stay for 1 term anyway.

CNN.COM

Fact check: Obama said he would 'spread his wealth around'?

What did Obama say?

The Statement:
Republican presidential nominee Sen. John McCain, during a speech on October 16 outside Philadelphia, recounted the story of "Joe the Plumber," a man who held a conversation with Democratic candidate Sen. Barack Obama and who became the surprise star of the candidates' October 15 debate when McCain gave an account of the story. McCain said the man told Obama, "'Look, I've been working all my life — 10, 12 hours. I want to buy the business I'm in, but you're going to raise my taxes.' And you know what Senator Obama had to say to Joe? He wanted to spread his wealth around. He wanted to spread his wealth around."

Get the facts!

The Facts:
Sen. Obama had been campaigning outside Toledo, Ohio, on October 13 when he met Joe Wurzelbacher, 34, who works for Newell Plumbing & Heating Co., a small firm in the Toledo area. "I'm getting ready to buy a company that makes $250-270-80 thousand a year," Wurzelbacher said. "Your new tax plan is going to tax m more, isn't it?"

Obama explained his tax plan during the roughly five-minute exchange — telling Wurzelbacher that the tax rate on the portion of his income that was more than $250,000 would be increased from 36 percent to 39 percent. But he also mentioned that his plan includes a 50 percent small-business tax credit for health care and a proposal to eliminate the capital-gains tax for small businesses that increase in value. Obama said his tax plan, which he said focuses on bigger breaks for people making lower incomes, would be good for the economy. "If you've got a plumbing business, you're going to be better off if you've got a whole bunch of customers who can afford to hire you," he said. "Right now, everybody's so pinched that business is bad for everybody. And I think when you spread the wealth around, it's good for everybody."

Wurzelbacher said, "The reason I ask you about the American Dream, I mean I've worked hard. I'm a plumber. I work 10, 12 hours a day and I'm buying this company and I'm going to continue working that way. … I'm getting taxed more and more while fulfilling the American Dream."

In an interview with CNN on Thursday, October 16, Wurzelbacher said he had misunderstood Obama's plan and that the company he wants to buy makes well less than $250,000 a year — which Obama says means his taxes would not be increased.

The Verdict:
Misleading. McCain's remark was an oversimplification of a five-minute-long conversation. Obama replied in great detail about his tax plan, and the "spread the wealth" remark was one small part of the conversation.

The question is impossible to answer. Is that net income that "Joe" is referring to? How does Joe plan on filing his taxes? Is he an S Corp.? Does his income from the business get added to his personal income? Is he married? Does his wife work? Do they file jointly? Do they have children? Own a home?

There are so many factors that would impact his taxable income that the question is next to impossible to answer.

By the way, I saw on the news that there is an ACTUAL Joe the Plumber in Texas. That's the name of his company and his website is joetheplumber.com.

http://elections.foxnews.com/2008/10/16/texas-joe-plumber-gains-reflective-fame/

Is Reuters left-leaning, too?

Here's the headline: Obama has 4-point lead on McCain

I could've sworn that said 5 or 6 points yesterday, but the headline doesn't say "Obama's lead drops to 4 points" or "Latest figures show bump for McCain" (both of which are true according to the article)

Hmmmm.... I thought Reuters and AP were supposed to simply report the news.

I had a dream that Obama was assassinated last night. He was shot right next to a cartoon caricature of him that was spray painted on the wall. I think it was outside of a store or something. The Campagin immediately became Biden/Someone else. I could see the name in the dream but I can't remember it now. I couldn't believe how sad it made me feel in the dream.

Are you being serious? You're really upset that the headline isn't different, over a 2 point change in a poll?