2008 election

It's finally- unbelievably- wonderfully here. In four and a half hours, Jesse and I will go stand in line to cast our vote for Barack Obama for President of the United State of America.

And this morning makes me think of another amazing morning for America, Bill Clinton's inauguration. And so, without further ado, the closing salvo to Maya Angelou's "On the Pulse of the Morning":

Here, on the pulse of this new day
You may have the grace to look up and out
And into your sister's eyes, and into
Your brother's face, your country
And say simply
Very simply
With hope --
Good morning.

Can't talk, too busy being hopey.

Fortunately, other people have time on their hands. Time to take trips to New York to commit sacrilege for capitalism.

Yay Dan for finding this gem of a societal clusterbomb.

The Rovian construct (parasailing, swift boats, flip-flopping) was to define the 2004 election on a question of Kerry: his character, ability to lead and record.

The McCain people are having a terrible time with message control. This election is about John McCain. And it's not going well for him.

Sample: NYTimes top stories today:

1. Frank Rich: McCain’s Suspension Bridge to Nowhere
2. For McCain and Team, a Host of Ties to Gambling
3. Maureen Dowd: Sound, but No Fury
4. Bob Herbert: Palin’s Words Raise Red Flags
5. Behind Insurer’s Crisis, Blind Eye to a Web of Risk
6. Thomas L. Friedman: Green the Bailout
7. Nicholas D. Kristof: Impulsive, Impetuous, Impatient
8. Everybody’s Business: In Financial Food Chains, Little Guys Can’t Win
9. Op-Ed Contributor: Greenwich Time
10. Editorial Observer: Wasilla Watch: Sarah Palin and the Rape Kits

Via Hotline on Call, Obama's addendum to the bizarro joint release follows. And look! He added two nifty extra points of his own:

I believe that several core principles should guide this legislation.

First, there must be oversight. We should not hand over a blank check to the discretion of one man. We support an independent, bipartisan board to ensure accountability and complete transparency.

Second, we need to protect taxpayers. There should be a path for taxpayers to recover their money, and to turn a profit if Wall Street prospers.

Third, no Wall Street executive should profit from taxpayer dollars. This plan cannot be a welfare program for CEOs whose greed and irresponsibility has contributed to this crisis.

Fourth, we must help families who are struggling to stay in their homes. We cannot bail out Wall Street without helping millions of families facing foreclosure on Main Street.

1. Historically, up to and including Bush/Cheney, voters--especially independents-- vote for the top of the ticket. If you make the argument that the past eight years have dramatically changed the American perception of the role of the vice president:
   a) McCain-Palin should deter voters who want a tough, experienced foreign policy expert in that newly expanded position and b) it's not consistent with the poll that indicated that 15% of the public couldn't name the vice president.
2. Debates.
3. The electoral map is primed, still, for Obama. Even losing Ohio and Florida, Obama need only pick up two states that Kerry didn't, and he's leading in 2/3 of the likeliest: CO (with a strong up-ticket senate candidate in Mark Udall), NM (Bill Richardson), and VA (look to dissatisfied suburbanites and the biggest GOTV in history in the state's urban areas.

Emily released the following statement this morning:

While I strongly believe in a woman's unconditional right to choose, opting for a risky self-induced termination in lieu of seeking readily available and LEGAL medical assistance is both dangerous and unethical.

Late-term abortions should always be supervised by qualified medical personnel and should never take place in, or through the use of, an airplane.

***

Pro-life my ass.

Freudian slips run
off Biden's tongue like Amtrak
trains. Kitchen table.

“Barack Obama
is the man for this job,” Bill
Clinton says. Hooray!

Orange pantsuit lady:
No McCain! Vote for Hopey!
Harriet Tubman.

But man Biden has a big head. And mouth. It's a safe choice, it's a good choice. Much of the punditry surrounding the choice has noted that Obama actually likes Biden. And it lends itself to the Obama campaign strategy of a full-country, district by district slog. He wasn't picked because he would carry a state, he wasn't picked because he would carry a constituency. He was picked because he's bright, confident, and won't hesitate for a second to go for the throat against the rapidly mobilizing Conservative attack-machine. If Cheney taught us anything, you can pick someone for VPOTUS based solely on that person's ability to be a big asshole when desired, and not his electability. So I'm happy.