Here’s a huge shocker: Fox News somehow “managed” to land the first post-election interview with Sarah Palin. Aren’t you shocked?

Yeah, neither am I. Go figure — the most biased network that was friendliest to McCain’s campaign throughout this past election cycle getting to interview their favorite VP pick first before the other “real” news networks isn’t much of a surprise. Still, since that’s a Fox News article right there, let’s give it the deluxe snark treatment anyway. Read the full story...

Technorati Tags: 2008 Presidential Election Politics Stupid People

After Sarah Palin spent weeks trying to tie Barack Obama directly to terrorism via a tenuous link to Bill Ayers, riling up right-wing extremists who openly called for his death, and spending all her energy attacking Obama with cheap shots and lies, it seems she’s experiencing a bit of a backlash now. Read the full story...

Technorati Tags: 2008 Presidential Election Politics

Governor Palin,

I write this evening of the 6th of November with great joy in my heart and a rejuvenated sense of hope and optimism, as more electoral college votes continue to roll in for Barack Obama. He’s now reached 365 total votes in the electoral college, which pretty much classifies his victory a “landslide.”

On behalf of a grateful nation, I want to thank you for accepting Senator John McCain’s offer to be his running mate during the campaign. Without your gracious help, Barack Obama might have had a much harder fight. Read the full story...

Technorati Tags: 2008 Presidential Election Politics

I’ve been pretty busy throughout the beginning of this week, including Election Day and the two days surrounding it, so this is my first real chance to sit down and post something about the actual election.

History was made November 4, 2008 when Illinois Senator Barack Obama (Democrat) won the presidential election by a healthy margin of 7% (over 7.5 million more votes than his opponent, Senator John McCain (Republican), received) with a total vote count of 64,085,056 votes[^1]. I offer heartfelt congratulations to President-Elect Obama. I voted for him, donated to his campaign, and canvassed for him on the last weekend to help get more voters to the polls, and I’m thrilled to see the guy I picked win for a change Read the full story...

Technorati Tags: 2008 Presidential Election Politics

I was impressed by a simple comment today over at fivethirtyeight.com that advised — “vote, don’t gloat.”

That poster is completely correct, and I’ll explain why it’s so vital for you to actually vote Tuesday (your last chance to do so during this election cycle).

Almost every poll shows Obama holding a significant lead in this election cycle. Almost everybody I talked to yesterday as I canvassed in Tallahassee for the campaign said they’d either already voted for Obama or they were going to. Most folks I know personally are going to vote for Obama or already have. And yes, that even includes some traditionally die-hard registered Republicans (I beam with pride every time I see a Republican realize “ugh, our candidate just sucks this time around; I just can’t do this” and throw their begrudging support behind Obama — there really is hope for us all).

Obama’s going to win the popular vote (the feel-good vote) and the electoral college (the vote one that actually makes someone a President Elect).

However, you cannot take that for granted. Your vote for him is insanely important. Here’s why: Read the full story...

Technorati Tags: 2008 Presidential Election Politics

An amusing, lengthy but worth-your-time video of the antics of the McCain Campaign’s Orlando, Florida office caught my eye about an hour ago, and it raises a lot of really fun questions about this election campaign so far. Read the full story...

Technorati Tags: 2008 Presidential Election Politics

After promising not to bombard “battleground” states with automated phone calls to voters, the McCain campaign is, well, bombarding “battleground” states with automated phone calls to voters.

The second link there is a spiffy little toy that tracks where and how the latest volley of increasingly desperate attacks are coming from the McCain campaign. You can use the site to report phone calls you receive yourself from machines, and by doing this, you’re helping expose these cowards who are afraid to even risk actually talking to a voter. Oh, and lies, too — you’ll be helping to expose lots and lots of lies. Read the full story...

Technorati Tags: 2008 Presidential Election Politics

A “fun” trick by the losing candidate (in any election) is to start breaking out hypothetical (or at least “sound bite friendly”) constituents who might be inconvenienced or harmed in some way by one of the winning campaign’s proposals.

This election cycle, it’s “Plumber Joe.” Plumber Joe, who supposedly will be buying a business that will be taxed more by Obama’s tax relief plan than by McCain’s.

Sigh. Did anyone do their homework before they tried this? Does anyone who believes this stuff actually look into it?

Of course not. Here, let me do it for you (courtesy of this article over at the Detroit Free Press)… again

• It turns out Joe has no plumber’s license.
• Joe isn’t in the plumbers union.
• Joe never did a plumbers apprenticeship.
• Joe’s business likely would not be taxed under Obama’s proposal.
• Joe might even get a tax cut under Obama’s proposal.
• Joe doesn’t believe in Social Security.
• Joe’s first name isn’t Joe, it’s Samuel.
• And Samuel hasn’t paid his taxes.

Whoops. Oh, did I mention “Joe the Plumber” is tied rather closely to that old Keating Five scandal? I know, I know… sounds too funny to be true:

Turns out that Joe Wurzelbacher from the Toledo event is a close relative of Robert Wurzelbacher of Milford, Ohio. Who’s Robert Wurzelbacher? Only Charles Keating’s son-in-law and the former senior vice president of American Continental, the parent company of the infamous Lincoln Savings and Loan. The now retired elder Wurzelbacher is also a major contributor to Republican causes giving well over $10,000 in the last few years.

Alas, McCain’s campaigners just keep screwing this up. Read the full story...

Technorati Tags: 2008 Presidential Election Politics

I came across a pretty good editorial today, simply titled Obama for president. I’m not calling it “good” just because I agree with its content, but because it’s well-written, very persuasive, and manages to cut through much of the nonsense in this campaign cycle to make some very good points about real issues (not this fear-mongering crap spewing from the McCain campaign).

Whichever candidate takes the helm this January is going to face one hell of a nasty challenge: repairing the United States of America. Methinks Obama’s better-equipped to actually accomplish it. Read the full story...

Technorati Tags: 2008 Presidential Election Politics

So it’s come to this — automated phone dialers leaving messages on hundreds of thousands of answering machines around the country, with still more to go, delivering the “important” message that John McCain and the RNC think Barack Obama is a terrorist:

This is how we now deal with allegations that a sitting United States Senator is committing acts of high treason? Pre-recorded messages? Really?

I guess all those efforts to deal with this issue during the debates just didn’t pan out. Oh wait, McCain didn’t bring this up. I guess they want to talk to all these voters in the swing states about this critical issue, and get the voters’ feedback. Oh wait, nope — it’s a pre-recorded message. I guess they want us to vote for McCain. Oh wait, nope — the sole topic of this voice mail is Obama’s supposed terrorist ties, with a couple references to McCain so people will get the hint. Unfortunately, this breaks one of the critical rules of “marketing 101” — always include an instruction or directive in an advertisement if you expect people to take action. Read the full story...

Technorati Tags: 2008 Presidential Election Politics