Staying classy, Chambliss. Not.

It seems that the 2006 and 2008 election taught everyone an important lesson: the politics of fear, cynicism, and division just aren’t as effective as they used to be. Trying to scare voters into voting for you is no longer a bad good idea, so -

Wait – what’s that? Saxby Chambliss, running for his run-off election for Senator of Georgia has released an add with shots of the 9-11 attacks to convince people to vote for him? You may recall that Chambliss was the same guy who defeated Max Cleland – a triple Vietnam war amputee veteran – by claiming that Cleland was weak on national defense.

Hm. So – how will his opponent counter? Looks like Democrat Jim Martin is hitting back with Obama based ads. But in the deep south of Georgia, is that going to be a benefit – or a detriment?

Update: Typed in bad where I meant good – sorry.

Race is no reason to elect a President….

I love this comment by Liberal Mormon:

Race is no reason to elect a President, but last night race certainly was a reason to celebrate a President.

Amen.

So how bad can the transition be?

Now that Senator Obama has evolved into President Elect Obama, current President Bush has offered “complete cooperation” for the transition.

Hopefully it will go well – but what about when it doesn’t? Like – in 1932, when Hoover was so pissed about losing he refused to do anything to help the nation while banks failed by the hundreds, and Roosevelt was powerless to do anything until he officially became President.

Oh, sure, Bush could decide to do the same thing if he really wanted. But even he can’t be that stupid. Right, folks?

Right?

Anything happen last night? Oh – just Obama elected president!

Nothing big, just Senator Obama now evolving into President Elect Obama.

You have the rise of Super Barack:

So, now what?

A rundown on several of the Internet poll results sites

Huffington Post has a very nice collection of the various Internet poll reporting sites – I really like the one based on Google Maps that lets you zero in to each state, and each state’s districts.

The Secretaries of State and the 2008 election

The Secretary of State is an almost overlooked office. Not an elected official, appointed by the head of government to assist, but responsible for managing many of the day to day events. Including – voting.

So with five of the most critical states – Iowa, Minnesota, Nevada, New Mexico, and Ohio – with Democratic secretiaries of state, and with enormous power to reject or, in the case of Ohio, protecting the right to vote, suddenly those overlooked secretaries of state might be the true power wielders in deciding an election – or at least letting the voters decide the election instead of the voter caging of some officials:

With a Democrat now in charge of the offices, which oversee and administer their state’s elections, the party is better positioned than in the previous elections to advance traditional Democratic interests —such as increasing voter registration and boosting turnout — rather than Republican priorities such as stamping out voter fraud.

Perhaps more important, in those five states Democrats are now in a more advantageous position when it comes to the interpretation and administration of election law — a development that could benefit Barack Obama if any of those states are closely contested on Election Day.

And now you see the power of the 50 state strategy. Every state – every single one – is important, and shouldn’t be abandoned. If you want to win elections, you have to make sure that you have the machinery to do so in each state, and that you make sure that everyone who wants to vote, can – and that means putting people into power who are more interested in protecting the vote than dismissing it.

McCain Tampa Rally Draws – 1,000

In 2004, Bush drew 15,000 Tampa voters. Today, John McCain was able to draw 1,000.

Not too long ago, Senator Obama was able to draw at least 8,000.

Ouch.

Wah! I hate early voting – says rich guy

How can anyone have a pet peeve against early voting? Especially when he’s complaining because it was crowded with poor people and they took all of his parking.

Good lord. Teh stupid – it burns.

Reality based polling results

I feel bad because I saw this article from a Twitter friend, but now I can’t find out who did it. Sorry!

But this article by Greenberg Quinlan Rosner breaks down the claims by the McCain campaign that the race is closing – and finds those claims wanting. Like the claims that “Joe the Plumber” has helped the McCain campaign:

True, McCain and Palin have made “Joe the Plumber” famous, but not in ways that have been helpful to McCain. In our tracking of people’s viewing of the news and communications over the previous few days, what they have heard about Obama has made them more favorable by 10 points (46 to 36 percent), while what they have heard about McCain has made them less favorable by 8 points (36 to 44 percent). Week after week, Obama gets favorable comments from voters, but McCain, mostly negative.

It’s a long, intelligent – and even funny read as someone in a very polite, very kind way basically says “You’re full of it.”

McCain’s top gator flips

This is harsh – the former Gators for McCain chairman because “former” on Saturday night, and announced on Saturday night when he announced he’ll be voting for Obama.

Um – awk-ward….