RenaRF’s fine diary from Friday ("This Could Get Ugly") sent me into last night's excellent debate thinking about my own candidate indecision.  Prior to the debate, I'd pretty much narrowed my choices to the Big 3 (O, E, and C).  So I focused on those three.  The performance of one of them reawakened and reinforced some simmering concerns and I came away from the debate with my choices narrowed to two.

(After The Break...)

Before I head to work, I have an urgent request of all Kossacks.  It is probably too late to get the media properly involved in the Robo-Call issue, but if we don't do something, this IS going to impact tomorrow's vote.

Here's what I suggest.  Send an e-mail to everyone on your contact list -- Democrat and Republican -- alerting them to what's going on with Robo-Calls.

Below the fold is the one I just sent to my own family and friends across the country.  Send this e-mail or one like it to EVERYONE you know throughout the country.

The "Larry Craig Outed" diary here...

http://www.dailykos.com/...

...was important on several different levels and quickly jumped to Recommended late last night, had 842 comments at midnight Eastern, got another 100+ comments between then and now (8 a.m.) and yet got bumped or scrolled off into neverland.

I've seen other diaries stay Recommended for days.  What/who caused this diary to drop off so quickly?

I don't understand the physics of diaries disappearing here at Kos, especially one that is generating so much interest and comments.

OK, so I'm reading the Washington Post's lead online article about Foley's Disgrace this morning, and I get to Page 2, the end of the article, and find this:

["Congressional aides point to another factor that links Trandahl to the Foley matter...Trandahl is openly homosexual and personally close to the now-disgraced former lawmaker, who announced through his lawyer this week that he is gay."]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/...

So, as a gay man long aware that my best interests lie with the Democratic Party, I'm thinking, not another one!!!  And this one (until suddenly in Nov. 2005, when some GOP leaders were learning of Foley's problem) was the Clerk of the House, appointed by, of all people, the Republican leadership in the House of Representatives.

(More...)

For news and political junkies such as me and thee, it seems what we're experiencing is not a single "October Surprise", but a deluge of late Summer-early Fall surprises.  I don't recall so much breaking against a single party, not even in '94.

Let's see: so far, we've had...

First off, I'm a gay man of 56 years who has lived through most of the stages of the so-called Gay Revolution: through the Pariah Years preceding Stonewall in June '69, the Party Years of the 70's, the AIDS-Victims Years of the 80's, the Gays-Go-To-The-Suburbs Years of the 90's, and now through the Fight For Marriage Equality Years of the 00's.  

With each of those stages has come a growing sense of the inevitability of acceptance of gay people into the mainstream of American life.  

(More after the flip, if you care to read on...)

Former Ind. Dem Congressman Tim Roemer in today's NYT says Dems need to get in power before formulating policy plans/alternatives and, to get in power, we need to tap ALL of the anger out there (and in here) at the GOP.  He suggests a simple and probably very effective slogan for Dems to rally around in the ramp-up to the '06 off-year:

"Had Enough? Vote Democratic!"

http://www.nytimes.com/...

I know the DNC's already kicking the idea around, as I received a bumper sticker from them 6 months ago, saying, "Enough Is Enough! Vote Democratic" -- which I personally prefer over the Roemer version.  But the DNC of course has not followed through on the potential of the idea and what Roemer is telling us is extremely important -- that we need to crystalize all this anger (among us) and discontent (among Independents) into a simple few words. And we need to do this NOW, six months out.  It's takes that long for something to settle into the American consciousness.  For love of country, let's get this going today -- Enough IS truly Enough.

I refer my fellow Kossians, Kossacks, Angry Lefters, MSOC Wannabees (or whatever they're calling us today) to an opinion piece in this morning's (Tues) Washington Post, which so perfectly captures the essence of George W. Bush (and contrasts it with the brainy beauty of Al Gore).

The piece is by Richard Cohen, who I can't say I often read, though I fortunately did today.  In this one quote, Mr. Cohen wraps Bush in a historical blanket and puts him away:  "But it is the thought that matters -- the application of intellect to an intellectual problem. Bush has been studiously anti-science, a man of applied ignorance who has undernourished his mind with the empty calories of comfy dogma."

"A man of applied ignorance"..."undernourished mind"..."empty calories of comfy dogma"...all that may have been said before, but I don't remember reading it; and it so beautifully sums up what seems to be the core of Mr. Bush.  Thank you Mr. Cohen. Here's the link to the full piece. Enjoy...

http://www.washingtonpost.com/...

Tired, but happy, after last night's NJ and VA gubernatorial sweep-ins and California Prop sweep-outs, I awake this morning, relish the news, and then run into this item about the Senate GOP pushing the Federal Marriage Amendment again.  Starting today!  

http://www.365gay.com/...

Clearly, the GOP needs a pick-me-up or a change-in-conversation after weeks of battering news.  So, what do they do?  They look around, pick what they believe to be the easiest target -- bashing gays again -- and the bastards come right back at us.

As Kos said in his lead this morning, last night was only an "appetizer".  We MUST stay focused and look for any opening to keep the GOP on their heels.  Well, kids, here's our first opening.  Tired or not, it's time to go back to work.

Watching Meet The Press just now, with Trent Lott on (to talk a bit about his new book, "Herding Cats").  Lott appeared to forget momentarily about one of the cats and admitted that he had "private conversations with George Bush", "going back to just after 9/11" in which Bush talked about Iraq in way that would indicate Bush was already (at that early date) planning his War On Iraq.  Those watching MTP will have noticed how he appeared to realize what he was saying too late, and started the back-step.

We here know the truth of that period, but formal recognition of it from one of their own would finally give the lie (for others out there) to all of the protestations from Bush, et al., that he had sincerely pursued a peaceful resolution of the WMD issue with Saddam, that he had given the inspections time to work, etc.

If we don't write/yell/demand that the MSM pursue this with more questions to Lott about when, where, and how strongly he got the message that war was imminent, they will not even notice this little slip-up.

Let's go to work.

Perhaps others here have noticed major-paper editorials calling for Tom DeLay to resign the Majority Leader position, but I haven't -- until this from the Atlanta Journal-Constitution this morning (4.27.05):

"In his arrogance, his unmitigated lust for the perks of power and his cavalier attitude toward standards of conduct that in his mind apply only to lesser mortals, House Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-Texas) has become an embarrassment to his party, to his supporters, to his fellow House members and to the country.  It is time for him to go.  DeLay should resign his leadership position in the House immediately."

CNN's webpage is reporting today (1.19.05) that the exit pollsters say they over-sampled Kerry voters in the November election, leading many of us to expect a Kerry victory based on early polling.  The article goes on to say that "exit polls have over-sampled Democrats since 1988".  I found this curious -- why would Democrats suddenly start being more agreeable to exit polls than Republicans in the year 1988?

Has anyone, or does anyone know of anyone, who has studied the correlation between this claimed start of over-sampling of Democrats in 1988 and any changes or developments in the use of electronic voting or vote counting that year?  

Sorry to make a diary out of this, but I don't see an existing diary on which to post this question.

Thanks, in advance, for any information related to this.

Larry Bailey

Kossacks: this is urgent!

Know about the Wingers' low-bubbling claim over the past 3-4 days that Kerry was DISHONORABLY discharged from the Navy?

This vicious lie is blowing all over sensitive New Jersey tonight via the scurrilous Mark Levine, speaking now (off at 8 pm) on WABC Talk Radio -- NY's highly Winger-biased talk station.

PLEASE flood their phone lines while Levine is on (til 8 pm) and complain about this lowest of low last-minute attack.  

You must call (not e-mail, they block that via membership).  The phone #s are:

Switchboard 212-613-3800

Newsroom 212-268-5730

Please help New Jersey in our hour of need -- this guy (Levine) is carried throughout the state (and heavily into Pennsylvania and beyond).

FLOOD THEM!!

Larry Bailey
NJ

Be very wary of this poll (cause it, like so many others, has oversampled GOP 37% v 34% Dem; should have been reversed, 37% Dem, 34% GOP).  Also some strange internals: A-As only 8% and Hispanics only 4% of their sample; tiny sub-sample of young voters; etc.

Here's a link to their internals:

http://people-press.org/reports/tables/232.pdf

The good news in it (aside from the LV #s being within MOE) is Kerry being up by 1 point among RVs.  Not trusting the Likely Voter models this year (because they've never calculated in turnout such as that expected on Tues), I'm looking at RV figures as possibly more reliable.

Just out, includes Friday night polling in the rolling figure.  If he was tied yesterday and plus 1 today, doesn't that mean that Friday night's polling was plus 2, 3 for Kerry.  Defer to polling experts (if they're up) for what Friday must have been like.

The link:

http://reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml;jsessionid=D4YWVQX215XNYCRBAEZSFFA?type=topNews&storyID=666 5890

It Pours.  Funny story of Bush's rally in NH today.  It's starting to seem as if nothing can go right for them (and don't we want that to continue).

At a Bush event today in NH, event workers had been told to fire off confetti pods when Bush said, 'God Bless'... his normal closing line. But 5 minutes before the end of his speech, Bush offered a "God Bless" to Arlene Howard, mother of George Howard a Port Authority of New York/New Jersey Police Officer killed in the World Trade Center... BLAM!!!!! Everyone first ducked -- hard -- then looked up to see confetti falling. Bush looked momentarily stunned, then plain unhappy, then just went on with his speech as the confetti rained to the floor of the Verizon Wireless Arena.

Gang, today's (10.27) Zogby has the race back to 1 point and improvement in the battlegrounds.  

Nationally, the pollsters are starting to align (as they do in most elections) around a one or two point race, either way, and we seem to be getting traction in the states watched most closely.  

Zogby, however, doesn't do Arkansas and I think that one will be a key turnover, as Clinton heads there and does his old magic.

Maybe it's time now to start dusting off the "Happy Days Are Here Again" songsheet.

See Reuters at 7:05...

http://reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=topNews&storyID=6626332