The deaths surrounded by Obama lately is kinda scary. First Tolbert, Obama's Nevada campaign director, and, unfortunately, Obama's grandmother, who passed away after her fight with cancer.

My thoughts go out to Obama and his family, and Tolbert's family as well.

I'm hoping tomorrow will provide the bright light needed in this dark time.

--------------------------
Obama 2008
“Mad McCain� videos: http://tv1.com/playlists/show/11

These past few days I have heard something like this:

"If McCain/Palin win, I'm moving to another country."

Suggestion: Move to Alaska. Aren't folks there in favor of becoming a seperate entity? The AIP will be glad to talk to ya. You betcha!

On a more serious note:

Keep it civil,folks. Vote early. Wednesday will be here soon enough.

Awww, Palin stood up Megyn Kelly. Poor widdle Megyn.

I'll bet Bill Burton was available. He had such a nice interview last time. :)

Still, isn't it a bit odd to hear Kelly apologize 'for' the McCain campaign. I guess a little truth seeped in.

Re: Broderick's Video

Awesome. Funnier if you've ever seen the movie 'Election.'

My prediction... end result: McPalin by 2.

"Anyone can vote... but we will do the counting"

-- Josef Stalin.

in the "something to add" department.... WaPo is reporting that AIG may still go belly-up, with you taxpayers caught holding the bag....

http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn?node=admin/registration/register&destination=login&nextstep=gather&application=reg30-business&applicationURL=http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/11/02/AR2008110202150.html

and the fox station in detroit reported on a woman in grosse point [the hoidiest of the hody-toity] suburbs who put a sign on her yard saying "no candy to kids of obama supporters."

luckily, that video went virual.....thanks to the internet, no bad deep goes unpunished....

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/11/01/AR2008110101454.html

Steve, I suggest you have some more follow up on that 'poll-tax' issue (i.e. people in swing and southern states forced to wait many hours in line to vote).

If that's how the right-wing is going to attempt to strangle the momentum of the Obama supporters both today and tomorrow, then a lot of visibility to that needs to given to the public at large.

The past two elections were fixed. The country cannot afford a repeat of those events.

I am curious whether Missouri could possibly go for McCain with Obama having the seemingly insurmountable lead going into Tues ? Surely, in aggregate, they would not want to spoil their winning streak. So what role would Missourians assign themselves, that of electoral trendsetters or bandwagon joiners ?

Thoughts anyone ?

* Dick Cheney's hometown paper offers an endorsement I don't think the V.P. is going to like. -- Steve Benen

I bet he won't like it :) It's "funny" though... That endorsement, for all it comes from the red, red, Caspar is much more whole-hearted than the one published in the -- supposedly liberal -- Wash. Post. That one was fenced in with so many caveats and so many paeans to John the POW, you could have been excused for not being sure just whom they were endorsing. The Caspar one, OTOH, only hit Obama on taxes...
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Vote early. -- Tom Nicholson, @17:45

Not necessarily, though depending on what you mean by "early". From my past experience as a poll worker:
we're really busy from opening (6AM) till about 9:30-10, as people come to vote on their way to work.
we're really busy from ca 11:30 to ca 13:30, as people come to vote during their lunch break (not the same for everyone).
we're really busy from ca 15:00 on, till closing (19:00), as people pick up their kids at school (15:00) and come with them to vote (civic lesson) and as they stop to vote on their way home from work.

So, the dull times (hardly anyone in and little-to-no line) are 10:00-11:30 and 13:30-15:00, when it's mostly housewives out shopping who make the detour to the polls.

May "Toot" rest in peace. How wonderful Obama got to see her before she passed on. And what an amazing woman she clearly was.

Two questions:

1. Did Obama cancel any events today (I'm hoping to see him tonight)?

2. Are there any reports that identify the guys who are behind the bogus flyers in Virginia? And if they were affiliated with any group?

I appreciate Rachel Maddow's skepticism. It offers a very sobering place from which to look.

It is indeed possible that McCain can still win.

It's unlikely, but still possible.

And I say that Maddow gives us reason to pause. She gives us reason to appreciate the complexity of racism, the complexity of it all--choosing the unknown, choosing someone with color with a Muslim sounding name who has been called every name in the book --up to this very minute...

I feel validated by Maddow's skepticism. It's not negativity per se, it's realism on speed. It's refreshing. She has her eyes wide open.

But I also say that Obama will win, dear Rachel.
I'm as worried as you are. And it's nice to not feel so alone. But he'll win. Because there is something in Obama that has touched too many people that will prevail, will keep people in those lines.

Hey guys, it looks like they're on to us. As I posted at my blog, conservatives have uncovered our plot to win North Carolina by one illegal vote by an Obama operative. Oh well, it was a nice try, but I guess we're just going to have to get used to four years of McCain.

Missouri could go to McCain if Obama supporters don't go to the polls. I am really concerned about St. Louis. They have a bad history of suppressing AA votes over in that neck of the woods. They tend not to put up enough polling booths.

That said the Obama GOTV campaign has been nothing less than historic. I actually had a guy show up to my door on Saturday offering to take me and my wife to the polls. I have had three personal follow up calls and one robo call from the Obama campaign. A friend of mine who is a Republican has only had robo-calls.

My guess is Missouri goes to Obama by 3-4 points.

A lot of Republicans seem dispirited.

And the MSM is STILL! talking horse race . CNN just had a piece ...How the election can be tied 269-269 - could happen we'll explain how. NBC race is closer than it seems. WTF as Rachel says "Someone talk me down" AAAAARRRRRGGGG

The cable networks are still trying to sell soap.

I wonder what Rachel is going to be doing Thursday. Don't you?

Obama will win. It may be close, it may be a virtual landslide.

I'm a skeptic and even I say he'll make this one. Turn that CNN crap off--they have to show all the possibilities. And it helps ratings to make it look close and exciting.. CNN in general is going to fall way off my radar really soon--I can't believe they're going to have Hayes as a regular.

Obama has it, but there will be fear and there will be a good deal of emotional turmoil likely with his win. At least initially.

My prediction... end result: McPalin by 2.Posted by: buford

How do you figure? Obama needs to win only Ohio or Florida and he wins in a landslide. Loses either one or both, and he still wins.

Totaling the NE, Mid Atlantic, West Coast and Upper Midwest, Obama's got 254 EC votes from states that are look to be, on average, 8 points in Obama's favor. Throw in Pennsylvania, and that's when McCain throws his Budweiser at the television and Palin leaves the room. This doesn't even include Virginia, Colo., NM or Nevada or any of the could-go-either-way states.

http://www.fivethirtyeight.com/

The real contest at this point is to see which state is the biggest loser most racist. It looks as if Wyoming has edged ahead of Idaho with Alabama, of course, coming on strong.

Did Obama cancel any events today (I'm hoping to see him tonight)? DC Wonk

No cancellations. He knew his grandmother passed away before his first rally this AM. Quite a tribute.

Steve Benen: You Rock the House! Thanks for keeping it so grounded and focused and up to date--and most importantly--for not being afraid to say "Hey, that's insane" when it is.

I think some folks get so jaded after a while they tend to get a bit lazy and even stop calling others on the carpet--thanks for keeping your moral and ethical compass finely tuned for all of us.

Thanks for the compassion combined with hard truth, facts, references. You prove time and again these guys actually do co-exist.

I want Obama/Biden to win this election so badly my stomach hurts. I have already maxed out my cell phone making calls and my friends and neighbors now politely tell me to shut up, they really are going to vote for him.

At the moment I'm trying to learn to cross my toes.....

I just found out from a co-worker with kids that Cy-Fair ISD in Houston, TX has a student holiday tomorrow. Is it just me, or does that seem fishy somehow?

Palin cleared of ethics charges...Ya don't say!

Hmm...did they forget the ethical breaches called damning an otherwise brilliant visionary with labels like "Socialist" and "Community Organizer" (gasp!) and 'Not the same kind of American you and I are" and "Palling around with Terrorists"....and inciting mindless bigotry with a fervor unmatched in recent decades? All with a smile and high-heels and lots and lots of lipstick?
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Where does that behavior fall on the "ethical" continuum?

Palin cleared?

Is that only on the firing, or did they also address the pressure? Something seems fishy.

My girl friend, a staunch pub, hasn't said one word to me tonight about the election. They're demoralized.

How nice of the Alaska Personnel Board to come out with a "cleared of ethics violations" verdict hours before the election.
If I lived in Alaska, I'd be pissed. Since I don't, I'll just say how utterly insulting this is to voters. The Mavericky Palin, who wants to swoop into Washington and sweep the old boys network of failed politics aside, assigns a committee to clear her of charges she doesn't like. Sounds to me like she's an old hand at the old-boys-network.
I pray that batshit-crazy, two-faced, coniving liar gets her just desserts.

Sure, the "bankrupt coal" audio has been out for awhile. But the important question is, what is Obama saying? Does he just mean, strict regulations would bankrupt a coal plant operator that didn't give in to tough new carbon standards? That's what I want to believe. Right wingers are phrasing it as, "Obama wants to bankrupt the coal industry." Anyone have more to give context to that clip?

Everything that Obama says should be highly editorialized and made to sound suspicious and nefarious. Everything McCain and Palin do or say should be overlooked, made light of, or found to be in equivalence of something however small that Obama says.

My somewhat low info Father in Law wants Obama to produce a birth certificate. He doesn't have cable so I assume this comes from Limbaugh or Jay Severin.

The CPO effect analysis at pollster.com is interesting. If the effect is born out in the election results, this could be a true landslide with Obama getting over 55% of the popular vote and close to 400 EC delegates. Since we can't count on this, and particularly since we can't count on it being evenly distributed across all states, VOTE!

As for the criminal charges for the bogus flyers in Virginia, its about f'ing time. This kind of thing happens every election cycle and was especially prevalent in 2004. Somebody (or better yet, lots of somebodies) needs to go to jail for fraudulently attempting to stop people from voting.

P.S. Even if you are positive that this will be a landslide, both nationally and in your state, VOTE!

There is no such thing as too big a margin of victory. We want a blowout; we need anyone complaining that the election was stolen to get laughed off the public stage; we need Obama's coattails to help sweep all the close Senate and House races; we need a mandate.

To follow up on comments from the Sarah Palin medical records mystery and controversy: Some say, "the press has no right to anyone's medical records" - but that isn't the point. The point is, we the people should have a view of them (in some sense, not necessarily the literal transcript of all records) so we can make an informed decision about who is or isn't healthy enough (in our opinion) to be President, etc. OK?

BTW, it is interesting that AFAICT, no one on that thread about Palin considered that maybe it's *mental* issues that prompt her to secrecy? I wouldn't think, but ...

For PatD and Ron Byers:

Missouri won't go to McCain.
Latest polls show it dead even at 48-48, but turnouts in St. Louis and Jackson County (KC) are going to be huge, which will push Obama over the top in the state.
Vote suppression? Well, people waited for hours in line today to vote absentee (Missouri doesn't have true advance voting). So no doubt they will be willing to do the same tomorrow to cast ballots. Add in predicted Indian summer weather with sunshine and temperatures in the 70s (OK, it will be windy), and an army of Dem lawyers ready to monitor the polls, and worries about vote suppression begin to fade, some. It's not that they won't try, just that they won't succeed.

Now none of that will make Missouri a trendsetter. Results in the state's large urban area will come in so late, possibly past midnight Central time, that the electoral victory for Obama already should be in place. But maybe Missouri can help to push it into landslide territory.

Seemed eerily quiet today, here and on other politically-inclined sites. Exhaustion? Pre-voting anticipation? Death in the family and the campaign was certainly sad.

@Neil B

Obama was referring to the cap and trade system of green house gases. In response to how he squares global warming with the use of coal he had this response:

"This idea of no coal is an illusion. Right now we are getting a lot of our energy from coal and China is building a new plant once a week. We have to figure out how we can use coal without emitting green house gases"

He then went on to say that the cap and trade system would require emitters to meet the rigors of the cap and trade market. If people want to build a coal power plant they can, its just that without investments in sequestering green house gases it would become increasingly unprofitable.

This melodramatic story is just yet another bullshit ploy by Palin and McCain to scare people. Instead we should really be afraid of people who would go to such lengths to misrepresent and lie.

The audio is hear:
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/opinionshop/detail?blogid=42&entry_id=23562
and can be hear around the -20:00 mark

The whole Cheney endorsement thing is interesting to me. There is little love between these two, if the accounts in "Angler" are to be believed.

I think Cheney's endorsement was a deliberate, knifing-in-the-chest sort of endorsement. Cheney knows how he's perceived politically. He knows that his endorsement of McCain is a coffin nailer. And yet he does it....

I just have to laugh. Cheney is a som'bitch to the end...gets his revenge on McCain, all the while smiling in the face of the Senator from Arizona.

The RNC Trust Pact is now running Jeremiah Wright ads in Missouri too. I've seen two in the past hour.

The RNC is also running inexperience ads against Obama. The ad starts with "would you fly a plane with a pilot whose never flown before". I chuckle every time I hear it, thinking how many times McCain has bailed-out/crash landed.

The weather in Ohio on Tuesday will be unseasonably warm and sunny, 70 degree temperatures throughout the state.

O MY GOD

100,000 for Obama in Manassas VA! @ 1030pm!

Best crowd EVER!

I don't understand why Eric Kleefeld weights the polls numbers by the square root of the sample size. This sounds like something you would do to arrive at an appropriate standard error, but the appropriate way to take the average is to weight each by its sample size, I would think.

The decision to use the square root is a bit mystifying, but I doubt it would make much of a difference.

I just found out from a co-worker with kids that Cy-Fair ISD in Houston, TX has a student holiday tomorrow. Is it just me, or does that seem fishy somehow? Posted by: Marfisa

What difference would it make? Obama wrote off Texas, with good reason, months ago just as McCain never set foot in NY except to do SNL.

Not only Megan Kelly, but Bill O'Reilly was complaining that McCain did not do a second interview with him. He had Chris Wallace and Brit Hume with him to point out that they got interviews but he didn't. I think I did hear Wallace call him a whiner.

By the way, Bill O did declare that the war in Iraq is won.