Washington Post, Oct 31st, 2008

The White House is working to enact a wide array of federal regulations, many of which would weaken government rules aimed at protecting consumers and the environment, before President Bush leaves office in January.

The new rules would be among the most controversial de-regulatory steps of the Bush era and could be difficult for his successor to undo. Some would ease or lift constraints on private industry, including power plants, mines and farms.

Those and other regulations would help clear obstacles to some commercial ocean-fishing activities, ease controls on emissions of pollutants that contribute to global warming, relax drinking-water standards and lift a key restriction on mountaintop coal mining.  More…

McCain Now Running Robo-calls Attacking Obama In Home State Of Arizona!

Talking Points Memo, October 29th, 2008

John McCain and the Republican National Committee are now running robocalls attacking Obama as weak on terrorism — in McCain’s home state of Arizona, according to multiple readers from the state.

The call signals genuine worry about McCain’s home state at a time when several polls show the race to be much closer than expected there.

McCain’s robocall, which was played to us over the phone by Mary Joe Bartel, a retiree who lives south of Tucson, attacks Obama as unprepared to defend the country from terrorism, singling out Joe Biden’s recent remarks about the likelihood of Obama being tested by an international crisis early in his first term.

More…

AP Poll: Obama leads or tied in 8 crucial states

Associated Press, October 29th, 2008

WASHINGTON – Barack Obama now leads in four states won by President Bush in 2004 and is essentially tied with John McCain in two other Republican red states, according to new AP-GfK battleground polling.

The results help explain why the Democrat is pressing his money and manpower advantages in a slew of traditionally GOP states, hoping not just for a win but a transcendent victory that remakes the nation’s political map. McCain is scrambling to defend states where he wouldn’t even be campaigning if the race were closer.

Less than a week before Election Day, the AP-GfK polls show Obama winning among early voters, favored on almost every issue, benefiting from the country’s sour mood and widely viewed as the winning candidate by voters in eight crucial states — Colorado, Florida, Nevada, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Virginia.

“If you believe in miracles,” said GOP consultant Joe Gaylord of Arlington, Va., “you still believe in McCain.” Despite a mounting chorus of Republicans predicting their nominee’s demise, McCain aides insist their internal surveys show victory is still within reach.

Indeed, polls are mere snapshots of highly fluid campaigns, and this race has been unusually volatile. McCain was written off prematurely last year, and Obama seemed poised for victory in New Hampshire’s Democratic primary just before Hillary Rodham Clinton thumped him.

Even this close to Election Day, racial tensions and the numbers of late-deciding voters identified by the AP-GfK polling leave room for doubt. But the surveys confirm what McCain aides acknowledge privately — their chances of winning are low.

The polling shows Obama holding solid leads in Ohio (7 percentage points), Nevada (12 points), Colorado (9) and Virginia (7), all red states won by Bush that collectively offer 47 electoral votes. Sweeping those four — or putting together the right combination of two or three — would almost certainly make Obama president.

It takes 270 electoral votes to win the White House. Obama can earn 252 by merely reclaiming states won by John Kerry in 2004. There are only two Kerry states still in contention — Pennsylvania with 21 votes and New Hampshire with four — and AP-GfK polls show Obama leading both by double digits.

Ohio alone has 20 electoral votes. Nevada has 5, Colorado 9 and Virginia 13.

In addition, Obama is tied with McCain in North Carolina and Florida, according to the AP-GfK polling, two vote-rich states Bush carried in 2004. Obama is throwing his time and money into the Sunshine State, which has 27 votes, part of a strategy to create many routes to victory and push toward a landslide of 300 or more electoral votes. North Carolina has 15 votes.

More…

Prospects in the United States Senate

Senate races look to add eight seats to the Democratic tally.  Assuming we discount Lieberman and count on Bernie Sanders in Vermont, the progressive tally could be 59 to 41.  Our hopes for sixty seats appear to be centered on a December run-off election in Georgia between Jim Martin (D) and Saxby Chambliss (R).  A run-off would be necessary if neither candidate gets less than 50% of the November vote.

The Swing State Project discusses the prospects in Georgia.

John McCain has been on a tear about Earmarks.  Well, if the Democrats are one or two votes short of closing off debate next spring on an important bill, we might all get a lesson of why Earmarks are the “grease that makes the wheels turn.”

See Electoral-Vote.com and FiveThirtyEight.com for more U.S. Senate polling data.

Prospects in the House of Representatives

Democrats are recording improvements in prospects for the House of Representatives as well.  A few weeks ago the pundits were talking about a gain of 12 to 18 seats in the House.  Here is a representative list of the current views:

• Norman Ormstein, American Enterprise Institute estimates Dems win 28 new house seats.
• David Marchick, Carlyle Group estimates Dems win 24 new House seats.
• Susan Brophy, Democratic strategist estimates Dems win 24 new House seats.
• Lanny Davis, Attorney and Democratic strategist estimates Dems win 10 new House seats.
• Jim Leach, Professor and Former Congressman estimates Dems win 36 new House seats.
• Lawrence Lessig, Stanford Law Professor estimates Dems win 24 new House seats.

In news of our area, Swing State Project is pretty convinced that Anne Kirkpatrick will win in CD#1 and they report that the RNCC has pulled out of CD#8 where Gabrielle Giffords is favored over Tim Bee.

CNN News, October 27th, 2008

WASHINGTON (CNN) — A jury found U.S. Sen. Ted Stevens of Alaska guilty Monday of all seven counts in his federal corruption trial.

The jury found Stevens guilty of “knowingly and willfully” scheming to conceal on Senate disclosure forms more than $250,000 in home renovations and other gifts from an Alaska-based oil industry contractor.

The jury began deliberations at noon Wednesday, but started anew Monday morning when an alternate replaced a juror who left town abruptly last week because of the death of her father.

The verdict comes after jurors in the corruption trial of Sen. Ted Stevens spotted a discrepancy Monday between the government’s indictment of the veteran Alaska Republican and a key piece of evidence.

The judge declined to throw out the related charge against Stevens, who has been fighting seven counts of filing false statements on mandatory Senate financial disclosure forms, involving hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of gifts and work on his Alaska home. More…

Indecision2008.com, October 26th 2008

If there’s one thing Joe Lieberman has mastered in his storied Washington career, it’s how to get attention. At the beginning of this year, that meant abandoning his party to endorse John McCain.

Now, a week before the election, it means traipsing back over to praise Barack Obama…

And making sure the media is listening when he does it…

“When I go out, I say, ‘I have a lot of respect for Sen. Obama. He’s bright. He’s eloquent.’ Someday, I might even support him for president,” Lieberman told a conference call of Connecticut reporters. “But now in the midst of this series of crises, John McCain is simply so much better prepared that that’s who I am proud to support.”

So what’s this all about? Given that the election is just eight days away, a lot of things could be motivating Lieberman’s decision. Among them…

* He’s trying to save his current job: Sycophantic conference calls with Connecticut reporters is the most important quality in a Chairman of the Homeland Security committee. Harry Reid will have to think twice before stripping this away from Lieberman.

* He’s trying to suck up to Obama: The majority of pundits now expect McCain’s campaign will end in a loss. (Or, as Lieberman calls it, “a three-way split decision for third.”) Should Obama prevail instead, he, too, could punish Joe with a prank cabinet position like Agriculture Secretary.

* He’s using reverse psychology: There are few people that today’s liberals would rather disobey than Joe Lieberman. Therefore, his speaking well of Obama might persuade lifelong Democrats to vote Republican instead… or at the very least, accept a primetime speaking role at the next Republican convention.

CNN News, Oct 27th 2008

ATLANTA, Georgia (CNN) — College senior Kyla Berry was looking forward to voting in her first presidential election, even carrying her voter registration card in her wallet.

But about two weeks ago, Berry got disturbing news from local election officials.

“This office has received notification from the state of Georgia indicating that you are not a citizen of the United States and therefore, not eligible to vote,” a letter from the Fulton County Department of Registration and Elections said.

But Berry is a U.S. citizen, born in Boston, Massachusetts. She has a passport and a birth certificate to prove it.

The letter, which was dated October 2, gave her a week from the time it was dated to prove her citizenship. There was a problem, though — the letter was postmarked October 9.

“It was the most bizarre thing. I immediately called my mother and asked her to send me my birth certificate, and then I was like, ‘It’s too late, apparently,’ ” Berry said.

Berry is one of more than 50,000 registered Georgia voters who have been “flagged” because of a computer mismatch in their personal identification information. At least 4,500 of those people are having their citizenship questioned and the burden is on them to prove eligibility to vote.

Experts say lists of people with mismatches are often systematically cut, or “purged,” from voter rolls.

It’s a scenario that’s being repeated all across the country, with cases like Berry’s raising fears of potential vote suppression in crucial swing states.  More…

Polster.com, October 25th, 2008

Myers Research and Grove Insight have released a poll here in Arizona during the period October 23rd to October 25th.  The polling covered 600 likely voters and included questions about Bob Barr and Ralph Nader.

The results put John McCain in front with 44% of the vote to 40% for Senator Barack Obama.  Ralph Nader picked up 3% and Bob Barr polled 2%.  The margin of error for the poll is thought to be plus or minus 4%.

Enjoy listening to Sarah talk about her favorite consignment shop in Anchorage!

Huffington Post has picked this up and made some interesting comments that appear below:

Sarah Palin addresses the $150,000 in clothing purchased for her by the Republican National Committee at a rally. She compares the outfits to the lighting at an event, saying it doesn’t belong to her and that she will go back to shopping at her “favorite consignment store” once the race is over. She went on to highlight some of her inexpensive accessories.

Apparently, that’s not what the McCain campaign wanted Palin to say. A senior adviser to the candidate told CNN’s Dana Bash that the clothing comments “were not the remarks we sent to her plane this morning.”

John McCain also defended the purchases on “Meet The Press” Sunday morning. He said that a third of the clothing has been returned, and that the rest will be donated to charity.

Associated Press, October 26th, 2008

Los Angeles Times, October 26th

Daily Kos, October 26th

Barack Obama Rally in Denver October 26th

DENVER (AP) — Back in the city where he claimed history, Barack Obama presided Sunday over a Colorado rally so enormous and energetic that even he seemed surprised at his following.

“Goodness gracious,” Obama said as he took the stage and peered at the human mass in Civic Center Park. People packed in all the way up the steps of the Capitol, off in the distance.

The Obama campaign released an initial crowd estimate of 75,000 people. That was later upgraded to “well over” 100,00 people, a tally confirmed by a Denver police spokesman.

The setting, on a sparkling day in this battleground state, said perhaps more than Obama did in his actual speech. His campaign is capitalizing on the scope of such rallies to get people to cast votes early, permitted in Colorado and more than two dozen other states.

“How many people have early voted?” Obama said, eliciting cheers from people bundled up in fleece. “That’s what I’m talking about. No point in waiting in lines if you don’t have to. You know who you’re going to vote for.”

Polls put Obama ahead in Colorado with the number of campaign days remaining now down to single digits.

It was here in Denver that Obama, in his groundbreaking campaign, accepted the Democratic Party’s presidential nomination at the stadium where the Denver Broncos play. If elected, he would be the first black president of the United States.

“Do you ever have small crowds in Denver?” a smiling Obama said. Members of the crowd interrupted Obama’s standard campaign speech with shouts of “Obama!” and “Yes we can!”  More…