It Begins…

Former Georgetown Mayor Brian Pettyjohn, a Republican, has filed as a write-in candidate for the 19th Senate seat. Far Right radical religious conservative teabagger Eric Bodenweiser won the Republican primary against the incumbent Republican Senator Joe Booth. The Democratic nominee is Jane Hovington. Today was the deadline for write in candidacies to be filed.

Monday Open Thread [10.1.12]

After examining all presidential polls since 1972, Nate Silver explains:
"Data suggest that polling in presidential elections has no history of partisan bias, at least not on a consistent basis. There have been years, like 1980 and 1994, when the polls did underestimate the standing of Republicans. But there have been others, like 2000 and 2006, when they underestimated the standing of Democrats...In all but three years, the partisan bias in the polls was small, with the polling average coming within 1.5 percentage points of the actual result. (I use the term "bias" in a statistical sense, meaning simply that the results tended to miss toward one direction.)"
So Nate Silver had to take time out of his weekend because some right winger babies cannot handle reality? Seriously, if every radical right wing conservative disappeared tomorrow, can you imagine how much better our society would be, instantly?

Romney Relying On… Zingers?

First, I have trouble envisioning Mitt Romney delivering a zinger.  Zingers work when they flow naturally.  Zingers work when your opponent plays the straight man/woman and gives you the opening. …

QOTD — Early Voting for Delaware?

There's two kinds of early voting -- absentee ballots and the in-person voting (but with limited venues open). Delaware only lets you vote absentee -- and even then you need to sign an affidavit with an "excuse" for not being available on Election Day. But if you are following the news, then you know that in-person early voting is starting to ramp up. Should Delaware change its rules for early voting?

The Polling Report

We have some new state polls out of Iowa, Ohio, Arizona and North Carolina, as well as some interesting national polls. But the race basically remains as it has for weeks since the conventions: Obama is winning.

Compassionate conservatives and the crucible of fire

Democrats have facetiously said that Republicans think that the rich don't have enough money and the poor have too much. But the more I think I about modern Republicanism, the more I think that the statement it is literally true. Republicans believe that the poor are too well off. The modern Republican Party honestly yearns for a cleansing fire of misery and pain to sweep the land. They believe that the nation's problems are largely due to the fact that the poor are living in relative comfort as a result of the overall affluence of our society. America is the victim of its own success and has become a weak and lazy country slouching toward calamity. ...

Fox News Performs Rare Triple Face Palm

Fox News out did itself yesterday and not in a good way.
Hundreds of thousands of Americans watched a man shoot himself in the head live on television on Friday as Fox News broadcast the final moments of a car chase in Arizona. The cable news channel was playing live footage of the pursuit when the suspect leapt out of his car and began running away down a dirt track. As producers and viewers watched, the man staggered away from his vehicle, ran a short distance into the grass and then produced a gun. Shephard Smith, Fox News's afternoon anchor, was providing a running commentary as the suspect lurched away from the vehicle and viewers could hear his producers gasping in horror as the man shot himself. Mr Smith shouted "get off it, get off it" as it became clear the man intended to kill himself but the station did not cut away in time and broadcast the suspect crumpling to the ground.