Open Thread

A racist Texas homeowner has lynched an empty chair representative of President Obama, in his front yard. His neighbors complained, and this was his response:

"I don't really give a damn whether it disturbs you or not," [Bud] Johnson reportedly told [his complaining neighbor]. "You can take [your concerns] and go straight to hell and take Obama with you. I don't give a shit. If you don't like it, don't come down my street."

His street? He didn't build that.

Clint Eastwood: "If somebody is dumb enough to ask me to go to political convention and say something, they're gonna have to take what they get."

"All campaigns have their ups and downs, but the last three weeks for Mitt Romney have been about as brutal as we can remember for any presidential candidate, especially this close to the election. First, the biggest speech of Romney's life got overshadowed by the Clint Eastwood stunt. Then came President Obama's significant bounce in the polls after the two political conventions. After that, Romney found himself on the defensive for his reaction to embassy attacks in Egypt and Libya. Next, Politico reported about infighting and disorganization inside the Romney campaign. Finally, all of these events were capped off yesterday by the surreptitiously recorded video of Romney..." "What is so potentially deadly about this video is the timing, because it comes as the Romney campaign was already viewed to be behind and in crisis. Back in late July, we wrote that the presidential contest had entered halftime with Obama leading, 14-13. Now after the 3rd Quarter (the Ryan pick, the conventions, and post-convention period), Obama has scored two uncontested touchdowns, bringing it to 28-13. And now we head to the 4th Quarter (the debates)."

Today is Constitution Day, celebrating the 225th anniversary of this glorious document. Here are some items to prompt some thinking about the Constitution.

Vanity Fair has published a must read article on 6 months in the life of President Barack Obama. Written by Michael Lewis (author of Moneyball and Liar's Poker), this is a pretty compelling look at how the President approaches his job. Obama's Way

I cannot wait for this film:

Major Garrett:

"Mitt Romney has picked a big fight fraught with political risks amid an ongoing foreign policy crisis with heartbreaking and murderous consequences for the U.S. diplomatic corps. And by the end of the day on Wednesday he walked straight into a forearm shiver from the commander-in-chief - one that may leave a mark and intensify scrutiny of Romney's foreign policy qualifications."

"This was news-cycle campaigning by the Romney campaign gone awry. Why didn't the Romney campaign wait until it had all the facts? On his overseas trip in the summer, Romney was so careful not to criticize Obama while on foreign soil. But how much time do you give an administration to work through a diplomatic and international crisis before trying to score immediate political points? You'd expect the Sarah Palins of the world to quickly pounce on something like this, and she predictably did. But a presidential nominee running for the highest office in the land?" "After the facts have come out, last night's Romney statement only feeds the narrative that his campaign is desperate. And given that the Romney camp has already moved on to other subjects this morning -- issuing a press release on debt and not the embassy attacks -- it appears the campaign realizes it, too. Right before our publication time, the Romney camp responds to us that it stands by its statement from last night."

It is called Schadenfreude, and I enjoy it immensely. Chuck Todd:

"In boxing, you know one fighter is trailing in points when, in the final rounds, he throws everything he can to land a knockout blow against his opponent. The same is largely true in presidential politics. And so yesterday while campaigning in Ohio, we saw Mitt Romney and his team try to throw the kitchen sink at President Obama."

To get the absolute latest on today's primary election, visit these hashtags on Twitter: #netde and #votede

President Obama's re-election campaign and supporting committees brought in more than $114 million last month - the first time the incumbent has outraised Mitt Romney since April. Mittens raised $111 million. Josh Marshall has a simple axiom:

[T]he more Romney goes hard Culture War, the more his campaign chiefs are getting freaked by the polls.

I didn't watch the whole interview, but I caught O'Donnell on Bill Maher responding to the question, "Are you going to run for office again?" with...

Friday! It was the longest short week in memory. But it is the first day of the last weekend before the Primary, so your mailboxes will be overflowing, your message machines will max out from the robocalls and I hope that many of you are working with your favorite candidates for the final work of GOTV.