Open Thread

"Well, it doesn't need a turnaround. I've got a very effective campaign. It's doing a very good job." -- Mitt Romney, in an interview on 60 Minutes. Anymore, Mitt Romney seems to be the very type of arrogant, entitled, delusional Wall Street monster who destroyed our economy in the first place. And to prove that, Mr. Romney awarded his senior campaign staff $200,000 in bonuses after the GOP Convention, according to Politico. Mind you, the Convention is widely viewed as an epic disaster that gave Romney a negative bounce. Sounds just like Wall Street.

Sorry this is late! Lots of cooking is going on at my house -- roasted tomato and basil soup and a dark chocolate cake. Let the cooking season begin!

The first day of Fall! The local primaries are done, but there is still campaigning going on. The Democratic Coordinated Campaign is walking neighborhoods for candidates this weekend. Are you out working for any candidates this weekend?

First Read reports that the actual election (i.e. the casting of actual votes) begins in half the country tomorrow.

"Idaho and South Dakota today are the first states to begin early-in-person voting. Also today, absentee voting begins in Minnesota, West Virginia, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Georgia, Arkansas, Idaho, and Maryland. This brings the total number of states already accepting ballots to 12. Thirteen additional states (South Carolina, New Jersey, Maine, Michigan, Mississippi, New Hampshire, Tennessee, Texas, Vermont, Delaware, Virginia, Louisiana, and Missouri) will begin absentee or early voting on Saturday."

Meanwhile, we have the full Bill Clinton interview on the Daily Show with Jon Stewart.

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."