Breaking: No IDs Required to Vote in Pennsylvania

This just in, and it is good news for the good guys -- the lower courts judge who was required to review an earlier decision has made his ruling, mostly leaving the law in place, but noting that if you show up to vote and have no ID, you are allowed to vote. There's more to come, I'm sure, but this seems to be the nut of it:

Predict the Post Debate Media Narrative!

As Robert Wright notes in his Atlantic article, The Coming Romney Comeback Narrative, the media doesn't much like a static political narrative. It is the unfortunate byproduct of the horse race reporting they are fond of and the need to capture eyeballs. Wright posits multiple paths that the media narrative may go after tomorrow's debate (although it is worth it to read his entire article), but jump in the comments to make your own prediction of the new drama the media will be working on after tomorrow's Presidential Debate.

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. ...