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- Barack Obama gave his "closing argument" speech today in Canton, Ohio, summarizing and contextualizing the themes of his campaign since it began 21 months ago. This does leave up in the air what Obama plans to do with his half-hour block of paid ad time on Wednesday but, as I suggested a few weeks ago, it will probably be something more special than a slickly-produced campaign retrospective.
- A 2001 recording of Obama discussing "redistribution" in the context of a purely academic discussion of the role of the federal courts has become the latest evidence of the Democrat's socialistic tendencies, blares the Drudge Report, National Review, and the McCain campaign. Of course, if you actually listen to what Obama is arguing, he's generally dismissive of the idea of using the courts to enact a policy agenda, preferring instead to use the good old fashioned -- dare I say conservative? -- option of letting legislatures hash it out. Ben Smith passes on a similar assessment from Obama adviser Cass Sunstein, who isn't exactly what I'd call a "judicial activist."
- Speaking of the courts, a Georgia court has struck down Republican Secretary of State Karen Handel's attempts to disenfranchise voters via an illegal "eligibility" gambit. Meanwhile, despite all this, libertarian presidential candidate Bob Barr thinks Obama will win the state. See also Time on the 7 things that could go wrong on Election Day.
- Count me in the camp (if it exists) that does not believe Sarah Palin will cruise to the Republican presidential nomination in 2012 -- not because the conservative base will wise up -- but because she will face competition that year from this year's more seasoned also-rans. Let's also not forget that people like Chuck Hagel are going to keep pointing out her obvious lack of qualification for the job, the fact that she can't answer questions from reporters without first memorizing talking points and screening the questions, her tendency to divide rather than unite Americans and cause intraparty rifts, and her continuing problems back home. But don't take my word for it, Newsweek found she polled third behind Romney and Huckabee [the frontrunners for my money] in a theoretical 2012 match up [PDF]. You betcha!
- Bill Clinton will make his first joint campaign appearance with Barack Obama in Orlando, FL, on Wednesday.
- Ezra remarks on Republican Congressman Frank Wolf (VA-10) turning a blind eye to thuggish tactics perpetuated by his staff, and John Aravosis shares a Norm Coleman mailer, designed like a childrens' book, that discusses jokes about pornography and rape which, the document argues, make Al Franken "completely unfit for public office."
- The Obama campaign has filed an FEC complaint against John McCain for accepting personal donations exceeding the $2,300 limit. While they're at it, they might want to look into possible copyright infringement as well.
- Better safe than sorry: Joe Biden runs an ad for his Senate re-election in the event he loses his White House bid.
--Mori Dinauer
