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- Barack Obama has expanded his final advertising buy to not only Arizona, but also to North Dakota and Georgia, according to a morning conference call with David Plouffe. Do they think they can win, or is it a head fake? Look, this isn't too hard to figure out. They have the money to burn, so it's not a calculation based on resource allocation, and clearly those states are on the periphery of being winnable -- that is, they have nothing to lose, and potentially something to gain by competing there. And yes, it is a head fake -- if they lose in AZ, GA and ND, it won't cost them the election and the final push fits in, belatedly, with the initial "50-state" strategy espoused earlier. But if they win it buttresses the inevitable "mandate" talk that is sure to follow the election.
- John McCain's closing argument is being broadcast in battleground states for his final push, and the ad mostly summarizes the same themes we've heard for months now: Country, duty, and service. Too bad his behavior for the past few weeks hasn't lived up to those noble goals.
- Reihan Salam takes on the task of explaining why we should vote for John McCain on Election Day and advances an ill-conceived argument: "Only Nixon could go to China, and only McCain can reconcile conservatives to some of the hard steps the US will have to take." The comparison makes little sense. It was Nixon's career-spanning anti-communism that made him an unlikely yet ideal figure to open China. In McCain's case we have someone who has mostly been reviled by the conservative movement, particularly in the last decade, who we are to understand is the best figure to make movement conservatives less ideologically rigid. I have no idea who -- if anyone -- can rescue conservatism from the depths to which it has sunk, but that figure certainly isn't John McCain.
- Sarah Palin is concerned about our First Amendment rights (see Adam's take here): "If [the media] convince enough voters that that is negative campaigning, for me to call Barack Obama out on his associations, then I don't know what the future of our country would be in terms of First Amendment rights and our ability to ask questions without fear of attacks by the mainstream media." Palin's advanced this argument before, and it boils down to this: "questioning the veracity of my smears instead of dutifully and uncritically repeating and legitimizing them is a threat to free speech." Palin's ignorance and Bush-like stubbornness remain perhaps the most chilling aspect of this campaign.
- Cinque Henderson makes a good observation -- something I've wondered myself -- regarding Obama's at-arms-length approach to Muslims: "I'm not looking forward to his [inaugural] speech, so much as his official swearing in, which will constitute the first interesting challenge of his Presidency. The challenge being, will Obama say, 'I, Barack Hussein Obama, do solemnly swear that I will faithfully execute the office of President of the United States'" (emphasis in original). I understand Obama the candidate's desire to be cautious on the campaign trail, but if he finds himself on the Capitol steps repeating an oath administered by John Roberts, I hope his better -- and more humane -- nature kicks in and lives up to his talk of getting over the "smallness" of the politics of fear and bigotry.
- More electoral map porn courtesy of Google.
- You know your campaign is doing good when your biggest concern is the "struggle to keep your donors worried."
- I think the Golden Wingnut for most outrageous Obama conspiracy theory has to go to Pamela Geller of Atlas Shrugs, who provides reams of compelling evidence that Barack Obama's real father was...get ready for it...Malcomn X! I feel as though the circle is now truly complete.
- Don't let Election Night inebriation keep you from your charge to follow the most competitive races and initiatives around the country! Download, print out, and cherish TAP's 2008 Election Night Guide. This has been your first warning.
--Mori Dinauer
