It's kind of fun to play the John McCain strategy of the day game. Can you guess what we'll get today? One day it is to paint Obama as a terrorist sympathizer (if not a terrorist himself). And, the next day it is to call Obama a socialist, because Joe the Plumber said so. Anyways, the strategy of the day strategy is not getting good reviews.
Also, we have more reports of voting problems in West Virginia - same problem, different county.
And, new polling looks good for a defeat of the gay marriage ban in Florida, Amendment 2.
Politico reviews John McCain's strategy of the day and finds it lacking:
John McCain continues taking hard shots, suggesting today that Barack Obama is a "socialist," but he's not landing any of them cleanly. It's not clear why voters who aren't already tuned in to the right-wing echo chamber are going to buy into this argument any more than they have into the implications of Obama's sundry shady Chicago associations.
One day Obama is a terrorist, the next a socialist. What will today bring?
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A new Minnesota state poll conducted by the Minneapolis Star Tribune has Obama +11 over McCain, 52% to 41%:
Asked which candidate would do a better job handling the economy and jobs, they favor Obama over McCain by a crushing 55 percent to 35 percent.
Obama is also leading in a local poll of El Paso County, TX conducted by El Paso Times/News Channel 9. Obama leads 46% to McCain's 39% in El Paso County, whereas the last poll conducted over the summer had the candidates tied at 37%.
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There are even MORE reports out this morning from West Virginia about machines switching votes - this time from a different county:
Three Putnam County voters say electronic voting machines changed their votes from Democrats to Republicans when they cast early ballots last week.
This is the second West Virginia county where voters have reported this problem. Last week, three voters in Jackson County told The Charleston Gazette their electronic vote for "Barack Obama" kept flipping to "John McCain".
In both counties, Republicans are responsible for overseeing elections. Both county clerks said the problem is isolated. They also blamed voters for not being more careful.
I'm glad so many people are reporting this to the county clerks as well as the local papers. What worries me are all those who may be in a rush and don't realize that their vote is being switched. And once again, those in power are blaming the problem on the voter.
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An interesting tidbit from the St. Louis Post-Dispatch about Obama's HUGE rally there yesterday:
Saturday's event at the Arch was the largest outdoor political event in St. Louis since 1992, when the Democratic ticket of Bill Clinton and Al Gore attracted an estimated 20,000 people downtown on a closed section of Olive Street.
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The Minneapolis Star Tribune picks up on Tinklenberg's fundraising bonanza after Bachmann's comments on MSNBC. According to Minnesota Public Radio, Tinklenberg has raised $312 every minute in the first 24 hours since the show aired. Can we keep it going?
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As we continue to work and donate to defeat Prop. 8 in California, the South Florida Sun-Sentinel reports on new poll numbers regarding a gay-marriage ban in Florida, Amendment 2:
An effort to rewrite the Florida Constitution to prohibit gay marriage is falling short of the numbers needed for victory in the Nov. 4 election, a Sun Sentinel and Florida Times-Union poll shows.
The poll of 600 likely voters shows support for Amendment 2 at 53 percent, less than the 60 percent approval rate required to change the constitution.
What's amazing to me is that something like this can actually find 53% support. Amazing, and sad. But at least it looks like it won't pass.
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Endorsement watch! Obama is endorsed today by the Naples Daily News (FL):
That is our tipping point in this race. Forget what candidates say they will do if elected. The choice for vice president was their first clear indicator of how they will lead.
Obama is also endorsed by the Cleveland Plain Dealer (OH), the Walla Walla Onion-Bulletin (WA), the Huntington Herald Dispatch (WV), the Yakima Herald-Republic (WA), the Detroit Free Press (MI), the Atlanta Journal-Constitution (GA), Wilmington Star News (NC), and the Long Beach Press Telegram (CA). Also, the New York Daily News, which endorsed Bush in 2004.
Here's the latest list from Editor and Publisher, although it doesn't yet include some of the new ones from this morning. The current count: Obama 72 - McCain 18.
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Marc Fisher of the Washington Post reports on how GOP officials in Virginia are climbing over themselves to point fingers about McCain's sliding poll numbers in that state:
"I literally begged the campaign to have McCain or Palin visit," says Corey Stewart, chairman of the Prince William Board of County Supervisors. "Prince William and Loudoun are the swing counties where this election will be won or lost. This is the battleground, and Obama and Biden have been here four times."
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It seems there is lots of finger pointing in Florida as well:
But part of the blame lies with the McCain team itself, according to numerous Florida Republicans. Slade says he's hearing complaints that the campaign isn't coordinating volunteers well and its state director, Arlene DiBenigno, is ineffective. Others say its voter-turnout operation is lagging. (A Florida spokesman for McCain declined to respond to these assertions.) "The campaign is kind of on the ropes," says one GOP strategist who requested anonymity to give a candid assessment. McCain "could lose Florida now, and if he does, it's game over."
Too bad, so sad!
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Liz Brauer, a Michigan resident, has raised over $4,000 for Obama by selling a poster she created of pictures she took at an Obama rally:
Liz, if you read DKos, you have to sell these on the internet! I want one!!
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So what's on your mind this morning? All you TV watchers in the states have to tell me what happens on Meet the Press. I saw a clip of Sarah Palin on SNL and thought it was terrible - why would she have wanted to do that?