Amazon.com makes a very embarrassing error and new state polling out this morning from Washington Post/ABC News and Reuters has Obama up by large margins in several important states.
Also, news on Obama's landslide in editorial endorsements and Chuck Hagel tells the New Yorker why he can't "in good conscience" endorse McCain.
And, Obama talks directly to 145,000 Coloradans over the weekend - that's 15% of Kerry's vote in 2004.
A new Washington Post/ABC News poll has Obama +8 in Virginia:
McCain's path to the White House is very difficult without Virginia's 13 electoral votes, and Obama now leads the senator from Arizona 52 percent to 44 percent in the new poll.
Obama is beating McCain 2:1 in the communist country of Northern Virginia, which is a better ratio than either Kaine or Webb enjoyed. Obama and McCain are tied at 48% in the rest of the state. And, those having a negative view of Palin has increased 12 points since September:
Palin also is dragging down McCain in Virginia, the poll indicates. Half of Virginia voters now have "strongly" or "somewhat" negative views of the Alaska governor, a 12 percentage-point increase from September.
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Reuters also released new state polling this morning showing Obama +7 in Virginia, +4 in North Carolina, +2 in Missouri, +4 in Nevada and +5 in Ohio. McCain leads +6 in Indiana and +10 in West Virginia.
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And don't knock the "culinary poll of diners" in Cape Charles, as reported by the Richard Times-Dispatch (VA):
All nine eateries in the Eastern Shore town served cleverly named dishes on behalf of Obama and Republican John McCain on Friday. At the end of the day, with 100 percent of the dining establishments reporting, Obama won with 55 percent of the vote to 45 percent for McCain.
It may seem silly, but in 2004 Bush defeated Kerry in this highly unscientific culinary poll.
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The LA Times' Top of the Ticket blog has a good catch that should rightly embarrass a major American retailer. Amazon.com listed an Obama Halloween mask for sale under the category "terrorist costume" with related searches listed as "arab costume" and "terrorist":
Anyway, Amazon.com, one of the largest and most successful online merchandisers in the world, seemed to come down even beyond the Republicans' side -- for a while anyway. With Halloween just days away, Amazon.com is making a bundle off its $49.95 Barack Obama masks.
Which it displayed on the "terrorist costume" page. You read that right!
(UPDATE: Amazon just caught itself and deleted the Obama mask from the terrorist page. However, before that happened, The Ticket captured a photo. See below.)
(Photo credit: Top of the Ticket)
Um... how does something like this happen? And I wonder how long it has been like that? I'm not one to get outraged about stupid stuff like this, but I certainly love to point out stupidity when I see it.
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TIME Magazine looks at McCain's hopes for a comeback over the next week:
Heeding calls from the likes of Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell not to take the state for granted, Obama is returning for rallies both Monday and Tuesday of this week. Absent a seismic event that changes the entire election dynamic, such an outcome for McCain is unlikely at best. "It's a very long shot," says a Republican strategist who advises the campaign. "But it's not impossible. At least it's something to hold onto."
We were wondering last week if Obama would return to Pennsylvania, and I guess we have our answer. Given the importance that McCain is placing on the state, it makes a great deal of sense for Obama to return and show Pennsylvanians that he is not taking their votes for granted.
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Mike Lupica, in an opinion column at the NY Daily News, tells the story of Deon Taylor, a true American hero from the Bronx who died last week in Afghanistan. Lupica wants Sarah Palin to know about Taylor's story so she can understand that "the best of America" is found in big cities too:
If you read this newspaper last week, you know more about Taylor in death than you did in life. He was an NYPD narcotics officer in Brooklyn, a member of the New York National Guard, and was on his second tour in Afghanistan. You hope that he was real enough and pro-America enough for Palin.
This is not just the end of one of the dumbest, meanest Republican campaigns in history. It is also the most divisive. It is no longer liberals vs. conservatives, one ideology against another, one party against the other. It is us vs. them.
You can read more about Deon Taylor in yesterday's IGTNT diary.
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Would you believe that Obama has outraised McCain in Utah?
The Salt Lake Tribune found a groundswell of late donations from the state gave Obama an $8,000 lead over McCain in fundraising here. Obama has now received more than $1.672 million from Utahns and McCain has received more than $1.664 million as of Oct. 15.
While the difference is slight, it is still hard to believe that Obama would be anywhere close to McCain in fundraising from this very red state.
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Jim Mctague at Barron's offers his prediction for the congressional races, which he believes will be "one of the larger and bloodier stampedes in history":
How big a rout will it be? My estimate -- based on campaign fundraising data, demographic trends, voter registrations and kibitzing with some venerable experts -- sees the Republicans dropping by 27 seats in the House and five seats in the Senate. Democrats pick up those 27 House seats, of course, plus one vacancy, along with the five Senate seats.
Result: The Democrats will hold 263 seats in the House, versus 172 for the GOP. The Democrats will have 56 seats in the Senate, including two independent members who caucus with them, versus 44 seats for the Republicans.
Jim says it's not all bad for the GOP - they did fare worse in 1932, during the Great Depression. I think his prediction is conservative, particularly for the Senate races. And he whines about Obama "redistributing wealth" so I think we know how he leans.
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My, how much has changed! The New Yorker has a (very) long look at Chuck Hagel and his relationship with John McCain. I was struck by this passage of how McCain complimented Hagel for scolding a Republican colleague for his negative campaigning:
Hagel and other Party officials in Nebraska, who had said that they would remain neutral, scolded Christensen and declared that his tactics “embarrassed Nebraska.” Christensen lost by a large margin. The story quoted Hagel as saying, “The most dangerous element of our political future in this country is candidates who debase and degrade the political process by straight-out lies and misleading spots on television. It’s a cancer to our system.” Hagel told me that McCain came to his office to talk to him about the article and said, “You know, I’m really proud of you for doing that. Not many people would have done it."
Hagel also tells the New Yorker that he has been "very disappointed" by McCain's campaign and details why he could not endorse him:
“In good conscience, I could not enthusiastically—honestly—go out and endorse him and support him when we so fundamentally disagree on the future course of our foreign policy and our role in the world.”
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The Colorado press is still talking about Obama's huge crowds in that state on Sunday. Think about this little factoid for a minute, from the Rocky Mountain News (CO):
In just one day, at Civic Center in Denver and at a grassy field in Fort Collins, Obama spoke to more than 145,000 Coloradans. That one-day collection of screaming, sign-waving admirers represents nearly 15 percent of the 1,001,725 Colorado votes that Democratic presidential nominee Sen. John Kerry got in 2004.
I had to read that a few times to really recognize the significance of it. Something really is happening here and I don't think the implications will really be apparent until election day.
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Obama is leading 3:1 in editorial endorsements after this weekend. Editor and Publisher calls it a "rout" and says Obama is "leading by an embarrassing margin" for McCain. So far, Obama has won the support of 35 papers that backed Bush in 2004. Much of the press is still buzzing about the Anchorage Daily Newsendorsement for Obama, but I was saddened to see that the Arizona Republic didn't have the balls or the courage to follow suit.
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Thanks Patch for making sure everyone still got their Morning Reaction fix over the weekend! And thanks to everyone who gave their best wishes for the marathon. Unfortunately, it was spectacular failure for me due to some dumb pacing mistakes... my first DNF (did not finish) in a marathon! But, I've got my sights set on another one in February so hopefully I can redeem myself there.
So, we've got a little over one week to go - can you believe it? What do you think this week will bring? Any surprises? I'll leave you with some pictures from Obama's weekend rallies:
(David Katz/Obama for America)
*all emphasis in this diary is mine