The Mystery (Republican?) Candidate for Illinois' 9th
Sun Jun 11, 2006 at 04:27:14 PM PDT
I attended the Jewish Folk Festival in Suburban Chicago. Lovely day, a little chilly, but a huge turnout of the Jewish community for the music, art and food. Definitely felt the ruach! (That's means "spirit" for the Hebrew-impaired.)
At the festival, a young man named Michael Shannon was passing out little yellow slips with his name on it. He's running for Congress in the 9th District, which is currently held by Jan Schakowsky.
So what party does Michael Shannon represent? He won't say! Even when I asked him! It's a big secret....Read on for more direct interaction with the Mystery Candidate.
Study Shows Democratic Advantage for 2004
Mon Oct 04, 2004 at 08:23:12 AM PDT
Well, ya just never know where a tidbit of election info would come from. Here in my inbox this morning was a newsletter from my alma mater,
the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, College of LAS.
And therein is a link to this article: Kerry vs. Bush-- Past voting patterns give the edge to the Democrats this November. So it seems that one Professor Peter Nardulli has spent the last 20 years analyzing state-level voting patterns between 1828 and 2000.
According to Nardulli, the Democrats have not begun a presidential campaign in such a strong position since 1944.
"Practically speaking, all the Democrats need do is win the states in which they have a meaningful normal vote advantage to capture the presidency," says Nardulli. "If the Democrats can do this they need not win any Southern states in which the Republicans hold an electoral edge, including Florida."
Read on for more... (there is a little cloud at the end)
Some Inadvertent Truth on CNN
Fri Oct 01, 2004 at 10:46:40 AM PDT
CNN's Aaron Brown interviewed Aaron McGruder, author of Boondocks. The basic exchange (somewhat paraphrased) went like this:
McGruder says, "Bush is dumb."
Brown says, "Oh, well, he's not very articulate. And he has strong convictions. How dare you say that? You're insulting half the population who supports him!"
McGruder: "They've been horribly misled. Why can't the media talk about that?"
Brown: "You're too cynical. Bye."
Join the Iowa Election Market - Invest in Kerry
Wed Sep 29, 2004 at 12:22:39 AM PDT
Farhood Manjoo features a story in Salon today,
"The Iowa Electronic Markets are still going for Bush".
As I've written, I'm supporting Kerry for the White House, but on the IEM, I've been betting on Bush. This is not meant as a slight against Kerry -- it's just that I have doubts about his ability as a campaigner, and more important, I think that the Bushies are extremely good, not to mention that historically, incumbents running during a time of economic growth tend to win reelection. So far, alas, my bet is panning out, as measured not just by Kerry's shortfall in the polls but also by the current performance of Kerry shares on the market. As of Monday, traders on the IEM give Bush about a 70 percent chance of winning in November. To look at the graph of the IEM is to despair over the prospect of four more years -- a confident red line aims straight for the stratosphere, while a morose blue line nosedives.
It's an interesting analysis - he's suggesting that maybe the market is riding on an unrealistic Bush bubble.
Here's a thought: can't all of us in the blogosphere join in the IEM to start pulling the market back to reality? Let's go for it. I'm investing today in a Kerry win.
