Too Progressive

If there was any doubt that Republican rule in Virginia was over, this totally puts an end to it. Unbelievable!!!

I’m sort of, kind of in the middle of packing for a trip to New York City tomorrow, but this video is so hilarious I have to take a break and post it. Look here at what the McCain campaign has been reduced to:

Check it out here.

Mason Dixon is out with a new poll today showing Barack Obama with a narrow two point lead over John McCain in Virginia. The poll was conducted October 20 to October 21 and sampled 625 registered voters who indicated they were likely to vote in the upcoming election. Eight percent of those polled remain undecided.

Obama has widened his lead in Northern Virginia (61%-31%), but McCain maintains his margins in Virginia’s rural regions and the Richmond Metro area. The race still looks like it will come down to the Hampton Roads/Tidewater region, where Obama is now slightly ahead (48%-43%).

Obama leads with blacks, voters under 50, women those who identify as Democrats, and is now ahead among those who identify themselves as independents (49%-38%). McCain leads among men, voters over the age of 50, whites, those who identify as Republicans and those who have served in the military McCain has a slightly higher favorable rating than Obama (48%-46%) and Obama has slightly higher negatives (39%-35%).

In addition, 57% listed the economy as their number one issue with national security and taxes/government spending following with 11 and eight percent respectively.

Earlier this week, a Rasmussen Reports poll showed Obama leading McCain by ten points in Virginia.

[h/t RK]

In recent weeks we have seen several polls showing Barack Obama leading by as much as 10-15 points in Virginia. While I have no doubt that Obama is leading in the state I was doubting he had a 10-15 point lead, until now. With conservative pollster Rasmussen showing Obama up by ten in a poll released yesterday, I have no doubt that Obama will win and win big in VA:

Barack Obama has opened his biggest lead yet over John McCain in Virginia. The latest Rasmussen Reports telephone survey in the state finds Obama now leading 54% to 44%. The Democrat leads 51% to 48% among men and 57% to 42% among women (see full demographic crosstabs).

Just one week ago, Obama held a three percentage point lead but Obama has been dramatically outspending McCain on television advertising in this critical state. The Democrat has now been ahead of McCain in five straight Virginia polls conducted by Rasmussen Reports.

Obama is viewed favorably by 59% of Virginia voters and unfavorably by 40%. McCain’s numbers are 55% favorable, 44% unfavorable.

George W. Bush won Virginia by eight percentage points in both 2000 and 2004, but Democrats have focused on Virginia this year as a red state they hope to peel away from Republicans. No Democrat has won the state since Lyndon Johnson in 1964. But, with release of this poll, Virginia moves from “Toss-Up” to “Leans Democratic” in the Rasmussen Reports Balance of Power Calculator. NOTE: Factors other than the latest Rasmussen Reports poll impact the Balance of Power ratings. The current status is indicated on the table in the upper right hand corner of this article.

First John McCain’s brother, Joe McCain, called Northern Virginia “communist country,” and now they’re running with this hilarious “NoVa is fake Virginia” narrative:

So this is how they believe they’re going to somehow win Virginia, by insulting us?

Remember in 2000 how all the loony media outlets announced Al Gore had won Florida until it was revealed that maybe he didn’t win because the Bush campaign teamed up with crazy lady Katherine Harris to discount thousands of valid votes therefore stealing the election for Bush? Remember in 2004 how everyone was so relieved when Kerry announced he would not contest the results of the election? That is, until several months later when it was revealed that the Bush campaign had once again made a deliberate effort to discourage voter turn out, especially in poor districts or areas with a heavy minority population.

Well, just in case you weren’t paying attention or for whatever reason don’t remember, let’s take a walk down memory lane in order to remind ourselves that we cannot let this happen again in 2008!!

During tonight’s final debate between Barack Obama and John McCain, McCain commented that we need to “change American culture.” This leads me to an interesting question that has not been posed of John McCain, probably ever in his life time: why does John McCain hate America and our culture?

UPDATE: Why does John McCain think it wise (or funny?) to mock women facing down their own death unless their abort their pregnancies?

Why does John McCain think it’s wise to allow soldiers to go become teachers without obtaining the proper credentials and education?

I’ll be sending them a cleaning bill for the soda I spit all over my desk when I watched this. “..and we’ll all probably die.” Classic.

This is what dropping out of high school gets you…

On being told advised by the McCain/Palin campaign not to speak to the media, Bristol Palin’s future husband, Levi Johnston said this:

“They’re not telling me anything right now,” Johnston said as he checked his Blackberry. “It’s pretty chill.”

His unborn son’s future:

“I’m looking forward to having him,” he said. “I’m going to take him hunting and fishing. He’ll be everywhere with me.”

On his hilarious MySpace page:

For starters, he said his much-maligned MySpace page was a joke — the one that claimed he said: “I’m a … redneck,” and “I don’t want kids.” Johnston said his friends created the page a few years ago and he had nothing to do with it.

Okay first of all, you had a mullet until the McCain campaign swooped in and forced you to clean yourself up so there is no denying the redneck bit. Second, “my friends did it” is the oldest excuse in the book when it comes to trying to hook up on the internets.

And my favorite of them all, here’s what he had to say on attending the Republican convention:

“At first, I was nervous,” he said. “Then I was like, ‘Whatever.’”

Here we go with the post debate spin!! Debate liveblogs from earlier can be found here and here.

10:45pm- Apparently Donna Brazile has a clone, or maybe even a stunt double, as she has appeared live on both CNN and ABC just in the past five minutes.

10:50pm- CNN has already almost completed some inaccurate flash poll.

10:51pm- Apparently this flash poll will be conducted by a show of hands, hurrah!!

10:52pm- One member of CNN’s pseudo focus group didn’t hear anything at all!

10:55pm- Anderson Cooper is preparing a “greatest hits” video reel and yet another flash poll!

Here we go with the second half of the second presidential debate (liveblog of part one can be found here).

9:44pm- McCain apparently has a “brain fart” when trying to quote Obama? WTF!?!? Wow, he really does sound old and tired today.

9:45pm- Obama predicts progressive energy policies will create five million new jobs.

9:47pm- Tom Brokaw is pissed because nobody is paying attention to his fancy pants light shows.

9:51pm- CNN’s pseudo focus group polling shows women don’t want mammograms covered by their health insurance. Wait, what!?

9:53pm- John McCain wants your health record to be viewable online.

9:53pm- Fundamental, fundamental, fundamental, fundamental. It’s like he’s trying to prove that he can actually use the word without sinking his entire campaign.

Running a little late due to some internet connectivity problems, but I’ll be liveblogging tonight’s presidential debate between John McCain and Barack Obama.

9:07pm- McCain makes a pathetic attempt at jabbing Obama on his refusal to join McCain in a billion town hall meetings.

9:08pm- McCain says “my friends” for the first time, and they’re off!

9:08pm- McCain can’t come up with an answer so he makes a lame attempt at a joke.

9:12pm- McCain essentially calls Americans stupid.

9:12pm- If the Republicans have been shouting about the forthcoming collapse of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac for the past decade as they claim, why the hell didn’t they do something while they CONTROLLED CONGRESS AND THE WHITE HOUSE!?

9:13pm- I, once again, am finding the focus group polling at the bottom of the screen on CNN extremely distracting.

9:14pm- PWNED, round one. Obama: “McCain has Alzheimer’s!”

Lilibet Hagel, wife of Senator Chuck Hagel (R-NE), held a press conference today in Old Town Alexandria near Waterfront Park (about a block away from your editor’s place of employment) and  endorsed Barack Obama.

Hagel, R-Neb., has made no endorsement. Lilibet Hagel said in an Associated Press interview that her decision was independent of her husband. She said she didn’t know whether he would make an endorsement or whom he would support.

“You’d have to ask him,” Lilibet Hagel said.

She said it will be her first endorsement of a Democrat and that perilous world conditions were a factor.

“The fact is we’re in two wars, two of the longest we’ve ever been in. We’ve run up a third of our nation’s debt in just the past eight years. We’re in the biggest financial crisis since the Great Depression,” she said.

The Hagels know John and Cindy McCain, and she said her endorsement was not meant to slam them.

“This isn’t anti-McCain. This is pro-Obama. I’m just convinced he’s the right person,” she said.

I’ve never been one to be swayed by another person’s endorsement and very seriously doubt this will have much of an impact. The only exception would be if she could convince her husband to follow with his own endorsement of Obama which could potentially help sway some independent or soft Republican voters.

[h/t Cobalt6]

Joe McCain (John McCain’s none-too-intelligent brother) has this to say about those of us living in Northern Virginia:

WASHINGTON (AP) — Republican presidential candidate John McCain’s brother made an apparent joke at a campaign rally this weekend that might not play well in parts of newly competitive Virginia.

Joe McCain, speaking at an event in support of his brother, called two Democratic-leaning areas in Northern Virginia “communist country,” according to a report on The Washington Post’s Web site.

“I’ve lived here for at least 10 years and before that about every third duty I was in either Arlington or Alexandria, up in communist country,” Joe McCain, a Navy veteran, said at an event in Loudoun County, Va.

First of all, who brags about living in Loudoun county (a suburban NIGHTMARE) and then tries to bash those of us in Arlington and Alexandria who like to practice responsible urban planning instead of hellish sprawl? Especially when Arlington is consistently ranked among the most educated counties in the entire country, and Alexandria and Fairfax aren’t too shabby either. Also, I wonder if Joe McCain even knows the meaning of the word communism? In fact, I wonder if any Republican truly has a grasp on what communism even is? I hear it thrown around a lot to describe anyone who dare challenge the insane Republican platform but they never quite use it to correctly describe something that is, you know, actually communist.

I’m a tree fu**ing, latte sucking (sometimes I have 2-3 a day, and that threatens U.S. national security) liberal who lives in one of the most highly educated counties in the entire country so obviously I’m out of touch with America. That having been said, I want to know what everyone else thought…?

The multi-billion dollar government bailout of several irresponsible companies is already having a negative impact on average Americans in the form of high oil prices and a weakening Dollar.

NEW YORK - Oil prices spiked more than $25 a barrel Monday — the biggest one-day price jump ever — as anxiety over the government’s $700 billion bailout plan, a weak dollar and an expiring crude contract ignited a dramatic rally.

Still, the rally, which shattered crude’s previous one-day price jump of $10.75, set June 6, showed the intensity of emotion in the market. The Nymex temporarily halted electronic crude oil trading after prices breached the $10 daily trading limit. Trading resumed seconds later after the daily limit was increased.

In addition to spiking oil prices, the U.S. Dollar weakened even further on news of the bail out.

The 15-nation euro rose to $1.4807 in afternoon trading, up from the $1.4470 on Friday. A weak greenback was a catalyst for the commodities boom of the past year, and analysts said large investment funds were expected to pour money back into the sector.

Like I said last week, the U.S. should be ashamed.