From the Washington Independent:

Obama’s GOTV efforts in Washoe are paying off. Not since LBJ was elected has the tide of voting trends favored Democrats in Washoe County, where the largest city is Reno.

It’s so bad here for the GOP that they are scrambling to file a lawsuit that challenges the validity of Democratic registrations.

“Yes, we are losing the early voting now,” [Republican] Moyle said. “But in order for the Democrats to win and for us to be scared, we have to see [Democrats] to continue to turn out the vote.”

Well, that’s happening.

Tags: obama, Politics, republicans

Look out how you use proud words.
When you let proud words go, it is
not easy to call them back.
They wear long boots, hard boots; they
walk off proud; they can’t hear you calling—
Look out how you use proud words.
—Carl Sandburg, American poet and essayist, Primer Lesson, 1922

The chairman of the Hillsborough County (Tampa, FL) GOP sent out an email about scary black people voting. Literally.

After his stupid f*ck-up came to light, Storck, the GOP chairman stated, “Now I know that was a mistake. I never should have done it. I do not agree with the statement or anything else. That’s not what we’re all about.” He went on to say that he thought that the email was a Get Out The Vote email.

So, Storck didn’t think it was a mistake before he clicked the Send button to over 400 recipients?  Bullsh*t.

Why is is that the places I grew up have the creepiest losers?

(h/t SomeGuyInColorado)

Tags: obama, Politics, racism, republicans

www.votesmarter2008.com

An amusing twist on those smug  “I’m a Mac/I’m a PC” ads. They got a bunch of ‘em.

Tags: mccain, obama, Politics

…I’m flat-out overjoyed that it was this man. No-one deserved it more.

Tags: obama, Politics, volunteerism

Here’s an, um, extraordinary bit of work from the fringe, “Obama’s Use of Hidden Hypnosis Techniques in His Speeches.”

A quick precis:

• Obama is creating a horde of Obama-voting zombies through mass-hypnosis by using techniques of pacing and rhythmic techniques during his speeches.
• Obama uses Neuro-Linguistic Programming techniques to force people to vote for him.

OK. By the same definitions posited by the unnamed author, watching the pacing and the rhythms of a brilliant performance of Wagner’s Götterdämmerung should subconsciously force me to go burn down Valhalla.  “Look out! The conductor is holding his baton between thumb and forefinger! O Noes!”

Here’s one of his/her footnote references. Not exactly scholarly reference here.

Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: obama, Politics

I found this oddball comment on the neocon “Atlas Shrugs” blog. Reading that blog is the visual equivalent of a thousand mating cats dragging their claws across chalkboards:

“…Should Obama and his supporters in al-Qaeda some day convert his “volunteer” armies into armed SS jihadist squads–beware. All hell may well break loose and the American ountryside [sic] may be soaked with blood (of the American people whose weapons he confiscated).”

Heh. I’m just trying to picture the kindly senior citizens with whom I volunteer as armed agents of murderous “SS jihadist squads.”

Of course, the scary thing is that these enraged nutters REALLY BELIEVE THIS.  By them investing 100% into these hallucinatory memes, they now believe that they have to defend the “Amurkin Way of Life” against fantasy villains. I fear that innocent people are going to get hurt.

Tags: obama, Politics

After a McCain campaign rally in St. Louis, KSDK-TV reporters watched in disbelief as the staff unceremoniously piled the US flag onto the ground. Flag protocol is simple to follow here, folks. If you look at the video, you’ll see more than enough people (and police!) to support the flag as it is lowered. To blatantly allow the flag to drag on the ground is a slap in the face of the men and women who have fought and died under that flag.

Now, in comparison, here are some shots of the staff hanging the flag before the Obama Rally in Reno today.

The staff removed a tarp from the flag box and carefully laid it out around the box before removing the huge flag. This protects the flag from an inadvertent touch. I observed that the handlers were very careful to prevent the flag from even touching the tarp.

There was one person moving back and forth making sure that the volunteers were safely cradling the flag

The volunteers are still holding the flag off the ground

The leader makes sure that the flag is still being handled correctly

This officer understands flag protocol and helps protect the corner from the fence.

As the flag unfurls, the handlers make sure the bottom edge doesn't drag or catch.

Handling a flag with respect is easy. Obama's team gets it, McCain's team doesn't.

Tags: flag, obama, Politics

Barack Obama addresses close to 11,000 people packed into the Peccole Ballpark at UNR

Barack Obama made Reno his first stop after a hiatus in Hawai’i. In spite of the 24-36 hour notice, between ten and eleven thousand people packed into the Peccole Park infield at the University of Nevada-Reno to listen.Shortly after 7:00 AM, the line of eager people snaked for half a mile through the UNR campus. After settling into the bleachers, they entertained themselves by doing the Wave, having chanting contests with the folks in the other set of bleachers, and generally having a friendly, if chilly, morning.

Obama came to the platform at 10:00 or so, and by the time he appeared the crowd was pumped up and ready. Sticking to a consistent narrative, Obama kept the economy and his tax plan as the centerpiece of his speech. The crowd seemed relieved to hear him mention that tough times were ahead, thanks to the Bush administration “digging such a deep hole.” Obama called for sacrifice, volunteerism, service to country, and re-thinking the whole trickle-down, borrow-and-spend lifestyle. Such a message was a refreshing change from the “just go shopping” message of the last eight years.

Bringing the economic disaster home to Nevada, he pointed out that Nevada has the highest foreclosure rate in the country, as well as a recent, 30% increase in unemployment, to which the crowd murmured and nodded. In contrast, Obama elicited a powerful roar of approval from the crowd upon describing his plan for intensive, alternative energy as one of the major means of economic stimulus. Nevadans seemed primed and ready to hear such a message, seeing that Nevada already leads the nation in solar energy and geothermal, and is the home of the controversial Yucca Mountain nuclear waste storage facility.

Obama appears momentarily irritated as he tests a suddenly-dead microphone. Meanwhile, four guys poke and prod at the generator until it coughed back to life.

The only hitch in the morning’s event was a generator failure in the middle of the speech. Lights, sound, teleprompters–all went dead.  After a brief, hard glance in the direction of his staff, Obama then smiled and took advantage of the delay to leave the stage and chat with the people up front while the power issue was fixed.  The brief look he gave his staff left no doubt that he is still very much the captain of this ship, and that he holds the staff in high enough regard to expect the best from them.

The generator was restarted a short while after, and he finished his speech without further incidents.

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Tags: obama, Politics