Some observations ten days before the election

by: Jeremiah

Sat Oct 25, 2008 at 13:27:53 PM EDT

The smoking gloves in Charleston Friday weren't that of Joe Frazier but Barack Obama's formidable running mate, Joe Biden.  In the campaign's first major appearance in West Virginia since the primary, Senator Biden spoke to a crowd of around 2,000 enthusiastic supporters.

I took some annual leave from work to volunteer for the campaign, and I am glad I did.  It was a great event.  I showed up at around 6 am and was put to work immediately.  I didn't have the most glamorous tasks- picking up food for Senator Biden out at Famous Daves; collecting volunteer sheets from the crowd and directing them through the Secret Service metal detectors; and folding up chairs, tables and crowd barriers at the end.  I did, however, have a really good time.  I was able to witness the organized chaos that is a major campaign event.  I left around 4 pm after a long day's work.

In terms of the event itself, it was excellent.  The speakers did a great job warming up the crowd.  The best moment of the day took place when Senator Byrd spoke to the crowd and told everyone that Biden was an honorary West Virginian via his upbringing in the coal and steel town of Scranton, PA.  Byrd also lauded the skills of Senator Obama.  Byrd's support of Obama brings his career full circle and represents, in my mind, the passing of the torch from the old Democratic Party to the new Democratic Party, which respects the ways of the past while moving the country into a progressive future.

Senator Biden's speech was the type of firebrand stump that is one of his best attributes.  Biden is the type of guy that people can relate to.  Biden's background is similar to many West Virginians and he is one of the Senate's only non millionaires.  This comes through when he is talking as he seems genuine in what he says.  There were a lot of union folks in the crowd and Biden's was the type of speech that really fires up the unions.  Biden's oratory skills are a mix of union leader, statesman and factory worker.  Biden can get emotional when he talks about the issues facing average folks and he can build toward peaks in his speeches in a way that gets the blood boiling.  He did a great job and I am more than happy that Senator Obama chose him as his running mate.

OBAMA HAS NOT WON YET

*Breaking news!  Senator Obama has not been elected yet!  I realize Obama's lead in the polls look insurmountable but Obama supporters cannot get complacent in the final days of this long journey.  If this election is close it gives Republican operatives an opportunity to steal it and they will.  If you don't believe me just look at Cuyahoga County, Ohio in 2004 and the shenanigans in Florida in 2000.  Let's finish strong and take our country back!

THE HOAX THAT BROKE THE ELEPHANT'S BACK

*Many conservative news organizations reported earlier this week that a lady in Pittsburgh had been attacked by a large BLACK man for having a McCain sticker on her bumper.  Photos of the woman showed a large backward B carved into her face, which was supposed to signify Barack Obama.  Police have now declared the attack a hoax and the woman that portrayed it is likely to be charged with giving false statements to authorities.

It is shameful the way that conservative news outlets like Drudge and Fox News picked up the story as they emphasized the man's race and called it political mutilation.  The underlining current on this story was that a white woman was attacked by a black man supporting Obama, which many feel would have slight political implications for southwester PA.  For everyone's sake, thankfully this was all made up.  It is embarrassing though as a Fox News VP stated that this hoax might have just sealed the deal for a McCain loss in PA.  Even if some lunatic had committed this crime why would it in any way be used politically against Obama?  We all know why and it is a four letter word that many desperate conservatives are willing to use against Obama to win this election- RACE.  There is simply no place for that kind of politicking in the United States.  Here is a link about the story:  http://www.huffingtonpost.com/...

THE PALIN WAR WITHIN

The McCain campaign is beginning to fold under the pressure of recent polls that have them down nationally by huge margins.  One camp within the campaign places most of the blame for their current predicament on the choice of Sarah Palin as VP.  They cite her inexperience, naivety and poor performances in national interviews and the debate as major factors that have driven folks to Obama.

The other camp represents strong Palin supporters who feel the VP candidate is becoming the scapegoat of a poorly organized campaign.  This contingent also feels that Palin was horribly managed by her handlers and that her image nationally has suffered greatly because of it.

Alas, there is a third camp and this one probably represents the few realists at McCain HQ.  These folks think that Palin was highly unqualified and ill prepared for the national stage and that her weaknesses were emphasized by her handlers.  Here is a link with more about the infighting:

http://www.politico.com/news/s...

REPUBLICAN PRIMARY 2012

The question remains whether or not Sarah Palin has a political future in the GOP if the McCain-Palin ticket is molly whopped on election day.  It is my prediction that many in the GOP base will blame McCain for holding down Palin and not vice versa.  Remember, most of these folks are only lukewarm on McCain anyway so throwing him under the bus will not be a problem.  That being said, I think Palin is the favorite for the 2012 Republican nomination.  Her two main competitors will be the almost as folksy but slightly more substantive Huckabee and the always well financed Romney.  I also imagine some foreign policy figure will rise to the occasion to vie for the military and neo-con vote.  It will be another interesting primary season and hopefully divisive as hell for the GOP.

Magic Vote Changing Machines Come to West Virginia

by: West Virginia Lover

Sun Oct 19, 2008 at 14:32:37 PM EDT

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".

The Gazette observes that the two counties where problems have occurred have Republican oversight of voting.  The Republicans in those counties decline to address the problem; instead, they blame voter errors.

The Republicans have played their little reindeer games now in two election cycles.  We're all on to their little bag of tricks.  If they think we'll sit back and let them steal a third national election, they should seek psychiatric assistance.  Not even our obtuse and all-forgiving media seems to be missing the shenanigans.

...

Update from Carnacki

From an email from the Campaign for Change:

We WANT people to go vote. We want them to feel confident and we want them to vote early. If any voter has any problems while voting, we want them to remain calm. Ask a poll worker for assistance, explain the problem, and work it out so their vote is counted properly. The best thing that can happen is a voter get the help they need while at the polling place so we don't have to ever worry about complaints after the fact.

Of course, if something is not resolved and voter has already left the polling place, we have a team in place to ascertain what happened and make sure there is not a systemic problem. Anyone who has such a problem can call the campaign HQ at (304) 341-0205 and speak with a  field organizer to leave their information and the specifics of their problem so we can pass it on to the Voter Protection team.