Who Are These People Anyway?

The ones who have spent ALL FREAKING DAY down on the corner, bouncing up and down with 4 x 8 foot Obama/Biden signs, chanting and shouting? (With, alas, many honking horns from the passing traffic?)

Don't they have JOBS? Or school to go to?

Oh, nevermind. My bad. They must be those folks Obama is going to give my 401k to after he confiscates it. You know, the ones who won't have to worry about paying their mortgage or putting gas in their car, 'cause they helped him get elected, you know.

Grrrr.

In other news... in 45 minutes or so I will go pick up the pizza and head over to Ith's, where we will either celebrate or cry in our beer. And then we will get up and go to work tomorrow morning, as usual, because SOMEBODY has to work and pay the taxes to support those corner-warmers.

Does This Mean Those Commercials Are Over Now?

If I'd had to watch the Hildabeast or Obamaramalamading-dang on my TV one more time, somebody was going to get hurt. Thank heaven we now have a break....

Ever since November 2004, the church ladies at my polling place have been serving cookies and coffee. That election day, the line went clear across the parking lot, and it was nearly an hour wait.

Today, there was no line... but they still served cookies. Nice church ladies.

Because of all the hoo-ha about electronic voting... my county has gone back to paper ballots. And not even the old punch ballots. These ballots were sort of a fill-in-the-arrow-with-the-pen thing. Returns will be late and slow in coming. But at least there will be no arguments about chads or hacked voting machines. (I wonder if those pens in the booths had eraseable ink...?)

I held my nose and voted, and then voted "no" on all the propositions.

Then I went to the dentist, and while he stabbed me with the novocaine needle, he told me he had voted 2 weeks ago by mail, and somehow he was not at surprised when I listed some of the candidates on my ballot.

Oddly enough... I find Republicans almost everywhere I go in this town. So how come we can't field a candidate who will stay in town long enough to run against our congress-critter, that moron who has never even held a real job?

Inside Infomation

I have friends here in California, a couple whose son works right in the White House. (They shall remain anonymous, unless they choose to out themselves in the comments here.)

Tuesday night at 10:30 California time, “Son” called, having just gotten home in Washington. “Mom” had gone to bed earlier, in the interests of keeping her eyes covered and her fingers in her ears, so to speak, because the false news reports (i.e. the alleged exit polls) were just too depressing, so “Dad” was watching the results by himself.

“Son” gave a fascinating insider account of the mood inside the White House, from depressed to giddy. The President actually canceled some planned campaign stops in Ohio, and they kept getting word that his arrival time back in Washington had been pushed back several times, getting earlier and earlier. Since it looked like Kerry was going to win with a landslide, there just didn’t seem to be any point in making those last few stops.

And then the REAL election returns started coming in. Needless to say, the mood changed!

I did not hear whether “Son” spent any of the time in the presence of the President, or whether he was just with fellow staffers.

Fun when you know people who know people in high places.

This ‘n’ That

First, since I am a well-brought-up and well-mannered CrankyBeach, credit where credit is due.

Kudos to John Kerry for not dragging this out to ridiculous proportions, and for being a bigger man than Algore was 4 years ago.

A huge THANK YOU to the good people of Ohio. You know who you are.

Last night was a blast. Ith, Nin, Eclectra and I met over at VRWC HQ (that would be Ith and Nin’s new home) for hot dogs. Ith’s brother and one of Nin’s co-workers joined us. Then we walked over to Fred’s, where he and Jim were holding down the fort, for either the victory party or the support group, depending on how it turned out. Nin made great inroads in Fred’s scotch supply while Ith and Eclectra worked on the red wine. Eclectra and I between us killed off most of a bowl of caramelized popcorn (I swear they spray that stuff with Addict-o). Ith and Nin kept running upstairs to check the computer, while the rest of us chewed our nails in front of the TV. Nin told the story–I kid you not–of two co-workers who had actually said, “I’m too busy to vote today. I’ll go vote tomorrow.”

Some highlights:

–When they FINALLY called Ohio and moved Bush to within 1 electoral vote.
–Ith standing up and doing an uncannily accurate imitation of John “My Little Pony” Edwards with his dorky-looking repeated fist-pumping.
–Everyone discussing with great glee what Te-RAY-zuh must be doing right about then, i.e. soiling her Depends.
–The pronouncement, agreed upon by all, that the one thing that could make victory even sweeter would be the announcement that Michael Moore had been found on the floor, his head having exploded after he heard Bush won.
–Ith declaring that she was NOT going to go off quietly into victory, she was going to GLOAT, because we STOMPED the libs but good and we will grind them under our feet! (Whew! Remind me not to ever get on her bad side!)

Ahh, Victory Wednesday is sweet.

About Bloody Time.

The AP is reporting that Kerry has called Bush to concede.

Time to turn on the TV and see what’s going on. More later.

DAG’s update

DAG has weighed in again. For those who missed it, here is his official prediction from Halloween:

Bush will win with 322 electoral votes and a popular vote victory of 3 plus million.
Bush will win with 51.5%. Kerry with 47.5.

And here is his Wednesday morning commentary:

Just for the record, I am forwarding an email I sent on Halloween to one of my political contacts. Speaks for itself. I missed on the EV because I believed NJ, Penn and Wisconsin would go for Bush. Close, but no cigar.

When did I really know Bush would best Kerry? In August, when I saw Kerry throw out the 1st pitch @ a Red Sox game. He bounced it to the plate! Compare this to the Bush 1st pitch @ Yankee Stadium after 9/11. Arnold had a term for this. America loves a strong leader. Kerry fell short.

Next clue? Fahrenheit 9/11. Michael Moore activated the ardent and only the ardent dems—that is it. It did not resonate with main stream America. I saw the file. Pure blather and a big lie.

Thank God for flyover country. Think about it. Bush wins by 3.5 million votes after spotting Kerry 2 million votes in CA and NY! Moreover, Bush withstood absolutely every piece of BS tossed at him by the print and TV establishment. Goodbye NY times, as far as political influence. Pubs also pick up seats in the House and Senate.

Who is your daddy now?
It was a fun night for common sense.

Next comes the blather about Hillary.

What I wouldn’t give for just one hour on the radio today….

How about that. I am one of DAG’s “political contacts.”

Now if John Effing Kery would just admit that it’s over, we could all get on with our lives.

Nothing Else Matters

This entry will stay at the top of the page until the polls close in Hawaii. Read it, e-mail all your “undecided” friends and tell them to read it, and then scroll down for the other stuff.

While huffing and puffing on the torture-me machine at the gym, trying not to watch the televisions, because I’m in news overload (will somebody please just medicate me until it’s over?) into the corner of my eye intruded something about yet another poll. The question had to do with what issues people felt most strongly about going to the polls–i.e. national security, health care, the economy, etc.

In a perfect world, we could worry all day long about health care and the economy. A CrankyBeach Clue-Bat^TM upside the head to those economy and health care voters. Get your nose out of your navel and think of something bigger for a change. If national security fails, there will be no economy or healthcare to worry about!

Ask the people who had to choose between fire and a long death drop what matters more. Ask the people who sacrificed their lives aboard Flight 93 and thus saved the White House or the Capitol. Ask any of the 3000 souls who departed this earth that day.

And then go vote your conscience.

Well...

… just spoke to someone I know very well (will not mention who, to protect the guilty). This person just did a lot of graphic reading on partial birth abortion, and is now having “buyer’s remorse” over having voted for John “all abortion, all the time” Kerry, who had the unmitigated gall to go to Mass this morning, after having taken plenty of donation money from the top partial birth abortion purveyors in the country.

Now this person could not have held her nose hard enough to vote for Bush either… but she regrets voting for Kerry. A little late… but better late than never, we hope, in anticipation of a Bush victory tonight…

Un. Freaking. Believable.

After having driven past the polling place twice, with the parking lot jammed both times, I finally headed over to vote at about 2:45. The lot was still jammed, so I just parked at home and walked over.

45 minutes I waited in line.

That is a first, in 22 years of voting at this polling place. Everyone in line was saying the same thing, that we’ve never seen it like this. Usually, we’re right in and right back out again.

When we got up near the door, we discovered the church ladies had baked cookies and put them out. Nice!

Nobody in the line mentioned a party affiliation or a voting preference… but the guy behind was telling the other guy about a friend who had been on unemployment for 2 years, being very picky about what job he would take, because the government had made it possible. “It wasn’t a safety net anymore,” he said, “it was a hammock.” He also said, what do you want to bet, no matter who wins, all of a sudden, there will be amazingly good news out of Iraq?

Sound like a Republican to you?

And when it was all over, my ballot had chocolate chip cookie crumbs on it. I hope that doesn’t invalidate it.

Turnout

I drove by the polling place on another errand… and the parking lot was JAMMED, with cars circling.

At 11 o’clock in the morning.

Interesting.

DAG weighs in…

… at long last, with his election prediction (it’s about time, pal!) but he wouldn’t post it himself, so I’m doing it.

Here it is:

Bush will win with 322 electoral votes and a popular vote victory of 3 plus million.
Bush will win with 51.5%. Kerry with 47.5.

Would it be sacrilegious to say, “From DAG’s lips to God’s ear?”

A Possible Explanation?

Local friend and frequent commenter Bill has pointed out a possible reason why his (heave) namesake, the impeached former president, is out campaigning for John Effing Kerry, when a (heave) Kerry win would not seem to be in the Clintons’ best interests:

Take a deep breath…
“Chief Justice Hillary Rodham Clinton”.

I have heard that elsewhere. Bloody scary thought, eh?
Just remember… get out and VOTE, because if it ain’t close, they can’t cheat!

Huh?

Just heard from a family member that another relative (who shall remain unnamed) HATES George W. Bush, and one of the things she has against him is that the Bushes are “rich.”

Wha-wha-whaaaaaat?

Need we even mention the gigolo who’s running against Bush? The one whose tax rate was certainly less than mine, at a tiny fraction of the income, and probably less even than my relative, whose own present income level is not even a spit in the ocean compared to the gigolo’s?

Not only that… this relative is aggressively pursuing wealth herself, aspiring to a lifestyle to which she would like to become accustomed, and knowing that the only way to achieve that is to make lots and lots of money.

Can you say “cognitive dissonance?”

This, folks, is what we are up against.

I think I need more coffee.

Ignorance Isn't Bliss.

I’ve seen other writers commenting about the effort to “get out the vote” with little regard for whether the voters have the slightest idea what they are voting about.

I will confess… as a youngster, if I didn’t know anything about an issue or a candidate, I would often just flip a mental coin and punch the ballot. Nowadays, I abstain. For instance, I will not be voting for city council members because I have not followed city politics and I know nothing about the candidates or what they stand for (and against). Likewise, on the usual multitude of ballot propositions, any that I have not studied thoroughly, I will pass on.

Mallard Fillmore says it much better than I.

Heroes for Bush

The Bear is soliciting contributions to a blogburst wherein fictional heroes endorse Bush for president.

Okay. :)

Malcolm Reynolds here, captain of Serenity. I fought and lost a war against unification of all the planets into the Alliance. Now I hear this duh liou mahng John Kerry thinks some outfit called the United Nations can do a better job of defending freedom on the homeworld than the United States. He's wrong. I left the Alliance because of people like him. Now I live on the frontier, minding my own business and trying to fly under the Alliance radar. I have no home but Serenity, but I'm still free, and they can't take the sky from me. I believe in freedom, and so does George W. Bush. Don't let that hwoon dahn John Kerry take the sky from you. Vote for Bush. That's all for now. Serenity out.

UPDATE: Jayne has also endorsed Bush.

Waiting to hear from the rest of the Serenity crew.....

Polls, Shmolls

This reminds me of the definition of "is."

The Bear, Hindrocket at Powerline, Martin on the patio and Pejman all cite the latest Newsweek poll that has the candidates in a "dead heat," too close to call, with 48 percent of "all" voters preferring Bush to Kerry's 46 percent, and if they throw Nader's 1 percent over to Kerry, the difference becomes statistically insignificant.

It's not until the third paragraph (how many people actually read that far down?) that they admit among "likely" voters, the numbers are 50 percent Bush, 44 percent Kerry, 1 percent Nader.

Only in the lame-stream press is a 6-point lead a "dead heat." They do not mention the margin of error, but no poll I have ever seen had a 6-point margin of error. Only a poll where the difference lies within the margin of error can be "too close to call."

A dead heat? They wish.

Final thought: Until 2004, close only counted in horseshoes and hand grenades. Now, apparently, it counts when you're the political party that has an army of lawyers poised to challenge any result that's within the polling margin of error. Do you suppose they'll challenge if they WIN with a result within the margin of error? I'll give you 3 guesses, and the first 2 don't count.

Sunday update: The official Bush-Cheney campaign blog has a weekend pool round-up. All polls are of likely voters, all were taken between 10-13 and 10-16, and when averaged together, Bush has a 4 point lead.

So there. :)

Scary Stuff

Did y'all hear the lady from Arizona on Rush who was an alleged undecided voter, until she saw the third debate? She decided to vote for Kerry because even though both Bush and Kerry gave unsatisfactory answers on immigration (Bush answered the question, sort of, but Kerry dodged it altogether and answered something else), and though she thinks Kerry doesn't understand the immigration problem because he's not from a border state... Kerry looked presidential and spoke well.

Style trumps substance yet again.

Political Satire At Its Finest

The inimitable P.J. O'Rourke weighs in with some things the president should have said in last night's debate. (Hat tip: Dog Snot Diaries via Mad Mikey.)

Just a couple of P.J.'s points to whet your appetite:

(4) Speaking of jobs, Senator, how come every illegal immigrant who wades the Rio is able to find one in about 10 minutes? Meanwhile, your Democratic core constituency has been unemployed for years. Are your supporters lazy, Senator Kerry? Or are they stupid? Back when Clinton was president, did your supporters think they got their jobs at Burger King because Bill was sleeping with the cow?

(13) You say you're going to get our friends and allies to take a bigger role in Iraq. Senator Kerry, what friends and allies? You're a sophisticated fellow. You're well-traveled and speak French. Are there some countries out there that you know about and the rest of us have never heard of?

(14) Let me tell you something, Senator Kerry. I don't blame the U.N. for not supporting me in Iraq. The world is full of loathsome governments run by criminals, thugs, and beasts. When I mentioned "regime-change," hairy little ears pricked up all over the earth. Beads of sweat broke out on low, sloping brows. Blood-stained, grasping hands began to tremble. I had to put poor Colin Powell on the phone to various hyenas in high office and have him explain that America itself needed regime-change from 1992 to 2000. And we didn't bomb the fellow responsible, and we only impeached him a little. Secretary Powell had to tell Kim Jung Il, Robert Mugabe, and Jacques Chirac to quit worrying and look at Bill Clinton and realize the fate that awaits them is a lucrative lecture tour, a best-selling book, and many willing, plump young women.

Go read the whole thing here.

Code Words

Frank J has an intriguing list of "code words" to help people decipher what will be said in tonight's debate.

I just hope he doesn't decide to turn the list into a drinking game. There's not enough liquor in the world to cover that!

I added my own favorite in the comments. Bipartisan really means the Republicans rolled over and did what the Democrats wanted.

I'm an Eowyn Voter!

Okay, so I'm a bit late to the party on this one, but I think I can be forgiven, since my blog is only 8 days old.

For those not in the know, Katie explains what an Eowyn voter is.