Paris Hilton

In an interesting move, the McCain campaign decided to try to turn the excitement driving huge crowds to Obama events into a liability. In the end, Obama was able to brand the tactic as "politics as usual" where all the other attempts.

No good act of journalism should go unpunished.

Two tests of each candidate: VP pick and economic crisis. Clinton's words --- rare to see candidates get to make two critical choices on one election campaign.

Contrast the handling of the economic crisis

The Palin pick:

Scarbrough reaction

Cafferty clip

TPM's Palin's greatest hits

SNL videos

Phony outrage and lipstick on a pig

Colin Powell endorsement

Obama and McCain roasting each other

The caustic

The 

From the Columbus Dispatch: 'GOP's grip on county suburbs slipping':

"Reynoldsburg went for Barack Obama on Tuesday, the first time in recent memory that the reliably Republican suburb turned to a Democrat for president.

Obama took Franklin County by winning nearly 100,000 more votes than John McCain did, powered by the huge margins piled up in Columbus precincts. But Obama also was aided by once-staunchly Republican suburbs that are becoming more politically diverse and shifting to Democrats, an analysis of Franklin County elections data shows."

Republican divisive political tactics and out-of-touch policies that we saw so much of in this election cycle are taking their toll in UA as well:

"In Upper Arlington, Bush defeated Democrat Al Gore by almost 5,000 votes in 2000. Four years later, Bush's victory margin dropped to 2,718. On Tuesday, the suburb went Republican by 886 votes.

Voters choose a candidate "more for what they see the issues are; party loyalty may be getting less firm," veteran Upper Arlington City Manager Virginia Barney said.

Barney said her city shares more similarities with Columbus neighborhoods such as Clintonville and Victorian Village, which leaned toward Obama, than with Hilliard, Grove City or Marysville, which stayed strongly Republican in Tuesday's election."

• Know before You Go: Double check the location of your polling station so you know where you are supposed to vote.
• Timing Is Everything: If you can, try to vote during mid-morning or early afternoon, when polls are usually at their least crowded.
• Proof Positive: Make sure you bring a form of ID with you, whether it’s a picture ID from Ohio (such as a driver's license, or state or military ID); OR one of the following with a current address: your utility bill, bank statement or pay stub.
• What to Wear: Campaign clothing is not allowed at polling places. If you do wear clothing or buttons supporting a candidate, don't worry. You can still vote if you cover up or take it off.
• Avoid the Double Bubble: When you vote, fill in the top oval for the Presidential candidate of your choice. Don't also write in the name at the bottom, because there is a risk that your ballot may not be counted on election night.
• Print and take a sample ballot with you to the polls.

What you need to know:

• Polls are open on Tuesday, November 4th from 6:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m.
• If you are in line when the polls close, stay in line -- you'll be able to vote.
• Some acceptable forms of ID are an OH driver's license, military ID, or utility bill.
• If you know you're registered, but they can't find your name on the rolls, you can still vote by provisional ballot.
• Don't leave the polls without voting, or calling 1-877-OBAMA-OH.

• Know before You Go: Double check the location of your polling station so you know where you are supposed to vote.
• Timing Is Everything: If you can, try to vote during mid-morning or early afternoon, when polls are usually at their least crowded.
• Proof Positive: Make sure you bring a form of ID with you, whether it’s a picture ID from Ohio (such as a driver's license, or state or military ID); OR one of the following with a current address: your utility bill, bank statement or pay stub.
• What to Wear: Campaign clothing is not allowed at polling places. If you do wear clothing or buttons supporting a candidate, don't worry. You can still vote if you cover up or take it off.
• Avoid the Double Bubble: When you vote, fill in the top oval for the Presidential candidate of your choice. Don't also write in the name at the bottom, because there is a risk that your ballot may not be counted on election night.
• Print and take a sample ballot with you to the polls.

What you need to know:

• Polls are open on Tuesday, November 4th from 6:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m.
• If you are in line when the polls close, stay in line -- you'll be able to vote.
• Some acceptable forms of ID are an OH driver's license, military ID, or utility bill.
• If you know you're registered, but they can't find your name on the rolls, you can still vote by provisional ballot.
• Don't leave the polls without voting, or calling 1-877-OBAMA-OH.

60,000 turn out for Obama rally in Columbus

Over 60,000 Ohioans turned out Sunday afternoon, November 2, for a campaign rally held on the west lawn of Ohio's state house in downtown Columbus. The whole Obama family -- Barack, Michelle, and their daughters Malia and Sasha -- made a final swing through the Buckeye State on the brink of Tuesday's Election Day.

Barack greeted the crowd with a reminder that voting is already underway in Ohio. "If you haven't voted yet, it would be a shame for you to come to a rally and not vote!" He pointed out that the early voting location in Franklin County is merely a few blocks from the state house and encouraged the rally-goers to take the opportunity after the rally to go vote. (Click here to learn more about early voting in Ohio.)

Barack urged those in attendance not to get complacent -- that there is still much work to be done in the next two days:

Don't believe for a second this election is over. Don't think for a minute that power concedes. We have to work like our future depends on it in these last few days, because it does.

But I know this, Ohio, the time for change has come. We have a righteous wind at our back.

And in these last couple of days, I need you to knock on some doors for me, and make some calls for me, and go to barackobama.com and find out where to vote - and remember, you can vote early here in Ohio. If you will stand with me, and fight by my side, and cast your ballot for me, then I promise you this - we will not just win Ohio, we will not just win this election, but together, we will change this country and we will change the world. Thank you, God bless you, and may God bless America.

Visit www.voteforchange.com to find out what you need to know to cast your vote and usher in a new era of change in this country. Click here to volunteer in your neighborhood on Election Day.

Over 60,000 Ohioans turned out Sunday afternoon, November 2, for a campaign rally held on the west lawn of Ohio's state house in downtown Columbus. The whole Obama family -- Barack, Michelle, and their daughters Malia and Sasha -- made a final swing through the Buckeye State on the brink of Tuesday's Election Day.

Barack greeted the crowd with a reminder that voting is already underway in Ohio. "If you haven't voted yet, it would be a shame for you to come to a rally and not vote!" He pointed out that the early voting location in Franklin County is merely a few blocks from the state house and encouraged the rally-goers to take the opportunity after the rally to go vote. (Click here to learn more about early voting in Ohio. Click here to see more photos from the rally.)

Visit www.voteforchange.com to find out what you need to know to cast your vote and usher in a new era of change in this country. Click here to volunteer in your neighborhood on Election Day.

A survey (by Democratic pollsters, to be sure) on what Republicans think about their party and its future.

• While a sizeable majority of voters say Republicans have lost in 2006 and 2008 because they have been "too conservative," a sizeable plurality of Republicans say, it is because they have "not been conservative enough."

• Over three-quarters of Republicans say Palin was good choice, while a majority of the electorate says the opposite.

• Two-thirds of Republicans say McCain has not been aggressive enough, but a majority of voters think they have been too aggressive.

• Looking to the future, a large majority of Republicans say the party needs to "move more to the right and back to conservative principles," while an even larger majority of all voters say, it should move to the "center to win over moderate and independent voters."

• Finally, almost 60 percent of Republicans say "if Barack Obama is elected, he will lead the country down the wrong path and Republicans should oppose his plans," while 70 percent of all voters say they "should give him the benefit of the doubt and help him achieve his plans.

A survey (by Democratic pollsters, to be sure) on what Republicans think about their party and its future.

• While a sizeable majority of voters say Republicans have lost in 2006 and 2008 because they have been "too conservative," a sizeable plurality of Republicans say, it is because they have "not been conservative enough."

• Over three-quarters of Republicans say Palin was good choice, while a majority of the electorate says the opposite.

• Two-thirds of Republicans say McCain has not been aggressive enough, but a majority of voters think they have been too aggressive.

• Looking to the future, a large majority of Republicans say the party needs to "move more to the right and back to conservative principles," while an even larger majority of all voters say, it should move to the "center to win over moderate and independent voters."

• Finally, almost 60 percent of Republicans say "if Barack Obama is elected, he will lead the country down the wrong path and Republicans should oppose his plans," while 70 percent of all voters say they "should give him the benefit of the doubt and help him achieve his plans.

By Alexander Zaitchik, AlterNet.

Posted November 1, 2008.

It must come as a surprise to the Republicans that the public favors Obama's style of wealth spreading by a whopping margin. John McCain and Joe the Plumber are campaigning for Barack Obama, and they don't even know it. The more McCain has ramped up his attacks on Obama as a "spreader of wealth," the more the country has lined up behind the Democrat's plan to spread the wealth. If McCain's economic agenda was a gun and his attacks on Obama's agenda the bullets, the old soldier would have shot both his feet clean off a long time ago.

Watching the GOP's coordinated if increasingly delirious attacks on Obama's economic plan, it's clear that the party is even further out of touch with the America of 2008 than previously imagined. After eight years of establishing and then extending America's lead as the most unequal of all industrialized countries, Republicans thought they could deflect a national groundswell of righteous anger by dusting off and hurling every insult in the conservative arsenal, including old favorites "extremist," "radical," "Marxist" and "socialist." One suspects they are saving "anarchist" and "Hessian" for McCain's last-gasp speech on Monday.

But a funny thing happened on the way to the Republican hammer-and-sickle-themed haunted house: Nobody showed. The McCain campaign's attempts to smear Obama as a Trojan donkey for socialistic un-Americanism have belly-flopped, if not backfired. Obama has not only maintained a stable lead under the Republican barrage, he has increased his positives in the traditionally Republican territory of taxes.

Read the rest of the story.

By Alexander Bolton
TheHill.com

Police departments in cities across the country are beefing up their ranks for Election Day, preparing for possible civil unrest and riots after the historic presidential contest.

Public safety officials said in interviews with The Hill that the election, which will end with either the nation’s first black president or its first female vice president, demanded a stronger police presence.

Some worry that if Barack Obama loses and there is suspicion of foul play in the election, violence could ensue in cities with large black populations. Others based the need for enhanced patrols on past riots in urban areas (following professional sports events) and also on Internet rumors . . .

Political observers such as Hilary Shelton and James Carville fear that record voter turnout could overload polling places on Election Day and could raise tension levels.

Read the rest of the story.