"You have to earn the presidency, it shouldn't be a cakewalk."

--Barack Obama

I just don't believe that MN is actually that close. I'm not going on faith, I just think with the tight Senate race that Obama is probably doing better than the recent polls suggest.

Like i said before, Obama has a better shot at Florida than Ohio. Ohio is too blue collar to go blue. I'll put my money in Florida than Ohio.

I am sending the campaign another $50 just for Florida alone.

This is only a glimpse of what's coming. The work must continue.

Florida and Colorado could be the ones that seal the deal for Obama (along with Virginia). Michigan are Wisconsin are consolidating and Minnesota will end up blue. The only concern probably is the tightening in Pennsylvania and, of course, that enigma that is Ohio.

Thank god that Iowa and New Mexico are almost signed, sealed and delivered. North Carolina could be the real surprise here.

Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin, who has not held a press conference in nearly four weeks of campaigning, on Tuesday banned reporters from her first meetings with world leaders, allowing access only to photographers and a television crew.
CNN, which was providing the television coverage for news organizations, decided to pull its TV crew, effectively denying Palin the high visibility she had sought. ...

The campaign told the TV producer, print and wire reporters in the press pool that follows the Alaska governor that they would not be admitted with the photographers and camera crew taken in to photograph the meetings. At least two news organizations, including The Associated Press, objected and were told that the decision was not subject to discussion.

Bravo, CNN. It's about fucking time.

These numbers may be why McCain is holding his first press conference since since August 13.

Clinton supporters, please remember the most important thing:

Democratic control of the White House will give us the appointment power over the entire Executive branch, the federal courts, and the regulatory agencies.

Who do you think is going to appoint more women (and progressive women) to these essential jobs? We know who McCain will appoint - the same old frat boy Republicans.

Let's get behind our candidate and win!

Wow. I thought MN and WI were stronger for Obama that what it shows here. He really can't afford to lose either one of those states. If the primaries are any indication, Obama should perform about 3% better in the final vote tallies than in the polls for the midwestern states. So he's ahead, but let's hope it get bigger. Republicans will steal those states if the difference is slim.

Obama has to hold MI, WI, MN, and IA (very safe). I think he's going to win VA. NH won't go red.

He won't need FL, OH, NV. CO, or NM.

The right wing evangelicals and such did not deliver Ohio to Bushie in 04,,,,,,,, Secy of State Ken Blackwell's voter supression machine, esp in NE Ohio did that.
Blackwell's gone now, but his machine is very much in operation,,,,, bring on the legal beagles and poll watchers, and keep that voting equipment and ballots under keen eye and lock and key days before and days after the election until results are certified. Voter registration funny business is already in full swing and needs to be kept up with as well.
Kerry 'won' Ohio,,,,, he just backed off going to court to verify it,,,,,, that should never happen again.

With the first debate on a Friday night, it's gonna be even less consequential.

I try not to think about it too much, but it really will be a relief to know that a President Obama will restore sanity to the federal judiciary as well as the entire executive branch.
Oh, and we can bring back sound science as well.

I'm not afraid of the socialism tag, it's the $2500 for Wall St. FatCats that I'm worried about being tagged with. It's the soundbite that bites. If this bill passes w/o restrictions on CEO pay/parachutes, it's a bludgeon that will be used, with some significant success, I believe.

I think that the Democrats should slow things down and make sure that both get this right (whatever exactly that means) and make sure that we don't hand McCain another (and probably last) chance to escape from the quicksand.

I actually am worried about these numbers. It is part of a pessimism about Obama's chances.

Here's the thinking that makes these numbers look bad for him:

1.) Undecided voters are largely independents.

2.) On the recent polls of latent or not so latent racist framing, independents look more like Republicans than Democrats.
http://news.yahoo.com/page/election-2008-political-pulse-obama-race

3.) Thus, McCain in the end will take far more, around or even more than 60%, of a group with this feature, the independents, than Obama will.

4.) Given the size of the number of undecideds, McCain is on track to win Florida and Minnesota. He is in striking distance, a point or less, in Michigan.

5.) Plus Ohio has been polling steadily for McCain. Pennsylvania on pollster .com is 47.4 to 45.1 Obama, but with an average of more than 5% undecideds. So Pennsylvania too could well be a McCain win as well on this theory.

That's a lot of potential battleground states going the wrong way.

Let's hope that this effect is not as powerful as I fear it may be. Off to write a check for Obama in hopes that this will soothe my concern and then try to think about something else.

I live in Michigan and it won't be that close.