We can always use a little good news.

Darryl delivers...

...the October polls, taken as a whole, support the idea that Murray would win with a 94.5% probability in an election held now. Here is the picture...

Pretty picture, isn't it?

From the "Credit where it's due" file.

When she's right, she's right. Christine O'Donnell...

"What I believe is irrelevant."

From the "Me too" file.

Gov. Chris Gregoire on Tuesday told reporters she supports I-1098, the income-tax initiative on the November ballot that targets high-wage earners.

Despite my typical antipathy for the modern initiative process, me too.

(Not) The truth.

Venture capitalist Nick Hanauer, via the NPI Advocate…

If it was true, what they say about taxes, then the best opportunities would be in the places with the least taxes... like Somalia. But it's not true, is it? Is it? It's not true. The best opportunities to create great wealth, in this country — and in the world — are in high-tax places.

OK, that last bit is the truth, but the first part? Nope.

Map of the day.

Via the New York Times...

This map shows each state re-sized in proportion to the relative influence of the individual voters who live there. The numbers indicate the total delegates to the Electoral College from each state, and how many eligible voters a single delegate from each state represents.

(It clicks a bunch bigger.)

Hat tip to Nicholas Beaudrot at Donkeylicious.

Ballot envy.

Jonathan Bernstein...

...we in Texas have the magic button that allows us to vote a straight ticket with one touch, and I believe, although I'm not certain, that it's a 100% partisan ballot.* We don't have any ballot measures. We do have judges, but they're partisan, so that's helpful.

Wow. No initiatives. Straight ticket voting. Partisan judicial races. Sounds a little bit like heaven to me.

Texas. A nice place to vote, but otherwise, I'm afraid, I wouldn't want to live there.

The truth.

Via Goldy...

The truth is, Rossi wrote the 2003-2005 state budget much in the same way that Dave Reichert caught the Green River Killer, in that he didn’t.

Yep, it's true.

Chart of the day

Via artistdogboy...

The question is…

…when will Christine O'Donnell host Saturday Night Live?

It's gotta happen, doesn't it?

As is my wont...

...an early AM random ten.

Paul Simon (as Jerry Landis) - Bigger And Better Things
Sheryl Crow - All I Wanna Do
Mary Gauthier - Wheel Inside The Wheel
Bob Wills & His Texas Playboys - Texas Blues
Grateful Dead - Me & My Uncle (12-31-73)
Dead Kennedys - Let's Lynch The Landlord
Amos Lee - Keep It Loose, Keep It Tight
Fats Domino - Before I Grow Too Old
Dwight Twilley Band - Look Like An Angel
Bullmoose Jackson - Keep Your Big Mouth Shut

The Paul Simon tune, with Simon using his Tom & Jerry era moniker, is a classic bit of teen angst, worth tracking down.

Chart(s) of the day.

Via Paul Rosenberg at Open Left...

Joe Biden knows...

...real men wear purple!



At least smart pols do when they appear on campus at UW-Tacoma. Okay, it's kinda bluish on my monitor, too, but Andrew was there in person for the NPI Advocate, and he says Joe was sporting Husky colors. It's one of those contrivances you've got to appreciate.

Anyway, Andrews got some coverage of the Vice President's praise for both of our Democratic Senators during his visit on behalf of Senator Murray's re-election campaign. We've truly got a pair to be proud of!

(Personal to Andrew and the NPI gang - the shirt is great! Thanks!)

The truth…

…about Patty Murray, according to the Seattle Times...

The truth about Murray is she delivers for Washington and the Northwest.

According me, too.

Congrats for the endorsement, Senator!

Something to think about…

…if you're wondering whether elections matter. Todd S. Purdum in Vanity Fair...

...it’s an interesting thought experiment to imagine what the first two years of a McCain-Palin partnership in the White House might have produced. There would probably have been no stimulus bill, and the country’s economic condition would be no better (and probably worse). General Motors and Chrysler would have been allowed to go bankrupt rather than helped to emerge into a state of healthiness, as they may well be doing. There would have been no significant new regulation of the financial industry. The Bush tax cuts for those Americans with the highest incomes—something McCain had opposed before reversing himself—would have been extended. There would have been only modest health-insurance reform, at best—McCain’s proposals were Republican boilerplate and meant for use in the campaign, never a serious program. Perhaps there would have been greater progress on immigration, though McCain had already abandoned that issue, and it’s easier to imagine his taking the more nativist stance he has since adopted. There would be no Supreme Court justices Kagan and Sotomayor, but there would likely be two more conservative justices, and the days of Roe v. Wade would be numbered. There would be no troop drawdown in Iraq. The United States might well have bombed or blockaded Iran in response to that country’s flawed election last year, or in response to its nuclear program. There would have been serial feuds between aides to the president and vice president, but the fact that Vice President Palin had an independent power base, far larger and more enthusiastic than McCain’s own, would have limited what President McCain could do about it. The “Ground Zero mosque” dispute would probably have arisen anyway, and McCain might have been hard put to do anything but side with the opponents. The Palin-family soap opera would now be daily fodder for the national press rather than mainly the tabloids. Like Obama, President McCain would probably have been asked to give the commencement address at Arizona State University. Unlike Obama, he would probably have been awarded an honorary degree.

Yep, they matter.

What you do for the next three weeks matters, too. We dodged a bullet in '08, but they're sending artillery with air support this time, but we can still win this battle on the ground. Get out there and get out the vote.

What we want...

…or, apparently, don't. The former half-term governor of Alaska says she'll run for President if the American people want her to. Guess she's not running. Via Salon...

According to a new CBS poll, America really doesn't care for Sarah Palin. She is viewed favorably by 22% of Americans, and unfavorably by 48%. Those are not great numbers for a potential 2012 candidate.

Does not great = not running? Well, yeah, unless she's lying. Of course, she's a Republican, so...

What we have.

A reminder from Dave Johnson...

We have: Work that really, really needs doing. People that really, really need work. Borrowing money is really, really cheap.

Really.

Quote of the day.

Bill Maher, via Blatherwatch...

“There really isn’t extremism on both sides [of the political spectrum]. That’s a canard.” The left, he says, "moved to the center, and the right moved into a mental institution."

Unfortunately, they seem to have gotten ahold of the keys to the ward.

Chart of the day.

Via Meteor Blades...


40% of the population has been pushed right off the economic map. I don't see how we can preserve our democracy if we don't address this glaring and growing disparity. We face no greater threat.

Be sure to check out Meteor Blade's post for more information and instructive analysis.