So says a survey conducted by the International Council of Shopping Centers and Goldman Sachs. Does that fact make the Wal-Mart worker’s death at the feet of shoppers last Friday any more tragic? Either way it was a senseless death. But there seems to be something qualitatively different between a parent looking to capitalize on low prices so they can see a child’s eyes light up on Christmas morning and someone just looking to pimp-out their living room with a bigger flat-screen TV. As...

Maureen Dowd strikes fear into the hearts of writers: Indians are writing about everything from the Pasadena Christmas tree-lighting ceremony to kitchen remodeling to city debates about eliminating plastic shopping bags. “In brutal terms,” said Macpherson, whose father was a typesetter, printer and photographer, “it’s going to get to the point where saving the industry may require some people losing their jobs. The newspaper industry is coming to a General Motors moment —...

I’m seeing a lot of petitions going around here on the East coast in reaction to Prop 8, which banned gay marriage in California, most with vague calls to “repeal Prop 8″ and no specific indication of how or even to whom the petition will ultimately be sent. Young liberals are fired up and ready to fight for gay rights, but for the most part the movement seems directionless and unorganized. There’s something about the intense focus on Prop 8 that bugs me, though. I agree with...

FDR had his fireside chats, Obama will have YouTube. His administration plans to bring government into the 21st century in a big way. From the Washington Post: Today, President-elect Obama will record the weekly Democratic address not just on radio but also on video — a first. The address, typically four minutes long, will be turned into a YouTube video and posted on Obama’s transition site, Change.gov, once the radio address is made public on Saturday morning. In addition to regularly...

One of the untold stories about the effects of U.S. involvement in the Middle East has been the escalating power struggle between Iran and Saudi Arabia for control of the region. At the height of the insurgency in Iraq, for instance, Saudi Arabia—a supposed U.S. ally—was funneling money and volunteers to the Sunni insurgency to undermine the Maliki government, which it feared could become too susceptible to Iranian influence. The insurgency was prolonged by both countries funding militants...

The NY Times said essentially what I said about how this election defined a generation, only they, of course, said it earlier and better: These young voters and those slightly older, who together may forever be known as Generation O, were the ground troops of the campaign. They opened hundreds of Obama offices in remote areas, registered voters and persuaded older relatives to take a chance on the man with the middle name Hussein. They saw in Mr. Obama, 47, who was born at the tail end of the baby...

This is coming from Dave Barry, so I’m not entirely sure it’s legitimate, but then again, Ben Smith over at Politico seemed to take it seriously, so I blame my gullibility on him. Apparently, Obama was once a member of the “Lawn Rangers” a group that “wowed the Midwest corn-festival circuit with their synchronized mowing maneuvers, broom tossing and plunger wagging.” I’ll let Dave Barry explain. As you may know, I am a veteran member of the world-famous...

President-elect Obama has hit the ground running and is already preparing plans to close Guantanamo Bay, a move championed by legal scholars (aka elitist terrorist-lovers in some circles) from both parties. But what to do with the detainees? Under plans being put together in Obama’s camp, some detainees would be released and many others would be prosecuted in U.S. criminal courts. A third group of detainees — the ones whose cases are most entangled in highly classified information —...

The New Hampshire State Senate became the first legislative body in the country to have a majority female membership on Tuesday. Thirteen of the 24 seats are now held by women. History being made all around.

The day after the election, I received an e-mail from my father: “Congratulations to you and your generation. The torch has been passed.” Obviously he didn’t mean in terms in governance. Although a torch has been passed in that sense, my generation wasn’t the recipient; I’m 26, and Obama is closer to a Baby Boomer than a Millennial (or Generation Y, or whatever we’re supposed to be called). But for all the election of the first African-American symbolized, it...

CNN has an interesting post-election interview with Colin Powell, whose endorsement of Obama grabbed headlines a few weeks ago. Keep in mind that this is a man who has been to war, who broke barriers of his own as a general, as Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and as Secretary of State. His public persona, even in politics, has been that of a stoic warrior. But upon hearing that Obama was the president-elect of the United States, he reacted the way many Americans reacted last night: He wept. Video...

With Obama having an incredibly strong polling day and FiveThirtyEight now projecting his win percentage at 98.1% today, perhaps we shouldn’t be asking if Obama will win tomorrow, but when. Nate Silver, Doug Mataconis at Donklephant, and the Swing State Project have all provided useful guides for hour-by-hour poll closings. Here’s what you should watch for (all times Eastern, and although there are some very interesting Senate races, I only focused on the McCain-Obama match up): 6:00...

Here’s Palin defending her attacks on Obama’s associations with Ayers, Wright, etc., and blaming the media for portraying comments like “he pals around with terrorists” as negative: “If [the media] convince enough voters that that is negative campaigning, for me to call Barack Obama out on his associations, then I don’t know what the future of our country would be in terms of First Amendment rights and our ability to ask questions without fear of attacks by the...

When Obama hit his peak numbers a week or two ago, conventional wisdom said the race would tighten somewhat as we got closer to the election. But as has happened so many times this year, conventional wisdom has turned out wrong, so far. Above is an aggregate of all national polls taken this year. While McCain seems to be improving from his nadir of two weeks ago, we haven’t seen a corresponding drop in Obama’s numbers. They remain steady above 50%, and if anything continue to improve....

John McCain is apparently set on continuing his current socialism-themed attack on Obama based on “newly-discovered” comments Obama made in 2001 while discussing the civil rights movement on NPR. The line of attack can basically be summed up with the headline Drudge is running right now: “2001 Obama: Tragedy That ‘Redistribution of Wealth’ Not Pursued By Supreme Court.” Now, there’s taking quotes out of context, and there’s just making stuff up, and...

Whether you’re voting for McCain or Obama, stories like this have got to make you proud of what this election represents for those Americans who fought and died for civil rights not that long ago. A story from an African-American early voter: For me the most moving moment came when the family in front of me, comprising probably 4 generations of voters (including an 18 year old girl voting for her first time and a 90-something hunched-over grandmother), got their turn to vote. When the old...

Sarah Palin and John McCain elaborated on their definition of “elitist” in an interview last night with Brian Williams: WILLIAMS: Who is a member of the elite? PALIN: Oh, I guess just people who think that they’re better than anyone else. And– John McCain and I are so committed to serving every American. Hard-working, middle-class Americans who are so desiring of this economy getting put back on the right track. And winning these wars. And America’s starting to reach...

Sarah Palin doesn’t seem to be coping very well with the idea that people in some parts of the country don’t think she’s qualified to be VP and, quite frankly, don’t like her very much: “We believe that the best of America is not all in Washington, D.C. We believe” — here the audience interrupted Palin with applause and cheers — “We believe that the best of America is in these small towns that we get to visit, and in these wonderful little pockets...

Pretty good performances by both, and it’s refreshing to see them roast each other lightheartedly the day after a heated debate. My favorite line was from Obama: “Most people don’t know this, but Barack is Swahili for ‘that one.’” Watch them both if you have a few minutes. Obama: McCain:

Which party controls the U.S. House of Representatives? Who is the current Secretary of State? Who is Great Britain’s prime minister? Only 18% of people answered all three of those questions correctly when they were posed in a survey by Pew Research Center for the People & the Press. That so few people would get answer all three correctly sadly isn’t that surprising. We’ve seen surveys before suggesting most Americans can name more American Idol judges than rights guaranteed...

If this debate proved anything, it’s that most political pundits don’t have the foggiest idea what they’re talking about. I popped over to Politico’s roundup of reactions, and the consensus is that McCain did great, even if it wasn’t a game changer. But look at the post-debate snap polls: Mediacurves: 60% of Independents say Obama won; 30% say McCain; 10% called it a tie CBS: 53% of voters say Obama won, 22% say McCain CNN: 58% of voters say Obama won, 31% say McCain We’ve...

Observers who claim Obama’s success is only because of luck and a bad economy are seriously underestimating his skills as a politician. What Democrat, other than Obama, could have turned one of the most successful Republican talking points of the last 30 years completely on its head. Take a look at this nugget from the latest CBS poll showing Obama with a 14-point lead: Which candidate will raise your taxes? Respondents, by 51% to 46%, say it’s McCain. Now compare that with a Gallup poll...

Nate Silver points to a recent survey suggesting Obama is well ahead in the early and absentee votes cast so far in five states polled: New Mexico (+23%), Ohio (+18%), Georgia (+6%), Iowa (+34%), and North Carolina (+34%). For a little historical perspective: “Early voters leaned Republican in both 2000 and 2004; with Bush earning 62.2 percent of their votes against Al Gore, and 60.4 percent against John Kerry.” There’s obviously a large enthusiasm gap between the two parties, and...

I’ve got to say, Campbell Brown has impressed me with her willingness to say what other journalists have only been thinking this election season. First, she called out the McCain campaign for shielding Palin from the press “like a delicate flower who will wilt at any moment.” And her latest commentary addresses the bigotry against Arabs and Muslims popping up at McCain rallies. Last week a supporter told McCain she didn’t trust Obama because he was an Arab, to which McCain...

Remember earlier in the year when Obama was accused of playing the race card for predicting Republicans would try to scare voters into thinking “he’s not like us.” A lot of people are now giving him credit for his prescience, but honestly how hard is it to predict McCain’s game plan when he’s relying on the same playbook that Republicans have used the last two elections? McCain has one last Hail Mary option that might work. He can fire Steve Schmidt and all other reminiscences...