I have resisted thus far writing about Ted Haggard, preferring to wallow happily in the schadenfreude of it all. The drug use, the closeted homosexuality, the solicitation of prostitution — a life of hypocrisy, of empty moralism, of fear and self-loathing. And then the initial denials and subsequent admissions. And now the confession. It's such a good story, if a … [Read more...] about Haggard’s homosexual horror

If Republicans do hold the house and Senate tomorrow part of the reason will be attributed to President George Bush's last minute campaigning -- but a new poll shows seeing Bush on the stump hasn't been endearing to many Americans:President Bush's popularity has dipped to 35 percent, according to a new CNN poll, with 41 percent of likely voters saying their disapproval of his … [Read more...] about Bush’s Approval Rating Sags Again

Kiko's House is having guest blog posts for five days to mark a "special" Veterans' Day that comes within the context of the increasingly complicated and difficult Iraq War. Shaun Mullen explains:There has never been a Veterans Days like the one we will "celebrate" on November 11. He further explains why then adds:Over the next five days, Kiko's House will publish commentaries … [Read more...] about A Special Week On A Blog Marking Veterans’ Day

THE FINAL PREDICTIONS Dear loyal readers, What a wild ride it's been! As the midterm madness of 2006 draws to a close, the Crystal Ball is reminded just how quickly the facts of our politics can change. Just last year, we and many others wrote in awe of the 21st Century structural obstacles Democrats faced in putting a sizeable number of GOP-held seats in play. We even … [Read more...] about Sabato’s Crystal Ball Election Eve 2006

NOTE: This was run late yesterday. Due to some of the issues it raises, it's being run today out of order. Newer posts are located BELOW this post — so please continue to scroll down after you read it. I won't pretend I'm something I'm not. I am a lifelong moderately liberal Democrat. And my "team" has always been the party with the donkey insignia. That said, I am … [Read more...] about A Plea to Independents and Moderates

Some fascinating thoughts on this (is Rove REALLY a genius or is he overrated?) and more from The Local Crank. … [Read more...] about You Tube, Rough Campaigning & Karl Rove

Vice President Dick Cheney will be out hunting. … [Read more...] about If You’re In South Dakota On Election Day Cover Your Face

The Washington Post has another story that can be boiled down in a sentence: so much for stories of a week ago that the election was likely to be a Democratic blowout:Republicans seized on signs of movement in their direction yesterday as they unleashed a massive election-eve voter mobilization operation in an effort to stave off potentially substantial losses in the House and … [Read more...] about Both Parties Determined And Nervous As Race Tightens

Crescat Sententia, home of Will Baude and his army of minions, has moved. The new URL is http://www.crescatsententia.net. Because of the technicalities behind the move (his old domain was bought by another company), he can't post a notification at his old site, and needs to rely on word of mouth. Which I'm providing. Crescat is a spectacular blog, and deserves your patronage. … [Read more...] about Crescat Sententia

Once upon a time Hollywood made really big movies that didn't need stories-high gorillas or dinasaurs to be "big," movies that tackled issues or stories that would today (and even then) be deemed "noncommercial" — movies so big in running time that they required an intermission so movie-goers could answer the call of nature and buy even-then-overpriced food and … [Read more...] about DVD Review: “Reds – 25th Anniversary Edition”

From moderate cartoonist Tom Briscoe: … [Read more...] about Election 2006

With polls show what many consider to be a landmark mid-term election tightening, a new USA Today/Gallup poll contains for Democrats some good news amid yet another sign that a Democratic takeover of Congress is no longer a "given":A national USA TODAY/Gallup Poll finds remarkable parallels between the congressional elections Tuesday and the watershed elections in 1994 that … [Read more...] about USA Today/Gallup Poll: Democrats’ Lead Shrinks But It Looks Like 1994

Is it "robophone" calls bothering voters at inconvenient times pretending to be from Democrats? This is is something to watch... H/t Americablog UPDATED: According to Americablog, this is now happening in MANY CITIES. Read this, and this. … [Read more...] about The New GOP Political Weapon? (UPDATED)

Is it going to happen again? Will the Democrats snatch defeat from the jaws of victory? Two new polls:The contest for control of Congress has tightened in the days leading up to the Nov. 7 vote with the Democrats' margin narrowing, two polls showed. Democrats hold a 51 percent to 45 percent edge among likely voters, down from a 14-point margin two weeks ago, according to an … [Read more...] about Two New Polls: Election Now Narrows And May Be Nail Biter (UPDATED)

Riddle me this: What to Deval Patrick and Barack Obama uniquely share compared to other progressive Democrats (that would make them uniquely threatening from a conservative point of view), aside from being articulate Black politicians with demonstrated cross-over racial appeal? … [Read more...] about Obama and Patrick: Two (Black) Peas In a Pod

Women need to be more "sexually available." … [Read more...] about What We Learn From Ted Haggard

...he risks being questioned about specifics. Watch a dismayed Chris Matthews interviewing Ohio's Senator Mike DeWine attacking his opponent. … [Read more...] about When A Politician Attacks An Opponent

John Kenneth White, Professor of Politics at the Catholic University of America, says yes.It took thirty years to build the Reagan coalition. It has taken George W. Bush just two years to destroy it. Polls taken by Reuters/Zogby International on the eve of the 2006 midterm elections confirm this analysis. In each of the Senate and House races surveyed, key groups that once … [Read more...] about Are We Seeing “The End Of The Reagan Coalition?”

The last batch of MSNBC/McClatchy polls are in and there's at least some good news for the GOP: races are tightening and the party will keep the Senate. The poll shows the Democrats in the lead to take over the House. And it also shows that the ad that the Republican party ran in Tennessee in the battle against Democrat Harold Ford, Jr. for the Senate seat that was widely … [Read more...] about Poll: Republicans Will Lose House And Keep The Senate (UPDATED)

OK, now it's time for some election predictions. As usual, the last days of the campaign bring all sorts of weirdness (Haggard resignation, Saddam sentencing, Kerry comments, Bush pledging to keep Rummy, etc.) that have little net effect on actual votes. People usually make up their minds by a week or so before the election. That said, it's time to make some predictions about … [Read more...] about Election Predictions – Bring them on!