I think it may be time to put all of our efforts into Virginia and Missouri. Tennessee looks lost.

Honey, TN has been lost, but it sure didn't help anything when Ford put his foot in his a**...um, I mean, mouth.

When less than a mile from my house, I can find an anti-gay Ford supporter (with a cute little WWJD placard in her yard too!) and two pro-gay Corker supporters...you know things got offline LOONNNGGG time ago.

I hope Democrats know now they don't have to be bigots to win in the South. Remember that not too long ago an out lesbian won in a predominantly black district in Birmingham, AL, and she did it without one iota of support from her fellow Democrats or the national party.

For the love of God, can’t we just shut up with stupid comments until the 8th of November? These clowns are handing us a win with their arrogance and we are letting the talking heads out on their own. Just shut up until the 8th.

New Republican GOTV ad uses the "N" word. If you thought that the Harold Ford ad was over the top, wait until you see this one.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ps78MC7mfpA

can’t we just shut up

Umm, no.

Republicans will look to turn the verbal gaffe by John Kerry into their advantage by distracting the American public from the quagmire in Iraq. They will try to make Kerry and Democrats being unsupportive of the war and (gasp!) unpatriotic as the issue. If they persist in this charade, it's time to turn the table back on them.

I think it is correct to have Kerry lay low through the rest of the campaign - we don't want him to become the issue, and his visibility will only allow the GOP to captitalize on that.

However, if the Republicans continue to use Kerry's gaffe as an issue, then I would mount a media blitz highlighting the Bush administration's utter catastrophe in Iraq. It would go something like this:

"The Republicans would like to distract voters from their mess in Iraq by attacking a botched joke against the Bush administration." (no mention of Kerry)
"However, the truth is that they have created a catastrophe of historical proportions in Iraq by their own lies and incompetence. They lied about WMD's to invade Iraq. Their incompetence led them to underestimate the true costs in lives and money required to create a stable democracy in Iraq. Now they continue to lie about how the war is going, refusing to acknowledge that it has descended into a civil war, that more US troops are needed and for a longer time, and that the cost to US taxpayers will far exceed anything they've said publically."

Then it's time to bring out some hard hitting facts:
"The number US servicemen killed is ___. The number of US servicemen wounded is ___. The violence is rising and the toll for dead and wounded US servicemen has only risen sharply in the last few months."
"The US's own intelligence community has clearly stated that the US invasion and occupation of Iraq has created a more dangerous situation for the US. Iraq has become a hotbed for the training of Islamic terrorists."
"When the Bush administration invaded Iraq, they said the war would cost about ___. Today that figure stands at ____, with no end in sight."
"The Iraqi PM has all but admitted that the country is in civil war. Furthermore, his power base is tied to Muqtada al-Sadr, a vocal anti-US cleric whose militia is a major factor in accelerating the civil war." etc.

Let's not let the GOP take the high ground on this by deflecting attention. Bring it back to where it belongs, squarely on the shoulders the the lying and incompetent administration that took us into that war.

Somebody please tell me this: How EXACTLY was Kerry's alleged joke supposed to go before he "botched" it? It sure wasn't directed against George Bush; George Bush isn't in Iraq. The only people who are "stuck" in Iraq are volunteers. I've thought of this every way imaginable and can't figure it out. GO JOHN KERRY, KEEP TALKING!!!

Oh my sweet Jesus H. Christ. That is a scene from "Blazing Saddles" (only one of the funniest movies ever made). The sheriff is Cleavon Little. Some idiot moveon.org type threw that little message on the end and everyone is supposed to believe it came from Republicans. You people are sheep. And by the way, the black sheriff is the smartest guy in town. So much for this being a racist movie.

What's wrong with nationally prominent democrats on the Kerry issue? I too thought Kerry should have immediately apologized for any misunderstanding about his remark but why in H*ll are they legitimizing the Rush Limbaugh's, Sean Hannity's and Karl Rove's (in the person of GWB) phony claim that Kerry insulted the troops with public negative comments. Instead of distancing themselves from Kerry, they should be lining up to defend him. Every democratic senator in America should be saying "I know John Kerry, I know he would never disparage our troops, he was one of them. How dare a president who avoided combat and then needlessly sent 2800 troops to their deaths demand an apology from one of the few war heroes in the senate".
EVERY ONE of them should be making statements similar to that today instead of running with their tails tucked. It makes me ashamed to be a democrat!

I've been watching MSNBC since Monday and it appears to be serving as a mouthpiece for the Republican Party. They have operatives for the GOP most of the time but none most of the time from the Democratic Party. Don't you think you should ask for equal time? Is the inequality in caverage brought about by the fact that most TV hosts and commentators are at the receiving end of the Bush tax cuts and are fearful of the prospect of losing then should the Democrats win?

The first rule of this campaign seems to be that if a Democrat puts his/her foot anywhere near their mouth the Republicans will shove it in for them. Kerry should have known better. It was a dumb remark that in a non election year would have been blown off as another dumb Kerry remark. He should fire his speech writer, or if he wrote that speech himself, he should hire one.

I, most likely to vote for the democrat candidates in my state, but I wish that Democratic election campaign would consist of the actual program and not the blaming game that democratic party has been playing. That is why Kerry lost his presidential campaign, because it was difficult to understand his presidential program. Just something for the Democratic party to think about.

I for the life of me cannot understand why these elections are still so close. Has the country I love become even more of a facist state in my generation. I would have thought my peers would have been better educated then to believe the lies and propaganda.

OUR TROOPS UNDER ATTACK

Our troops in Iraq are under heavy attack. They
are being attacked by Iraqi terrorists. And, they
are being attacked by American politicians
... politicians from both parties.

A top Democrat, John Kerry, makes a joke implying
that our troops are not very smart.

And, a top Republican, John Boehner, blames our
generals for our problems in Iraq, implying that
our generals are not very smart.

Kerry apologized for his joke, and explained that
he botched a joke aimed at George Bush.

Boehner has refused to apologize for his
accusation.

I feel sorry for our generals. The big boss
under estimated the terrorist threat in Iraq,
under estimated the threat of sectarian
violence in Iraq, and then failed to send them
enough help. And then they get the blame for the
inevitable problems caused by the big boss's
mistakes.

And, I feel sorry for our troops. They are
paying a heavy price for the big boss's mistakes.

STUCK IN IRAQ

John Kerry is being bashed because he blew a
punch line.

When he made that joke, he was trying to make the
following point: Because George Bush failed to
do his homework, we are now stuck in Iraq. He
was not trying to insult the intelligence of our
troops.

Instead of bashing Kerry for a botched joke,
perhaps we should be asking the question: Did
George Bush do his homework?

Bush under estimated the terrorist threat in
Iraq, despite the fact that he went there to
fight terrorism. He under estimated the sectarian
violence, despite the fact that Iraq is composed
of three ethnic groups who dislike each other.
And he under estimated the number of troops needed
in Iraq, ignoring the advice of a number of his
top military people. As a result, there was no
adequate plan to win the peace in Iraq, and no
adequate means to secure that peace.

Apparently, George Bush failed to do his homework.

Perhaps, George Bush who should apologize to our
troops for that failure. They are paying a heavy
price because of it.

And so is our nation.

This issue boils down to the following: "botched
joke by John Kerry" versus "botched policy in
Iraq by George Bush".

And one last thought. If George Bush failed to
do his homework on Iraq, did he fail to do his
homework on how to combat the terrorist threat?

I HAVE NEVER SEEN ANYTHING LIKE THIS IN MY LIFE. THIS IS A NIGHTMARE, I CAN'T BELIEVE THAT OUR COUNTRY IS GOING DOWN SO FAST. WAKE UP!. CAN WE FORGET ABOUT CLINTON, THAT IS BILL, WHAT HE DID IN THE WHITE HOUSE AND LIED ABOUT IT. HIS WIFE IS GOING TO RUN FOR PRESIDENT, {GOD HELP US IF SHE WON} HAVE YOU FORGOT ABOUT HER AND BILL AND ALL THE THINGS THEY DID IN AR. THEN THERE"S THE KENEDY BOYS LESS WE FORGET. THE LAST ONE TEDDY WHO GETS UP IN THE SENATE AND ACTS AS THOUGH HE IS A ANGEL. I BELIVE HE LELT A GIRL IN A CAR TO DROWN AND NOT REPORT IT UNTIL THE NEXT DAY. IN MY BOOK THAT IS MURDER. ALL I CAN SAY IS GOD HELP US IF THE CHRISTIAN PEOPLE IN AMERICA VOTES FOR ONE DEMOCRAT IN THIS ELECTION YEAR. CANADA HAD BETTER BUILD A BIG FENCE IF THE DEMOCRATS TAKE OVER THIS COUNTRY, BECAUSE SMART PEOPLE WILL LEAVE THIS COUNTRY.

"I for the life of me cannot understand why these elections are still so close."

Here's an idea: we Democrats have trouble winning because it's perceived by many, correctly, that the Democratic Party doesn't stand for anything anymore.

We have made two big mistakes in the last twenty years: lost control of the language of debate, and lost a sense of "vision."

So, the Party, beginning at the local level perhaps, might think about getting serious on these two issues: get a grip on the language issue (i.e., what's wrong with "liberal"; what the heck is a "compassionate convervative"?) and achieving the "vision" thing. Best I've heard lately in this vein is "Common Good."

Cheers,

xlambert

The Drugstore Cowboy in Chief has come to the land of REAL cowboys to stump for Sen. Conrad Burns and Burnsie's clone in the House, Denny Rheburg. He spoke to a hand-picked crowd in Billings yesterday. Just what Montana needs, another clueless uber-rich out of stater telling us what to do.
Yeeeech!!!
BTW, "compassionate conservative" is an oxymoron. The two words can not be truthfully used in the same sentence.

I'm a florida resident and my zip code is 32174 and I do not know where to vote. could you please find out for me. Thank Yoou

I'm a florida resident and my zip code is 32174 and I do not know where to vote. could you please find out for me. Thank You

If everyone actually voted, or the votes were actually really all counted, there wouldn't be so many close elections - look at the polls!

I voted early last week in TX and I believe that I witnessed that the voting cards used in the Diebold machines have chips that can be read at a distance (making it very easy to vote many times, if you aren't aware of the security problems with this and set up to stop it). Diebold has been very tightlipped about their security system, because I think they don't have one!

Someone needs to get on the ball and let all election precincts with this equipment know that they need to take precautions against election fraud based on protecting against fraudulent use of these cards at a distance. I mean this needs to be done NOW before the elections tomorrow, so we aren't all crying on Wednesday, instead of celebrating. At least 12 of these cards have been stolen, and could be used fraudulently anywhere these machines are in use.