(left: image by Matt Brunson. Click on the picture to read our post explaining how they’re the Fantastic Four)
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***REMINDER: Today is the last day to vote early in Georgia***
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“Yes We Carve“
By the way, there’s a whole website dedicated to Obama-themed Pumpkins. Click here.
How to carve a McCain pumpkin: click here.
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Hamilton County Donor Update
NewsChannel9’s Kim Fields found this info online:
McCain:
# of Contributors: 493
Amount Donated: $265,972.00
Average contribution: $539.50
Obama:
# of Contributors: 1189
Amounted Donated: $233,556.00
Average contribution: $196.43
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McCain’s Closing Ad: ‘Freedom’
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Obama in Iowa
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“Or???“
Above: McCain with GMA’s Robin Roberts. What do you think he means?
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Gore Stumps in His ‘Waterloo’ State
Above: Al Gore in West Palm Beach, Florida today.
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An Unforced Error
From the LA Times:
“On Thursday at a rally in Erie, Pa., Sarah Palin touted the victors in the World Series to thousands of supporters. “I am thrilled to be here in the home state of the world-champion Philadelphia Phillies,” Palin said.
The crowd booed.
Philadelphia is a seven-hour drive from Erie, which is in the state’s far west. Erie’s baseball devotions are split between the Pittsburgh Pirates and the Cleveland Indians. (Pittsburgh and Cleveland are about two hours away.)”
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Hunkering Down
E-mail from a relative who’s an ardent Rush Limbaugh lover, Obama-fearer, & McCain-Palin voter (in that order)***:
“This weekend you should stock up on batteries, canned goods, matches, fill your car with gas, dried beans, corn, etc, jerky, and fill up available containers with potable water. If you have water purification equipment keep it handy. If you have white gas lanterns, stoves, etc, make sure they are in good operation and that you have plenty of fuel by this Tuesday. Having lived through the MLK and the Bobby K. killings, I know it pays to be prepared.”
***CLARIFICATION: said relative says “You got the order wrong. It’s #1) Palin, #2) Limbaugh, #3,497) (tie) McCain and O’Bama-both liberals (but McCain is a couple of points ahead because he would not appoint Hillary to the Supreme Court.)”
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Dole Doubles Down
The North Carolina incumbent senator airs yet another ad attacking her rival, Kay Hagan.
Thanks to NewsChannel9’s Kim Fields for the tip.
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(Not) Covering the Biggest Rumors of Campaign 2008
Politico pulls back the curtain to reveal the biggest rumor tips from viewers that they chose not to cover. Personally, at NewsChannel9 the most common one -by far- we got from callers/e-mailers/Vote08 commenters was the ‘Obama citizenship’ story, about which Politico says:
“So why isn’t this getting wide coverage? Well, first, there’s lots of evidence that Obama was born in the United States, and none that he wasn’t. The campaign handed over an official copy of his short-form birth certificate — the standard document produced by the Hawaii Department of Health — to Factcheck.org. And Poliltico has confirmed the authenticity of a contemporaneous announcement of his birth in the Honolulu Advertiser.”
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Two New Obama Ads
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Palin on Good Morning America
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Why Black People Shouldn’t Vote for Obama
An independent ad above says Because Martin Luther King said so.
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Obama: “Game Back On” in GA
ATLANTA (AP) - Democrat Barack Obama is putting television ads back up on the air in Georgia.
Obama campaign manager David Plouffe said Friday “early vote is going extremely well in Georgia.”
In September, the Obama camp took down its ads and moved some paid staff out of Georgia suggesting it was retreating from its pledge to compete in the reliably Republican state.
But new polls have suggested Obama is close to GOP candidate John McCain in the state. And blacks have turned out in disproportionately high numbers for early voting.
Plouffe said the state is winnable, although any victory would be a narrow one.
Check the latest Georgia poll average here.
I’d have to say out of all the states, that one is by far the most interesting.
Obama’s also now buying ad time in North Dakota (!) & Arizona (!!). Read more here.
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New Endorsement for McCain: From Obama
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NC Senate Race: Hagan Responds to Dole’s ‘Godless’ Ad
Watch the Dole ad in this Vote08 post.
North Carolina newspapers weigh in:
“..worse than dishonest.” - the Greensboro News Record
“..one of the more egregious examples of negative campaigning.” - the Asheville Citizen-Times
“It has no place in N.C. politics.” - the Charlotte Observer
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The Center-Right Candidate for a Center-Right Country
Despite McCain’s admission he “doesn’t know much about economics,” Charles Krauthammer argues (somewhat bitterly, it seems) that McCain’s economic plans would be more appropriate given the overall politics of the nation.
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Still Undecided?
An AP Poll finds 1 in 7 - 14% - of voters remain undecided, with just 4 days to go:
“Who are they? They look a lot like the voters who’ve already locked onto a candidate, though they’re more likely to be white and less likely to be liberal. And they disproportionately backed Hillary Rodham Clinton’s failed run for the Democratic nomination.”
Kathleen Parker has an exercise designed to help you make your choice.
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Yesterday’s ‘Last Day’ to Early Vote in TN
Above: watch our report at 5:30 on what’s on voters’ minds.
Final tally: 67,515 people in Hamilton County voted early. By my calculation (PDF file), that’s 49% of ALL voters for president from Hamilton County in 2004.
Also, early voting in Hamilton County increased by 154% from 2004.
That. Is. Amazing.
Hamilton County Clerk Bill Knowles faxed NewsChannel 9 on Friday to say that he’s placing a police officer on site at the election commission next Tuesday to “safeguard the equipment & ballots.”
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She’s Here to Stay
I agree with Eugene Robinson today, who acknowledges Sarah Palin will be a national figure even if her ticket (sorry, make that McCain’s ticket) doesn’t win next Tuesday. Her star is nothing but rising. Those who discount her as a “lightweight” or “bubble-headed” do so at their own peril.
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Happy Halloween from Vote08!
[& for those of you who don't honor the holiday - Happy Reformation Day!]
What do you think?
Actually, I give McCain credit for going back to common sense. I mean, come on, even 
