So, Luke, how long before the explosion? ;-)

That's why I'm so anti-Bush, besides his obvious failures (IMO). I've lived with him as my governor for most of the 90s so I'm sick to death of the guy even before he got elected Prez.

Hopefully Kerry is in the trench now but who knows, maybe he is only Gold Leader who gets shot down.

Did you like Anne? She seemed like a sharp cookie.

-Dolce

She was just slightly before my time (Anne Richards). I don't know much about how she was as Gov. other than she has a screechy voice heh.

If you guys want an early tip, the next Gov of Texas will likely be Kay Bailey Hutchison, she is going to run against incombent fellow republican Perry in 2 years. She seems pretty nice and even keeled.

Here's a funny one that I didn't want to start a whole thread for, so I'll just drop it in here.


...As if Palestinian politics wasn't already in disarray...he he he.

-Dolce

Just shows how civic minded (usually the wrong side) we are in Washington State.

Worth remembering:

"WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Today's CNN/USA Today/Gallup tracking poll continues to give George W. Bush an advantage over Vice President Al Gore.

While not a prediction of the voters' choice in November, Friday's results show Bush garnering 52 percent of the vote and Gore drawing 39 percent. The survey of 851 likely voters was conducted October 24-26 and has a 3.5 percentage point margin of error.

A CNN/Time poll also released today gives Bush a 49 percent to 43 percent edge over Gore, which is statistically in agreement with today's CNN/USA Today/Gallup tracking poll, given the polls' margin of sampling error. "

from the 2000 race a few days before the election.

Here's something interesting to keep an eye on....
The Planets Have Made Up Their Mind: Kerry Wins

Fri Oct 29,11:05 AM ET Oddly Enough - Reuters



NEW DELHI (Reuters) - Surveys in the United States may be showing the race for president as too close to call but top Indian astrologers say the planets have clearly made up their mind: John Kerry will win.



Planets governing President Bush are eclipsed and in an uncomfortable position, making his tenure controversial and his re-election bid unsuccessful, the soothsayers said on Friday, four days before the vote.


On the other hand, the planets of Democratic challenger Senator John Kerry were in the ascendant, ensuring him success in competitions.


"Saturn, which is the lord of health and fortune for President Bush, has been eclipsed by the Sun, which is unfortunate and gives him a clear defeat," Lachhman Das Madan, editor of a popular astrology magazine, told Reuters.


"Kerry will win," said Madan, who is also known as "the emperor of astrologers." "It is cosmic writ that George W. Bush cannot become president of United States again."


Ajai Bhambi, a senior astrologer and author of several books on the science of predictions, agreed.


"Kerry is likely to beat Bush in the final verdict," he told the New Indian Express newspaper.


Bejan Daruwalla, another top astrologer, told Reuters he had yet to calculate who would win Tuesday's election. But Bush, even if he won, would not be allowed by his planets to complete a full term, he said.


Astrology is extremely popular in India and many top politicians, businessmen and movie stars consult astrologers before taking important decisions.


Tuesday's vote is forecast to be one of the closest in American history. A Reuters/Zogby poll showed on Thursday that Bush was leading Kerry by 48 to 46 percent but the lead was well within the poll's margin of error.

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=s ... ologers_dc

He might run in 2008. That would be awesome since I'm from Arizona.

Giuliani/McCain 2008

The Redskins, playing for the future of the free world, lost today. Could this mean that Kerry is gonna win the election? I hope not, but there seems to be a definite correlation here.

I thought I'd share this joke I found.

John Kerry visited an elementary school and talked to one of the classes..

"Can anyone tell me what a tragedy is?", he asked them.. and one little boy said, "A tragedy would be if my friend's dad ran over him with his tractor." and Kerry said, "No.. that'd be an accident.. can anyone else tell me what a tragedy is?"

and a little girl said "A tragedy would be if a school bus full of kids ran off a cliff and they died." and Kerry said, "No, that wouldn't be a tragedy, that'd be a great loss." He began to get aggravated and said "Can ANYONE tell me what an example of a tragedy would be?"

Then a little boy said.. "A tragedy would be if you, Mr. Kerry, were in an airplane and while you were up in the air, your plane was shot down and it crashed and burned and you died." and Kerry said, "YES!!! Now that would be a tragedy. How did you know?" and the little boy replied, "Because it wouldn't be a great loss... and it wouldn't be an accident."

OMG THATS THE BEST EVER!! very funny!

2 days until John Kerry wins...

How to drive your opponent's base to turn out on election day: Smart move?

Yes, because the IRS is just another tool of the White House

Getting so, so nervous

Although, the Redskins losing boosts my confidence :wink:

We need to put you on a rollseyes quota. You get 2 per week, don't abuse it.

Edit: Meant for Krem of course.

Oh don't worry about it Libs. As republican commentator Tucker Carlson said tonight, people are waiting hours to vote, and you don't do that if you are content, you mostly do that if you are unhappy.

:o :? 8) :x :evil: :evil: :wink: :!: :?: :idea: :arrow:

Be prepared for a Nationwide Florida-esque recount squabble this year. Yesterday I was just talking to someone who was worried about the Broward Out-of-State ballots and I thought, no way. Florida is just too closely watched, Ohio on the other hand...Lo and behold the times ran an article of some controversial (or attempts at least) county issues in Ohio the very next day. Apparently there have already been complaints that the early voter ballots were "Confusing." Though not blaming one particular cndidiate I guess, be prepared for Pat Buchanen getting ALOT of warm support this time around. Even more than last election, even though he's not even running.



-Dolce

Every 4 years, it's nice to know the president does care about my great home state of Ohio.

Interesting prediction in National Geographic who we'll win this election:
http://magma.nationalgeographic.com/ngm/0411/online_extra.html


Who'll Take the Prize?
Political Prognosticator Picks the President

By Shelley Sperry

Jim Campbell waited a little longer than usual this year to predict who would win the U.S. presidential election. With the Republican Party convention held just before Labor Day, the University at Buffalo, SUNY political scientist tweaked his model a bit to account for George W. Bush receiving a post-convention bounce in the Labor Day Gallup Poll, Campbell's most important factor in predicting the November vote. In the end, he created post-convention and pre-convention models, and both say that Bush will win. Campbell does not take into account the presidential debates. Using pre-convention polling numbers, Campbell says Bush wins 52.8 percent of the popular vote for the Republican and Democratic parties. Post-convention numbers predict he wins 53.8 percent. But what about the all-important electoral college vote? "If my forecast is close, within two points," Campbell declares, "Bush will clearly win the electoral vote as well."

Campbell created his current forecasting model in 1990 using two kinds of predictors: public opinion and economic growth. "The Labor Day Gallup Poll of likely voters accounts for about two-thirds of the model," he explains. That poll showed Bush ahead of Democrat John Kerry by 7 percentage points. But Campbell believes we have to read polls along with other factors to put them in context. "Historically, there is a relationship between the economy and people's voting patterns." So the second factor in the model is the gross domestic product (GDP) growth rate in the second quarter of the election year. This year's rate was 3.3 percent, and, according to Campbell, anything roughly over 3 percent favors the incumbent.

In early September, Campbell and colleagues who specialize in analyzing elections and public opinion took part in a lively roundtable in Chicago, where they discussed their 2004 election predictions. Of seven diverse models, six forecasted Bush would win in November—and the seventh saw another election "too close to call."

...

In the same article from NGeographic, I 've mentioned above, were interesting facts/tidbits about the past winners of the Presidential Elections:

1. Four states - Missouri, Nevada, Ohio and Tennessee - have voted for the winner in 13 of the last 14 elections... Since 1948 every candidate who carried at least three of them won.

2. No Republican since 1904 has been elected without winning at least 30 states, no Democrat without winning at least 23...

3. Since 1980 Democrats needed at least 55% of the women's vote to win the popular vote...

4. Since 1900, the candidate from the larger state won two-thirds of the time, when the difference between the EC votes of their home states was larger than 10... (Texas - 34 vs. Massachusetts - 12)

5. Since 1956, the candidates who carried the under-30 vote won in all but two elections...

6. Six states have been in the column of every winning Democrat since 1948, while 18 states are consistently carried by winning Republicans. In 2000 Democrats lost three of their must-haves: Arkansas, Missouri and West Virginia. Closely decided must-have Republican wins: Florida, Tennessee, New Hampshire and Ohio...

7. In the 20th century only one candidate was elected without winning his home state: Woodrow Wilson in 1916 (lost in New Jersey)

No bias by the Big 3. Nope, none at all.

Except for this, of course.

My God am I nervous. So many polls showing the race so close. No matter who wins, I will be happy that I will not have to read a post with http://www.electoral-vote.com referenced - at least for 3.5 or so more years.