Washblog

According to the latest polling numbers from Real Clear Politics, Chris Gregoire is up by over  4 points in her re-match with Dino Rossi (49% - 44.7%), even more encouraging are the numbers from Stuart Elway: 51% - 39%; a 12 point spread with just two weeks to go.

While I certainly won't say that these numbers ensure a win, I do think that they have something to say about the impact of Rossi's recent onslaught of super-negative ads and their immediate repudiation from the Gregoire campaign. Whether or not Chris can withstand the last minute $4MILLION infusion from the BIAW to the Rossi campaign may well determine the final outcome of this race.

Peace,
Chad (The Left) Shue

[fronted A.R.]

Get Sam Reed off your endorsement list.  That's insulting.

You don't have to endorse Jason Osgood.  If you don't believe in clean elections, if you want to let our votes be controlled by private interests, that's fine.  But either take Sam Reed off your list, or change your domain name.

Disagree with me?  Go for it.  In the comments.

John McCain is all excited today, because, in his mind, Joe Biden has really Screwed It Up This Time by claiming that Obama will be tested by a foreign policy challenge, that Obama will act in a way we might not immediately trust, and that we should stand by him if it happens.

Oh My God You Have To Vote For Me, is the McCain response, because we can’t afford someone who will be tested in office.

As it turns out, Joe Biden is the smarter guy in this argument, a few calm words are in order...and I’m here today to offer a response that will set McCain’s foolishness right back on its heels.

So let’s get to it.

Don't wait, vote now.

King County Elections at 919 SW Grady Way in Renton has a great room set up for those who want to vote early -- open from October 15th to November 3rd for your convenience.  See details at,

http://www.kingcounty.gov/elections/voting/earlyvoting.aspx

Thanks to Suzie Sheary for sending this out.

Pierce County, do you have early voting available?  Where do people go?

[fronted by A.R.]

So do me a favor and let me know if you are putting any links to the Seattle Times in one of your diaries. I want to see that they never get so much as a click-through from my computer.

The Seattle Times' nonsense about Rossi and the state budget makes as much sense as the right-wing fools at the Federal Reserve Board worrying about inflation as the worst deflation since the Depression barreled down on America. Right now, a financial tsunami is headed for every state and county in the nation and these "journalists" cluck righteously about belt-tightenings and who is the right person for the job.

They seem not to know what a municipal bond is let alone that the entire system for funding our local governments has collapsed. Do they not even read Bloomberg? Their economic arguments are so much right-wing nonsense. Dino Rossi is financial assisted suicide for the state of Washington

The Progressive Party of Washington trademarked its name some time ago because of the over-use of our name for groups we cannot agree with, or who just want a cool name for their group and figure, "why not?"

Imagine my surprise when I opened my email box to find an email from Fuse http://www.fusewashington.org/, touting its new, "Progressive Voter's Guide." I checked it out. It is not a match for the Progressive Party's endorsement. As a matter of fact, they endorsed in several races we did not, and they endorsed Sam Reed!!!!!!!!! We feel that he is a bad Secretary of State, and we recommended Jason Osgood.

We do not want anyone to confuse our endorsements with theirs.

[Front page NM]

Please publicize these numbers - we could be helping a lot more voters, but they may not know we're here!

Toll-free: 1-877-WAChange (1-877-922-4264)
Seattle local: (206)682-1544

We've got volunteers waiting to handle people's questions - please be sure they know how to reach us.

Code Pink confronts Sarah Palin in Indiana and gets thrown out. But then ....

watch it to the end and see who leaves with them.

If those leaving were "undecideds" then the Palin-McCain message didn't connect.

But if those were the base Palin was trying to shore up, then things just got worse for Republicans in Indiana.

The McCain campaign is beyond desperate, at this point, and as you might expect, the emails are full of things McCain supporters would like us to know.

I had one of those emails cross my inbox yesterday morning...and I thought to myself:
“Self...since the author of this email asked me to look up her facts, maybe I should.”

So I did.

Next thing I knew, I realized I was looking at a giant load of hooey.
Follow along, and I’ll show you what I mean.

Originally posted here

There were just so many things that disturbed me in the final presidential forum on Wednesday night. However, one issue that has gotten almost zero attention during the general election campaign has been so called Free Trade. While the exchange between senators Obama and McSame was limited to the "Colombian Free Trade Agreement" I think McSame pretty much summed up the issue with his opening sentiment"

"...I am a free trader and we need to have education and training programs for displaced workers that work going to our community colleges..."

more below the fold...

Joe Wurzelbacher, whose theoretical financial fate three otherwise-intelligent, professional, political people discussed ad nauseum probably isn't a bad guy. His aspirations are something we can all relate to. He seems like a pretty typical American. He's a liar.

It turns out that Joe is an unlicensed and unregistered employee of a small plumbing and heating company in suburban Toledo, Ohio. Not only would he not be allowed to operate the plumbing business he clearly can't afford, he's probably not even supposed to be doing the work he is doing. Even if Joe had the money and got the licenses, the business would doubtless be a disaster in the coming Bush Super-Recession. And it turns out Joe could use every dime of the Obama middle-class tax cut to pay off the back taxes he owes on the modest income he makes in the real world.

Joe isn't going to be made to "pay more than everybody else" by a "socialist view" because he's been so "successful". He's not successful anywhere but in his imagination and he is exactly the kind of person who would benefit from lower taxes, expansive fiscal policies and improved education - assuming Joe has any interest in educating himself. But I don't condemn Joe. To me, Joe is an American character - the Not-So-Great Gatsby.

[Front paged: NM]

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2008272692_countyfair16m.html

Reading this article, I am saddened by the lack of imagination and vision in the County Executive's office.  I understand that we are in the middle of a financial crunch, but we are also in the middle of a cultural transformation period the likes of which civilization has not seen since the end of the Roman Empire.  No, I'm not kidding.  The "localization movement" is just getting started.  Our energy infrastructure needs to change from centralized to distributed.  The job market is changing to "Green Jobs".  The next decade will see the greatest transformation of our economy that we have seen since the first Industrial Revolution.  King County needs to step up to the plate, not use a hatchet on the budget.

For a Better Obama Presidency, Don't Vote for Him

Let me begin by saying that I dearly hope that Barack Obama is elected president. A McCain/Palin victory would be disastrous for our country and for the world. In a time that desperately needs wise leadership, I believe Obama has the potential to be one of the best U.S. presidents in recent history (admittedly not a real high standard). But the operative word here is "potential." I believe Obama also has the potential to be a colossal disappointment, just as the Clinton presidency deeply disappointed progressives who had high hopes coming out of 12 bleak years of Reagan/Bush I leadership.

Which potential will be realized? It depends on the popular pressure Obama receives to do the right thing. We know he is under tremendous pressure by powerful private interests to do all the wrong things.

We've seen how this pressure has pushed him toward more conservative positions on many important issues: from his support for FISA/telecom immunity, reauthorizing the Patriot Act, "clean coal," offshore oil drilling, and nuclear power, to his hawkishness around Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Russia, to his choice of advisors, many of whom represent anything but the "change" he claims to bring to Washington, DC.

The rest of us need to push back. One way to promote a more progressive Obama administration is to show our support a truly progressive, uncompromised candidate when we vote for president--like Cynthia McKinney or Ralph Nader--so long as that vote does not jeopardize an Obama victory.

Barack Obama is a Threat To America, we are told, because he served on a board of directors and had other contacts with William Ayers, who, in the 1960s, was, or was not, involved in terrorist acts for which he was never convicted of any crimes.

So imagine how serious of a Threat To America we would have if, last month, one of the two candidates hired someone to lead their transition team—the person who would recommend who should be selected for every appointed office of the new Administration—who, at the time of the 9/11 attacks, actually worked for Saddam Hussein...and who ended up working for him for five years.

Well, one of the candidates did, and I’ll give you a hint: it wasn’t Obama.

Ladies and Gentlemen, it’s time to meet William E. Timmons, Sr.

[Front paged: NM]

On September 20, 2008, several hundred citizens held a demonstration in Port Angeles to protest recent activity by the US Border Patrol on Washington's Olympic Peninsula. The protester's concerns included a recent spate of unconstitutional road checkpoints many miles from the border, arbitrary detentions and deportations, and several warrant-less home invasions.

Little did they know they would soon be the subject of bizzare right-wing "humor" on YouTube.