Daily Polling Update Courtesy of Politics1.com

FLORIDA (Rasmussen): Obama - 50%, McCain - 47%.

GEORGIA (Rasmussen): McCain - 54%, Obama - 45%.

GEORGIA (Strategic Vision-R): McCain - 50%, Obama - 43%, Barr - 2%..

INDIANA (Rasmussen): McCain - 50%, Obama - 43%.

MICHIGAN (Rasmussen): Obama - 56%, McCain - 40%.

MINNESOTA (Rasmussen): Obama - 52%, McCain - 45%.

MINNESOTA (ARG): Obama - 47%, McCain - 46%.

MISSOURI (ARG): McCain - 49%, Obama - 46%.

MONTANA (ARG): McCain - 50%, Obama - 45%.

NEW HAMPSHIRE (ARG): Obama - 52%, McCain - 43%.

NEW JERSEY (Fairleigh Dickinson Univ.): Obama - 50%, McCain - 37%, Others - 3%.

NEW JERSEY (Rasmussen): Obama - 50%, McCain - 42%.

NORTH CAROLINA (Civitas-R): Obama - 48%, McCain - 43%, Barr - 1%.

NORTH CAROLINA (Rasmussen): Obama - 49%, McCain - 48%.

OHIO (ARG): Obama - 48%, McCain - 45%.

PENNSYLVANIA (Strategic Vision-R): Obama - 54%, McCain - 40%.

PENNSYLVANIA (Muhlenberg College): Obama - 50%, McCain - 38%, Others - 3%.

TEXAS (ARG): McCain - 57%, Obama - 38%.

VIRGINIA (PPP-D): Obama - 51%, McCain - 43%.

WEST VIRGINIA (ARG): Obama - 50%, McCain - 42%.

WISCONSIN (Rasmussen): Obama - 54%, McCain - 44%.

A Personal Reccomendation to the John McCain Campaign

Since the Republican National Convention, it has been all downhill for Sarah Palin. She has gone from the people's candidate to a Saturday Night Live character. After pondering what has caused this fall, I identified that the key problem with the image of Sarah Palin has been that following her interviews, Americans have started to question her intelligence. After thinking of ways to help Palin regain her credibility, I thought of the one network that would help her achieve her goal, Fox. After looking through Fox's lineup, I found a perfect fit for her, "Are you Smarter than a 5th Grader?"

After coming up with the idea, I started to visualize the show. Palin would have the ideal opportunity to succeed. Unlike in her previous inerviews, Fox could prepare questions that she would be capable of answering and in the case she struggles, there are lifelines to help her out. They could even throw in a few questions about snow mobile racing and add the lifeline "phone your husband". This would give her husband, a former world champion racer, a chance to look halfway competent. Not only would this be a fantastic opportunity to regain some credibility, but also a fantastic one to attratct undecided voters. Any logical person would know that anyone watching "Are You Smarter than a 5th Grader" is naturally confused anyway. In addition, Fox could throw in the question "Was there television in 1929 with a follow up being who was the President of the United States at this time?" If Palin could answer these 2 questions, she would automatically be smarter than Joe Biden who missed both of them in an interview a few weeks back when mentioning that FDR got on TV in 1929 to address the Stock Market crash.

In the end, Palin only stumbles twice, but ultimately wins the million dollars after a magnificent performance. When asked what the holy book of the Muslim religion is, Palin first takes the opportunity to talk about McCain's defense policy before remarking that she can not see the Middle East from Alaska. She is saved by the available cheat lifeline. Palin is also corrected by a 5th grader when she guessed that the purpose of the Associated Press was to "getcha"

Some may say, that an appearance on "Are you Smarter than a 5th Grader "could not possibly make up for failed interviews with Charlie Gibson and Katie Couric. However, I have learned from Sarah Palin to ignore what others think and simply ask myself, "What would a maverick do in this situation?" Maybe that quote was from Tina Fey, but who knows the difference anyway?

Daily Ralph Nader Update:Hummus for Cash!

While Obama asks for money via e-mail by whining about how much McCain is lying, and McCain sends letters to Democrats calling them longtime Republican Supporters, Ralph Nader finds more interesting ways to ask people for money.

On Yom Kipur, Nader has offered to mail supporters his mother's recipe for Hummus.

He released the following statement today:

I've had a lot of hummus. Hummus is nutritious. And delicious. It makes you stronger and healthier. So, Bloomberg's report on the Lebanese claim to hummus got me to thinking about an idea that would help us raise funds to push our substantive agenda onto the front burner of American politics. If you donate to Nader/Gonazlez by midnight tonight an amount that has the number three in it (three being the number of lemons in my mom's hummus recipe), we'll e-mail to you Rose Nader's hummus recipe tomorrow.”

The full statement can be seen here

In other news, Nader has accomplished something McCain failed to. Pick a minority VP candidate that the media does not destroy. The fact that no one cares about Nader or his campaign helped him in accomplishing this feat. Neither Ralph Nader or his VP candidate Matt Gonzalez have commented on this to date.

An Interview with Bob Barr

Bob Barr is the Libertarian Candidate running for President. The former congressman answered 20 questions for thehill.com on October 2nd.

His interview can be seen here.

Daily Politics1.com Polling Update

Today's Polling Update Courtesy of Politics1.com

P2008 - DAILY POLLING UPDATE. Here is our daily update of the latest independent state polls on the Presidential race:
CALIFORNIA (SurveyUSA): Obama - 55%, McCain - 39%, Others - 4%.
COLORADO (Insider Advantage): Obama - 51%, McCain - 45%, Others - 1%.
FLORIDA (Mason-Dixon): Obama - 48%, McCain - 46%, Others - 1%.
INDIANA (Research 2000): McCain - 46%, Obama - 46%, Others - 3%.
INDIANA (CNN/Time): McCain - 51%, Obama - 46%, Others - 3%.
MINNESOTA (Univ. of Minnesota): Obama - 54%, McCain - 40%, Others - 2%.
NEVADA (Research 2000): Obama - 50%, McCain - 43%, Others - 3%.
NEVADA (Insider Advantage): Obama - 49%, McCain - 47%, Others - 1%.
NEW HAMPSHIRE (CNN/Time): Obama - 53%, McCain - 45%.
NORTH CAROLINA (SurveyUSA): McCain - 49%, Obama - 46%, Others - 3%.
NORTH CAROLINA (CNN/Time): McCain - 49%, Obama - 49%.
OHIO (CNN/Time): Obama - 50%, McCain - 47%.
OHIO (PPP-D): Obama - 49%, McCain - 43%.
PENNSYLVANIA (Rasmussen): Obama - 54%, McCain - 41%.
PENNSYLVANIA (Muhlenberg College): Obama - 48%, McCain - 38%, Others - 3%.
PENNSYLVANIA (SurveyUSA): Obama - 55%, McCain - 40%, Others - 3%.
WISCONSIN (SurveyUSA): Obama - 52%, McCain - 42%, Others - 3%.
WISCONSIN (CNN/Time): Obama - 51%, McCain - 46%.

GOVERNOR. The new independent polls for the gubernatorial contests:
NORTH CAROLINA (SurveyUSA): Charlotte Mayor Pat McCrory (R) - 46%, Lieutenant Governor Bev Perdue (D) - 45%.
NORTH CAROLINA (PPP-D): Lieutenant Governor Bev Perdue (D) - 46%, Charlotte Mayor Pat McCrory (R) - 43%.

US SENATE. The latest independent polls for the US Senate match-ups:
COLORADO (Denver Post/Mason-Dixon): Congressman Mark Udall (D) - 43%, former Congressman Bob Schaffer (R) - 38%.
MINNESOTA (Minneapolis Star-Tribune): Humorist Al Franken (D) - 43%, US Senator Norm Coleman (R) - 34%, former US Senator Dean Barkley (IP) - 18%.
NEW HAMPSHIRE (Rasmussen): Former Governor Jeanne Shaheen (D) - 50%, US Senator John Sununu (R) - 45%.

Where is Ralph?

Waldo Emerson:dead
The guy who blew the election for the Democrats in 2000:Running for President in 2008

Yes, Ralph Nader is running for President again, but no one really seems to care. In honor of the candidate that joined the Reform Party 4 years late(they had 72 million dollars to spend in 2000), I will occasionally be posting to let people know where the former spoiler is at the moment, even if the media continues to ignore him.

Last night, Ralph was in his hometown of Winsted, watching the debate with his supporters. Nader publicly responded to the debate this morning. His complete address can be seen here. In summary, Nader believed that there was plenty of room for him on the debate stage. He is upset that the two major party competitors decide who the nation can see on stage instead of himself. On last night's debate, Nader was upset that neither candidate mentioned a living wage. he believes this would help to push Americans out of poverty. Nader believed that softball questions were asked and the debates thus far have been more like "parallel interviews".

Nader than gave an emotional conclusion

"Who won? Who won?" It's WHAT won. WHAT lost. I think the people lost. And I think big business won. I think militarism won. I think corporate tax loopholes won. I think labor lost. I think consumers lost. I think people who have to pay to these credit card gougers, and these high gasoline prices and these high medical prices and drugs by companies that are subsidized by your tax dollars -- I think they lost. The people lost."

Competitor or not, Nader remains very entertaining and I will continue to follow him throughout his campaign.

On Last Night's Debate

Last night's debate was one of few highlights but one large accomplishment. John McCain managed to get more negative points by CNN's analyst team than Sarah Palin did last Thursday. This either came out of extreme effort or desperation to bring Obama down. I personally believe the latter. McCain appeared desperate all night, trying to manipulate information to appeal to middle class voters. Whether it was talking about the projector that Obama requested as an earmark or saying that Obama wanted to "raise taxes" when he would truly lower taxes more than McCain for 95% of Americans, McCain was doing whatever possible to push himself out of the hole that he and his campaign dug him into when choosing the Alaska Governor. Last night, it appeared that multiple wheels had fallen off the Straight Talk Express and AAA was no where near to give him spare tires. However, it is possible that a confused vegetarian could confuse McCain's plea to cut pork barrel spending as an endorsement for cutting meat out of one's diet. If one was wondering how McCain placed so low in his class at Navy, following the debate, I can give a solid educated guess. I think he may have answered all of the above on one too many multiple choice questions.

Though McCain was faulty, Obama was in no way perfect. He did win on all 6 CNN scorecards, but he appeared weak through a lot of the debate, especially relative to Joe Biden last week. Throughout the debate I was waiting for Obama to attack McCain as Biden did last week, but he never seemed to do so. Whether it is because his comfortability with the subject or his unwillingness to attack the candidate, this made for a very boring debate. Obama, as in the previous debate, did show emotion when talking about the Iraq issue, but besides then, the candidate lacked the charisma that he showed at the past 2 democratic conventions and numerous rallies throughout the year.

In all, the town hall meeting was an overall disaster. McCain was ready to go down the entire debate, but Obama was unable to unleash the finishing blow. The questions on the whole were weak, and I felt as if I could almost predict the answers from my living room. I leave the debate not feeling as if either candidate made a strong impression. In a debate that is supposed to be about change, this town hall meeting simply appeared to be more of the same. The same back and forth debate on taxes, and the same fight over how the United States should reform health care. The only 2 solid questions, one on priorities and the other on social security were dodged by both candidates, not surprisingly using them both to discuss the problems with the other's tax plans. The debate could make a nice SNL skit, but I doubt it did much other than convince potential voters that McCain is desperate and Obama is uncomfortable without a podium.

Paul Endorses Constitution Party Candidate

Last week, Ron Paul puiblically endorsed Constitution Party candidate Chuck Baldwin. The endorsement came after Bob Barr allegedly uspet Paul by asking him to endorse a candidate. Paul had previously advised voters to simply vote for a 3rd party candidate after turning down a slot at the Republican Convention when he was not willing to endorse John McCain.

In other Ron Paul news, he is on the ballot in two states this year. He is the candidate for the fake "Tax-Payers Party in Louisiana" and the Constitution Party in Montana.

If interested in Chuck Baldwin feel free to check out his website for details on his campaign

A few Videos from the McCain Campaign

I will post these as they come in, but thought a would share a few highlights from the past few months

Alaska circus

Hugo Chavez, are you serious? This was also aired in Spanish

The One Part I/II

Sarah Palin Flow Chart/SNL Skit/VP Debate Analysis

I received this flow chart in the mail a few days ago, and I thought it did a solid job of summing up Sarah Palin's debate last Thursday. The only thing that was truly missing is that it was these tactics that allowed Palin to survive the debate. Though there were no Vegas props on this as it would be hard to calculate, my intuition tells me most Americans would bet that she would stumble at least once. Surprisingly, she cleanly finished the debate without doing so even when she was not completely answering questions. However, the turnaround was short when Tina Fey appeared again on Saturday Night Live to make fun of the Alaska Governor. At this point, it is almost as if she has become the character, which only helps her by lowering expectations until the next skit. While McCain is suffering in the polls, the Republicans are probably trying to figure out if Tina Fey could have impersonated Joe Lieberman as well. They probably should have made the intelligent choice instead of the flashy, somewhat desperate one.

In terms of Biden's debate performance. He did not mess up and bashed McCain's record. He won on 5 of 6 CNN scorecards, with the exception of Rollins who may have just thought she looked cute(im still unsure how she posted 44 positives unless he was counting winks).

Below is a segment of the SNL Skit