As usual iowahawk has come up with another pitch-perfect parody - this time of a text adventure game from the 80's as played by a certain up-and-coming Senator from Illinois:

WELCOME TO ADVENTURE! WOULD YOU LIKE INSTRUCTIONS?

>YES

YOU ARE SOMEWHERE IN BELTWAY FOREST, WHERE SOME HAVE FOUND TREASURES OF GOLD ALTHOUGH SOME HAVE ENTERED AND NEVER BEEN SEEN AGAIN. MAGIC IS SAID TO WORK IN THE FOREST. I WILL BE YOUR EYES AND HANDS. DIRECT ME WITH SIMPLE COMMANDS.

YOU ARE IN AN OVAL OFFICE. THERE IS SNOW OUTSIDE. YOU ARE BEHIND A DESK. ON DESK THERE IS A BUST OF CHURCHILL.

YOU HAVE A CONGRESS.

YOU HAVE A SENATE.

YOU HAVE A MEDIA.

YOU HAVE A TELEPROMPTER.

YOU HAVE A MILITARY.

YOU HAVE A BIG JET.

YOU HAVE $3 TRILLION OF GOLD.

YOU HAVE 82% APPROVAL HEALTH.

THERE IS 7.2% UNEMPLOYMENT IN THE FOREST.

YOU HAVE A RACE CARD.

YOU HAVE INAUGURAL PARTY LEFTOVERS.

WHAT DO YOU WANT TO DO?

Posted by: Maetenloch at 04:20 PM | Comments (111)
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Via the guys at This Ain't Hell, proof that some Brits still do the whole stiff upper lip thing. Follow the link through to the video, pretty amazing stuff.

It's a real shame that UK, under "Conservative" Prime Minister David Cameron and his coalition, is about to more or less get out of the whole Air Force business.

Air Marshal Timo Anderson, director general of the Military Aviation Authority, addressed MPs in a private talk, and gave a stark assessment on cuts expected to be outlined next week.

The RAF is expected to lose significant numbers of jet fighters in spending cuts of up to 10% over four years.

AM Anderson said it would be harder to combat a 9/11-style attack.

The first part of the review - setting out the strategic context - will be announced on Monday, with the main spending decisions to be set out in a statement to Parliament on Tuesday.

Air forces are so useless, unless you know, you need them. But it seems that with Afghanistan ending one way or another in the next few years, brilliant political thinkers seem to have decided that's it's time for another 'peace dividend' because there won't be any more wars or something.

Sadly, history tells us otherwise.

Posted by: DrewM at 02:40 PM | Comments (59)
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This is one of those that's on ace's WTF version of the RCP battleground map, currently a toss-up. TX-23 covers San Antonio and runs out west to the edge of El Paso, mostly rural with 2/3 of the voters in SA. It was Henry Bonilla's (R) for ten years until redrawn to expand the Hispanic population.

Canseco is a businesman and family man, who actually knows something about creating jobs, meeting a payroll, something an awful lot of those in Congress know damn little about. The incumbent, Ciro Rodriguez is a fairly reliable Dem caucus voter (my complaint about Chet Edwards), but on occasion bucked the party line, including votes against the porkulus bill. But the wave is in a "take no prisoners" mood and it's not hard to see him getting swept away by it.

The only polling info I've found is from August showing Canseco up 43% to 37%, with a 4.9% MOE.

Canseco's website here, including a "throw the bums out" ad.

OH BONUS: commenter stuiec reminds us about this video, where Ciro Rodriguez lets us know he doesn't like being challenged by his constituents.

Posted by: Dave in Texas at 01:59 PM | Comments (41)
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Within 5 on election eve means 50/50 chance of winning.

Democrat Richard Blumenthal now leads Republican Linda McMahon by just five points in ConnecticutÂ’s race for the U.S. Senate in a survey conducted two nights after their third and final head-to-head debate.

The latest Rasmussen Reports statewide telephone survey of Likely Voters shows Blumenthal, ConnecticutÂ’s longtime attorney general, picking up 51% of the vote. McMahon, the former CEO of World Wrestling Entertainment, earns the vote from 46%. One percent (1%) prefer some other candidate, while three percent (3%) are undecided.

Keep running that How Do You Create a Job? ad, Linda.

Dick Blumenthal hasn't been this terrified since he spent the night in foxhole in Khe Sanh and/or watched Rambo III.

Posted by: Ace at 01:03 PM | Comments (238)
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Faced with a question about the second-most animating question this cycle (the deficit, right after jobs), Maurice Hinchey first plays cute -- What deficit? My personal deficit? -- and then basically says we need to spend some more.

Oh, and then he insists the stimulus worked splendidly.

NY-22. Don't forget this level of arrogance, obliviousness, and abject stupidity.

George Phillips for Congressman, NY-22.

Posted by: Ace at 12:41 PM | Comments (75)
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It appears so:

OÂ’Donnell Closing in on Opponent in Latest Poll

Wilmington, Del. – Christine O’Donnell, the Republican nominee for U.S. Senate, is now within 11 points of her opponent, New Castle County Executive Chris Coons. It marks a 10-point jump following the debate on Wednesday at the University of Delaware.

“It is clear that as voters become increasingly aware of my opponent’s liberal record of increasing taxes and wasteful spending, they understand the real choice that they face on November 2,” said O’Donnell, who would be seated immediately to fight in the lame duck session should she win the election.

“Does Washington really need another career politician rubber-stamping the radical agenda which has put our country on the wrong track? Delawareans know that we have an opportunity to send a message to Washington -- to stop the tax hikes, the bailouts, the slush funds, and cronyism by returning power to We the People.”

The poll was conducted on Oct. 14 by Rasmussen Reports, and had a very scientific 500 likely voter sample. The results are as follows: 40% Christine OÂ’Donnell 51% Chris Coons 5% Some other candidate 4% Not sure

That's still a big gap but it's doable, at least. Anyone within six on on the eve of the elections not only has a chance, but might even be favored.

Posted by: Ace at 11:25 AM | Comments (296)
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Sorry for long gap here. I'm at a studio in Revere, MA where Ladd Ehlinger, Jr. is shooting an ad for Bielat.

I can't really give you good quotes because it really was just saying hello. But he's a nice guy, and was familiar with the campaign motto "When he's not killing people he's building robots." (The killing "people" was the original before readers suggested changing it.)

I don't know if I can say this but I can't imagine it will hurt that much: I hear tell that unpublicized polls (conducted by outside groups and the NDCC (the Democrats) put the race at 3-5 points -- or closer.

You know who's here? The New York Times, doing a story on internet advertising. One print reporter, one photographer, one videographer.

I have vid of Ladd shooting this but I have to clear it with him to run on the site because he's very embargo-y about not giving away the ad.

Speaking of Bielat, more details of tomorrow's GOTV effort are up now at bethewave2010.com. Basically, it's what I already announced: Phonebanking at Bielat's Newton HQ from 1 to 6. The unknown thing is where we're having lunch at 12; I have to ask a local where a good cheap place would be nearby.

Here's the address:

Newton Office
381 Elliot Street
Newton, MA 02464

Again, not sure where lunch will be, still have to figure that out. Somewhere nearby.

Figure we'll go to 6 and then grab drinks someplace close.

Oh: Bielat will be holding a rally in Foxboro on Saturday from 2 to 4. That's not a problem, I don't think, because anyone attending probably will already be highly motivated to vote for him. We'll be calling the people who aren't so highly motivated, and bossing them around to vote.

And Oh! A lot more events all over the country have been added at Be the Wave. Bieltat's not the only one running.

A lot of upsets a-brewin' -- make it happen.

Posted by: Ace at 11:21 AM | Comments (30)
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Tancredo only trails Hickenlooper by 4. Tancredo is an Independent, but seems to be drawing a lot of the CO tea-party vote.

As Slow Joe Biden might say: this is a big f'in deal!

[UPDATE]: Be the wave!

[UPDATE 2]: This has got to hurt: Denver GOP leaves Maes off of campaign mailer.

Posted by: Monty at 10:58 AM | Comments (134)
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From the Campaign Spot:
"Reliable GOP Source: Hey, you canÂ’t print this, but we just had a poll come back saying that [House Democrat who everybody figured was pretty safe] is down 20.

Me: Well, thatÂ’s swell. But why canÂ’t I use this?

Reliable GOP Source: We donÂ’t think the Democrats know this guy is this much trouble, so we donÂ’t want to tip them off.

Me: Well, thank you for sharing really cool information that I cannot share with readers.

Reliable GOP Source: I thought it might be helpful with you determining which challengers to watch. While it would be great to have you break this news, I think itÂ’s more useful to us to keep the Democrats in the dark.

IÂ’ll give you a hint, DCCC. This incumbent is bigger than a bread box."

Guess away.

Posted by: CAC at 08:23 AM | Comments (680)
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Wow. Just grabbing on to something topical and turning it into some weird little pseudo-argument in favor of liberals, huh?

Okay, well, I say that it was traditional society that produced Katy Perry's fabulous rack and we need to have more of that.

Matthews claimed the Chilean miners would all be dead if they subscribed to the "every man for himself" ethos of the Tea Party.

Um... yeah.

Anyone have a hunch that in a crisis situation it's more likely that the liberal would cut your throat to save his skin?

Studies keep being done on this, and keep suggesting the same answer: Liberals love to talk up their abstract obligations to the greater good -- a greater good of undefined, unknown "society at large."

And what happens? Because the are pursuing in their minds some greater good involving the abstract, in the tangible ethical decisions of everyday life, they cheat and behave more selfishly than conservatives -- because they feel they're already doing some moral thing like only buying local produce so that gives them some wiggle room to behave unethically in their personal lives. Papal indulgences again, in other words.

Conservatives believe the opposite. We think we have a high duty to perform ethically in our personal real lives and less of a duty to just generally give money or other support to people we don't know and never could know. We're sort of against alienation of the moral sense from its ultimate object.

Posted by: Ace at 07:56 AM | Comments (159)
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