Eh. The joke was hanging out there, beggin for it. Still.

Bonus dig at Parker/Spitzer toward the end.

UPDATE: Okaaaaay. Here's something actually funny DrewM just sent me.

Posted by: Dave in Texas at 05:26 PM | Comments (87)
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Yesterday's generic ballot poll by Gallup has attracted some attention.

Here's Barone's column today.

However, Gallup also shows the results for two different turnout models. Under its "high turnout model" Republicans lead 53%-40%. Under its "low turnout model" Republicans lead 56%-38%.


These two numbers, if translated into popular votes in the 435 congressional districts, suggest huge gains for Republicans and a Republican House majority the likes of which we have not seen since the election cycles of 1946 or even 1928. ... The Gallup high turnout and low turnout numbers suggest it looks like 1894, when Republicans gained more than 100 seats (125!) in a House of approximately 350 seats.



I've been beating the 1894 horse for a few months now but Barone's story was the first time I've seen it in the MSM. This google news link shows stories from Oct3-Oct5 that reference the 1894 elections. That found a few more stories like this interview with Barone on the Journal Editorial Report tv show.


... when I was growing up in Michigan, when you were growing up in Wisconsin, Paul, the political rule was that in times of economic distress, the industrial heartland--those states you just named, Pennsylvania, Ohio Michigan, Wisconsin, Illinois--in times of economic distress, they moved toward the Democrats. What we're seeing now is that in a time of economic distress, they are moving heavily toward the Republicans in a way we haven't seen since '94, and I don't mean 1994. I mean 1894.


and


The white working class that a lot of Democrats like to think is the demographic base of their party, although it hasn't been for quite a few years, seems to be rejecting Barack Obama and his policies by really wide margins. I mean, you've got some surveys that are showing approval of Barack Obama among people that you might classify as white working class, in the neighborhood of 22%, 25%.


Nile Gardiner in the Telegraph smells what Barone is cooking.


America's Left faces meltdown in November


If Gallup's poll prove correct on November 2nd, which of course remains nearly a month away, the scale of the Republican victory will be absolutely huge. There is no doubt about it Gallup's latest survey is explosive, and points to history in the making for the latest conservative revolution to hit America.


Now I'm not predicting an 1894 style super tidal wave election. But I think it's signficant that the very idea of it is beginning to bubble into the public mind.

Posted by: Open Blogger at 02:50 PM | Comments (277)
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Laura covered this below.

Did you watch this? Not only did McMahon ask him the perfect question, but he answered it the perfect way: with baffled bullshit. He had literally no idea now to respond to the question, "How do you create a job?"

This obviously is going to be in commercials.

I think she just won the race. more...

Posted by: Ace at 02:39 PM | Comments (109)
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Funny meme over at Twitter, thought maybe people would want to try it.

"B/c I don't remember when I was whining like a little bitch back when unemployment was 5.6% under Bush." -- Diggbiii

"Because telling stories about my gay friend makes me feel good about myself." -- JennQPublic

"Because I gotta dance!"-- Jenny Erikson

Bad Blogger Again: Yeah but I have a reason. I moved. Yeah, moved. To a place I do not like. But I needed a place, so here I am.

And it's just wonderful, because it's only for a month, which means I have to do all this again in 27 days.

BTW, if you notice I wasn't around a lot at night. Wasn't out getting drunk most of the time. Was mostly looking at one bad apartment after another.

So I gave up, and now I'm in this place.

Posted by: Ace at 02:23 PM | Comments (235)
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He used his sentencing hearing as an opportunity to plead for understanding and sensitivity.

NEW YORK – The Pakistani immigrant who tried to detonate a car bomb on a busy Saturday night in Times Square accepted a life sentence with a smirk Tuesday and warned that Americans can expect more bloodshed at the hands of Muslims.

"Brace yourselves, because the war with Muslims has just begun," 31-year-old Faisal Shahzad told a federal judge. "Consider me the first droplet of the blood that will follow."

Mandatory life sentence.

I'd like to dump on the asshole more, except I remembered that except for his crappy bombmaking abilities, there would have been a terrible loss of life.

Posted by: Dave in Texas at 02:03 PM | Comments (107)
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...is all you need to truly understand your relative importance in the grand order of things.

We really are little tiny bits of nothing as far as the Universe is concerned.

I had an astronomy prof way back in college who described the size of the Earth in this way: "The solar system is composed of our Star and the gas-giant planet Jupiter. The remaining 1% of the mass is miscellaneous leftover crap."

Check out the size of our humble little Sun compared Antares!

Posted by: Monty at 12:30 PM | Comments (315)
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If you didn't know -- Doug Hoffman, the guy we all wanted to displace Dede Scozzafinnochio or whatever -- attempted to run (this time in a genuine primary) for the Republican nomination, and lost a narrow election against the ultimate nominee, Matt Doheney.

But then Hoffman refused to exit the race -- remaining on the Conservative Party ballot line, splitting the conservative vote and throwing the race to the Democrat. Again. (I don't mean he's to blame again, but it would be a second time for the Democrat winning the seat due to a split conservative/Republican vote.)

Well he's finally decided to drop out.

“It was never my intention to split the Republican vote in the 23rd District. So today, I withdraw as a candidate from this race. Under New York State Election Law my name cannot be removed from the Conservative Party line on the ballot. However, I strongly urge and request that my supporters not vote for me and certainly not vote for the Democrat or Working Families Party candidate.

“Matt Doheny and I may have differed on some issues during the course of our primary race. Now, we must put those differences aside and do what is best for our nation. So today, I am asking all my supporters to cast their vote for Matt Doheny on Election Day, November 2nd.

Good on ya, Hoffie.

Posted by: Ace at 09:37 AM | Comments (215)
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A funny dispute going on with entitled Princess Lisa of Naboo. Slublog covered this earlier, but I wanted to include the ads, too.

First, this ad, which doesn't have anything to do with the dispute, but which is pretty hilarious: more...

Posted by: Ace at 09:26 AM | Comments (73)
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The local news lefties are reporting that there were 'no real zingers' during the debate last night but that is not really true.

There was a self-inflicted zinger earlier on by Blumenthal that NOBODY is mentioning this morning. I can't seem to find video of this moment: At one point McMahon said over and over again that Blumenthal knew absolutely nothing about business.

His response?
(I'm paraphrasing, since I can't find a transcript.)

"I know a lot more about business than my opponent thinks, since my position has been...prosecuting businesses and others.."

So, everything he knows about business has to do with his being an anti-business attack dog for twenty years? Nice.

And then there was this:

Ouch.
Very ouch, baby.

Blumenthal countered that he was not going to be an entrepreneur as a Senator. True. But the point was made; this guy has been trying to governmentally micromanage other people's entrepreneurial activities to a bloody pulp for twenty years.
He only views economic activity through the lens of What Government Will Allow, and as something that requires government intervention. The idea of a hands-off approach, leaving a business alone to live or die on its own merits, could never occur in this man's brain.

Blumenthal continually wore a very odd rictus grin and his hands shook uncontrollably at times. I'm inclined to think he has a health problem that causes that. He is too notorious a camera whore to get so nervous, is my assumption. Dunno, YMMV.

McMahon had some moments of halting speech, but for the most part she seemed focused and feisty. She was able to respond to most of the flung mud. She disappointed too, by missing a vital point occasionally. It was annoying that she had to continually defend specific business decisions in her past, while Blumenthal was never really challenged about any specific cases prosecuted by his office.

He seems to have pulled it out at the end and if I weren't a grotesque partisan hack (I am) I would probably conclude that the debate ended up a draw.

Posted by: LauraW at 08:27 AM | Comments (103)
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Angle 49, Reid 46.

Republican Sharron Angle seems to be solidifying her support in her bid to unseat Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid in Nevada.

In the latest Fox News battleground state poll of likely voters, Angle drew 49 percent to ReidÂ’s 46 percent. As voters make up their mind with four weeks to go until Election Day, Angle seems to have the edge.

In the first Fox battleground poll in the Silver State four weeks ago, 10 percent of respondents were either unsure, in favor of a minor party candidate or, as state law allows in Nevada, planning to vote for "none of these candidates."

In this week's poll, those three categories add up to 5 percent. Over the same period, AngleÂ’s overall vote percentage went from 45 percent to 49 percent.

Now +9, As It Stands: CAC points out that with weak leads in IL and NV (but I count 'em) and a somewhat more substantial lead in WV, and strong leads in a bunch of other states, we're up to +9.

That means, I think, we need one of WA, CT, NY, or DE to get ten and control of the Senate. I score them in likelihood in that order.

Posted by: Ace at 07:57 AM | Comments (110)
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