I know we were all wondering about that ARG, poll but wonder no more Sarah Palin is going to West Virgina

 In what may be another signal that the troubled economy is forcing John McCain's campaign to play electoral map defense, Sarah Palin has scheduled a bus tour for Sunday through West Virginia, a state that's been leaning red throughout this presidential race.

Palin had already scheduled a bus tour of Pennsylvania on Saturday, but she will now repeat that act on Sunday by making various unannounced stops throughout West Virginia, culminating in a campaign event in southeast Ohio. It's a swing geographically reminiscent of Hillary Clinton's effort during the Democratic primary to court white working class voters in Appalachia. Clinton won the West Virginia primary over Barack Obama by a whopping 67-26 margin.

Surveys of West Virginia voters this year have consistently favored McCain, but state polls have closed in recent weeks as the global financial crisis has dominated the headlines. A CNN/Time poll conducted in late September showed McCain with a slight 50-46 lead over Obama, and an ARG poll released this week suggested Obama had rocketed to an eight-point over his Republican rival.

we may not win the state, but just even going there means they are paying for the travel and such, and thats all cash they aren't spending else where.

Most of the Senate seats we flipped two years ago, and most we can flip this year, were and are of the red to purple variety. Electing true blue Democrats just isn't easy. But we can do it, in Oregon. The most recent polls show Jeff Merkley pulling ahead.

Are you ready for another true blue U.S. Senator? Please donate to and/or volunteer for Jeff Merkley!

How great is Jeff Merkley?

Jeff Merkley opposed the boondoggle Wall Street Bailout.

As did Barack Obama, Jeff Merkley opposed the Iraq War before it started. He was also the first U.S. Senate candidate to sign on to "A Responsible Plan to End the War in Iraq".

There have been some really encouraging posts about our ground game, and comments that the folks on the ground see nothing like this from the McCain side.

It's hard for me to judge, I live on Capitol Hill in Seattle, if McCain gets 10% of the vote up there, it's probably a good day for him on the 4th.  Not a lot of doorbelling going on, I would fall over dead if I saw a McCain sticker anywhere in my neighborhood.

But, I believe what I see here on the blogs, that we are just staging a virtual D-day assault and the other side seems to be on vacation, or all down at the local Palin hatefest,  Oh, I meant political rally.

I think there is a pretty reasonable explanation for that.

It is indisputable now that John McCain is running the most despicable, dishonorable campaign in history. I would have laughed it away as "desperation" if the subtext had not been so incendiary: "Obama is an uppity black man, a closet Muslim and maybe even a secret one man terrorist cell".

Don't believe me? Look at this:

Proudly Cross posted at C4O

Please, I don't know how else to ask.  But we must stop Gary's Republican Oppenent in Orange County (Gary Pritchard is the Democratic Candidate for State Senate).  Not only is she a "GOP Rising Star",  she's adamantly opposed to public education and marriage equality.  Just read what she had to say about California's Supreme Court striking down the ban on Gay marriage in our State.

"I pledge to fight the Supreme Court's decision to allow gay marriage in California by working to ensure the passage of the California Marriage Protection Act this November," Walters concluded.

Yes, she doesn't just oppose Gay Marriage, Mimi Walters is doing all she can to see that Proposition Eight passes this November.  Her entire statement is behind the fold.

A very simple plan:

Note: I am not an economist or T.V. pundit, etc.  This is my take in my own layman's terms of what the basic problem is and how history has shown how to fix it.

Somehow, through all the bloviating politicians, T.V. pundits, etc, we have forgotten who is really behind the "markets".  It's us, the consumer.  2/3 of the American market is driven by consumer spending.

It's pretty simple psychology.  I feel good, I buy stuff.   I feel bad, I don't.  As such, injecting 700 billion into the ether for liquidity, capital or any other academic term you want to use will not change anything. You might as well have gone to Vegas with it.  (Although, with that much cash I think we could afford Monte Carlo.) You have to do something else.  You have to make the general public at large feel like it's going to be ok. Bloviating about capital injection and other jargon isn't going to get people to go out and buy anything.  More below...

Kevin Drum seems to worry that John McCain will take the bait and challenge Obama about Bill Ayers.

I guess the Obama folks figure there are three things that could happen. First, McCain does nothing and ends up looking like a coward. Second, their taunts get under McCain's skin so badly that he goes over the edge and does something really stupid. Third, McCain takes the bait and decides to bring up Ayers at the next debate.

The first two possibilities are obviously good for Obama. And the third? I guess they must be really sure they have a dynamite response ready in case McCain decides to unload next Wednesday.

Sorry for the short diary... just sharing the great news!

http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5j9PN5 Aa8ndmg7Q4uXQeYsPNEPkEAD93NNVMG2

Connecticut's Supreme Court ruled Friday that same-sex couples have the right to marry, making the state the third behind Massachusetts and California to legalize such unions.

The divided court ruled 4-3 that gay and lesbian couples cannot be denied the freedom to marry under the state constitution, and Connecticut's civil unions law does not provide those couples with the same rights as heterosexual couples.