Sarah Palin Embarrassed In Alaska

Geez, what kind of a world are we living in when the Tea Party candidate backed by the popular former governor can only manage a razor-thin margin which may not hold up?

From CNN:  TRENDING: Palin also a big winner Tuesday

Comments

[windansea]

jake tapper tweet:

Reporter shouts question on Iraq to POTUS, who's ordering at restaurant. POTUS responds: "We're buying shrimp, guys. Come on."

[Dave (in MA)]

Stephanie,

MO: "Spread out!"

(nyuk, nyuk, nyuk)

[PD]

How can he buy shrimp? I thought the gulf had been destroyed by the worst environmental disaster in U.S. history.

[windansea]

commenter at Hot Air

"let the man plug his damn hole"

:)

[Clarice]

It's MAINE shrimp.

[Clarice]

Matt, I wish you'd write an article on that and submit it to AT. Tell them I sent you.

[PD]

How can he buy Maine shrimp? Has he no sensitivity for those in the gulf who make their living on shrimping and have had their livelihoods destroyed by the worst environmental disaster in U.S. history?

[Stephanie]

I've been itching to buy a condo in SW FL and haven't pulled the trigger yet; because, most of the properties on my "favorites" list at the real estate agent's site keep dropping their prices every 45-60 days. Only one or two get sold and I add new ones as they come on the market (at particularly excellent values).

I might need some benadryl to keep from scratching the itch too early, though.

Would you pay cash or take advantage of the Homepath 3% down 4% mortgage? Only need to finance about $45,000 for a 2/2 1300 sf condo - about $225 in monthly payments. I would love using OPM for something like this, but my gut says "free and clear."

[PD]

Actually, I sympathize with him a little on this one. I'd get tired of reporters intruding into every single moment, too.

But only a little. He wanted the job, after all.

[Frau Schiessgewehr]

Stephanie - I sure hope that's the *front* door.

[Rob Crawford]

Actually, I sympathize with him a little on this one. I'd get tired of reporters intruding into every single moment, too.

If he wants to eat in private, he shouldn't call the press corps along with him.

[Captain Hate]

Oh please PD; it comes with the surf and turf.

Murkowski is contemplating a third party candidacy. WTF is it with these RINO squishes that they won't just go quietly?

[Stephanie]

They don't want to give up the gravy train?

[PD]

I said "a little."

[Frau Schiessgewehr]

matt- to repeat, you just cannot keep up with the carp being generated. As Mel points out, it's going on day *and* night. Thanks for jumping right in with your comments. Here are some of the suggested points for those of you with real guns (mine is the smallest BB gun made.):
NSSF urges you to stress the following in your opposition:

* There is no scientific evidence that the use of traditional ammunition is having an adverse impact on wildlife populations.

* Wildlife management is the proper jurisdiction of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the 50 state wildlife agencies.

* A 2008 study by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on blood lead levels of North Dakota hunters confirmed that consuming game harvested with traditional ammunition does not pose a human health risk.

* A ban on traditional ammunition would have a negative impact on wildlife conservation. The federal excise tax that manufacturers pay on the sale of the ammunition (11 percent) is a primary source of wildlife conservation funding. The bald eagle’s recovery, considered to be a great conservation success story, was made possible and funded by hunters using traditional ammunition – the very ammunition organizations like the CBD are now demonizing.

* Recent statistics from the United States Fish and Wildlife Service show that from 1981 to 2006 the number of breeding pairs of bald eagles in the United States increased 724 percent. And much like the bald eagle, raptor populations throughout the United States are soaring.

[Stephanie]

I don't think the good people of Alaska will take kindly to Lisa if she employs democrat tactics of a secret "legal option."

[Captain Hate]

Yeah Stephanie, I don't view this as a single-issue type thing like Joe Lieberman encountered; this is more like an "all of the above" referendum.

[Stephanie]

So how much lobster are you having during these precarious economic times? What? You’ve had to cut back? No longer ordering it stuffed with crab meat, at least?

Well, if you happen to be the President of the United States or the First Lady, your lobster consumption is continuing at a robust pace.

Yes, the economy is still getting battered. And so, last night, was President Obama’s lobster.

And the rest of us get acid reflux from the battered democrats... they don't taste better the second time around.

LUN

[Danube of Thought]

I discovered on a goose-hunting trip to Katy, Texas a few years back that the great state of Texas has banned lead shotgun pellets--you have to use steel. The reason is that most of the hunting takes place in fields where rice is grown, and there was a concern about the level of lead dispersing itself throughout the soil.

[windansea]

re Murkowski running as an independent

read a comment that Alaska election laws require you to file as an independent by June 1

[Danube of Thought]

John Stossel says what most people outside this administration understand:

The problem today is that the economy is not being left alone. Instead, it is haunted by uncertainty on a hundred fronts. When rules are unintelligible and unpredictable, when new workers are potential threats because of Labor Department regulations, businesses have little confidence to hire. President Obama’s vaunted legislative record not only left entrepreneurs with the burden of bigger government, it also makes it impossible for them to accurately estimate the new burden. . . . Nothing more effectively freezes business in place than what economist and historian Robert Higgs calls ‘regime uncertainty.’

[Stephanie]

Wind: Ace says it was the day of the primary... they are claiming to have a loophole in mind. Not gonna go over well if they attempt to drive through it...

[centralcal]

California is INSANE. Now they want to take away the little latch gizmo on the nozzle that keeps the gas flowing into your tank while you clean the windshield or do something else. Supposedly 13 people - yes a whole 13 - got sprayed and are blaming the gizmo. (Probably all 13 of them are in our state legislature!)

It is absolute nutsville in this damned state.

[Ralph L]

Bent Willie's finger still gives me the willies...
Which is better than his willie giving you the finger.

[Stephanie]

From Ace's:

the ploy is kinda clear. She's going to go get the Alaska Independence Parties nomination so she can be on the ballot. I seem to recall a bunch of MFM people making a big f'ing deal out of Todd Palin being associated with that group at one time or another, but if it gets them a squish I'm sure they'll be all about it.

I thought the Alaska Independence Party was that "kooky group" that Todd was tarred with and by extension Palin?

[Jane]

So POTUS had an emergency conference call on the economy today and didn't invite Biden.

[Melinda Romanoff]

Stephanie-

Patience on the Oceanfront RE. Let the trade come to you, don't "reach" for it.

But make some inquiries into wind, flood, and hurricane insurance add-ons, call an independent insurance broker in the area where you're interested in buying. You will at least get a straight answer. Also, if the building is largely vacant, you will be very surprised with your new "share" of the condo/co-op association fees.

And the amount of space that is being held back from the market, by shaky banks, will make you blink. Hard.

So, rent for now, buy later.

And so endeth our deflationary example of the day.

[Melinda Romanoff]

c-cal-

Wait'll they outlaw self-serve stations in lieu of full service, and call it a jobs program.

(Laugh now, there are some towns in Wisconsin that have done precisely that.)

[windansea]

meet the Carnahan office firebomber, a lefty mosque supporting TPM blogger:

http://tpmcafe.talkingpointsmemo.com/talk/blogs/ripper_mccord/2008/11/my-obama-autographed-letter.php

then meet the muslim taxi driver slasher, a lefty mosque supporting prog

http://www.riehlworldview.com/carnivorous_conservative/2010/08/left-crushed-taxi-cab-perp-worked-for-promosque-group.html

bad day for violent tea party wingnut racist narrative

[Stephanie]

Thanks Mel. I have already covered all the bases on the above. I am looking about 15 miles inland, so many of the insurance issues are moot and I'm mindful of condos and their fee structures going awry.

But the lure of sand and sea and golf courses playable year round and only needing one season's worth of clothes and the proximity to Disney and oh, hell, I just want to be on permanent vacay...

Wait! I'll run for Pres. Problem solved!

[Jim Ryan]

Supposedly 13 people - yes a whole 13 - got sprayed

Wow. Dumber than Zoolander. That was the only funny moment in that movie, other than when Jerry Springer was at the urinal.

[maryrose]

At this point Murkowski should accept defeat and then support Miller. Stop spliting the ticket so dems win. She had 3 million bucks she should have spent it all. She's waffly on abortion which hurt her. Crist and Murkowski are sore losers who want to ruin republican chances at victory. Ted Stevens was already cheated out of his seat in 2008. Stop this continuous mantra of "it's all about me". That's a dem modus operandi.

[DebinNC]

The stock market is falling, housing stats are at historic lows, the GDP is going to be revised downward Friday, Boehner is demanding he fire his whole econ team, and Obama is giving a primetime Oval Office speech on Iraq...preceeded by a photo op with props troops at Ft. Bliss, TX? What's their thinking? I don't get it.

[Ignatz]

--Wait'll they outlaw self-serve stations in lieu of full service, and call it a jobs program.--

Welcome to Oregon, where people are allowed to sling a 4000 pound vehicle down the road whether basically competent or not but aren't trusted to pump their own gas.
***************
California has had a couple of aborted attempts to ban all lead ammo but has not succeeded in getting it through.
There is already an essentially nationwide ban on the use of lead shot for waterfowl and in that case it made sense. Because of the way waterfowl feed they were suffering significant mortality from picking up the lead shot left on the bottom of the bodies of water in which they feed.
The rational for other lead shot bans is without foundation and sometimes revolves around the lead exposure reloaders or indoor gun range employees are exposed to, but there has been no demonstration of any significant effects.

[matt]

Well, when I get done hunting bald eagles, I make sure to pull out the pellets before roasting them. Roasted bald eagle with a lead pellet sauce goes very well with sautee'd lead based paint chips.

DoT, the only way that I can think lead is going to leach into the earth is if the water with which it may come in contact is highly acidic. Lead is basically inert, which is one of its valuable properties. If they really wanted to reduce the potential for pollution/contamination, they could even treat the shot with a very thin coating of either another metal or a plastic. They never wanted to solve the problem they used as the straw man. It's about control.

Steel pellets are pretty much useless as well from my experience. It doesn't give nearly the same pattern or hammer the target as well. Of course one can compensate with 3 1/4" shells, but overall I just don't like steel.

maybe they can replace the lead in rifle/pistol bullets with depleted uranium?

[Threadkiller]

--"maybe they can replace the lead in rifle/pistol bullets with depleted uranium?"--

Iran is working on it.

">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ua2IucaIpNw"> This is what California should outlaw while waiting at the pump.

[Melinda Romanoff]

Stephanie-

You will be surprised on that insurance requirement.

Also, don't even think about fishing for golfballs in water hazards. That's an expensive adrenaline rush I can do without.

[centralcal]

All sorts of interesting stuff making the news today.

BigPeace has this news story about an ABC News sound tech aggressively getting in the face of anti-Mosque demonstrators while an ABC News cameraman filmed for the evening news.

The MFM truly is the MFM!

[Stephanie]

BTW, I hope everyone is watching the Little League World Series this year. It has been a hoot so far!

Go Georgia! Still Un.De.Feat.Ed. Woo-hoo!

[Dave (in MA)]

maybe they can replace the lead in rifle/pistol bullets with depleted uranium?

No, they'll require that the only ammo available is made out of Nerf™ so nobody will get hurt. Wait, they already banned those as a choking hazard.

[Jim Ryan]

don't even think about fishing for golfballs in water hazards.

Yup. Don't put anything you don't want bitten off into any of the fresh water bodies in Florida.

[Jim Ryan]

Here in Virginia, a friend found a bald eagle that was ailing. She called the animal protection agency. They said, "Whatever. We don't want it. There are tons of those birds and they aren't endangered."

[Melinda Romanoff]

Jim R.-

Did you ever read that story about night diving for stray balls that ran a few years ago? I think it was in SI.

[Jim Ryan]

Mel, no, but I've read reports of people who decided to take a dip in a Fla lake. RIP.

[beavis]

....you said "stray balls" ehhhehehehehhe

[Melinda Romanoff]

Oh look, Cleo's little brother.

[Melinda Romanoff]

Jim, the story had a scene with the writer interviewing at the side of a pond, at night. The diver was explaining the need for quiet by slapping the water after he was done, and dozens of golden eyes popped open on the pond.

Vivid imagery.

[Old Lurker]

I too have been a bad blogger and falling behind.

If I might ask but only if it is known to JOMers, what's the problem with Mrs. Mel????

I do not like problems with family or friends, and Mel is certainly a friend, and given his roots, there might be some family in that gene pool too.

[Danube of Thought]

Of course one can compensate with 3 1/4" shells

We used 3 1/4" Magnum loads. I have no idea about the chemistry or physics involved, and I'm not sure the concern was that it would dissipate into the soil. It might have been that various birds would consume them. I'll see if I can find anything out. Texas in general does not do stupid stuff, particularly where firearms and hunting are involved.

[BobDenver]

Help! I missed the memo (I assume it came from Rush). What does MFM stand for?

[Chubby]

((...preceeded by a photo op with ... troops at Ft. Bliss, TX? What's their thinking?))

when I was watching the beautiful images of W and Laura greeting the troops, I thought, I wonder how long it will take before 0 somehow gets himself in front a camera with the troops

[PD]

Supposedly 13 people - yes a whole 13 - got sprayed and are blaming the gizmo.

Anyone who proves so stupid should have their license revoked for demonstrated incompetence.

Problem solved.

[Danube of Thought]

Here's an article on lead bans. Apparently the concern is the toxic effect on doves and waterfowl.

It also appears from a quick Googling that the Texas ban is only on certain lands, and I suppose that where we were hunting was one of them.

[Frau Schiessgewehr]

The stock market is falling, housing stats are at historic lows, the GDP is going to be revised downward Friday, Boehner is demanding he fire his whole econ team, and Obama is giving a primetime Oval Office speech on Iraq..

Car 54, where are you?

[Old Lurker]

Jack...hope your read on Major Garrett is the right one. The flip side would be that he sees Fox going the way of Shep Smith and Flash Scandals, and away from the Tony Snow, Brit Hume, Chas Krauthammer hard reporting and commentary.

[Frau Schiessgewehr]

OL - any chance of getting someone to obtain some of BHO's DNA left on his shrimp parts or utensils or whatever? I'm not concerned about where he was born or if he was illegally sworn in as President (after swearing in, it he's President), isn't he?).

>>>>>>>>Who's his daddy, dang it?

[bunkerbuster]

When conservatives outperform pre-election polls, does it point to vote fraud? I'd say no, not likely. But in a rational world, it destroys the long-standing conservative myth that Democrats steal elections.
Of course, if these particular conservatives were rational, they wouldn't have bought into the myth to begin with...

[centralcal]

BobDenver: I think MFM was coined by Ace of Spades. M...F...Media, instead of Main Stream Media (MSM).

OL: We don't have personal details about Mrs. Mel. She had surgery, tissue sent to pathology. He hinted I think at female stuff on the page preceding this one.

Major did an interview with Mediaite and Kurtz. Sounds like he really, really wants to return to print journalism, just turned 48 this week so time seemed right, Fournier took him to dinner and made the offer, etc.

[Porchlight]

When conservatives outperform pre-election polls, does it point to vote fraud? I'd say no, not likely. But in a rational world, it destroys the long-standing conservative myth that Democrats steal elections.

Hey bubu, just a little hint: yesterday was a PRIMARY. Unless perhaps you inhabit an alternate universe where conservatives would care if Democrats steal votes from other Democrats?

[matt]

getting shot is toxic enough, DoT. Dove opener out here is September 1.

[Danube of Thought]

But in a rational world, it destroys the long-standing conservative myth that Democrats steal elections.

Of course it does no such thing. The proof of Dem vote fraud does not rely on outperforming polls.

OK guys, I couldn't resist hitting the Pinata one more time. But I promise, I'm going to stop responding to this teenage simpleton.

[bunkerbuster]

"Proof" of Dem vote fraud? Yet to see that. Bring it on...

[Danube of Thought]

GOP leads Raz generic congressional ballot, 47-38 for week ending August 22.

[Ignatz]

Let's try it again, typepad.
Here's a link to a story on the US Fish and Wildlife ban on lead shot. I'm pretty sure anyone anywhere hunting waterfowl is now required to use non lead shot. Lots of serious guys are going to bismuth, tungsten or other expensive alloys which are ballistically similar to lead and easier on barrels than steel.
You guys must have typoed identically on the 3 1/2" magnum. :)

[Clarice]

AdN says sec of state (I think) says it's too late for Lisa to file; thee is already an Independent candidate in any event. If she runs it will have to be a write in campaign.

[Cecil Turner]

Well, at least with Weigel's girlfriend taking over her new duties in AK, the quality of the reporting will go up . . . for the rest of us. Sorry, Daddy.

[Danube of Thought]

I think Matt typo'd, and I just followed his lead (so to speak).

[Danube of Thought]

From Hot Air:

Alaska Division of Elections Director Gail Fenumiai told me it’s too late for Murkowski to file to have her name appear on the ballot as an independent, so that would need to be a write-in effort. There is a Libertarian candidate in the race, Frederick Haase, who could choose to step down. The Libertarian Party could then select a replacement for him on the ballot.

There is no other third party candidate in the U.S. Senate race, so Libertarian would be the only option for Murkowski to join a new party for a run.

[DrJ]

Well.

Following up Mel's link to the garbage Gulf analytical chemistry report, I thought I'd see what others had to say about this video. Most of the reasonably-informed ones pointed to an improper use of or flaw in the separatory funnel used for the exploding water nonsense. I agree.

There was one long thread on the Puffington Host that I thought might be interesting to read. I'd never been on the site before. And you know what? I'll never bother with their comments again. These people are seriously deranged, and accused anyone with any scientific sense of being paid by BP.

Sheesh.

Lesson learned.

[Pofarmer]

Sheesh.

Lesson learned.

I sincerely hope it didn't take over 5 or 10 comments to come to that conclusion.

[DrJ]

I sincerely hope it didn't take over 5 or 10 comments to come to that conclusion.

It didn't, but I went through 10 pages or so simply from a morbid fascination akin to viewing a tragic, slow-motion car accident.

[matt]

it's been 5-7 years since I picked up a shotgun, unfortunately. They closed my local gun club because they put in a dump a mile away from the skeet/trap range; then they closed the next one for tract housing; then it was down to Miramar for a while, and finally with the ID checks Pendleton became a pain in the ass. Killed a lot of clay shooting in the LA/OC region. Raahauges is just too damn expensive.

[Pofarmer]

It didn't, but I went through 10 pages or so simply from a morbid fascination akin to viewing a tragic, slow-motion car accident.

Ah, yes, hope you didn't get anything on yourself.

[matt]

10 rounds of bismuth 3 1/2" (point taken) seem to be in the $30-$32 range. damn.....

from now on those web footed creatures are chickens to me. I am still trying to understand how a freakin mallard would swallow lead shot, which was one of the supposed reasons for the ban....They are not sandpipers for God's sake.

[OldTimer]

Frau at 6:04--Your comment brought a vivid mental picture of SS agents rushing the Prez left-overs to the kitchen for range-top incineration, followed by a thorough flatware disinfecting, removing all traces of possible ancestry or other incriminating evidence.. :)

[Extraneus]

I'm not sure it's such a good idea for Danube to put the pinata stick down. He might have to take the hyena over to Tapper's again just to stay in shape.

[Janet]

Just watched the video of the nut screaming at the old man at the mosque protest. Every one of these incidents - this, the lib stabbing the cabbie, that Dem. Representative grabbing the student here in DC, the union crowd at the bankers home with his child inside, the Carnahan employee bombing the office...makes me madder & madder at the lies told about the Tea Party by the MSM.
It really is scandalous how the media lies.

[Extraneus]

They're desperate, Janet.

[Jane]

Major was on the Fox after the show show and he talked about his departure and I too am convinced he wants to return to print journalism.

OL I expect we will darken your door sometime late weekend.

[anduril]

When The Nation is publishing stuff like this, you know there's trouble in River City, and across the nation (pun intended):

They Go or Obama Goes

Robert Scheer | August 25, 2010
This story originally appeared at Truthdig [1].

Barack Obama and the Democrats he led to a stunning victory two years ago are going down hard in the face of an economic crisis that he did nothing to create but which he has failed to solve. That is somewhat unfair because the basic blame belongs to his predecessors, Bill Clinton and George W. Bush, who let the bulls of Wall Street run wild in the streets where ordinary folks lived. And there was universal Republican support in Congress for the radical deregulation of the financial industry that produced this debacle.

The core issue for the economy is the continued cost of a housing bubble made possible only after what Clinton Treasury Secretary Lawrence Summers back then trumpeted as necessary "legal certainty" was provided to derivative packages made up of suspect Alt-A and subprime mortgages. It was the Commodity Futures Modernization Act, which Senate Republican Phil Gramm drafted and which Clinton signed into law, that made legal the trafficking in packages of dubious home mortgages. In any decent society the creation of such untenable mortgages and the securitization of risk irrationally associated with it would have been judged a criminal scam. But no such judgment was possible because thanks to Wall Street's sway under Clinton and Bush the bankers got to rewrite the laws to sanction their treachery.

It is Obama's continued deference to the sensibilities of the financiers and his relative indifference to the suffering of ordinary people that threaten his legacy, not to mention the nation's economic well-being...

[Pofarmer]

DON'T.

DO.

IT.

[Porchlight]

Even Nate Silver is now saying Dems could lose 6-7 seats in the Senate.

If he's willing to go that far in late August, I wonder how far out he'll be in six weeks.

[pagar]

Janet, This should be added to the list of the Complete Lies.

"Republican National Committee slashes New York Muslim Cabbie."

Hard to get further from the truth.

[Rob Crawford]

Hard to get further from the truth.

Meh. Juan Cole is certifiably insane.

[Ignatz]

--I am still trying to understand how a freakin mallard would swallow lead shot, which was one of the supposed reasons for the ban....--

matt,
Puddle ducks, like mallards, feed by straining mud and vegetation off the bottom of ponds and waterways and retaining what either feels like food or small hard pebbles for their crop (gizzard) to grind food.
Either way leads to ingestion of shot and often it is retained in their crops which makes lead poisoning even more likely. Heavily shot marshes could have literally tons of lead shot accumulate over time in feeding areas.

[Extraneus]

Hotair video: The greatest candidate interview ever

[Janet]

Oh my Extraneus, I couldn't finish it...too painful to watch.

[Melinda Romanoff]

Po,

I don't play 16 inch softball anymore.

So I won't.

[pagar]

"They're desperate"

They claimed to be Democrats. Now they claim they weren't really what they claimed They were but they still claim to be Democrats.

How does one make sense out of what leftists say?

[Melinda Romanoff]

DrJ-

I thought it an odd story, was hoping for another set of eyes to refilter the polarization. Just couldn't put my finger on what was "off".

Thank you for that. I'll apply more salt with that particular poster.

[Pofarmer]

How does one make sense out of what leftists say?

Good luck with that.

Here's what I thought was a very good take on the spin on the expiration of the Bush tax cuts, which, is now starting to be spun as the Bush tax increase.

In other words,

The expiration of a tax cut is actually a tax increase in itself, implemented by those who passed the tax cut

http://www.newspeakdictionary.com/ns-prin.html

"No word in the B vocabulary was ideologically neutral. A great many were euphemisms. Such words, for instance, as joycamp (forced-labour camp) or Minipax (Ministry of Peace, i. e. Ministry of War) meant almost the exact opposite of what they appeared to mean. Some words, on the other hand, displayed a frank and contemptuous understanding of the real nature of Oceanic society. An example was prolefeed, meaning the rubbishy entertainment and spurious news which the Party handed out to the masses. Other words, again, were ambivalent, having the connotation 'good' when applied to the Party and 'bad' when applied to its enemies. But in addition there were great numbers of words which at first sight appeared to be mere abbreviations and which derived their ideological colour not from their meaning, but from their structure"

So in this case, the "extension" of tax cuts would have a connotation as being good, as applied by Hoyer to the Democrat party, yet bad as applied to the Republican party, in that the expiration of the "origional" tax cuts would result in this so called tax "increase", which would never have been there, (but for the "origional" tax cuts). Furthermore, he implies that the deteriorating economic conditions prior to the "origional" tax cuts did not warrant the "origional" tax cuts, which he wishes to extend, by rebranding them simply as "tax cuts", (leaving out the words "origional", "extension" or Bush tax cuts) ironically, to avoid a deterioration of economic conditions .

Hence forth, when Republicans say "tax cut", think "tax increase" When Democrats say "tax cuts" it's purpose is to avoid a deteriorating economy, as opposed to Republican tax cuts, which are not necessary to avoid a deteriorating economy

[Jane]

I don't think anyone is buying it anymore - people really seem to be waking up. You hear these democrats essentially saying this is the best that we can do, and no one believes it. Add to that all Obama's vacations, gaffes and self-assumed holiness and he is down the shoot.

[Rick Ballard]

Porchlight,

Silver handles statistics very professionally but a brief look at the Republican Florida Governor primary indicates that the pollsters are at sea. Those sample sizes have an MOE of 3-4 and only one pollster (Sunshine State) out of five was within the MOE.

The continuing economic deterioration coupled with the rise of the Tea Party make this election extraordinarily difficult to forecast. I would hate to be responsible for developing turnout models in this climate. I can get to "Republican strong and Democrat weak" but that isn't particularly helpful in calculating percentages.

There is no evident reason for Democrat fortunes to improve with the economy sinking rather rapidly. My bet is that Silver will wind up raising his Republican Senate control odds to 50% around October 20.

[anduril]

Former RNC Chairman Ken Mehlman Comes Out Of Closet, Turns Out To Be Democrat.

That turns out to be a gag title, or, maybe not so much:

When I heard that Ken Mehlman had come out of the closet, my first thought was that he had finally admitted he’s a Democrat, but actually he says he’s gay. However, it seems to come to the same thing.

[Danube of Thought]

He might have to take the hyena over to Tapper's again just to stay in shape.

I'm blocked from Tapper on my computer. I can get posted there when I'm away from home and using the I-phone, but it's hardly worth it. Even the die-hards seem to have lost their stomach for it all.

[anduril]

Authorities investigating the 2008 crash of Spanair flight 5022 have discovered a central computer system used to monitor technical problems in the aircraft was infected with malware.

Who dares using [sic] Windows in a critical environment? (updated)

I just can't believe what my eyes just saw. You are telling me that a commercial plane (a real plane, the ones that take off from land at hundred of kilometers per hour carrying hundreds of people in them) had Windows running on one of its central processing nodes? You gotta be kidding me! Who dares doing something like that? Come on, people! We're talking about a life-or-death situation here, not the normal pop up that at its worst will nag me to hell asking me to date someone on the other side of the planet.

[centralcal]

Yeah, DoT. I have only stopped in to Tapper's place once or twice since you stopped posting and it is almost as bad as PuffHo.

Pofarmer: By and large most of us learned long ago NOT. TO. DO. IT.

Sadly, a paltry few, still continue to.

[narciso]

I posted once or twice at the Huff Po, once regarding an asinine column by Gary Hart, is there any other kind, another by Tom Hayden,
about the plame case, I learned my lesson, for a while they used to send me their newsfeed, which proved their delusional thinking.

I didn't Lisa could do anything that could make me regard her less than Charmin Charlie, but 'bless her heart' she's really working toward that goal

[maryrose]

Janet:
I too am disgusted with the amount of outright lying that is passed off on tv as the actual truth of a situation. Latest AP headline: "Republican Civil War benefits Dems"
In what universe is this real? The dems are the ones in the circular firing squad. Dean and Patacki actually agreed on something today on Squawk Box.The Apocalypse is upon us. They are all back to bashing Palin again so we must be doing something right!

[Porchlight]

My bet is that Silver will wind up raising his Republican Senate control odds to 50% around October 20.

That's what I think, too. I'm sure it is really difficult to forecast, which is another reason why I think it will be a true wave election. Meaning, seats that were considered safe will turn out not to be safe (think Brown). The currents are constantly shifting.

Ace said something like that a couple of weeks ago - to the effect that R's might take the Senate simply because the wave is just that big. No one agreed with him then, but I think the CW has shifted and that's why people like Silver are slowly upping their projections.

Waiting for Barone to chime in...