2 Days...

Here are some random thoughts and questions with two days to go:

• As much as I appreciate the extra hour that comes with Daylight Savings time, I bet the candidates and the press enjoy it so much more. It has been a long, hard battle for both sides.
• How are there still undecided voters? We have been inundated with information, debates, facts, lies, and negative ads for months now. Make up your damn mind, the suspense is killing us.
• If Ralph Nader ruins this for us, I think he should be forced to be Bush's new roommate when he leaves Washington.
• Where has Ann Coulter been? I mostly read Texas newspapers, but even before they stopped printing her stuff, she was all over talk shows and the news. The only time that I have heard her name mentioned this year was in the tragic case of Ann Pressley, the anchorwoman who was beaten to death in her home in October. Pressley played Coulter in "W."
• If Sarah Palin really donates all of her campaign clothes to charity after the election, we are about to start seeing some really sharp dressed poor people.
• Dick Cheney endorsed McCain yesterday. Isn't that a little bit like getting Satan's stamp of approval? Obama said, "I'd like to congratulate Sen. McCain on this endorsement, because he really earned it. That endorsement didn't come easy." Wow, I wonder if you actually have to shoot somebody to win Cheney's endorsement.
• I never really appreciated Bill Clinton until he was gone. It's been kinda fun having him around again. I'm sure, of course, that all of his supporters are getting tired of having to lock up their daughters, but, hey, everyone has to sacrifice.
• McCain was just on "Larry King: Live." Topics included techniques for keeping punks off your lawn, the best brands of prune juice, and their lives during the Civil War. Those were the days.
• This election could help bring back "Celebrity Death Match." Of course, there's Obama vs. McCain. but think of the other possibilties. Colin Powell vs. Joe the Plumber. Hillary Clinton vs. Sarah Palin. Michelle Obama vs. Cindy McCain. Bill Clinton vs. Ted Stevens. Oprah vs. Elizabeth Hasselbeck. The possibilities really are endless.

Quotes of the Week

Liz Carpenter, former press secretary to Lady Bird Johnson and Hillary supporter, in the Dallas Morning News:

"Hillary has made scores of speeches supporting Mr. Obama. If she can get over her loss, so can we. Any Democrat who considers supporting John McCain must count the cost of such a vote: Four more years of Bush policies, the continuation of the war in Iraq, expanded tax cuts for the rich, no progress in health care reform, right-wing Supreme Court justices and a vice president who is profoundly unprepared to be president. Sarah Palin is against everything the women's movement stands for: She may be female in gender, but she's a good old boy at heart."

Maureen Dowd's screenplay, "The Maverick Wears Prada," in the New York Times, about the Republican wardrobe scandal. In the end, Palin goes AWOL, and McCain doesn't want to find her, saying:

"For my End of Days, I'd prefer to finish the race with Lieberman."

Arnold Garcia in the Austin American-Statesman, on Palin and McCain's claims that they are average people:

"Maybe we ought to be asking ourselves this question: Do you want the people who are only "average" running the country? Do you really want that cigarette-sucking loudmouth on the next stool running health policy? Or that "average" slug in the next cubicle running foreign policy? Don't you want people making the big decisions to be above average?"

Rachel Maddow, responding to state senator senator Kit Bond (R- Missouri) who said this at a Sarah Palin rally: "(Obama) said,...I want judges who have a heart, have an empathy for the teenage mom, the minority, the gay, the disabled.'"

"A couple things, first, a Republican complaining about mistreatment of the Constitution after these last eight years? It's kind of like Colonel Sanders arguing for chicken rights. Second, if a judge has empathy, that's not legal? And third, forgive me here but, the gay? Senator Kit Bond warning us off of compassion for the gay? You know it's not catching, right? It's not like the measles."

John McCain, coming to the realization the Joe the Plumber may have stood him up:

"Joe`s with us today.
Joe, where are you?
Where is Joe? Is Joe here with us today?
Joe, I thought you were here today.
All right. Well, you`re all Joe the plumbers, so all of you stand up and say..."

Kay Hagan (D- North Carolina) gives Elizabeth Dole (R- North Carolina) a biblical bitch slap, after Dole put out an ad that seems to suggest that Hagan said that there was no God:

"Sure, politics is a tough business, but I approved this message because my campaign is about creating jobs and fixing our economy, not bearing false witness against fellow Christians."

Michael Goldfarb, a McCain aide, failing miserably at the guilt by association game. Check out part of the transcript:

Sanchez: Now, is the -- I need to parse this out as best I can from you, Michael. The fact that John McCain's organization gave $448,000 to this group that was founded by Mr. Khalidi, is there no reason for some to be critical of as well just as some might be critical of Barack Obama for being at a meeting with some girl read a poem for example?
Goldfarb: Look. You are missing the point again, Rick. The point is that Barack Obama has a long track record of being around anti-Semitic and anti-Israel and anti-American rhetoric.
Sanchez: Can you name one other person besides Khalidi who he hangs around that is anti-Semitic?
Goldfarb: Yes, he pals around with William Ayers.
Sanchez: No, no, the question I asked you is that can you name one other person who he hangs around with who is anti-Semitic? Because that is what you said.
Goldfarb: Look, we know there are people who Barack Obama has been in hot water--
Sanchez: Michael, I asked you the name one person. One.
Goldfarb: Rick --
Sanchez: You said he hangs around with people who are anti-Semitic. Okay. Khalidi and name other people that we all know about?
Goldfarb: And Rick, we both know who number two is.
Sanchez: Who? Would you tell us?
Goldfarb: No, Rick, I think we all know who we are talking about here.
Sanchez: Somebody who is anti-Semitic that he hangs around with.
Goldfarb: I think we all know who we are talking about.
Sanchez: Say it.
Goldfarb: I think we all know who we're talking about, Rick.
Sanchez: Well, you say that his policies differ from Barack Obama and many other people, and either way, we have the leave it at that.

Rolling Stone Interview with Barack Obama

The latest issue of Rolling Stone magazine features a half-hour interview with Obama about "how George W. Bush screwed up, why John McCain turned ugly, and what he's learned from Bill Clinton." The interview captures both Obama's enthusiasm and exhaustion, and, of course, outlines Obama's plans for Iraq, the economy and the White House.

Here are some of the highlights.

RS: The campaign has taken a nasty turn in the past few weeks. Has it changed your opinion of McCain personally, the way he's run his campaign?
Obama: I just think he wants to win. And I think he's decided that the environment's not a good one for Republicans, so he's going to do what he thinks is necessary. I am surprised that he would hire people who are aonnected to the same kind of destructive politics that bush directed at him in 2000.
RS: Were you disturbed by the disdain he exhibited toward you during the first debate?
Obama: No. I think that's a sign that we must be doing pretty well.

RS: Is there anything you feel you can learn from him (Bill Clinton), as a candidate and as a person?
Obama: Oh, I've already learned a lot from him...Bill Clinton did a lot to make Democrats seem like they were in touch with the ordinary aspirations of a great number of Americans. That, I think, stopped the hemorrhaging of independent voters and Reagan Democrats into the Republican Party, and gave us the space and the opportunity to start reaching out to them. So I'm still in debt to Bill Clinton for what he accomplished.

If you're in the White House and could install any one play toy--bowling alley, water polo--what would it be?

Obama: Basketball court. If we can get an indoor basketball court, I'd be happy.

Obama on education: One of the ironic things about the war in Iraq, as well as this Treasury rescue plan, is that it reminds us that when we feel a sense of urgency about something, we spend an awful lot of money. And the amount of money required to educate every child and send them to college pales in comparison to the amount of money that we're spending on things that could have been avoided had we made better decisions.

Obama on being underestimated: No point in having them see you coming.

Random interview quotes: GQ says I'm pretty well-dressed, but Michelle scoffs at this because she sees patches on my pants.

...this is going to be a transistional moment for the United States. We have these moments periodically. Obviously, I wish that the Bush administration had not run things into the ground so bad, but no matter what, we would have had some big decisions to make (at the beginning of his potential presidency).

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While there is really nothing new in this interview, and while it probably won't change any minds, it's still a good read. The interview took place on Barack and Michelle Obama's 16th anniversary, and Obama jokes about the present that he got for his wife, saying that she may or may not like it. Plus, Obama's admission to owning a worn-out pair of shoes and patched pants provides a nice contrast to the extravagant Republican wardrobe.

Also, as a broke and struggling college student, I enjoyed reading more about his plans for education, which include a $4,000 tuition credit in exchange for 100 hours of community service. I think this is a fair exchange, and will provide young people with a more balanced college experience.