I’ve refrained from blogging about the election because, well, I’ve got nothing to say that you all haven’t heard before or can find anywhere else. I’ve tried to pass on articles that provided more than the typical horse race coverage. (No polls on FM except the final election results!)

I’m going to take a slight break on this policy to tie some links together because, quite frankly, they’re really important and the sign of things to come.

The first theme is that the Republicans are setting up a bogus voter fraud conspiracy in the mind of their supporters in order to challenge the legitimacy of what looks to be a pretty solidly Democratic year. This is dangerous stuff because it creates anger and fear about the election over unfounded allegations. Let’s review the facts here:

1. Josh Marshall summarizes the issues with the ACORN fraud allegations here. Steve Benen does the honors here.
2. There hasn’t been any vote fraud. How can I say that? Because no votes have been cast yet. Oops. Forgot about early voting, which has started. I’m still pretty confident no fraud has happened yet, because of the safeguards that exist.
3. What the right wing is going nuts about is potential registration fraud. It’s not even clear how often that has happened because many of these reports are about cards flagged by ACORN’s own internal checks, but still have to be turned in by law:
   

   Kettenring said ACORN can’t destroy cards, even suspicious ones — which it flags with a sheet labeling it ”problematic.” He said that happened in this case when the forms were submitted to Orange County, where the registrations were collected.

4. Remember the U.S. Attorney scandal

Keep in mind that this has been a focus of the DOJ for the last 8 years and they have yet to prosecute a single successful voter fraud case. That’s because the idea of widespread voter fraud is stupid on it’s face. Voter suppression and disenfranchisement is a key strategy for Republicans. Keep in mind that they’re looking for “veterans, policeman, security personnel and firefighters to work as poll watchers on election day at inner city polling places” in several states now. This isn’t about fair elections but about intimidation.

The other major issue I want to mention is how nasty this race has become over the last few weeks. It’s going to get much, much worse if current reports are to be believed. People at Palin rallies are screaming “terrorist” and “kill him” while there are several videos of McCain/Palin supporters at events saying ridiculously ignorant things.

This is what they’re down to.

They’re now paying for robo-calls repeating the same lies that McCain has tried to spread at campaign rallies and during the last debate. He’s running these calls all over the country even though he disavowed this tactic in the 2000 elections. Of course, he hired the guys who did this to him in 2000, so perhaps it’s not surprising.

The point is that blatant racism is coming out of the woodwork while unhinged surrogates go on TV calling Obama un-American. They are trying to get you, your friends, and your fellow Americans to be afraid of Obama and Biden. They’ve got nothing else to run on, and it’s turning into a hate fest of racism and bigotry. They know they’re going to lose and are setting this election up to be won on hate or, if that doesn’t work, are getting ready to set up the next witch hunt against a Democratic President.

Luckily, the Obama campaign is fighting back.

It’s up to the rest of us, though. This isn’t what our country is about, and it’s not how people should win elections. If you’re a conservative, you should still vote for Obama. Donate what you can, and keep in mind that your time might be more valuable than your money at this point. Volunteer if you have time, and call friends and family in key swing states. If you’re an iPhone user, download the Obama iPhone app. It’ll help you prioritize those calls. If you have family in a swing state, make the great schlep.

This is a critical election, and the choice is stark. You’re seeing one campaign operating on the same playbook since the beginning, with the same issue priorities and the same principles. He’s been able to do this because he and his campaign have been on the right side of these issues from the beginning. McCain has lurched from arch-conservative to populist to confused over the last few months. He’s only thinking about the campaign, which won’t help when he finally gets into office. They talk about us needing to know who the real Barack Obama is. I think it would help if we knew who the real John McCain is this week.

Yeah, I think Letterman is a bit pissed. Watch the end of the clip where he shows the feed from Couric’s studio.

For the record, I think McCain’s move is pathetic. He’s trying to control the news cycle and bump the VP debate off the schedule. I don’t think it’s a coincidence that he made the announcement then Sen. Lindsey Graham, basically McCain’s other BFF aside from Lieberman, goes on TV suggesting that they move the debate to the day of the VP debate.

On top of that, McCain’s attack ads about Obama’s tenuous tie to a Fannie Mae exec have backfired now that it’s clear that his campaign manager’s lobbying firm was taking payments until Fannie was taken over by the government. The National Enquirer (yes, forgive me for mentioning this) is reporting that they have signed affidavits from people who claim that Palin had an affair with her husband’s former business partner. On top of that, Palin’s interview with Couric was awful, and the press is starting to get annoyed at the bubble erected around Palin.

I’m embarrassed that this guy is a major party candidate in this country. His campaign is a train wreck, and it’s an amateurish embarrassment to the nation. I normally wouldn’t say this, but I really feel like it’s true. Anyone that is considering voting for him is either completely uninterested in the health of the nation, or is more interested in the myth of the man than the man himself.

I am an optimist, truly. In 2000, I thought Bush was less than competent but was surrounded by adults. The adults turned out to be worse than the candidate. Then in 2004, I thought that he was putting the country on a path to crisis in 20-30 years. Katrina, the financial crisis, and Russia’s moves internationally have brought the crisis to us today. This time, I feel like McCain will literally bankrupt America and destroy the American economy. I am an optimist. So, what the hell will the McCain campaign bring that is worse than the end of the American hegemony?

No time to blog, really, about McCain’s latest attention grabbing gimmick, but this made me laugh:

That sounds about right. This is shrewd, though, because I don’t see how Obama can not join him in D.C. now. Always thinking about the news cycle, those McCain folks. Policy, on the other hand…

PS. @Moltz’s following tweet was even better.

(via @rvr’s feed)

Hilzoy of the Washington Monthly and Obsidian Wings has taken the time to list out any significant amendment and bill that McCain or Obama has passed in the 109th and 110th Congress (the only times when both were in the Senate together). The post is in three parts here, here, and here.

She lists out her assumptions and guidelines. It’s a good list, and she refrains from drawing conclusions.

Looking through the list, it’s pretty clear that it’s hard to draw much from it aside from one key thing: Obama has put more actual legislation forward over the past 4 years than McCain by a significant amount, even while running for President. There are probably a lot of reasons for the difference.

Either way, it seems criticism of Obama as a do-nothing is unfair.

I almost spit up water at that one. Oh my. So funny and so very good.

OK, this made me laugh. Another problem with having largely monochromatic backgrounds on a giant screen behind you during a speech. Especially since those backgrounds were reportedly there because your staff couldn’t figure out the difference between Walter Reed Middle School and Walter Reed Army Medical Center.

(and if you don’t get the headline or the Rick Astley selection, wikipedia to the rescue!

(via Pandagon)

OK, perhaps a bit unfair, but read this post at TPM that goes over what that ginormous building was behind John McCain yesterday. It turns out it’s a middle school in North Hollywood, CA called Walter Reed Middle School.

(pause)

OK, so, there may be a good reason why he spoke in front of a middle school… but apparently I wasn’t the only one who thought immediately of Walter Reed Army Medical Center when I saw the name. One has to wonder if someone screwed up searching a stock photo library.

If they really did get the wrong Walter Reed (and it’s still an if), what does that say about how incompetent they are? Keep in mind that a lot of the senior staffers overseeing the campaign could end up in positions of responsibility inside the White House. This was the most important single speech of the campaign and no one checked the background? More importantly, McCain has been to Walter Reed AMC before. I’m assuming some of his staff has (campaign staff aren’t allowed in, though) as well. No one noticed?

Um, OK.

Hopefully there’s a simple explanation (it’s the centerpiece of his 2 sentence education plan or TPM has identified the wrong building) because, like Josh Marshall, I can’t believe they would screw up something so basic.

Unfortunately, it doesn’t seem like it’s a good thing in this case. Random reports are coming out that seem to hint that McCain’s team didn’t really vet Sarah Palin very well. First, there are reports that McCain’s team has finally sent folks to Wasilla, AK to check the newspaper archives and talk to folks. Hilzoy has some more tidbits at Washington Monthly.

They’re definitely dominating the news cycle, but none of it is good. The only news is that the polls haven’t moved much, but I’m not sure anyone is surprised about that.

The weird thing is that they had MONTHS to make this pick. McCain had the nomination wrapped up in the spring. So, the real question is why the heck would they end up in a place where they had to make a rushed pick.

Many Obama supporters and other political observers, including Colin Powell, like to use the organization of the campaign staff and campaign organization as a proxy for executive leadership skills. By that measure, the McCain campaign is teetering on the edge of abject failure. Given the sheer number of months they had to make this pick, there’s simply NO excuse for being rushed on their choice.

Just in case anyone else is seeing references to “Eagleton” in references to Sarah Palin, here’s a link to Thomas Eagleton’s story, at least the relevant parts. I didn’t know myself (I’m not knowledgeable at all about U.S. political history before 1980), so hopefully this helps.

The bottom line is that he was McGovern’s running mate who was asked to withdraw his name from nomination after it came out that he had been hospitalized three times for physical and nervous exhaustion. There were also other details that would’ve tanked the nomination had they come out at the time. It’s worth reading the entire thing.

The obvious parallel is that the Eagleton pick was doomed in large part because of a lax vetting process after McGovern was turned down by the prominent Senators of the day. It remains to be seen whether McCain/Palin will go the same way as McGovern/Eagleton. This is the modern Republican party, with a Rove protege running McCain’s campaign so odds are that McCain will double down on the bad decision.

I feel like I should address it seriously, so here goes a simple list of thoughts I have about the pick.

First, I assume that the folks running campaigns know more and are smarter than I am. I might not always sound that way, but these folks are professionals, they have the ability to focus group and poll ahead of major decisions, and this is their life’s ambition.

So, when I say I have no idea what the campaign was thinking, keep that in the back of your mind.

I really mean this quite literally, though: I don’t understand what the Palin pick does to advance the McCain candidacy outside of the transparent ploy to blunt the “first” effect of Obama’s run while trying to pick off some women voters. The shamelessness of the ploy will, I think, keep it from being very effective.

I keep reading blog posts and articles looking for that hook that will somehow make that fact that she’s on the ticket lift the McCain ticket. I’m not seeing it, especially when you consider the rest of the picture.

Already, video and interviews are surfacing of her showing a serious inexperience with national issues. I can appreciate the fact that she was a mayor of a small town for some years and was elected to the governor’s office in 2006. Those require talent and some executive skills. The thing is that there’s nothing else there. The videos and interviews show a lack of depth on issues like Iraq, energy policy, and broader foreign policy questions.

We’ll see if she can get prepared for the debates in time. That’ll be the first real test for her, though I suspect reporters will be asking her these questions early.

Finally, and most confusing to me, is that the Governor is involved in a scandal back at home. She is accused of using her office to get her brother-in-law (who is or was going through a messy divorce with her sister) fired from his job as a state trooper. When the supervisor balked, Palin fired him. There’s talk of her being deposed for the investigation and the final report from the investigation team is supposed to come out by election day.

This doesn’t look like it’s going away, nor does it seem like a minor issue. The abuse of her executive authority would put her in a mold with the Bush administration and represents the worst of the last 8 years in the White House. The LAST thing I want to see come near the White House (or the Naval Observatory, as it were) is someone who can’t understand right from wrong on something as simple as this.

So, I’m basically confused. Ultimately, this race is about the top of the ticket, and Obama vs. McCain. The Palin selection has gotten everyone’s attention, though, and a lot of people are thinking about it instead of Obama’s speech. So, if they were after the long weekend news cycle, mission accomplished. You’d think, however, that they’d be thinking a little more long term. The scandal alone could undo this and seal the McCain ticket’s fate.

Anyone got anything else?

Yes, I can think of more important things in the world, but this just makes me laugh.

This is a serious time, for serious candidates and the best McCain could do is a woman uninterested in the big job, from a small state with very little experience with a diverse population, who’s under investigation for abusing her power as Governor.

Seriously, WTF was McCain thinking?