From NYTimes.com: Candidates Vie for Pieces of a Changing Electoral Map

Mr. Obama gave a striking sign of his electoral muscle when he arrived here Saturday morning and journeyed to the city’s Gateway Arch on the Mississippi River. He saw 100,000 people spread out before him, a vast turnout in a state that teeters between Republicans and Democrats.

Amazing.

From Reuters.com: McCain moment

Photographer talks about the photo:

In any case, when I saw McCain lunge and his hands start to come up I hit the shutter and made two frames before it was over. Some other photographers who were there expressed surprise when they saw my picture and said they had never seen it happen at all and asked when it had occurred.

From NYTimes.com: Whale Protection Is Bolstered as Palin Objects

On Friday, Ms. Palin said the state had had “serious concerns about the low population of belugas in Cook Inlet for many years,” but she called the listing “premature.” Her administration challenged the federal government’s data, as it did with the polar bear decision.

The commissioner of the Alaska Department of Fish and Game, Denby S. Lloyd, said state data showed “an increase of more than 30 percent in the population, from 278 to 375,” since 2004. (The National Marine Fisheries Service said estimates had been as low as 278 in 2005.)
…
“In spite of protections already in place, Cook Inlet beluga whales are not recovering,” James W. Balsiger, the acting assistant administrator for the fisheries agency, said in a written statement. The whales are in danger of extinction, Dr. Balsiger said.

So, Palin thinks that 375 of a population is ok.  When does she think listing wouldn’t be “premature”?  I bet Palin thinks you only need two Beluga whales to have a safe population, a male and a female.

Investing in Victory?  I wonder if you’ll get a bailout on your donation if they lose.
The interesting thing is that the banner is requesting a donation for the McCain/Palin Compliance Fund.  I had never heard of a “Compliance Fund” so I decided to find out what it is.

From JohnMcCain.com

Contributions to the Compliance Fund will be used solely for legal and accounting services to ensure compliance with federal law, including a portion of the cost of broadcast advertising, campaign offices, and computer/website expenses. Federal law prohibits the Compliance Fund contributions from being used for a candidate’s election. Contributions from corporations, unions, government contractors, national banks, and foreign nationals without permanent residency status are prohibited.
…
Because the McCain-Palin Campaign is participating in the presidential public funding system, it will not raise private campaign contributions after August 31, 2008. However, federal law allows the Campaign to establish the Compliance Fund to defray legal and accounting compliance costs and preserve the Campaign’s public grant for media, mail, phones, and get-out-the-vote programs.

The “Compliance Fund” is for “legal and accounting costs for complying with campaign finance laws.”  But how much money do you need to pay for costs to comply with finance laws?  And why would you need to fund-raise for it?

It seems like a banner ad would be a violation of the use of the Compliance Fund.  I think they may be getting around it by saying that the ad is not for McCain/Palin for President but a McCain/Palin Compliance Fund ad.  It accomplishes both, but allows them to use money that was not supposed to be used for the campaign to be used.

Ironically John McCain is using this as a loophole in his own McCain/Feingold Campaign Finance reform bill.  

From NYTimes.com: McCain’s Camp Tests Fund-Raising Limits

Senator John McCain toiled for years to push a campaign finance overhaul through Congress. After the measure finally passed, Trevor Potter, a lawyer and vigorous advocate for reforming the system, was instrumental in defending the law from challenges and pressing for strict enforcement.

Now, as Mr. McCain makes his final sprint for the White House, Mr. Potter is again helping Mr. McCain, but this time by maneuvering to wring the maximum out of campaign finance laws in ways that some contend are at odds with the spirit of the reforms they championed.

From Slate.com: What’s a “Compliance Fund”?
A LOOPHOLE IN THE PUBLIC FINANCING RULES FOR PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS.

From NYTimes.com: Buy American. I Am.

A simple rule dictates my buying: Be fearful when others are greedy, and be greedy when others are fearful.

Warren Buffett’s words carry a lot of weight.  If he’s buying, a lot of people will follow.

Barack Obama and John McCain both gave comedic speeches at the Al Smith Memorial Foundation Charity Dinner. There’s some pretty funny moments in both.  It’s nice to see the two candidates having fun and enjoying themselves.

From CNN.com: ‘Stayin’ Alive’ has near-perfect rhythm to help jump-start heart

In a small but intriguing study from the University of Illinois medical school, doctors and students maintained close to the ideal number of chest compressions doing CPR while listening to the catchy, sung-in-falsetto tune from the 1977 movie “Saturday Night Fever.”
…
But Nadkarni said he has seen “Stayin’ Alive” work wonders in classes where students were having trouble keeping the right beat while practicing on mannequins. When he turned on the song, “all of a sudden, within just a few seconds, they get it right on the dot.”
…
“I heard a rumor that ‘Another One Bites the Dust’ works also, but it didn’t seem quite as appropriate,” Gilbert said.

Ironically, I can hear the rhythm in my head of “Another One Bites the Dust” better than “Stayin’ Alive”.  When I think of “Stayin’ Alive”, all I hear is the falsetto tune.  Guess, I’ll need to keep an LP ready just in case I need to perform some CPR.

From NYTimes.com: Joe in the Spotlight

Turns out that “Joe the Plumber,” as he became nationally known when Senator John McCain made him a theme at Wednesday night’s third and final presidential debate, may run a plumbing business but he is not a licensed plumber. His full name is Samuel J. Wurzelbacher. And he owes a bit in back taxes.
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An official at Local 50 of the plumber’s union, based in Toledo, said Mr. Wurzelbacher does not hold a license. He also has never served an apprenticeship and does not belong to the union. (The national plumber’s union, the United Association of Plumbers, Steamfitters, and Service Mechanics, endorsed Mr. Obama, it should be noted.)

“He’s basically playing games with the world,” Thomas Joseph, the local’s business manager, said in a telephone interview Thursday morning.

You know, I was wondering last night if McCain vetted “Joe the Plumber” since he mentioned him so many times.  It turns out he used his standard “Palin vetting” process.

I knew it was only a matter if time before every single thing in the world was known about this guy.

From USAToday: Father goes behind wife’s back to name newborn ‘Sarah McCain Palin’

Mark Ciptak says he went behind his wife’s back and listed their newborn daughter’s name as “Sarah McCain Palin” on her birth-certificate application…

“She wanted Ava Grace. So, with a clear conscience, even though I know I was sort of going around her back, I kind of secretively put down Sarah McCain Palin instead of Ava Grace on another set of forms that I acquired from the front desk,”
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Ciptak says told his wife about the switch the next day, while they were at the doctor’s office. He says she was speechless. “I felt a lot of cold air coming from her way,” Ciptak tells the station.

Full name of baby: Sarah McCain Palin Ciptak

That’s a great way to start life, named after two losers to be.  Would you be embarrassed if you were named John Lieberman Kerry or Bob Kemp Dole?

From Huffington Post: Bush Strategist: McCain Knows He Put Country At Risk With Palin Pick

Matthew Dowd, a prominent political consultant and chief strategist for George W. Bush’s reelection campaign eviscerated John McCain on Tuesday for his choice of Sarah Palin as vice president.

Dowd proclaimed that, in his heart of hearts, McCain knew he put the country at risk with his VP choice and that he would “have to live” with that fact for the rest of his career.
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Saying that Palin was a “net negative” on the ticket, he went on: “[McCain] knows, in his gut, that he put somebody unqualified on the ballot. He knows that in his gut, and when this race is over that is something he will have to live with… He put somebody unqualified on that ballot and he put the country at risk, he knows that.”