brucemaples.com -- On Policy and Politicshttp://www.brucemaples.com/blog-politics/en-US2008-12-01T23:20:31ZSquarespace Site Server v5.0.0 (http://www.squarespace.com/)My Predictionshttp://www.brucemaples.com/blog-politics/2008/11/4/my-predictions.htmlBruce2008-11-04T03:47:48ZElection 2008What good is a political blogger who won't share his or her predictions? That's right -- not much.

So, here are mine ...

]]>Random Thoughts As We Wait for Tuesdayhttp://www.brucemaples.com/blog-politics/2008/11/4/random-thoughts-as-we-wait-for-tuesday.htmlBruce2008-11-04T02:02:45ZElection 2008Bullet list of stuff:

  • Is anyone else sick of Joe Lieberman? I mean, looking at his grinning face, nodding approvingly behind McCain, I just want to throw something at the television. Does everyone remember that Lieberman calls himself a Democrat, and caucuses with the Dems in the Senate? No matter what happens tomorrow, I hope the Senate Dems throw him under the bus come 2009. I hope we don't need his vote. (I know, I know -- not going to happen. But I swear, I'm going to give to his primary supporter next time around.)
  • Rachel Maddow is one of my favorite people, even though her concern troll schtick from this week is getting a little old. She's performing a public service, though, calling out the issues we're having with the election system in this country. Her "special comment" yesterday called the multi-hour wait a "poll tax," and she's dead on. We've got to fix this thing.
  • I swear, all I've done for the past month is eat junk, look at polls, blog, and do campaign work. I'll be glad when this is finished so I can get back to eating right and exercising.
  • But -- I reserve the right to kill a pint of Peanut Butter Chip from Graeter's to celebrate Obama winning.
  • How anyone can vote for John McCain at this point is completely beyond me.
]]>The Antidote for PESDhttp://www.brucemaples.com/blog-politics/2008/11/2/the-antidote-for-pesd.htmlBruce2008-11-02T15:52:36ZElection 2008Anybody else going crazy waiting on this thing to be over?

All the signs point to an Obama victory. And this isn't Kerry in 2004, where we were all HOPING for a win. This is every national poll, every EV site, every indicator everywhere showing Obama with not only a win, but possibly a l**dsl**e (the word that shall not be named). So why am I compulsively looking at polls and news, and reading all over the web?

]]>VIPPs Wear Me Outhttp://www.brucemaples.com/blog-politics/2008/11/2/vipps-wear-me-out.htmlBruce2008-11-02T01:48:33ZGeneral Politics VIPP GOTVYou know who wear me out? VIPPs. Who are VIPPs, you ask? Why, Very Important Political Persons, of course.

You know who I mean. They're the ones who show up late, and leave early, because they've got Somewhere Important to go to. They like being In The Know, and they especially like Being Seen.

But you know what really wears me out about VIPPs? They think they're too important, or special, or busy to actually do the work that they ask the rest of us to do.

Why am I ranting about this? Because this past Wednesday, I saw a whole bunch of VIPPs in the back of the room, and it wasn't pretty.

]]>Can They Steal It?http://www.brucemaples.com/blog-politics/2008/11/1/can-they-steal-it.htmlBruce2008-11-01T14:36:36ZElection 2008 election 2008 vote stealing suppressionThe polls look good. The map looks good. The early voting looks good. All signs point to an Obama victory, even a possible Obama l**dsl*de (the word that shall not be named), and yet many of us of the blue persuasion are not sleeping, are overeating, and generally are stressed out of our minds. Why?

"Those damn Rethuglicans are going to steal this election, just like they stole 2000 and 2004."

So, let's look at that.

]]>Here It Is ...http://www.brucemaples.com/blog-politics/2008/10/30/here-it-is.htmlBruce2008-10-30T01:37:43ZElection 2008 ObamaThe 30-minute program from Obama's campaign ...

]]>"Obama=Hitler" -- A Letter to a Friendhttp://www.brucemaples.com/blog-politics/2008/10/29/obamahitler-a-letter-to-a-friend.htmlBruce2008-10-29T00:00:54ZElection 2008Indiana Call Center Workers Walk Off Job To Protest McCain Scripthttp://www.brucemaples.com/blog-politics/2008/10/28/indiana-call-center-workers-walk-off-job-to-protest-mccain-s.htmlBruce2008-10-28T15:16:04ZElection 2008Talking Points Memo Election Central:
Some three dozen workers at a telemarketing call center in Indiana walked off the job rather than read an incendiary McCain campaign script attacking Barack Obama, according to two workers at the center and one of their parents.
]]>The Rise and Fall of the Republican Righthttp://www.brucemaples.com/blog-politics/2008/10/27/the-rise-and-fall-of-the-republican-right.htmlBruce2008-10-27T03:41:06ZThere is a front-page writer at Daily Kos who goes by the user name of Hunter. His writing is direct, terse, and at times biting; but his analysis is often dead-on. Today's effort is no exception.

He writes of A Marginalized Party, and lays out why the conservative ascendancy is now rapidly becoming the conservative death spiral. Even more, he points out a key reason that the nation as a whole is leaving them:

]]>On Voting for Denisehttp://www.brucemaples.com/blog-politics/2008/10/26/on-voting-for-denise.htmlBruce2008-10-26T21:52:50ZElection 2008A few weeks ago, I wrote a diary critical of Denise Harper Angel's comment about Scott Ritcher. (For those of you unfamiliar with the comment and/or what I said, here's the diary.) My article, which I expected to be read by me and my dog, got quoted by Jake over at Page One, and I wound up having a banner day for traffic to my humble web abode.

Jake has continued to encourage people to write in Scott Ritcher's name when they vote. While I stand by what I wrote in that diary, I don't agree with Jake's suggestion (sorry, Jake), and here's why:

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