From a McCain rally in Ohio…

Ana Marie Cox reports:
After first boasting that he wanted to “beef up” Sen. Barack Obama’s “skinny legs,” perhaps by “doing some squats,” he opined that McCain had been in a Vietnam camp for longer than Obama has been in the Senate.*
This is, of course, true, but one imagines that the various tenures make use of [...]

Early voting continues to break records

The latest on early voting turnout:
The numbers themselves are staggering.
“The aggregate number was shocking,” said Michael McDonald, an associate professor at George Mason University who compiles early-voting statistics, who added that his running total of early voters now tops 16.5 million. “Looking at them, they’re defying all the trends we’ve seen in early voting.”
He and [...]

Obama’s 30-minute ad/infomercial

Lots of money spent for lots and lots of time on the major networks tonight.  Here’s Obama’s closing argument:

Slate V Campaign Recap

Everything you might have missed (or want to relive) between the first and last debates:

Spreading the wealth

TaxVox, commenting on the idea that Obama’s tax policies would be redistributive, while McCain’s wouldn’t be:
… [If] McCain favors a flat tax, he should tell us and explain why he thinks it is a good idea to redistribute income by raising taxes on the middle class and giving the money to the wealthy.
The argument would [...]

Adjusted expectations about health care

I was struck in a recent economics seminar when the relatively-conservative economists in the room suggested that people might not be purchasing long-term care insurance at higher rates because they’re expecting a major national health care reform that will take care of such costs.
Now, economists don’t assume such radical transformations lightly–or assume that others are [...]

Obama’s big ad buy

Obama will buy 1/2-hour ads in primetime on major networks 6 days before the election.  This alone will make opting out of the federal campaign finance system worth it.

Next strategy: Talk about the Court

Ed Kilgore on McCain, Obama, SCOTUS, and the idea that the GOP could win by talking about activist judges again:
Seven of the current nine Justices were appointed by Republican presidents.
Going back a while, 12 of the last 14 Supreme Court appointments were made by Republican presidents (two by Bush 43, two by Bush 41, three [...]

Out of time

Obama on McCain’s last(?)-ditch effort:
“Sen. McCain and his operatives are gambling that he can distract you with smears rather than talk to you about substance,” he said. “They’d rather try to tear our campaign down than lift this country up.  That’s what you do when you’re out of touch, out of ideas, and running out [...]

Hail Mary Pass #4

McCain’s always been better as the underdog, so this new strategy to get tough on Obama could work for him.  If anyone can pull it off it’s probably him.  But after the last debate a lot of people noted that Obama looked happy and optimistic while McCain just looked grumpy.  Americans don’t vote for grumpy–or [...]