Rein

Chicago Machine

Tied in Minnesota

Minnesota has been a reliably Democratic state for a long, long time. They were the only state to vote for Walter Mondale in 1984. The have voted for a Republican candidate only four times in the last eighty years.

But, according to the latest Star Tribune poll, those days could be coming to an end.

A new Star Tribune Minnesota Poll shows that the race is now a dead heat between Barack Obama and John McCain, each supported by 45 percent of likely voters in the state.

The new poll likely will stoke both sides' efforts during the final 51 days until the election, triggering a barrage of advertising, grass-roots politicking and, potentially, stepped-up visits by the candidates.

The poll found that McCain has made gains across the board since a May Minnesota Poll that showed him trailing by 13 points. He has picked up considerable support among men and to a lesser degree among women. He also has boosted his standing with whites, young voters and all levels of household income and education.

If Senator McCain and Governor Palin can continue to make gains in states like Minnesota, Washington, Michigan and Pennsylvania, this could turn into an electoral college landslide.

Time To Bounce

The new USA Today/Gallup Poll is out, and well, its quite good.

McCain leads Democrat Barack Obama by 50%-46% among registered voters, the Republican's biggest advantage since January and a turnaround from the USA TODAY poll taken just before the convention opened in St. Paul. Then, he lagged by 7 percentage points.

That by itself is good news, but the really important poll data is and always has been likely voters.

In the new poll, taken Friday through Sunday, McCain leads Obama by 54%-44% among those seen as most likely to vote.

Now obviously, no one, not even the most partisan McCain backer expects a ten percentage point victory. Convention bounces always dissipate somewhat over the following several months. But a lead this big is encouraging, especially heading into the debates, which I think we can all agree are Obama's biggest weakness.

Sarah Hurt Barack's Feelings

Barack Obama is mad as heck, and he's gonna...

Pout.

This is work I did three [sic] years ago They haven't talked about the fact that I was a civil rights lawyer. They haven't talked about the fact that I taught constitutional law. They haven't talked about my work in the state legislature or the United States Senate. They're talking about the three years of work that I did right out of college, as if I'm making the leap from 2 or 3 years out of college into the presidency.

First of all, I distinctly remember Rudy Giuliani bringing up last night Obama's tenure in the Illinois legislature, so I have no idea what Obama's talking about.

More importantly, this kind of whining coming from the man that refuses to acknowledge Sarah Palin as the Governor of Alaska is laughable.

Barack Obama, and, for that matter, Joe Biden get kicks out of mocking Palin's experience and refusing to acknowledge her title. Sarah Palin responds by verbally eviscerating both men (and Harry Reid for that matter) in front of 37 million people.

The Republicans fail to worship at the altar of the Great Community Organizer, and Obama sulks about it.

Maybe he's just upset that the lowly mayor of "Wasilly" made him look so bad last night.

Republican National Convention Cancels Program for First Day

Thanks to the Wall Street Journal.

Ohio Rep. John Boehner, the House minority leader and chairman of the convention, said the legally required business, including approval of the rules and the platform, would take place but "there would not be much beyond that."

Its the right thing to do. It would be improper and insensitive to have a giant party (which is essentially what a national convention is) until we know the scope and scale of this storm.

Real Change