Early Look at 2008 Election Possibilities

Here are two electoral maps, one of McCain vs Clinton, and another of McCain vs Obama, from a nifty website called 270toWin.

It's interesting to see which states come into play based on who the Democratic opponenent is. For instance, with Obama as the nominee, Texas is currently considered (by these analysts anyway) a possible swing state. I don't think there is really any decent chance that Texas could go Democratic in this election, but there is still a lot of time before the election. As things currently stand in these maps, in a Clinton-McCain match-up, Clinton would be leading 239-168 with 131 swing votes still out there. In an Obama-McCain matchup, Obama would be leading 208-151 with 179 swing votes up for grabs. To win the presidency, a candidate must win 270 electoral votes.

This may all sound very nice and dandy for the Democrats, but they don't have 270 yet, and those swing votes are going to be very hard to get. I'm happy to see that North Carolina is considered a swing state either way. Hopefully we'll get some more campaign action this fall.

Car Dealer has Free Handgun Promotion

In response to Barack Obama's "BitterGate" comments, a car dealer in Missouri is offering a free handgun with the purchase of a car. Since the promotion began, sales have quadrupled. Wow. This saddens me.

WWF

clipped from brad.tumblr.com

Rob Riggle in Berkeley

I haven't been able to watch much Daily Show given my traveling, but I just watched a series of old clips on The Daily Show website. This one in particular caught my eye because it is critical of liberals. I never knew that Rob Riggle was in the Marines. I've enjoyed his work in the past, but knowing he is a veteran probably increases the value I place on his reporting for the war-related pieces that he often does.

Tom Waits Interview

I was just recently reading this great Tom Waits interview. Here is an excerpt:

Q: Can you tell me an odd thing that happened in an odd place? Any thoughts?
A: A Japanese freighter had been torpedoed during WWII and it’s at the bottom of Tokyo Harbor with a large hole in her hull. A team of engineers was called together to solve the problem of raising the wounded vessel to the surface. One of the engineers tackling this puzzle said he remembered seeing a Donald Duck cartoon when he was a boy where there was a boat at the bottom of the ocean with a hole in its hull, and they injected it with ping-pong balls and it floated up. The skeptical group laughed but one of the experts was willing to give it a try. Of course, where in the world would you find twenty million ping-pong balls but in Tokyo? It turned out to be the perfect solution. The balls were injected into the hull and it floated to the surface, the engineer was altered. Moral- solutions to problems are always found at an entirely different level; also, believe in yourself in the face of impossible odds.

Things Younger Than John McCain

This is a humorous blog, but I think that it makes a good point about his age.

Mass Transit in the US!

Recently mass transit has been getting some attention in the car-dependent USA thanks to the spiraling gas prices. In North Carolina, the Amtrak line has had a 20% increase in passengers compared to the same time last year. Thanks to Sam for showing me that article.

Another similar article that caught my eye was linked to from Paul Krugman's blog. The article notes that mass transit use is up 10-15% in cities in the West and South were driving culture is the strongest and mass transit options are more limited. I consider the increase in mass transit usage to be very good news. I hope we start investing in more mass transit options.

Dumb as We Wanna Be

Here's a link to a good article by Thomas Friedman of the NY Times about our energy policy:
"The McCain-Clinton gas holiday proposal is a perfect example of what energy expert Peter Schwartz of Global Business Network describes as the true American energy policy today: 'Maximize demand, minimize supply and buy the rest from the people who hate us the most.'"

Let's hope we come to our senses soon.