November Fifth

What do you think Wednesday, November 5 will be like?

On NPR yesterday, they did a story about race and the election, and they interviewed black and white voters in York, PA. At one point, a white woman expresses her fear that with an Obama victory, blacks would riot, and with an Obama defeat, blacks would riot. Then everyone expressed their concern that with an Obama victory, white supremacists might rally. [Lots of other interesting things were also said].

I wonder if some Republicans will think Obama and the Democrats "stole" the election - I think the Acorn scandal is laying the groundwork for this argument. If Obama loses, though, I think that Democrats - of all races - will think that something fishy went on since he's currently ahead in the polls.

Predictions?

Indiana

Joyce, maybe your calls are working! McCain's lead in Indiana narrows . . . according to the poll numbers.

Whither the Republican judge?

The Houston Chronicle suggests that Harris County might gain some Democratic judges. The whole idea of electing judges is an interesting phenomenon. Even stranger is the idea that all judges in my county are Republicans.

Toss up?

According to Real Clear Politics (see map on previous post), Georgia is now only "leaning McCain" and Virginia is "leading Obama." I also see that North Dakota has become a toss up, and Montana is pink, not red. I wonder what else might stem from the Powell endorsement and all that cash . . .

The Election

After twelve days without power and a frenzy of job applications, I am finally posting again. My new problem is that I have a manuscript due soon, but I can't stop checking the electoral maps and polls compulsively. Does anyone else have this problem? It's not as though West Virginia is going to become a "toss up" between 3:30 and 4:15 on a Sunday, but I'm there, checking just in case.

I like NPR's map and the Real Clear Politics map. It has nice historical features to boot - how many states did Nixon win in '72? Oh yeah, almost all of them.