that is not anything like a rational tone you’re using there. so unlike you.

that tone is ugly, it’s vengeful, and it’s hateful. it may be righteous, it may be justified, it may even be legal.

but it is ugly and vengeful and hateful, and it does not become you.

grace, my man; and patience.

when you put winning at the pinnacle of life the way you are doing here (dare i say it?) you sound like god damn karl rove.

please. i beg of you for the umpteenth time – get a grip.

We weren’t that far behind the Rep’s in the primaries. Obama was the top Dem candiate.

Feb 5 Arizona Dems 443,426 GOP 476,638 Down 33,212 in the primaries.

2004 general Election Bush 55% Kerry 44%

And they have a ballot issue about restructuring the Pay Day Loan companies.
Let’s give those Rep’s the hot seat.

http://affr2008.org/

Heading the biggest team of lawyers ever assembled is Charles Lichtman, a partner in the Fort Lauderdale law firm Berger Singerman, who has been working as an unpaid volunteer for up to 18 hours a day since August. His drive comes from the experience of being what he describes as ”the Hanging Chad Guy”, leading a group of lawyers based in the infamous Broward County for weeks during the recount in 2000.

”Legitimate votes of citizens did not get counted. If they had been counted, we would not have been in Iraq and the economy would not have tanked,” Lichtman, 53, who is originally from Chicago, said. He vowed he would do his best to ensure it never happened again and began planning the operation that will be in place on November 4.

Barack Obama’s campaign team has recruited thousands of volunteer lawyers to attend polling stations in battleground states such as Ohio and Pennsylvania, and other states where the vote could be close.

But the biggest push is in Florida, in part because of its history and also because polls suggest the vote will be tight.

The lawyers will be on hand to help any voters denied a ballot on spurious grounds, or fight to keep polling stations open late if they become overwhelmed by the expected high turnout. The Republicans will have their own lawyers across Florida too.

So far, Lichtman said, there had been no serious problems, other than long queues – with waits of two hours or more – as people take advantage of the early voting that has been in place for the last two weeks. ”The only issue is the long lines but I think that is a good thing. It shows an enthusiasm for democracy. It is a great problem to have,” Lichtman said. He was not anticipating any major legal challenges from the Republican side.

An Obama campaign worker in Florida, who requested anonymity because he had signed a pledge not to speak to the press, agreed that Republicans had not so far been mounting challenges to voter eligibility at polling stations.

But that, he said, was because the Republicans in Florida had adopted a different strategy, passing legislation that set stringent rules on voter registration. As a result, people were disqualified if there were minor discrepancies, for example between the name on a driving licence and on a registration form.

The Obama campaign worker, who comes from outside the state, said: ”I have never seen such shameless manipulation of a process as I have seen here.”

Lichtman’s equivalent on the Republican side is Ed Pozzuoli, another Fort Lauderdale-based lawyer. Pozzuoli, 46, who was also involved in the Broward recount, yesterday described Lichtman as an old friend, even though they are on different political sides.

Pozzuoli, a partner at the Tripp Scott law firm who was the lead Florida lawyer for Bush in the 2000 recount, would not say how many lawyers the Republicans would have in place on Tuesday. ”We will have enough,” he said.

Also a volunteer, he expressed concern about the number of Democrat lawyers. ”Five thousand lawyers with nothing to do seems likely an ingredient for mischief,” he said. ”I was there in 2000 and the more lawyers the Democrats had, the more mischief there was.”

The Republicans want everyone who is entitled to vote to be allowed to do so, he said. That meant the integrity of the process had to be protected.

The legislation on registration did not apply to existing voters but only 300,000 new ones, and of those only a couple of thousand were at issue, including those with names like Mickey Mouse, Pozzuoli said. ”When you allow Mickey Mouse to vote, that diminishes everyone’s right.”

Charlie Crist, the Republican governor of Florida, extended early voting hours this week by three hours a day, from 7am until 7pm

Obama campaign manager David Plouffe just announced that the campaign is going on the air in three additional states: Georgia, North Dakota and Arizona.

The two largest cities in North Dakota, Fargo and Grand Forks, are located right on the border of Minnesota. So ads airing there will be seen in Minnesota’s 7th Congressional District, which is right across the Red River. Every little bit helps.

What this means in actual practice is a two-step process:

- Winning the Start to Get the Lead
- Keeping Your Opponent in-or-behind Your Exhaust Wind

This Strategy sets-up the Tactics, which, Skillfully-Used, bring Success 100% of the time, even for Boats that are Naturally Slower than their Opponents.

Where teams Go Wrong in Yacht Racing is when they depart from the Strategy, for whatever reason. The Classic Example is from the Challenger Series (the Citizen’s Cup) for the 1995 America’s Cup Races.

That year, there were three boats Challenging to take-on the then-current Cup-holder, New Zealand: Young America, Mighty Mary, and Stars-and-Stripes.

Of the three challengers, Stars-and-Stripes was the Concensus Slowest Boat. But, Stars-and-Stripes was Captained by Dennis Connor – arguably the Greatest Sailor Our Country has ever produced – and he kept it close enough, through Great Starts and good Tactical Maneuvering, that the Challenger Series came down to a Knock-Out Race against Mighty Mary, crewed by a Mostly Female Team that was Poised for History-Making Greatness.

In the Knock-Out Race, it was Mighty Mary that had a Great Start and Took the Lead. Employing the Time-Tested and Proven Tactical Plan of Denying Stars-and-Stripes the Wind, Mighty Mary legged-out to a 4-Minute Lead by the time she rounded the Buoy onto the Final Leg.

In Sailing, a 4-Minute Lead in the Final Leg is like Being Up 4 Touchdowns in the 4th Quarter of a Football Game – nobody blows a lead like that!

So, Connor rounds the Buoy into the Final Leg and figures he Needs A Miracle: He needs Mighty Mary to Stop Covering him, so he can take advantage of any Changes in Wind Direction, which he Has to Have for any Hope of a Win.

The Final Leg of the Race ran down the ‘right’ side of the Course towards the Finish Line, and Mighty Mary had a Nearly Straight Shot to get there. So, tacking left, Stars-and-Stripes began moving out towards the center of the Course – away from the Finish Line.

At first, Mighty Mary tacked left, also, to Cover the Wind and Keep the Advantage, but with the Finish Line in sight they then Tacked Right – Breaking Cover – in a bid to put the Coup-de-Grace to Connor.

Stars-and-Stripes fell behind 40 Boat Lengths, putting them in a 4th and 400 situation – but, they got Un-fettered access to the Wind – which suddenly slacked into a 4-knot cross-wind that shifted ‘just enough’ to put Proud Mary into a Lull – Stalled-Out (they couldn’t tack right without going ‘outside’ the Course) within a quarter-mile of the Finish Line.

Connor, otoh, was able to tack back towards the Finish Line and Lay-On the Sail.

40, 35, 30, 25, 20, Stars-and-Stripes steadily closed the Gap – and there was Nothing Mighty Mary could do about it. Why?

Because they didn’t follow the Yacht Racing Formula for Winning – they Broke Cover.

Had they Maintained the Wind Advantage – even if it meant Sailing Away from the Finish Line to Deny Stars-and-Sripes the Wind – they would have Stayed in Position – in Front – no matter what happened.

Instead, the impossible, the un-thinkable, happened – Stars-and-Stripes, the Slowest Boat, came All the Way Back and Won by 3 Boat Lengths – Dashing Mighty Mary’s bid for Greatness, and Sending them home Losers.

The lesson here for US is: Don’t Let the Sight of Tuesday’s Finish Line ‘lull’ US into thinking We’ve Got This Won.

When Obama is saying “We’re doing what we need to” – that means We have to Stay in the Boat with him and Keep the Wind out of McCain’s Sails.

Everything else will take care of itself!

Take Back America!

Especially as it DOES matter how the ‘downticket’ candidates do.

Let us dispense with obsequious ‘politeness’, beforehand …

We can be gracious AND magnanimous AFTER we win decisively.

Wouldn’t THAT be ‘nice’(as in “It’s about time, dammit!”) … for a ‘change’?