I’ve been fearing the so-called “October Surprise,” thinking that, of course, any such surprise would spell trouble in the polls next week for President Kerry. (In “All’s Fair,” the totally entertaining book by James Carville and Mary Matalin recalling their time on opposing campaigns back in ’92, the OS is referred to as the “Smoking Bimbo.” Thank god for evolution.) I never suspected that the OS might help underscore precisely why Kerry should win next Tuesday (or whenever the election is finally called). So then, I had one of those weird moments of feeling smug and terrified this morning as I read the headline about the cache of arms missing from Iraq. I don’t really know what to say about the actual facts about the missing arms, since the story is pretty depressing no matter how you spin it. Instead, I will pose a question to my fellow bloggers: Do you ever feel a flash of excitement about bad news which implicates the Other Guy, before you feel regret that the bad news in question could actually spell doom or harm for fellow humans? Think about this in the shower, trampoline, and let us know what you think.

Thanks for the link to The Note, apocalypseforever. I think this page answers some of my online politics needs, actually. It’s not quite a blog (my actual need), but its close enough to qualify as online insider-blather, and I do love me some insider-blather.

In the spirit of posting links of interest, I beg you to go check out this inflammatory, angry, penetrating song and video from Eminem. Go now. (If that link doesn't work, try: http://boss.streamos.com/qtime/interscope/eminem/encore/video/mosh-rev/100_mosh-rev.mov) I’ve been a guilt-ridden fan of Eminem’s for years – it will be entertaining to watch his former critics fall all over themselves in support of this new anti-Bush track.

I'm volunteering at Kerry/Edwards HQ here in Seattle tomorrow. I think I get to answer the phones by saying, "Thank you for calling Victory 2004." Maybe by the end of my shift I'll feel the truth in those words!

I spoke with a politically-savvy client who watched "Meet the Press" yesterday. She pointed out that Gillespie started hemming and hawing about apparent problems with some of the newly-registered voters. Sounds like the wheel is being greased for a good, legal battle about voters and their behavior.

I'm reading "The Press Effect" for my class right now - it really couldn't be a more timely read. I totally recommend it. It's a detailed (but entertainingly written) analysis of the press coverage of the 2000 election fracas. The book's authors employ dozens of quotes from the Brokaws of the world to support their thesis that the results of the Florida nightmare were dictated, in part, by the press. More frighteningly, it becomes apparent in reading the day-by-day recap of the weeks following the election that the GOP went after Florida and the absentee ballots almost viciously. During the FL count/re-count the GOP managed to sway the mainstream press to speak about the election in terms of likely-for-Bush, unlikely-for-Gore, which had an effect on the Supreme Court's ruling. Terrifying. We of the liberal ilk know of the stop-at-nothing methods of Rove and his cronies, but again, to read it all with the perspective we have now is just chilling.

This just in: The Orlando Sentinal endorses Kerry for Pres. Yay! In the land of Epcot, that's gotta mean something.