Buck Naked Politics

America Has Awakened and Said "No More"

by Deb Cupples | If ever there were a night worthy of bubbles, it was last night.  So, I opened a bottle of champagne and fixed a mimosa.  I didn't sip it straight, because I needed my RDA of vitamin C.

We Americans made history last night by electing our first black president, but it's far more than that.  Americans have awakened, horrified by what they've grown accustomed to over the last eight years, and they've roared their demand for changes in how America does business.

ABC Discourages Western Voters from Turning out to Vote

by Deb Cupples |   Watching last night's election returns on ABC TV was about as disgusting as the thought of chugging a pint of rancid, liquefied lard.  Maybe more so.

I started watching the election returns at about 7:30 pm.  By 9:00 or so, ABC said that Obama had 200 electoral votes, indicating that he was well on his way to winning.  Then I went to  ABC's electoral map on the Internet.  What did I find? 

That ABC was predicting the winner (i.e., giving out electoral votes to a candidate) for states that had reported as few as 1% of votes. One-percent?  Does anyone with any knowledge of statistics think that one-percent is reflective of an entire state's population -- especially states with distinct red and blue pockets?

Here's why premature predictions upset me:

If Elected, Would Obama Appoint a Bipartisan Cabinet?

by Damozel | I can't imagine that progressives will jump for joy at some of the names being bruited about, but Obama's list of reported candidates seems consummately pragmatic, given the tension between Democrats and Republicans.  The pragmatism comes in when you consider McCain's---and the media's---attempts to stoke fears among their constituents and swing voters about the consequences of a Democratic landslide.

If the Democrats win sweeping majorities in the House of Representatives and the Senate as well as the White House, conservative voters could feel alienated from every branch of government. The McCain campaign is already playing up fears of a Democratic landslide to persuade Republicans and independents to back their man.(Times of London)

The McCain Campaign: "Real Americans, Represent!"

by Damozel | Huh.  The McCain campaign's doing great in the "real" Virginia (the part that isn't going for Obama), in pro-America America where the real Americans live, and---doubtless---among the "real" Americans who would be happy living in an America where the media takes up Michele Bachman's invitation to determine which members of Congress are Americans as opposed to anti-Americans.

I thought that all this was just the result of the fact that certain members of the GOP are a bit insensitive to nuance, rattled by the polls, and a bit inclined at this point to resort to dog whistles to see what comes running.  Karen Tumulty wrote at Swampland:

BBC Newsnight Investigates Voter Fraud

by Damozel | They don't have an embed code---get a clue, BBC News; sigh----but if you'll click on the link you'll see a very unnerving NONPARTISAN investigation on voter fraud allegations against both parties. 

Newsnight exposed irregularities in the US elections in 2000 and in 2004. We set out to investigate whether 2008 could go the same way. (BBC News)

Saturday Night Live: Palin versus Biden

Does Biden love John McCain as much as Palin loves Israel?  The subtext revealed....with Queen Latifah as Ifill!  One of the highlights, as pointed out by Lynn Sweet (via Memeorandum), is this:

"From Latifah as Ifill: 'Due to the historically low expectations for Gov. Palin, were she simply to do an adequate job tonight, at no point cry, faint, run out of the building or vomit, you should consider the debate a tie.'"

Debate Fact Check: Palin and Biden "Mangled" Some Facts

by Deb Cupples |  My post yesterday about the vice-presidential debate focused on Sarah Palin's improved yet iffy performance.  A commenter by the name of "Close Observer" suggested that fairness required me to point out the errors and performance problems of both candidates.  He made a good point, so here goes.

According to FactCheck.org, both Sarah Palin and Joe Biden either got some facts wrong during Thursday's debate or outright misrepresented some facts.