Pale Blue And Tense

Columbus, Ohio

Campaigning in Ohio isn’t for the faint of heart.

Message to McCain: He that troubleth his own house shall inherit the wind. (Proverbs)

Though it has been a good week for Obama nationally and polls show him, remarkably, ahead in four of five battleground states (Ohio, Florida, Missouri and Virginia) and tied in North Carolina, Ohio’s shade of blue is too pale for comfort.

The latest Marist poll has it 49-45 for Obama here while Rassmussen makes it Obama, 49-47. In and of themselves, it’s arguable that such margins would withstand a eighth inning charge by McCain, should it occur.

Meanwhile, Truthout reports that Republicans are doing what they can to disenfranchise likely Obama voters. [When McCain talks about his “League of Democracies,” why doesn’t he include Ohio?] The latest moves here include lawsuits that invoke the specter of voting fraud.

Ohio’s weeklong period in which new voters can register and immediately cast a ballot was ripe for voting fraud, the Rs say. The state’s method of verifying voter registration information? Insufficient, they claim.

Voter fraud was a buzz phrase for the Ohio GOP when it pushed voter identification requirements through the state Legislature in 2005. It’s now a driving factor behind a flurry of GOP lawsuits leveled against Democratic Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner, seeking either to restrict early voting or mandate how voter information should be checked. [Click here for more]

Here on the ground, our schedule is full this week, taking us back to Athens County abutting the Appalachian region of Ohio toward the end of the week. Biden is in the same southeastern region this week, following Obama’s well-received swing last week.

Tonight, Newark, Ohio, and the Licking County Democratic Club.

You Can’t Always Choose Where You Spend A Night

Waterloo, Iowa

If on this trip we’re going to meet our Waterloo, let it be in Iowa, not Ohio.

Eleven and a half hours on the road today, across South Dakota (a helluva lot wider than tall, dammit!), and into Iowa.

This fellow--though not representative of Ohio undecideds (and we can be glad for that!)--is among the targets of our mission. Study this chap and leave a comment with a suggestion for a message that might reach him. (Don't be too serious.)

If any of you have ever driven from Madras to Culver–central Oregon flatland farming country–then you have as good as driven through Iowa. Except that those few Oregon miles are on a spool here and someone keeps rolling them out ahead of you, ahead of you, ahead …

I’ve been thinking about the Biden-Palin debate all day, and it came to me who Palin reminds me of: Trudy, the Bag Lady, in our friend, Lily Tomlin’s one-woman play, Searching For Signs Of Intelligent Life In The Universe. Trudy, see, was a conduit for messages from deep space.

How else does one explain the collision of thought shards or Ifill questions and Palin answers passing each other like ships in a fog?

I’m proud of Joe Biden. If Palin beat expectations, I say, well, if you start at zero …

(My best friend in Ashland wrote to tell me that she was winking at him.)

G’Night.

Hello, South Dakota!

Spearfish, South Dakota

No fish here that I can find. Or spears. But we did find a clean hotel with a comfortable bed at a reasonable rate. AARP discount. I feel like an old fart.

Our traveling billboard

The last thing before leaving was to paint the sign on the back window.

On the freeway, all across red eastern Montana, red, red Wyoming and into red, red, red South Dakota, people saw our sign and waved madly. Some used all five fingers.

Twenty minutes ’til Biden-Palin. Catch you later. C’mon, Joe!

Tight As a Tic

Bozeman, Montana

Polls show it maddeningly close in Buckeye land, but none of them is fresher than seven days old. Rassmussen (9/23) has it McCain 47, Obama 46, Other, 3, Undecided, 3.

Insider Advantage (9/22) has it dead even, 46-46, with Other at 1 percent and Undecided at 7.

This is just me, but I think Thursday’s Biden-Palin debate could have a major effect on the numbers in this still unsettled race, in swing states like Ohio and nationally.

I tend to get superstitious about these things. And I can’t believe that Palin in debate will seem as shockingly … shallow as she was in the Katie Couric interviews. If true, it means she will beat expectations (now at approximately zero). In turn, that would give a boost to what Republicans manage with a straight face to call their “ticket.”

On the other hand, I’ve known Joe Biden as a friend for more than thirty years. When he is on top of his game, he’s as good a debater as there is. Be on top of your game, Joe.

God, we can’t wait to get out there to work off some of this nervous energy!

Our beloved dog Rascal, however, has chosen this moment to relapse on an intestinal illness we thought he’d licked a week ago. We’ll have to delay our departure by at least a day to take him to a specialist in Helena to pinpoint what’s going on. Can’t leave a sick dog with our daughter here in Bozeman. Aargh!