Jeff ain’t feelin’ the love.

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Tyrannies hold better elections than republics do – or so says Jimmy Carter. Don’t believe me? Carter claims one reason his Carter Center won’t monitor Florida elections is that there is no

Uniformity in voting procedures, so that all citizens, regardless of their social or financial status, have equal assurance that their votes are cast in the same way and will be tabulated with equal accuracy.

Then there’s Article Four, Section One of the US Constitution:

The Times, Places and Manner of holding Elections for Senators and Representatives, shall be prescribed in each State by the Legislature thereof; but the Congress may at any time by Law make or alter such Regulations, except as to the Places of chusing Senators.

The Florida legislature – long controlled by Carter’s own party – decided eons ago to let the counties run elections, themselves. That’s simple federalism, devolved down to the local level.

Now, whether that’s wise or not isn’t for me to say – it’s for the people of Florida to say, through their elected (ahem) representatives.

What Carter demands – before he’ll deign to tell us if our elections measure up to, say, Venezuela’s – is that we all do things the one best way. Of course, once the one best way is decided, why bother with further elections? That’s simple tyranny, evolved up from the Carter Center.

Hugo Chavez learned his lesson. Why won’t we learn ours?

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Joe Gandleman thinks that Thursday’s debate (the one I’ll have trouble remembering) might just determine the election.

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Senator Kerry’s Spandex Paradox.

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*AKA, “Abandon Hip?”

For a few weeks now, I’ve been collecting advice from pundits to John Kerry and headlining them under “Abandon Ship!” The idea is, guys who appear to be winning don’t get that kind of advice. But this has got to be the strangest one yet – John Tierney in yesterday’s New York Times:

So how can the ever-patrician Mr. Kerry appeal to poor and working-class voters? Russell Simmons, the hip-hop music and fashion mogul, recommends that Mr. Kerry spend more time visiting inner-city neighborhoods, preferably accompanied by rap stars, while still remaining true to his class. Mr. Simmons points to his own success as a marketing consultant to Courvoisier, the cognac with a Thurston Howell image that became a staple of hip-hop culture.

If you hear Kerry use the words “homies,” “bling-bling,” or “chillin’” this week, you’ll know why.

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First up, apologies to Steve, as well as VodkaPundit’s regular readers, for taking up space with an entirely personal request.

I have an occasional problem with water in my basement. Since I bought my house (summer 2001), I’ve had to rip up and replace the carpet pad twice, most recently this last week after Hurricane Ivan dumped about a million gallons on Atlanta. I also have a very noticable damp spot in the basement’s “low point” after other heavy rainfalls.

(more…)

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After a thoughtful discussion with my bride – a discussion involving, mostly, me begging, “Please, may I?” – it’s been decided that I’ll be drunkblogging Thursday’s Presidential Debate.

Syncronize your watches.

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Jimmy Carter – friend to democracy:

Voting arrangements in Florida do not meet “basic international requirements” and could undermine the US election, former US President Jimmy Carter says.
He said a repeat of the irregularities of the much-disputed 2000 election – which gave President George W Bush the narrowest of wins – “seems likely”.

Mr Carter, a veteran observer of polls worldwide, also accused Florida’s top election official of “bias”.

You know, if Carter had been half as tough on Iran’s mullahs 25 years ago as he is on Florida today. . .

. . . then Western Civilization might not be, once again, in a global war against a fascist ideology.

Some friend.

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This week, Bush has another Florida-proof majority. Pennsylvania has slipped away, but I’m not sure it was ever really Bush’s. His one-week lead there was so slim, that I should probably have never bothered coloring it red. Same goes for Oregon. It’s red this week, but only by the barest of majorities. On the other hand, I’ve given New Mexico to Kerry, even though his lead there now looks as weak as Bush’s in Oregon.

Only five more of these to go, each and every Monday, before the Big Day.

UPDATE: Speaking of Florida-proof majorities, give Electoral-Vote.com‘s new projection a look. They give Florida to Kerry, and the election to Bush.

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Time’s Peter Beinart argues that Howard Dean would have been a better candidate than John Kerry:

Last winter Democratic-primary voters played political consultant. They tried to step inside the minds of swing voters and figure out which Democratic presidential candidate could beat George W. Bush. With an eye cast coldly on November, they rejected the man who had first won their hearts, Howard Dean, and flocked to the more “electable” choice, John Kerry. Among New Hampshire voters who said beating Bush was their biggest concern, Kerry beat Dean by a whopping 52 points.

Democratic voters should stick to their day jobs.

Read the whole thing to find out why.

NOTE: Over a year ago, I said that Dean might be the Democrat’s best choice, although for slightly different reasons.

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Patterico asks, “How clueless is the Los Angeles Times?”

Answer: Very.

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In space news, Paul Allen is going for the X-Prize starting this week. Not only that, but now they have a sponsor – Virgin Galactic – for sending parties of five into orbit.

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Thursday is the day Melissa and I get ready for the weekend – planning, shopping and all that.

There’s a new blog in town, and we’ll be visiting it every Thursday at the very least.

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Server went down last night, so I eventually gave up and went to bed. Catching up now.

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You might have already read this on InstaPundit:

Seismic activity at Mount St. Helens has changed significantly during the past 24 hours and the changes make us believe that there is an increased likelihood of a hazardous event, which warrants release of this Notice of Volcanic Unrest. The swarm of very small, shallow earthquakes (less than Magnitude 1) that began on the morning of 23 September peaked about mid-day on 24 September and slowly declined through yesterday morning. However, since then the character of the swarm has changed to include more than ten larger earthquakes (Magnitude 2-2.8), the most in a 24-hr period since the eruption of October 1986. In addition, some of the earthquakes are of a type that suggests the involvement of pressurized fluids (water and steam) or perhaps magma. The events are still occurring at shallow depths (less than one mile) below the lava dome that formed in the crater between 1980 and 1986. The cause and outcome of the earthquake swarm are uncertain at this time.

What Glenn didn’t mention, however, is that the sudden threat of earthquakes or a volcanic eruption comes just as John Kerry is gaining some traction against George Bush. A convenient distraction, no?

I question the timing.

UPDATE: On the other hand, maybe God is a Democrat.

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Command Post contributor Ed Moltzen interviews former deputy Central Command commander, Gen. Michael DeLong, on the situations in Iraq and Afghanistan.

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Two must-read essays on Iran. On from new-to-me blogger, The Key Monk, and the other from Michael Ledeen.

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*but were afraid John Kerry would tell you.

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Here’s a cravenly political move:

The Bush administration is moving toward releasing oil from the nation’s emergency stockpiles as a result of disruptions to production and imports caused by Hurricane Ivan.

Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham said yesterday afternoon that he had authorized negotiations with refiners for oil to be loaned on a short-term basis from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve. Officials said the Energy Department had received requests from refiners who said they were running short on supply.

At least “cravenly political” was my first instinct. Here we are, at the end of summer, when gas prices usually ease all by themselves. But this is no ordinary end of summer – oh, no. This end of summer also signals the beginning of Presidential Campaign Season. In fact, I remember Clinton doing something similar in the Fall of ’00 to help Gore. It’s called “the advantage of incumbency.”

(To abuse a bad old joke about tourists: if it’s campaign season, why can’t we shoot the candidates? Anyway.)

My next thought was, a lot of the Gulf Coast got hammered recently. We refine a lot of petroleum down there.

Third thought: Well, at least they have a good excuse for a cravenly political move.

Fourth thought: My drink is almost empty.

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A classic Top Ten:

Top Ten Ways CBS News Can Improve Its Reputation

10. Stick to stories everyone can agree on, like cookies are delicious.

9. Move nightly “happy hour” to after the broadcast.

8. Stop hiring guys with crazy names like “Morley.”

7. Can’t figure out if a news story is true? Let Judge Joe Brown decide.

6. Every time Mike Wallace tells a lie he gets a life-threatening electrical shock.

5. Newsroom patrolled by some kind of lovable but strict “truth monkey.”

4. If it turns out the story is wrong, give away 276 brand new cars.

3. After delivering a report, correspondent must add, “or maybe not–who knows?”

2. Newscast consists of Dan Rather sitting down to watch Tom Brokaw.

1. Oh, I dunno, stop making up crap?

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Not hardly.

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There’s not much beyond some Republican cheerleading from Karl Rove in this Washington Times article. It does, however, contain at least one hard fact:

Yesterday, the Kerry team canceled plans to begin a $5 million TV commercial campaign in Arizona, Arkansas, Louisiana and Missouri.

Campaign officials told the Associated Press that advisers concluded Mr. Kerry isn’t doing well enough in those states to justify the cost.

Kerry could win without any of those four states. But – just a few weeks ago, they were all considered battlegrounds. Now, they’re hardly being contested.

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Had some dental work done. Trying not to drool on the keyboard.

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Here’s the problem:

CAMP HABBANIYAH, Iraq

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This Late Night Ramble will be more incoherent than most, and that’s saying something. But I was well into my second evening cocktail before deciding not to even try outlining the thing. Hardly a great start for an important subject, but, as always, you get what you pay for here at VodkaPundit. In other words, there is such thing as a free lunch

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“I’m John Kerry, and I won’t listen to the best available advice.”

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Yeah, I’m working. Honest. Had to finish up a TCS column and catch up on day-old email before I could get to the blog. Sadly, I think the email was fresher than the column.

Anyway.

Time to run upstairs, pour another martini, and get to blogging.

UPDATE

Thanks to an email from my old high school buddy Kiril Dickinson, I’ve got a serious essay to write. Check back later.

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