Obama, The Musical.

From the BBC. The article, not the musical.

Scriptwriter and director George Orido complies with Kenyan preferences in his casting of Mr McCain, his running-mate Sarah Palin, and President George Bush.  “McCain comes in as the villain, the chief villain. His supporting cast are George Bush and Sarah Palin who are standing in Obama’s way,” the director says.

The Schedule for The Horse Race.

From Newsweek.

I will be eating dinner with Kit Kittredge, Pampers Ceviche, Little Linda Winehouse, and who knows who else before heading to an undisclosed (but in no way shocking) location to watch the festivities and (hopefully) celebrate wildly. Conspicuous by his absence will be Barry Bonds, who had planned to host us at the Deeeluxe, but instead will be on the floor at NBC, participating in the whole hullabaloo from the inside.

I won’t be in front of a computer, so no live-blogging or the like. I’d say the best thing you can expect is a drunken post at 4am, one way or the other.

Undecideds I Can/Can’t Understand.

The article is from Time.

Sheen, of Lincoln, Nebraska, says his vote is coming down to one issue: abortion. Sheen says he’s “definitely pro-life” and he’s trying to decide whether Democrat Barack Obama or Republican John McCain is more in line with his views.  “Neither of them have the track record I would like in a political candidate. So at this point, it’s me sort of deciding upon, who do I think will be the best representation for if something is able to happen with the issue of abortion,” he says.  – Isn’t this one pretty clear?  Someone who is anti-abortion (I don’t agree with the term “pro-life”) has only one choice here, no?  One candidate will appoint conservative justices, one will appoint more liberal ones.  Am I missing something?

In McCain’s home state of Arizona, iReporter Kyle Aevermann, 21, is preparing to vote in his first presidential election. He is one of the few who has yet to reach a decision on his vote, although he knows he will not vote for the state’s long-time senator. Aevermann is debating between Obama and Green Party candidate Cynthia McKinney, although he acknowledges voting for McKinney might be a “waste of a vote.”  – This kind of undecided I get.  This is where I was with Nader/Gore way back when.  I broke for Nader, largely because I knew it didn’t matter much in New York.  Gore simply didn’t represent my views as well as Nader did.  And honestly, McKinney probably represents my views as well if not slightly better than Obama.  I’ve made a decision to get behind someone I feel is competent enough to handle the job, and who has great symbolic and cultural weight.  The fact that I agree with lots of his ideals make the decision a lot easier.  Still, I completely get the pull between voting for major party vs. third/fourth party in terms of following one’s conscience.  Paul supporters, McKinney supporters — it makes sense to me that they’re undecided.

But McCain vs. Obama?  You’re torn still?  Really?

Michelle Obama vs. Claire Huxtable.

From Newsweek:

Since her emergence on the national scene, Obama has been deemed radical, divisive and the adjective that no modern-day black woman can live without: angry. Thankfully, so far, she’s endured these demeaning accusations with a smile and shrug—at least in public. But if she does end up in the White House, continuing to dial back her straightforward, vibrant personality isn’t the answer. In the same way that Eleanor Roosevelt, Jackie Kennedy and Hillary Clinton each redefined what it meant to be First Lady, Michelle will forge her own path. Not only will she draw the usual criticisms, but she’ll be open to some new ones too. I eagerly await the public reaction if Sasha and Malia ever sport cornrows or afro puffs on the South Lawn.

1.8 Million Doors.

It’s not a thousand points of light.  It’s better.

I have nothing but respect for all my friends who were part of this number, not to mention all those who have knocked in previous weeks.

And if you didn’t knock, or call, and you feel bad about it, remember this: the groundswell of support is important all around.  If you’re excited, be excited.  That helps too.

You Know What’s Frustrating?

The period between when the press release has been written and when the news is actually distributed and actually hits.

I’ll have stuff to tell you soon.

This is the only non-election post you’ll get for the next few days, I bet.

A French Philospher on Sarah Palin’s Panties.

From The Village Voice.

Belzer: “Every black kid in America will be one inch taller the day after Obama is elected.”

Stew: “An Obama presidency will be the quake that unearths the kind of overt, white-hot racism in both the media and the populace that liberals and conservatives have been telling us doesn’t exist anymore, but that black people have known all along was still alive and well.”

Ice-T: “An Obama presidency will be the quake that unearths the kind of overt, white-hot racism in both the media and the populace that liberals and conservatives have been telling us doesn’t exist anymore, but that black people have known all along was still alive and well.”

Richard Foreman: “When I first saw Obama at the beginning of the campaign—and I did tell people this—I said: “You know, I look at Obama and I think, ‘This is going to sound crazy, and I’m not against him, but he seems like the Antichrist.’ ” “

Susan Choi: “The month of September was a very black month for me, where after Palin’s selection I almost felt like an abuse victim.”

Richard Hell: “Obama makes me happy, despite his flattening out of himself for wider electioneering purposes. To my mind, speeches such as the Philadelphia race speech earn him the benefit of the doubt.”

How It Could Break for McCain

Mark Halperin, Time Magazine:

Actually overtaking Obama in enough states to win would require a combination of factors: Obama’s get-out-the-vote efforts have to turn out to be weaker than thought; young voters have to fail to channel their enthusiasm for Obama into actually voting; race has to be a bigger factor than most pollsters currently believe it to be; conservatives have to be more fired up than they have seemed; independents have to be more attracted to the Republican ticket than they have been all year; and, most of all, late-deciding voters have to break disproportionately to McCain.

Unlikely.  But not impossible.  Go vote.

Obama on MTV.

Transcript is here.

Haven’t read it yet.  I remember Clinton’s MTV interview though; the boxers vs. briefs question is considered by some to have played a role in shaping his image.  Nothing like that in this one, from what I’ve skimmed though.  Barack’s image is already pretty shaped.

If You Follow The Horse Race…

…you have to spend time at FiveThirtyEight today and tomorrow.

Regardless of what the polls say, go vote.