Election Countdown: 7 Days to Election

Republican Vice Presidential candidate Gov. Sarah Palin addresses supporters during a campaign stop October 27, 2008 in Leesburg, Virginia at J.R.'s Festival Lakes. (Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images North America)

One week. That's all there is. It's only one week until the most meaningful day of our lives. The day when "Who's Nailin' Paylin?" hits the shelves at adult bookstores across the country.
Hustler's "Who's Nailin' Paylin" brings sexism to the forefront of the election with its Nov. 4 release date.

This election has brought out the worst in terms of racism, sexism and even ageism. I don't mean to make light of the issue of sexism in this election. Yes I think it's wrong for the media to sexualize a Vice Presidential candidate. But it's hard for me to think of "Who's Nailin' Paylin?" and a Sarah Palin sex doll as being malicious on the same level as the racism displayed in "Obama Waffles" and "Obama Bucks."

The sexualization of Sarah Palin is damaging in a macro way. It perpetuates negative gender roles and ideas about women in power. It's not good, but it's different from taking an "Obama Monkey" to a McCain rally, or characterizing Obama as a Muslim terrorist.

These attacks are conceived to affect the election by discrediting Obama whereas the sexualization of Sarah Palin is probably something that's happening equally among those voting for either candidate. They don't affect the election.

That's all for my ranting on isms in the election. Feel free to tell me off in the comments.


With one week left until the big day, Barack Obama has been delivering what his campaign is calling his "closing argument" (as seen above) by rallying his supporters and warning them not to start thinking the election is already won.

"We cannot let up for one day, one minute, or one second in this last week. Not now," he said Monday in Canton, Ohio.

For its part, the John McCain campaign has latched onto two talking points in its attempts to discredit the Obama-Biden ticket in the 11th hour of the election.

1. The Warren Court: In a 2001 NPR interview, Barack Obama said the Warren Court didn't do enough to redistribute wealth in the United States. The Warren Court refers to a period in the history of the United States Supreme Court from 1953-1969 in which Chief Justice Earl Warren presided over a time of progressive changes in civil rights and liberties. (More from wikipedia.org)
2. Redistribution of Wealth: This is sort of tied to the first one, but Barack Obama will take your money in the form of taxes and redistribute it and that makes him a communist (or a socialist or even a Marxist depending on whose writing the article).

Joe Biden didn't do much to help the campaign Monday when he became agitated with the line of questioning from Florida news reporter Barbara West. After West tied Obama to the ACORN voter registration scandal and later implied that he was a "Marxist," Biden turned incredulous and asked her: "Is this a joke?"
Did you hear the one about the two white supremacists who wanted to go on a killing spree that would end with the decapitation of Barack Obama?

Obama's campaign then dropped an interview West had scheduled with the presidential candidate and issued a statement saying they wouldn't be working with the station in the foreseeable future.

The move, even if it was justified, made the Obama camp look thin-skinned, but I do love watching Biden go off on this reporter who so obviously has an agenda. Watch the video here.

Oh and did you hear the one about the two white supremacists who wanted to go on a killing spree that would end with the decapitation of Barack Obama? Yeah. Seriously.

From the Associated Press:

Federal agents have broken up a plot to assassinate Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama and shoot or decapitate 102 black people in a Tennessee murder spree, the ATF said Monday.

In court records unsealed Monday, federal agents said they disrupted plans to rob a gun store and target a predominantly African-American high school by two neo-Nazi skinheads. Agents said the skinheads did not identify the school by name.

Jim Cavanaugh, special agent in charge of the Nashville field office for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, said the two men [ages 20 and 18] planned to shoot 88 black people and decapitate another 14. The numbers 88 and 14 are symbolic in the white supremacist community.

It doesn't look like these yahoos had any chance of succeeding in such an ill-conceived plot, but remember: it's dangerous to laugh off homicidal crazies just because they're crazy.
Ted Stevens will continue his reelection campaign even though he stands to do hard time in prison.

In the senate races, Alaskan Ted Stevens' campaign took a major hit Monday. Stevens was found guilty of corruption charges stemming from $250,000 in free home renovations the Republican senator received from oil executive Bill Allen (former CEO of VECO Corp.). He has announced that he will continue his campaign (which is perfectly acceptable according to the law) even though he stands to do hard time in prison depending on how the judge is feeling.

Stevens maintains his innocence and says he paid all the bills that came his way and never realized Allen was handing him freebies. (More on that here)

In other congressional elections, the Democrats are using record fundraising to fuel campaigns in Republican-leaning districts to try and win an ambitious filibuster-proof 60-member majority in the Senate while picking up 20 to 30 seats in the House.

Gallup Daily Tracking
From Gallup.com
Obama: 52% (+1%)
McCain: 42% (even)


Day in Pictures

Palin Leads Campaign Rally In Virginia

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Alicia Silverstone At The Barack Obama Rally

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Dave Matthews & Tim Reynolds Campaign For Barack Obama In Richmond, VA

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