Voting, the American way --

(image by Wordle)

Early voting in the 2008 U.S. elections is going at a record setting pace, according to Politico, who called it an,

"avalanche. . . Whether encouraged by state officials to vote early and reduce the chaos and lines on Election Day, or pushed by campaigns to convert enthusiasm into tangible results, the shift to early balloting has made Election Day more of a final deadline than a one-day event."

The two people in our household have already voted for Barack Obama, just today. Because we have Texas official voter registration certificates, we were not required to show a picture ID. My roommate voted "straight Democrat." I almost did, but could not resist voting for an acquaintance who is a longtime Republican U.S. Representative. I worked in her very first campaign decades ago. Like most voters, I can be sentimental as well as partisan, and occasionally irrational.

These voters from California were duped by a GOP voter registration scheme that got an operative arrested: Think Progress# reported that, "Voters charge that Mark Jacoby duped them into joining the California Republican Party by making them believe they were signing a petition to toughen penalties against child molesters." Need more? Bob Cesca posted the "crazy e-mail of the week not long ago*."

Politicians can also behave irrationally#. There are those who believe that Republicans coming out for Barack Obama is irrational. George Packer#, great writer at The New Yorker, reveals that Ken Adelman has joined Colin Powell in endorsing Obama.

If the world could vote#, according to a Gallup poll, Obama would get 67%, McCain would get 22%, and 11% said they did not know or refused to respond. Also, 75% of the respondents said that the election in the U.S. would make a difference in their own country. Again 22% said it would not, and only 3% did not know or refused to answer. (Great interactive map).

It is just a few days until the actual Election Day, November 4. If you are thinking you will get an early start on the day's results by keeping up with exit polls, you might want to read this article by Ed Kilgore at The Democratic Strategist: "Exit polls: Not So Fast." It explains changes made in the network sponsored polling operation.

More Little tidbits for your dining pleasure:

• Will the Dow drive the election? asks Politico.


• Ezra Klein’s review of Andrew Gelman’s Red State, Blue State, Rich State, Poor State; visit the Barnes and Noble Review here:


• Goldwater's granddaughter# announced on the Huffington Post that McCain would not get the family's endorsement.


• Bono speaks to women video carried by the "One.org" campaign to fight global poverty.


• Obama Radio Station at Slacker -- Hear Bob Dylan, Stevie Wonder, Bruce Springsteen, Sheryl Crow and many more.


• 10 Great Film Cameos From Politicians from Spout.com.


• South Park Republicans and Colbert Democrats, from Neilsen's.


• PeopleJam . . . is offering "How to determine your Political Personality Type."

Hat Tip Key: Regular contributors of links to leads are "betmo*" and Jon#.

View my current slide show about the Bush years -- "Millennium" -- at the bottom of this column.

(Cross-posted at The Reaction.)

My “creativity and dreaming” post today is at Making Good Mondays.

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