Bite Me Ball at CAC Best Costume Winner

The suit is entirely covered by Obama stickers. Great fun at a great event!

Gangs in the Burbs?

Check out this report from WLWT. I am actually not sure what I think about it, so view it for yourself.

Election Predictions Thread

Well, we've certainly talked this election to death. Time to to put up or shut up: what are your predictions for Tuesday? Here are mine (please remember, these are predictions, not endorsements):

National:

• Obama wins, garnering more than 50% of the popular vote and a total of 282 electoral votes. He wins Virginia, New Mexico, Nevada, Iowa, and the Kerry states. McCain takes the remainder of the "battleground" states, including Ohio and Florida.
• The Democrats pick up 5 Senate seats and 15-20 House seats.
• Steve Driehaus beats Steve Chabot.
• Jean Schmidt beats Wulsin and that other guy.

Ohio:

• Cordray wins the AG race.
• Issue 5 (essentially eliminating payday lending) fails.
• Issue 6 (permitting a casino) fails.
• Justices Stratton and O'Connor hold on to their seats on the Supreme Court, probably by 10 or more points each.

Hamilton County:

• Greg Hartmann is elected county commissioner. Todd Portune also wins, although in a very close contest (probably no more than a 4-point victory).
• Bob Goering is re-elected treasurer and Rebecca Groppe is re-elected recorder.
• Martha Good is elected Clerk of Courts.
• Pat Dewine is elected judge. Judge Nelson is re-elected. The race between Judge Luebbers and Judge Mock is too close to call (that race alone may force the counting of provisional ballots).

City of Cincinnati:

• Issue 7 (banning red-light cameras) passes.
• Issue 8 (re-instituting Council elections through proportional representation elections) fails, thanks to late radio spots and direct mail efforts.

What do y'all think?

Make Your Vote Count

Hopefully, everything will go smoothly in the polling places on Election Day. But if you run into trouble, here's some advice: do everything you can (firmly and politely) to make sure you're permitted to cast a regular ballot. Provisional ballots are second-class ballots, and may never get counted.

Provisional ballots are not counted on Election Day. Instead, they're counted afterwards, and are subject to debate and challenge by the members of the Board of Elections. Moreover, they'll only be counted if the number of provisional ballots exceeds the margin of victory for any given race.

So if you find yourself being offered a provisional ballot for some reason, try to talk the precinct judges into giving you a regular ballot. If you're not successful, then before you cast a ballot, go outside and find someone from a Voter Protection group. Seek out someone from a campaign you're partial to (both the McCain and Obama campaigns will have multiple observers and GOTV personnel in place at most polling places). If all else fails, call the Board of Elections for clarification.

Finally, be prepared for a lengthy wait on Tuesday. But remember, so long as you're in line before 7:30 pm, you will be permitted to vote a regular ballot, no matter how long it takes to get through the line. (If a court orders precincts held open longer and you get in line after 7:30, you will cast a provisional ballot that is kept separate from other ballots (even other provisional ballots), so they can be thrown out if the court's decision is subsequently overturned.) So even if you can't get there until after work and the lines are long, don't fear: your vote will count, so long as you're in line at the right precinct by 7:30.

Obama Rally Details

Here is the link to the offical announcement from the Obama campaign and includes a couple of details that will make things easier for people going:

Change We Need Rally
with Barack Obama

Nippert Stadium
University of Cincinnati
2700 Bearcats Way
Cincinnati, OH 45221

Sunday, November 2nd
Doors Open: 6:00 p.m.
Program Begins: 9:00 p.m.

The event is free and open to the public; tickets are not required but an RSVP is encouraged. Space is available on a first-come, first-served basis.

For security reasons do not bring bags or umbrellas. Please limit personal items. No signs or banners allowed.

Public parking is extremely limited. Car-pooling is strongly encouraged. Normal rates will apply at University of Cincinnati parking facilities. For more information click here.

I would advise everyone to pay attention to the no bags, umbrellas, signs or banners rule. It will make it much easier for you and everyone else to get in.

OH-1 Debate

For those who haven't heard, Sunday's Newsmakers program on Channel 12 (11:00 AM) will feature a debate between Steve Driehaus (D) and Steve Chabot (R). Since I just received a mass email from the Driehaus campaign promoting the show, they must think their candidate did pretty well.

And (as Jack reminds us via his robo-call), don't forget to turn your clocks back, or when you turn your TV on to watch Dan Hurley, you'll end up with Dan Marino....

Your Saturday Night Set The Clocks Back Robo-Call

Courtesy of Jason Silverstein at McSweeney's:

"Hello. I'm calling for John McCain and the RNC because you need to know that Barack Obama doesn't use his turn signal when he merges onto a freeway. I mean, seriously, who the hell does this guy think he is? He just goes. It's not even like he attempts to fit in. And I'm not talking lone-wolf maverick style, either. I mean, this is the kind of driving that gets people killed. Much like the bombs of Bill Ayers that could have killed countless Americans. That's not change, my friends. That's the same old Washington politics as usual."

Saturday comes and goes and John and Sarah still haven't closed the gap. Need lots of prayer work tomorrow to stop the socialist onslaught of That One. Of course, James Dobson is otherwise occupied in San Diego praying for the smiting of The Gay.