DON'T FORGET TO VOTE!!!!!

Why I feel sorry for the people in Washington's 3rd District

I suppose the guy who filed for - and drew - unemployment benefits after losing his non-political job, even though he was still drawing a $32,000 salary for his work as a state Senator is probably the worst of the two, though the other guy doesn't seem like he's all that great - at least not in the brain-strength department.

Inside Politics
from the Seattle Times

Sometimes a banana is anything but a banana: U.S. Rep. Brian Baird, D-Vancouver, explaining the role politics didn't play in his vote against President Bush's Iraq resolution last week:

"I decided when this started that this would be a decision solely based on my best judgment of what was right for this country, what would in the long run provide the greatest security. I talked to my wife and my campai — ah, my, ah, my congressional staff, and everyone else and said that this is not in any way about politics."

More 3rd District politics: Baird's opponent is state Sen. Joe Zarelli, a Republican from Ridgefield, Clark County, who has been battling news that the state wants him to pay back unemployment insurance he improperly took while collecting his state Senate salary.

His unemployment news was followed by other jobless statistics. Slow fund raising pushed Zarelli to furlough his campaign manager and turn his political director into a volunteer, according to The Olympian.

And Zarelli has come up with the perfect answer to questions about his unemployment claims. We already loved his self-sacrificial statement that if his scandal meant bringing attention to the plight of the unemployed in the 3rd then it was all worth it. But even better was his statement to The Olympian, "I don't want to talk about this issue any more. It's getting far too much politicized."

Bad Roads or Twin Towers: Which Is Worse?

Here in Kansas, we've got ourselves a real winner in Kathleen Sebelius, who compared driving on neighboring Missouri's roads to the attack on the Twin Towers. Yeah, you read that right. She said that driving on Missouri's roads is:

"much more terrifying to me than the attacks on the World Trade Center, because I really think my life was far more at risk."

Wisely, she did apologize for the remark, but I have to wonder about the suitability of any candidate who would make a statement that would so obvoiusly be considered insensitive and likely to start more than a bit of controversy - whether the statement itself is true or not (and Missouri's roads are pretty bad).

Dirty Tricks

There are reports that there have been at least 2 instances of someone - generally presumed to be affiliated with the Republicans, though that can't be proven - trying to convince some people not to vote.

KSHB-TV in Kansas City reported on their 10pm news that many senior citizens are receiving recorded phone calls telling them that their absentee (or "early voter") ballots won't be counted and that the voting machines in a certain area are not working.  The calls purport to be from the Election Council, but are not, and now they're just trying to get the word out that the story is false.  (As of the time I'm posting this, they have not added the story to their website, but I'm providing the link in case they do add it - kj)

Baltimore's Sun newspaper reported this weekend about a flyer being distributed in some African-American communities, pubicizing not only the incorrect date for voting, but implying that before someone can vote they need to have all parking tickets, moter-vehicle tickets, overdue rent and any warrants taken care of.   (Copy of the flyer provided by the Talking Points Memo)