Do we regard the Iraqi government as sovereign, or don't we? Bush and McCain used to say we would leave when the Iraqis wanted us to go. The press reported that the Iraqi government said they wanted us to go, yet that fact got ignored in this phony debate the right rigged up about whether the surge worked. They no longer say we'll leave when the Iraqis tell us to go, but just when some amorphous idea of "victory" is achieved. Personally, I think the truth is they don't intend to leave ever. They want permanent bases in Iraq, and so can't agree to leave, ever. I think we'll find the Iraqis offered to let us stay through 2011 as the worst compromise they can accept.

Next time conservatives argue the surge is working so we can't leave, let's answer with my opening question: Do we regard the Iraqi government as sovereign, or don't we?

Theocrats, xenophobes, corporatists

The 2012 race? Already? And here I was complaining about speculation over who was running for offices up in 2010. Ugh. I can't do it right now!

This guy is a Minnesota based GOP operative close to Norm Coleman. He was behind at least one of the McCain attack robocalls, one of his companies lobbied for the Burmese junta, one of his companies shared offices, at least formerly, with the Coleman campaign, and he's Coleman's landlord in DC. He's just popping up everywhere. I wonder if he's behind the comic book mailer that tells kids to open it, where they get told Al Franken writes pornography and rape sketches. http://www.americablog.com/2008/10/norm-coleman-mails-rape-comic-book-to.html

Get out there election day and get every Democratic-leaning voter to vote, and better yet start now instead of election day. Even if Obama has a big lead, it matters. There are always competitive races --- congress, state legislatures, county boards, something, and shocking results for those who try. Remember that some of those House victories two years ago were complete surprises.

That's fair for Todd. Clearly she needs help, not imprisonment. But what about the McCain campaign staff who pushed this story for all they hoped it was worth? The Obama campaign could have pushed the story about the canvasser who was assaulted, and pretended all Republicans or McCain supporters were like that, but they didn't. Maybe this really tells us the difference between the candidates.

Keith Ellison is my congressman. I think the world of him. Powerline is claiming Obama is like Ellison? Are conservatives so out of touch that they think this is a criticism? Silly question. Maybe a silly prediction: conservatives will come out of the election still thinking most Americans are like them, that there's nothing wrong with conservatism, and these last elections have been flukes.

I understand the decision to stick to the script, as a reporter rather than a real supporter. You were trying not to sabotage things but changing the script to make it less effective. But like others have said, these things have to be personalized. Even when I written scripts, I changed them with my first calls. Maybe the Republicans prefer volunteers to stick more closely to the script, I wouldn't know. The script is OK leaving a message, but I'd say when talking to live person, phone or doorknocking, you've got maybe ten seconds before you better give the person at the door something to respond to.

As a complete tangent, this afternoon I ran into my first racist. Don't see many in Minneapolis fortunately. He said, "Franken's OK, but I'm not voting for Ali Baba". After so many contacts already, I was surprised when it actually happened. As a tangent to that tangent, if you're in Minnesota, please don't assume Obama supporters are voting for Franken. Some aren't, and the senate race is in such flux we need every vote.

I'm concerned we'll have a disputed result like 2000 and 2004, but the states in question won't affect the electoral college majority so the fraudulent result will go mostly unchallenged. Even if Obama wins in a landslide, I hope for attention to the states where something funky happened. My best guess is the trouble spots will be Indiana and Colorado, but where ever fraud occurs, we need to fight it, just out of principle.

I hope your prediction is wrong about Minnesota. I've been pounding pavement for days trying to put Franken over the top, and anecdotally, he has solidified the base.

Glenn, this is tangential to the post, but getting to a topic you write about often, namely how the media produce narratives fed to them by conservatives. The Minnesota senate race has Norm Coleman ahead by 475 votes with the counting done, a .01% difference. By law there has to be a recount, but Coleman is claiming victory and asking Franken to stop dragging it out. He's setting up the same media narrative Bush set up in Florida in 2000, that he won and his opponent is trying to overturn the result. The only way I know of to stop it is to expose it quickly and make the media see how they're being used.

http://www.mncampaignreport.com/showDiary.do?diaryId=2116