Idiot of the Week: Hoosier Access (w/update)

I think its safe to say a majority of Americans have moved passed the age of racial political division. And I say a majority for a reason, because as sad as it may be, there are still those few out there who idiotically attempt to disguise racism as some form of legitimate political/social commentary. A perfect example can be found in a recent post concerning a Barack Obama speech over at Hoosier Access:

And the bit about getting into people’s faces - that’s right in line with the mindset of the baggy pants wearing crowd. Get into their face, maybe wave a shank or shiv, flash some signs.

You’ll see change in January if the Presidential limo starts sporting spinner wheels, fuzzy dice, and a BOOMING subwoofer mounted in the trunk blasting Ludacris. That change, is what will be left in your pocket after the Government gets done shaking you down for every last dollar you have.

Are you serious? Does Hoosier Access not accept the reality that Hoosier voters are smarter than this? I mean smearing Obama is one thing, but when you stoop to the level of racist bigot, I am afraid to say whatever credibility you once had is lost forever. Congrats Hoosier Access, your efforts have earned you idiot of the week honors.

Update (1:58 a.m.): It seems after Hoosier Access caught wind of the lefty blogosphere's dismay over their blatantly racist remarks, they responded with a follow up post valiantly defending what was written while pointing to our own hypocrisy. Without dignifying the absurdity of the hypocrisy charge, I would like to point out their oh so valiant defense. So valiant in fact, that they edited the post, deleting the paragraph I have quoted above. Unreal.

Saturday Open Thread

With lots of college football and Ryder Cup golf on today, a certain Mitch Daniels sentiment comes to mind-- "So many lies/sports, so little time." Well before I run off to enjoy the afternoon in proper fashion, here is a quick look at what's making its way around the blogosphere today.

• IN-07: Congressman Andre Carson, a member of the House Financial Services Committee, threw his two cents into the financial crisis debate with a statement released yesterday.
  

  "Irresponsible lending practices and risky financial ventures by some of our nation's leading monetary institutions have led to record foreclosures and plummeting homes values. In order to avert further turmoil, it is imperative that the Administration and Congress work in a bipartisan and bicameral fashion to address our nation's pressing credit crisis through the implementation of a comprehensive and bipartisan rescue package."

• H/T to Joh over at Bloosiers for the great video covering Secretary of State Madeline Albright's visit to the University of Indianapolis this morning.
  
  
  

• Daily tracking numbers have Barack Obama breaching the 50% mark in two of four polls conducted. Moreover its the first time this election season Obama has led all four polls simultaneously. I think now is as good a time as any for McCain and co. to start panicking. Because frankly, when you look at the political climate at large, they don't have much of anything going for them at present-- and I love it. 

Site Makeover

Well, I have spent the last few hours attempting to give Bloosier Hysteria a facelift of sorts. Considering my relative lack of understanding on the html front, I reckon my effort hasn't turned out too badly-- I'll let you be the judge. Anyhow, the noticeable change is the move from a two column system to the more blog savvy three column layout. I made this choice because adding an additional column gives me more personalization and design options, and thus I hope to utilize the space to provide yet greater info and blogging resources. What I am going to add and when is still up in the air though, so please bear with me as I iron some of the kinks out over the next week or so. 

And since I know you are thinking it-- yes-- manipulating html code on a Friday night is pretty embarrassing. Go ahead, laugh it up. 

Obamentum

No one can argue the fact the presidential race has swung heavily towards Barack Obama in the last week. To see just how much momentum we are talking about, its worth taking a look at the fine work the people of FiveThirtyEight are doing. More specifically, one of the site's most useful and telling resources is their Super Tracker, an analysis of daily tracking polls based on statistical plotting and tied together with an overarching trend line.

As you can see above, the trend line had steadily worked its way towards McCain over a three month period, until a week or so ago when it seemed to bottom-out and and sharply shift back towards Obama. And to those critics who argue its merely statistical noise, the site's contributors explain:

Let's not equivocate too much here. Over the course of the past several days, there has been a rather dramatic shift in this election toward Barack Obama. Our trendline estimate, which is engineered to be fairly conservative, registers the swing as equaling roughly 4 points over the course of the past week.

Changes of this velocity are unusual outside of the convention periods and the debates, especially in close elections. It took John McCain about 60 days and tens of millions of advertising dollars to whittle Obama's lead down from roughly 5 points at its peak in early June, to the 1-point lead that Obama held heading into the conventions. Obama has swing the numbers that much in barely a week.

....the fact is that Obama is in a stronger position now than he was immediately before the conventions. We now have him winning the election 71.5 percent of the time, which is about as high as that number has been all year.

Anyhow, I think its safe to say we have all slept better this week, especially considering the state of the race immediately following the republican convention. Moreover, it looks like the Obama campaign knew what it was doing when, despite falling numbers, it refused to panic-- which in my opinion is more comforting than any poll yet released.

More Prez Race Commentary

Its seems that everyone now has something to say about the state of affairs here in Indiana. The latest courtesy of the good people over at MyDD:

The Obama campaign still has work to do to get closer to the 48-49 percent range in which victory is more clearly visible on the horizon -- where they don't have to rely on the support of the vast majority of the undecided voters, which they are highly unlikely to get -- but for now they cannot be too unhappy with the state of the race in Indiana, which John Kerry lost by more than 20 points just four years ago. As we saw during the Indiana primary back in May, Obama has a strong organization in the state, which is certainly helped by the fact that Illinois, and Chicago in particular, are very close by, so if they can get close to the cusp of majority support in Indiana they just might be able to pull of a real shocker.

IN-Gov: Tale of Two Polls

Today has seen the release of two polls aimed at gauging the status of Indiana's gubernatorial race. And as luck would have it, the results couldn't be farther apart.

Rasmussen Reports
500 likely voters w/ MoE +/-4.5%
Sept. 17-18

Daniels 56%
Long Thompson 40%

And...

Seltzer & Co.
600 likely voters w/ MoE +/-4%
Sept. 14-16

Daniels 46%
Long Thompson 42%

It's hard to tell which one of these is more accurate. But I imagine the real number is somewhere between the two. Regardless, the Star/WTHR poll should do wonders for Long Thompson's campaign morale, and if anything should help to shore up much needed financial support across the state. Its clear she still has a long way to go in winning over hoosier voters though, as is evident from those willing to ticket-split in November:

Republican Gov. Mitch Daniels holds a four-point lead in his bid for a second term, including support from one in five voters who plan to back Democrat Barack Obama for president...

Slightly more than 20 percent of Obama's supporters said they plan to vote for the governor.

Rasmussen Latest Poll to Show Tight Indiana Race

The latest addition to this week's polling blitz once again confirms the accepted reality of Indiana's battleground status.

Rasmussen Reports
500 likely voters w/ MoE +/-4%
9/18/08

Obama 47%
McCain 49%

Undecided 4%

Little news here. The updated Indiana averages look as follows:

When will McCain wise up and realize he has a legitimate fight on his hands? Hopefully not until its too late. 

Spain is where exactly?

Crimey, someone tell McCain that Spain is across the big blue ocean in Europe and no where near Central/South America. Courtesy of TPMtv:

Quote of the Day

"I cannot say anything about this candidacy that takes it in any way seriously. It is a farce. It is absurd. It is an insult to all intelligent people. It is a sign of a candidate who has lost his mind. There is no way to take the nomination of Palin to be vice-president of the world’s sole superpower - except to treat it as a massive, unforgivable, inexplicable decision by someone who has either gone insane or is managerially unfit to be president of the United States."

--Andrew Sullivan, responding to McCain's choice of Sarah Palin for vice-president.

H.R. 3036: No Child Left Inside Act (update)

A few weeks ago I wrote about the No Child Left Inside Act, a pivotal bill expanding education on environmental issues for our nation's youth. When I wrote that initial post the House was scheduled to vote on the bill within the week, but as so we so often see, procedural roadblocks kept the bill buried until today.

This morning the House voted on a resolution that would send the bill to the floor for consideration, the first legislative step on its way to final approval. As expected the vote was split nearly perfect along party lines, with only two brave republicans willing to back NCLI. I say nearly perfect for a reason however. While 181 republicans voted to effectively kill the legislation, a single lone democrat crossed the aisle to stand amongst the 'nays'.

Baron Hill.

While I am aware Hill is in a heated general election battle, I remain baffled as to why he chose to vote as he did. Anyone have any ideas? Don't get me wrong, for the most part I love what he is doing for democrats across the state and for our country at large. But NCLI is too important to let slide and thus I feel Baron owes us an explanation.

As such, I urge all ninth district bloosiers to give Hill's office a call and voice your approval of H.R. 3036.

Baron Hill 202-225-5315

Because as a progressive community, reminding Hill where we stand on this issue is the least we can do.

Indiana Polling Blitz

It took nearly three weeks and a Republican convention before pollsters got back at it here in Indiana. During that stretch many openly questioned how close the race actually was, with the Obama campaign asserting they were within in striking distance and McCain and Co. calmly sure they had nothing to worry about. Well it seems just when everyone was coming to terms with Indiana's political uncertainty, a blitz of polling announcements has helped to answer a few lingering questions.

With three separate polls being released since yesterday, the state of the race in Indiana has confirmed its battleground status. The most recent poll--released this afternoon by Big Ten Battleground Polling-- provides a familiar result:

Obama 43.2%
McCain 46.7%
Undecided 5.1%

With each of the three polls looking marginally different, which one should be taken more seriously? Your guess is as good as mine. But in an effort to help gauge the overall polling picture I have compiled all the numbers and provided the average result-- which may in the end be the best indication of where Indiana currently stands. 

Considering the margin of error and looming voter turnout questions, this race most certainly hinges on the outcome of those 5% who remain undecided.

Breaking: IndyStar Poll Gives Obama First Indiana Lead

Folks this is big.

Star/WTHR Seltzer & Co.

600 likely voters MoE +/- 4%

Obama 47%

McCain 44%

Undecided 6%

If this doesn't cement the reality of Indiana as a legitimate swing state than I don't know what else will. Outspent and unconcerned, McCain and co. continues to forgo the possibility of a red to blue swing-- all in the wake of an Obama campaign who has purchased nearly $300,000 in media buys and has opened up 30+ offices across the state.

How has Obama gained traction in our historically red state? Well, it seem that like last night's gubernatorial debate focus, many hoosier voters are basing there choice on which candidate is best equipped to handle our precarious economy.

The poll showed Hoosier voters are more confident in Obama's ability to handle the economy, with 44 percent saying he is best equipped to bring new jobs to Indiana, compared with 30 percent for McCain.

[....]

"I'm looking for somebody who is not going to tax the middle class to death, and end high-priced gas," said Hopkins, a self-described Democrat and stay-at-home mom.

What's more, McCain's overconfidence in Indiana may ultimately be his downfall.

Luke Messer, co-chairman of McCain's Indiana campaign, said he's confident the Arizona senator will win in Indiana.

"Other polling has us ahead, and that's where we believe the race is," Messer said. "Obviously, Barack Obama has spent millions and millions of dollars and has had staff here for months and months, and the question would be: Why isn't he doing better?"

In the end we can only hope this continues to be the official McCain response. Something tells me it won't though. Obama has seen to that.