Happy Hour Discurso

Today's opining on the public discourse.

Just over 24 hours to go, and you can smell the rank stench of desperation just rolling off the Republicon party. They've been reduced to lying about the Constitution:

A mailer from the Minnesota Republican Party, provided to us by two different readers in the state, gets around the pitfall of implying that the presidential race is lost in its rhetorical efforts to keep the Democrats from getting 60 seats -- they just lie about how the Constitution works...

[snip]

"The U.S. Senate could have a 'super majority' of 60 Democrats after this election, allowing them to pass laws without bipartisan input or teamwork," the mailer says. "Not even a Presidential Veto will be able to stop them." The actual threshold for overriding a presidential veto is 67 votes. Minnesota GOP spokesperson Gina Countryman refused to speak with Election Central to confirm or deny the authenticity of the mailer.

I'm sure they did. Because there's only two possibilities here: they're either bloody ignorant about the Constitution and how our federal government actually works, in which case they're far too stupid to be elected, or they're bald-faced fucking liars. I'll let you take your pick - it's a tossup.

The McCain campaign itself is suffering from a severe case of poll denial:

Democrats everywhere love poll porn right about now, but this is especially notable under the circumstances.

Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama has strengthened his advantage in The Des Moines Register's Iowa Poll, establishing a commanding lead over Republican John McCain heading into Tuesday's election.

Obama has widened what was a solid lead in the Midwestern swing state, and has strengthened his position on key leadership traits since the Register's September poll.

Meanwhile, support for McCain and perceptions of his abilities have slipped despite several campaign appearances in the state this fall.

Obama, an Illinois senator, was the choice of 54 percent of likely voters, while McCain, an Arizona senator, was the choice of 37 percent. [...]

Obama's 17-point lead was up from 12 percentage points in the Register's previous poll, taken Sept. 8-10. Meanwhile, his supporters' confidence in him also improved, while confidence in McCain by his supporters slipped, according to the poll.

I'd note, for those who've forgotten, that the Register's Iowa Poll is arguably the gold standard for polling in the state, having gotten the results of the January caucuses exactly right.

On Friday night, of course, the McCain campaign released a detailed memo about the state of the race. "Our numbers in Iowa have seen a tremendous surge in the past 10 days," the McCain campaign insisted. "We took Obama's lead from the double digits to a very close race.... Like many other Midwestern states, Iowa is moving swiftly into McCain's column."

The problem with the McCain camp's scenario is this: more than one poll shows Obama up by double-digits. So either they're bald-faced fucking liars, or they're having a psychotic break. Again, I'll let you be the judge.

McCain's doubling-down on the lies, including debunked ones:

When the history of this campaign is written, a bunch of people will have to bust their butts to make sure that John McCain's non-stop lying and epic dishonesty aren't disappeared down the memory hole.

Case in point: On the trail just now in Pennsylvania, McCain again repeated a lie about Joe Biden, even though it was debunked as false days ago. He said:

"But this week, Senator Joe the Biden said tax relief should only go to middle class people making under $150,000 a year. And remember when he equated patriotism to paying taxes?"

But this claim was exposed as false by CNN days ago. Biden simply never said that people making less than $150,000 are the "only" people who should get tax relief.

Pathetic. I guess this is what happens when the Pew results predict a severe ass-whuppin':

A new national poll is going beyond saying Obama is ahead: It's predicting that Obama will win by six points.

The final Pew poll predicts that the outcome will be Obama 52%, McCain 46%, with the remainder split among third-party candidates. The top-line result among likely voters right now is Obama 49%, McCain 42%, with a ±2.5% margin of error. Last week, Obama had a much wider lead of 53%-38%.

And the news isn't any better from polls historically favorable to the right-wing nutcases:

Uh oh -- McCain may have lost John Zogby.

Today's Zogby tracking poll finds Obama ahead by six points nationally among likely voters, prompting Zogby to offer a bleak assessment of McCain's chances:

"There are two full days to go before Election Day and obviously anything can happen, but it is hard to see where McCain goes from here," pollster John Zogby said.

What's fun about this is that the winger bloggers and media have been pushing Zogby numbers to make the case that McCain could still win.

Deary, deary me. Even with the race tightening, McCain's campaign is right down the shitter. Somebody pull the handle, please - it's starting to stink in here.

All of this news has the Bush regime crying into their beer:

After failing in every imaginable way, with the worst approval ratings since the dawn of modern polling, and with a party that wants the president to be neither seen nor heard, the Bush White House is apparently feeling a little sorry for itself.

Others inside and outside the administration ... say the upbeat talk masks disappointment and frustration among any White House staffers, who believe Bush's reputation has been unfairly maligned for a series of calamities -- from the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks to the financial crisis -- that were beyond his control and that he handled well. GOP nominee John McCain's escalating attacks on Bush's tenure have added to the irritation, these people said.

"Everybody kind of wanted to spend the last 100-plus days doing some legacy things, and the financial crisis has thrown a wrench into that," said one prominent Republican who regularly talks with senior White House officials.

"You have a combination of no legacy stuff, a horrible economic mess and the likelihood that Obama is going to win," this person added. "There is a real sadness there."

Excuse me while I don't weep. These fuckers did it to themselves, but they're unable to face up to the fact that they're the worst bunch of lying, lawbreaking idiots ever to hit the White House, and now they want sympathy - no fucking way.

Allow me to quote one of my favorite bands, here: "If the truth hurts, prepare for pain."

I sense there's going to be a conservative run on Kleenex come Tuesday night.