Will there be a backlash to Kerry's Hunting Trip?

While I almost never understand her humor, I think that Maureen Dowd is making fun of Kerry for going hunting, though she seems to find it necessary to balance it with attacks on Bush. Another piece making similar points can be found here.

Ohio GOP Responding to Fraudulent Voter Registrations: This election could be pretty amazing

"The Ohio Republican Party officially filed challenges Friday to approximately 35,000 registrants in 65 counties where voter fraud is believed to have taken place. Bennett [chairman of the Ohio Republican Party] cited that the normal rate of return on new registrations in less than 1 percent. However, this year the rate of return has ranged from 2 percent to 11 percent in Ohio counties.

"For President Kerry, Election Night Is Just a Formality"

John Fund has an interesting piece on Opinion Journal's Political Diary:

"John Kerry has told friends that Al Gore's biggest mistake in the 2000 election was his decision to not publicly position himself as the winner of the disputed Florida vote. Mr. Kerry believes that move allowed the public and media to paint Mr. Gore as a sore loser during much of the recount rather than the prospective president. The Kerry campaign isn't going to make that mistake again. They have assembled recount teams in every swing state, complete with dozens of lawyers on call. And while recounts and court challenges to disputed vote totals are played out, the Kerry camp plans to quickly name a national security team and other transition officials if the election is at all in doubt. . . . "While possession of the presidency is important, we plan to take lots of steps to show we are ready to take office on Day One if the election goes into overtime and a final winner is delayed," a Kerry foreign policy adviser told me."

Appearance on CNN's Lou Dobbs to debate voting fraud

John Lott of the American Enterprise Institute and Edward Hailes Jr. of The Advancement Project, debate whether the election will be any more secure than in 2000.

Replays at 11:30 PM and 4:30 AM EDT.

Is Soros (or someone connected to him) manipulating the Presidential futures contracts ?

Donald Luskin has a post where he claims that Soros is trading in futures contracts to try convincing people that Bush won't win. Well, I guess if the Democratic Party is willing to openly try manipulating the online polls right after the debates, this is not much different. Hopefully, Soros will lose a few more dollars betting the wrong way. It makes me want to get into the betting.

An interesting article on voter fraud

ACORN's western regional director acknowledged in an interview with this newspaper that several hundred of those new registrants in Colorado were fraudulent, but sought to downplay the problem . . .: "Just because you register someone 35 times doesn't mean they get to vote 35 times." Not everyone finds this reassuring.

A conservative movie from Pixar and Disney?

The buzz out of early screenings is that "The Incredibles," set to be released Nov. 5, carries a considerably more middle-American sensibility than the usual fare from Hollywood, where liberal shibboleths often become the stuff of mainstream movies. The new movie's hero, Bob Parr, a k a Mr. Incredible, after all, has been driven into middle-aged retirement and the Superhero Relocation Program by a flood of lawsuits brought by personal-injury lawyers representing people Mr. Incredible has saved but who later complain of things like neck problems. Mr. Incredible's 10-year-old son, Dash, is blessed with super speed but is forced to conceal it from his unknowing peers at school - until, that is, he complains that he is being held back by the "everyone is special" ethic, which holds that kids should receive a trophy just for showing up on the playing field.

The futility of campaign finance regulation and why the "War on Terror Requires a Resolute Leader"

My son, Maxim, has two very good pieces that came out this week. One in the Philadelphia Daily News looks at the futility of campaign finance regulation. The second one in his school newspaper discusses the presidential race.

The coming "provisional ballot" disaster?

Democrats are preparing to make aggressive media and legal arguments that almost all provisional votes must be counted, a reprise of their 2000 Florida rallying cry of "Count every vote." . . . lawsuits [from provisional ballots] could delay for weeks the final decision in almost any photo-finish race.

The hope for Kyoto is that it quickly falls from its own weight before it makes the world too much poorer

Russia is on the verge of putting the Kyoto treaty on global warming into force, but with a wink and a nod that reflects Moscow's belief, that the toothless pact is destined to sink from its own weight.
. . . The punishing effect the treaty will have on growth and living standards — even in countries that most support it — is the reason it eventually will be discarded or ignored as unenforceable by all involved, the Russian officials said.

Kerry's English Skills

"Can I get me a hunting license here?" Kerry asked store owners Paul and Debra McKnight.

Does this mean that Kerry didn't already have a hunting license?

With all the claims of being a big hunter, I found this surprising: Bush and Kerry tailored their appeals. The Democrat, a Catholic, went to Mass and picked up a hunting license - a pitch to Ohio's socially conservative Democrats motivated by values and gun rights.