Conservative talk radio is vilified by us lefties as a primary source of ignorance and fear. We charge that a vast army of sheeple listen to Rush and Beck to fill up with talking points and marching orders and go off into the amber waves of grain with hands over heart to do battle with the liberal forces of evil. Well, I saw this article in the Denver Post today and talk radio's influence, at least in these parts, may not be so vast.

Apparently Arbitron has recently rolled out a new, more accurate method of tracking listening preferences in the Denver area and the initial results are starting to come in. And (here comes the money line) it sounds like conventional wisdom has been turned on it's ear.

The first name called out in the article, Mike Rosen, is your typical radio righty in the mold of say Dennis Prager or Hugh Hewitt. He has the ability to disguise his batshit crazy content with his measured and reasonable sounding presentation. Well, his Denver audience may be only half of previously believed. KOA also hosts our friend Rush and since KOA's numbers as a whole are lower than expected I have to believe that Rush's numbers are down too. But to be fair, KOA is still the only AM station in the top 20. But then again, how much of that audience is Rockies, Broncos and Buffs fans tuning in for games?

Another surprise was KHOW. Their line-up of righties like local birther Pete Boyles, Glenn Beck, faux consumer advocate Tom Martino and the most frustrating radio personality ever: Dan Caplis dropped out of the top 20 all together. Good! Join me after the fold for the most interesting part...

Ok, yeah, I am glad that the politics of hate were defeated and we are now on the cusp of a new political age, but I really hope that once the confetti has been swept up and the tears have dried, we as a nation can revisit the fact that McCain purposefully whipped up hatred and fear solely in a cynical attempt to win a campaign at all cost, even if it meant ripping scabs off old wounds.

Here are a couple quotes from the Newsweek teaser released yesterday:

On the Sunday night before the last debate, McCain's core group of advisers--Steve Schmidt, Rick Davis, adman Fred Davis, strategist Greg Strimple, pollster Bill McInturff and strategy director Sarah Simmons--met to decide whether to tell McCain that the race was effectively over, that he no longer had a chance to win. The consensus in the room was no, not yet, not while he still had "a pulse."

The Obama campaign was provided with reports from the Secret Service showing a sharp and disturbing increase in threats to Obama in September and early October, at the same time that many crowds at Palin rallies became more frenzied. Michelle Obama was shaken by the vituperative crowds and the hot rhetoric from the GOP candidates. "Why would they try to make people hate us?" Michelle asked a top campaign aide.

So, if the McCain campaign knew the race was over effectively after the first debate, then why in the hell would they go down the road they went down whipping up hatred and fear against Obama? Why would they risk Obama's life, the safety and well being of his wife and kids? The safety and well being of innocent people of color? I get the sense that we were more lucky than anything else that a major hate crime didn't happen. Maybe we have Ashley Todd to thank for that.

Even if you can argue that any tactic was worth a try, then once it was clear the hate road was not going anywhere why not pull all the way back and go the Bob Dole route the last few weeks and focus on downticket races and leave the attacks on Obama's "associations" alone?

Looking at this post at DKos tells me that McCain doesn't think very highly of American citizens. The fact he was only trying to turn out the brain-stemmiest of the mouth breathers says that he didn't even try to appeal to anyone's better side.

So when I hear praise for his concession speech and some even calling him the new lion of the senate, I say ENOUGH!

It looks like McCain is up for re-election in 2010. I hope he decides to retire, but if he decides to make another go of it, lets be prepared to post a strong and viable candidate and let that candidate get our full financial backing and support.

As for Miss Sarah Palin, I suspect the next few weeks will effectively end her national political career as all this hot mess gets laid at her feet. How sweet will that taste?

Congratulations America, we done good!

I've been getting emails from my brother in Atlanta (Buckhead) who is trying to vote today. For the record he's a Libertarian and Barr supporter.

Fri, Oct 31, 2008 at 2:22 PM
"The joy of waiting in line...wow!  Who knew how  much fun this would be.  I'm going to have to find more random lines to stand in.  So far I've moved about 200 feet.  Sounds like a lot but there's about 2000 feet to go.  Pray for me."

Fri, Oct 31, 2008 at 3:24 PM
"This monsterous line has proven to be a formidible opponent but I have been honing my waiting skills all summer long.  I'm a season pass holder @ six flags.  The force is strong with me. School just let out and we have been getting heckled by a caravan of high schoolers riding home on the bus.  Obama must have campaigned hard at the schools, they keep shouting his name."

Fri, Oct 31, 2008 at 4:24 PM
"The sun is my enemy now.  Who knew that it would it be 75 degrees on halloween? Obama has the middle school and elementary vote to.  Have they been teaching kids in school to yell "Obama" as the bus drives past polling stations or is this some kind of new voter intimidation formulated by the democrats?"

Fri, Oct 31, 2008 at 5:02 PM
"So its almost 5pm and school bus full of children are still driving by yelling Obama.  I'm beginning to think its the same bus.  Watch the news for a report of a 'bama supporter hijacking a school bus and forced them to harass local polling stations. I'm almost there!  I'm about 200 feet from the building entrance.  I began my journey at 1:30pm and I am now about to vote at 5pm.  Georgia sucks at this."

Which I replied: "Sweet Jesus on a pogo stick. Is it that they only had like two machines inside the station? Nobody should wait this long to fucking vote. Tuesday is going to be a nightmare. So many people are going to get frustrated and leave. Fuck."

Fri, Oct 31, 2008 at 5:14 PM
"There are about 15 machines here.  The problem is they only have 2-3 polling stations open in each county.On the 4 they will have most schools converted to polling stations I believe. I'm actually still waiting.  Thought I was about to vote but was diverted to a new line once the guy checked my id.
Looks like I'm not getting outta here until after 5:30"

http://www.fortmilltimes.com/124/story/3 43906.html

http://www.myfoxatlanta.com/myfox/pages/ News/Detail?contentId=7748792&versio n=4&locale=EN-US&layoutCode=TSTY &pageId=3.2.1

By contrast, in my deep blue state of Colorado I had three stations to choose from within 5 miles of my front door. Each station had waaaaay over 15 booths and it took me about fifteen minutes to vote.

And so it goes...

Think of this diary as a pre-emptive strike against hubris. I've got to caution everyone here not to be too quick to believe our own bullshit.

The way I see it, Obama ran a fantastic campaign in a cycle following the WORST PRESIDENT EVER(TM). Obama was aided by an economic crisis and a challenger as inept a campaigner as anyone has ever seen. This in no way takes away from his amazing message and the strengths he brings. I now feel in my gut that Obama IS the right person for this job at this time in history.  

I will cede that most people are sick of Republicans in their current configuration, but I would caution anyone from falling into the same hubristic mistake the Republicans fell for in '94 by believing that the moment of triumph in a "change" election will usher in a permanent majority or it somehow validates our philosophy of governance within the populace. The real battle for hearts and minds begins after the election.

The talk on the Intertubes of a Reagan-esque realignment, the certain destruction of the GOP, the bankruptcy of conservatism and so on seems very premature and irrational. All this may come to pass, sure, but I doubt they come to pass merely because the Democratic Party wins big this year. Rather, I understand this to be a moment the nation says, "Your turn." I'd feel more comfortable with us acknowledging we made the case for our POV, but remain cautiously optimistic about tomorrow.

We will need to make the case everyday for why progressive policies are better for America rather than believe that America is now inherently center-left. There will be a time soon that leaders in our party will be called out for corruption, someone will let us down in a big way and the voters will grow weary of our rhetoric. The Republicans are not destroyed. They are flailing today, but they will find their voice soon enough and they will again be a force to be reckoned with, much like we have found our way back from near irrelevance. The fact that THIS candidate and THIS candidate with THIS message will still get roughly 45% of the popular vote should scare the short pants off anyone with a heart and mind that work in concert.

Yes We Can! 100,000 in Denver tells me CO is solid blue!

http://www.denverpost.com/business/ci_10 821877

My amazing wife and I took our 7 week old little girl to go see President Obama speak downtown today. Seeing as though we had to give up our credentials for the DNC while in labor, we weren't going to miss this.

We were there, but we didn't get to see Obama. TOO MANY SUPPORTERS! I am ok with that. I heard his speech, but nothing new there. The same stump speech we've heard a million times. Though I like the plumber zinger he's added lately.

My wife even said aloud what I was thinking. We are so glad to have been lifelong Dems, to be there at that moment and for what will happen in 9 days.

Finally, we both commented on how wonderful the people at the rally were. So diverse in race and culture and age and income. So many kids too. Love it! We were all smiling and happy to be tussling around the park.

For the first time this cycle I'm letting myself really believe this will happen. Let's make sure we run through the finish line!

Up front, there are no plot twists in this diary and thank the maker for that!

I voted for Barack Obama and Joe Biden today. Yay!

First, I always vote by mail-in. It may be my Pacific Northwest roots, but I have always voted mail-in/absentee. I haven't been to a poll in years. But for some reason, I felt I had to cast my ballot in person this year.

So today I took and early lunch, stopped by my house, kissed my wife and kids and grabbed my yellow card. Colorado has early voting locations setup all over the place. Somebody else can speak to the rest of the state. In Highlands Ranch I had 3 locations to choose from, all within 5 minutes of my front door. I chose Eastridge Recreation Center because that is the recreation center my family uses the most. Comfy.

As I drove in I was greeted by a very prominant sign telling me I was at the right place. As I walked into the center I was greeted by a VERY cheerful and friendly volunteer that helped me fill in a couple lines on my yellow card. He handed me off to another volunteer who was also VERY firendly and helpful. I handed him my yellow card and my driver's license. He scanned the yellow card, had me sign it in front of him, verified my existence on his computer system then handed me off to another volunteer.  This new person cheerfully generated an access code printout and handed me to another volunteer that set me up on an electronic voting machine.  

Electronic voting! Now I get to see first hand the horrors of electronic voting I've read about for 8 years. I braced myself and initiated the electronic voting process.

This style of machine had a dial that turned clockwise to cycle a highlight through the line items. As the highlight settled upon your selection you are to press the enter button and your selection is made. As you make selections the screen automatically takes you to the next item. The layout was not snazzy, in fact it felt very much like a printed ballot.

After all of my selections were complete, a review screen appeared to verify my selections. If I had a change I was allowed to go back to make that change. I had no changes so I accepted the review screens.

Then a large (3x8 I guess) PRINTED review ballot rolled up in a window to the left of the monitor. I was then asked to verify the printed ballot. I reviewed carefully and approved each of the 3 pages that rolled up and felt very secure that I had a proper printout of my actual vote if needed. I then hit accept and got the coveted American Flag animated gif that told me my voting was complete and accepted!

This all took less than 15 minutes!

I can't reiterate enough how easy, how friendly and how fast this all was. If you have not voted yet.... GOOOOOOOOOO! now is the time. In 2006 my wife stood in the same place for nearly 3 hours to cast her vote on election day.

Thank you to all the volunteers and election officials who are manning these stations. The absolute nicest people ever and I'm sure most are staunch conservatives considering the area in which I live, but in the end we are all Americans fullfilling the basic requirement of citizenship.

Now I'm free to volunteer on election day and I hope my contribution to Obama's effort will be enough.

I love this country and I feel so good today.

In a historic and often nutty political season, I think the American public was just made the victim of a three card monty scam of epic proportions. Last night we were introduced to  McCain/Palin - Wink Wink.

The CW as I understand it is that the VP doesn't make much of a difference during the campaign. They bring little or no electoral gain and at best they are attack dogs against the opposing party's candidate. Last night I saw the Republican Party turn that CW on its ear.

Gov. Sarah Palin, the "haaaawkey maawm" stepped on stage and delivered a speech that catapulted her notoriety, changed the dynamics of the presidential race and made just about everyone forget that John McCain is at the top of the ticket. Even when she went on ad nauseum about the guy, it seemed more like she was making the case for him to run with her!