Politically, it’s that season where the only thing going on is constant polling and a smattering of horribly produced advertisements. With Obama spending most of his money on the “ground game” – which is boring – I decided to go through and watch every McCain ad on his YouTube channel that was less than 3 minutes long and didn’t make me want to crash a jet into a remote forest in order that I might live the rest of my life away from all electronic media. If Barack Obama ever releases any ads that amount to more than an avalanche of white people, we’ll discuss those, too. To the blagowebs…

Video: Man in the Arena

Finally, finally, finally, someone hired Philip Glass for a campaign ad. Fortunately, this ad is long enough that when your buzz kicks in, it’ll still be going and then it might make some sense.

Video: 624787

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Everybody’s talking about it, almost all the time. It’s been the topic since Rudy imploded and McCain went from also-ran to last-man-standing. The End of an Era. The Conservative Crackup. The Termination of the Contract With America. Other things, too, I’m sure, in a David Brooks column. The GOP is now likened to a cornered, wounded animal; its only electoral defense to lash out desperately at Barack Obama, hoping to hit an angry pastor or a Muslim headdress.

But even now, only year two in the Demise of Rovism, mythologi...

At this very moment, in America, a vice president is being created. Information is leaking out ofclosed roomsabout people sitting in rooms with people discussing people. And now that the time has arrived, peopleother than Iare engaging in futile speculation and petty criticism. The premier entry in that category comes today courtesy of Talking Points Memo blogger Josh Marshall, who has unearthed shockingexorcism-relateddocuments about Louisiana governor, VP possibility, and Catholic convert Bobby Jindal.

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Catching up with the founders ofThe New Orleans Landlord Database, we discussed renter-specific issues in New Orleans, some of which may be difficult to see from outside the city. While New Orleans is only about 65% repopulated, over 80% of the city was flooded and is slowly being brought back into commerce. Most aid to date has focused on homeowners, with the only aid specifically designed for renters beingshort-term in nature. Insurance and utility costs are higher, and those costs also are typically being passed on to renters. And in a city where over half the population rents, there’s a lot of demand and little assistance.

For more information, see thisTimesarticleabout post-Katrina rents in New Orleans.

About five years ago, I made my first ever donation to a political campaign. This was at least partially an effect of having my first ever bank account, and was at least as useful an expenditure as those lots of 1” Joy Division buttons to adorn my messenger bag. The buttons now rest at the bottom of my dish of laundry quarters, but the donation went to fund the most spectacularly imploded frontrunning Democratic campaign of the past 20 years. It’s possible that my youthful dalliance has finally paid dividends, however, in the form of a little idea that has, only this much later, spread its tentacles throughout the party and the country. I’m speaking, of course, about Howard Dean and his50 State Strategy. (If I could fling a curtain aside, I would, but excessive capitalization is the curtain flinging of literature. An impressive Introductory Paragraph, indeed.)

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