It's no surprise that The New York Times endorsed Barack Obama. The lengthy editorial makes a compelling case for Obama if you're still in doubt.

You heard it here first:

Big Ten Country Will (Mostly) Go Blue

That prediction may have been unduly pessimistic. The Big Ten Battleground Poll gives Barack Obama the lead in all eight Big Ten states.

The Badgers, Gophers, Hawkeyes, Spartans (or Wolverines), Wildcats (or Fighting Illini) and Nittany Lions are solid blue. The Buckeyes are looking good. It will be an Obama landslide if the Boilermakers (or Hoosiers) turn blue. Can the Big Ten sweep? Will it be America's Bluest Conference?

Update: Add Scott McClellan to the list of Republican Obama-endorsers. The video is here.

MCCLELLAN - From the very beginning I've said I'm going to support the candidate who has the best chance of changing the way Washington works and getting things done. I will be voting for Barack Obama.

original post:

The latest Republican to abandon ship, after finally noticing that John McCain's GOP is not just out-of-touch but downright nasty, is former Minnesota governor Arne Carlson.[more ...]

So I was watching CNN and they are trying hard to pretend Pennsylvania is in play. I can not blame them really as McCain is pretending it is in play and so is PA Governor Fast Eddie Rendell. One assumes Rendell wants his state (or himself) to keep receiving candidate love for the next 10 days. Can't blame him for that.

Of course, Pennsylvania is NOT even remotely in play. Q Poll has Obama by 13 in the Keystone State. Morning Call has Obama by 10. Susquehanna has Obama by 8. Hell, at this point, it seems a stretch to argue Virginia is in play. It is possible McCain can come back in North Carolina, salvage Missouri and skate through in Florida. But I tell you where McCain will not win - Pennsylvania -- as well as Iowa, Colorado, New Mexico and Nevada. And that, with the other Kerry states, gets Obama past 270 electoral votes. This election is over. McCain needs a miracle not to get blown out.

By Big Tent Democrat, speaking for me only

11 days of campaigning left and looking for drama is what we are left with. So we start with the dramatic polls. An AP poll (which apparently ended its polling Monday night) has Obama's lead down to 1. A month ago, this poll had Obama by 7 (a month before that this poll had McCain winning by 5.) This is an interesting poll. For example, it has Republicans gaining dramatically in the Congressional generic ballot in the last 20 days, cutting a 13 point deficit to a 6 point deficit. To say the least, that seems a very suspect result to me. Actually, who are we kidding? This poll result is a joke.

Now for other polls that make us laugh - John Zogby's new tack for publicity is to have the WIDEST margin for Obama (previously he would have the smallest margin or even a McCain lead.) Zogby now has Obama with a 12 point lead. As for the real polls, DKos/R2000 has Obama up 10, 51-41. Fox has Obama by 9, 49-40. ABC Tracker has Obama by 11, 54-43. And so on. Look, we can try and generate some drama in this race but it is kind of a ridiculous exercise. It's over.

By Big Tent Democrat, speaking for me only

The McCain campaign has been rummaging through the Republican attic for old attacks to launch against Barack Obama. Tax-and-spend liberal didn't take, so it was only a matter of time before they dusted off soft on crime.

The flier sent by the Republican Party in Nevada and other states this week says Obama has voted against tough penalties for drug and gang-related crimes, and is against "protecting children from danger."

Obama voted "present" on a bill that would have prosecuted children in adult court when they are accused of firing a gun near a school. Keeping children in juvenile court, away from the possibility of an adult prison sentence, constitutes "protecting children from danger" in my world. [more ...]

Democrats will gain Senate seats in November. As the economy continues to decline, voters will walk into voting booths and think or whisper or yell "I'm not going to take it any more!" And they will vote against Republicans because they understand that the economy functions well when Democrats run the government and not so well otherwise.

In the best case, Mitch McConnell is unseated, Ted Stevens is defeated, and Democrats control 60 seats, giving them a filibuster-proof majority. Since a few Republicans (particularly those facing reelection in two years) will discover a bipartisan spirit, Democrats might be effectively filibuster-proof with numbers in the high 50's. How many Senate seats do you predict Democrats will gain this year?

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This is going viral. Quincy Jones, Don't try to stop us, a Prophecy for November 4. We will vote and we will elect Obama.

Quincy Jones III's QD3.com, URB magazine's Raymond Roker and Zeitghost Media are launching a viral video campaign to help Barack Obama. The viral video campaign is designed to create a critical mass on Youtube.

Spread it around.

Political junkies, as well as voters who want a better understanding of John McCain, will enjoy Robert Draper's "The Making (and Remaking) of McCain". As described by Oliver Burkeman:

The huge cover story from this coming Sunday's New York Times magazine is a fascinating fly-on-the-wall account of the last several months of infighting within John McCain's campaign as his senior advisors tried, increasingly desperately, to settle on and stick to one compelling narrative.

The campaign derailed after McCain agreed to sit in the caboose of the Straight Talk Express.

[more ...]

John McCain will campaign in Colorado Friday.

This just in: Hillary will be in Aurora (just east/southeast of Denver) to campaign for Sen. Barack Obama on Friday. Details to be announced.

Chuck Todd of NBC News interviewed Sen. John McCain and Sarah Palin today.

"There was a tenseness," Todd told MSNBC's Chris Matthews. "I couldn't see chemistry between John McCain and Sarah Palin. I felt as if we grabbed two people and said 'here, sit next to each other, we are going to conduct an interview.' They are not comfortable with each other yet."

Uber-evangelist James Dobson interviewed Sarah Palin Monday in Colorado Springs. He aired the interview on his radio show today, you can listen here. The Denver Post reports:

Dobson asked whether Palin was discouraged by polls showing the GOP ticket behind.

"To me, it motivates us, makes us work that much harder," Palin said. "And it also strengthens my faith, because I'm going to know, at the end of the day, putting this in God's hands, that the right thing for America will be done at the end of the day on Nov. 4. So I'm not discouraged at all."

Palin called herself a "prayer warrior."[More...]