A BASIN ENDORSEMENT: JOHN LEONARD FOR STATE'S ATTORNEY

John Leonard was an outstanding State's Attorney for three terms in Brown County. He was there when they built a prison in his county. This had two effects. It brought a large number of criminals and their fellow travelers into his area. It also imported a bunch of republicans and created some new ones who wanted jobs.

John is running to return to the job he knows so well. His opponent is a fine man from another county.

John has two traits that are essential in any good State's Attorney. He's enormously thorough. In fact he is probably the most detail-oriented, meticulous lawyer I know when it comes to making sure statutory requirements are carried out. No convictions would ever be reversed because John forgot to do something. Second, he will do what he considers to be the right thing, no matter what the political or personal consequences to himself. To say he is a straight shooter is to understate the depth of his commitment to "the right thing".

Finally, John is a deeply committed citizen of His County. He pays his real estate taxes, farms and hunts there, just like his neighbors.

For our vast readership in Brown County: please vote for John Leonard for State's Attorney.

POLLING: THE MORE WE UNDERSTAND, THE LESS WE KNOW

Rasmussen and Gallup have the national race at Obama +2, within the "Margin of Error" (I hate that term, but that's another whole post.).

Yet when you peel back the layers, there is no cross-tab or demographic that supports McCain optimism, even veterans. Going State by State, Johnny Mack trails by "Outside the Margin" amounts in high Electoral Vote States and trails in traditionally safe GOP States. Why the disharmony between the National Polls and the individual State by State Polls?

They are not sharing the same assumptions about who is going to turn out. There are two issues which cloud this badly: First time registrants and cell-only contacts. The two overlap but are separate concerns.

On first time registrants, most pollsters use a factor to decrease their likelihood of voting. Every pollster uses a different factor. Are they highly motivated or just signed up at the union hall or PTA meeting to get the deputy registrar out of their face? Unknowable in this "Change" year.

Cell phones are still indexed badly so finding cell phone users in order to poll them is tough task. Secondly, a lot of them are not property owners. People who don't own real estate tend to turn out in lesser percentages. Nobody really knows about Cell Only people. They are a new breed.

As a political worker, if I could have one piece of data arising from this election (solid, after election info) it would the rate @ which cell only citizens, already registered, actually vote. I thinking it will be about the same as college students, generally low. But data would be much better than guessing.

NUT CASE OBAMA KILLER PLOTTER WAS NOT A FULL MEMBER OF SWA

Fine bunch of white folks like that has to have meaningful standards. It's important to keep out the riffraff. I mean, not everybody's got what it takes to become a certified skinhead.

White racist groups just need a better recruitment approach.

When you think about it, it's like the reverse of Northwestern University's football recruiting. At NU, they have to get high enough IQ's to do the college work with the ability to play football. In the SWA, they have to get them stupid enough that they will buy the doctrine that certain races are just inferior but they must be just smart enough to actually get the eyeholes to match up.

Amazing! How about just determining the merit of a man on his character and contribution? Or maybe just go to school, get a job, raise a family? Lose the sheet, boys. The slave ship sailed a long time ago.

SHAME ON YOU, JUDY BAKER: STOP PICKING ON MY DADDY

Has it come to this in Missouri politics. Ol' Blaine sending his daughter out to scold Judy Baker. Doesn't seem to manly to me. Maybe he's getting in touch with his feminine side.

Still kind of creepy

GOOD ADVICE IN ALMOST ANY LINE OF WORK

Rays face elimination tonight. They also face perhaps the best Lefthanded pitcher in baseball, a guy who wins games, makes money, doubles as a fashion model and speaks three languages.

Young Scott Kazmir has to go out and try to hold the elimination off long enough for Wednesday's game to be played a half hour later than scheduled, bumped for BObama's infopolimercial. What would you tell him?

That's easy: "Work Fast. Throw Strikes."

Y'ALL BE SURE TO VOTE!--YOUR VOTE SORT OF COUNTS

Leaving aside those of us who have the exquisite privilege of voting for Todd Duesterhaus and the two referenda, Adams County's role in this national and regional election is not very compelling. Nothing we do is going to impact one whit who gets Illinois' Electoral Votes in the presidential election, who goes to Congress from the 17th or 18th, State Legislature or assumes any County Offices.

Go vote your preference next Tuesday but it's not exactly robust democracy this time around in River City and its environs.

ILLINOIS TOURISM YOU CAN AFFORD

You may recall that Atlas, Illinois was given the name because its founders were certain it would grow larger than Chicago/Ft. Dearborn. That part didn't quite work out.

The Atlas Cafe is good eats (Get whatever the Special is) and Kitty-Korner from it is Poppy's trading post, which defies description. On weekends there will be produce and craft stands. You can do the color drive, see Amish country, buy native honey and meet lots of nice Deer Bow Hunters from the Souf. If the weather's at all decent this weekend. Shop at Poppy's, eat in Atlas, Take the Great River Road South (You can even get off it and go south of Hamburg, where you feel like you're driving on top of the River). You go far enough south and you can see the Illinois and Mississippi rivers at the same time (Yes, Calhoun County is a peninsula). Then come back north to the Atlas Cafe for Veggie soup and Sweet Tea.

Way less than a tank of gas and probably $35 for two meals.

Worthwhile

(This is not to put down the two restaurants in Pleasant Hill--Atlas is just a fine jumping-off place for any kind of cruise and the restaurant there is good and has lots of room).

GUN CONTROL

Not watching network TV, I miss out on stuff like this but a dear friend sent it to me. Just entertainment, not looking for a political message.

PHILADELPHIA, ST. PETERSBURG: WORLD SERIES GAME 6.1

Money talks, Fox jumps and MLB whimpers. Fox has put game six of the WORLD FREAKING SERIES back a half hour so BObama can do an polinfomercial. Not only would they never pull this on the NFL, they wouldn't do it to NASCAR, WWE or any of the Mixed Martial Arts vendors.

God Help us. Not only are we losing the industrial edge in the world. We are also dissing baseball when the rest of the world has begun embracing it.

This wouldn't happen if Bud Selig were alive today!............Oh, wait,......He is.

WHAT DO THE GENERAL AND THE DOLPHIN HAVE IN COMMON?

Flipper reruns.

A man on the make. Only things missing were George Tenent and the anthrax vial.

I'm glad for any support BObama gets but why would anybody find anything Colin Powell says to be persuasive? He's the guy who sold the Bush Doctrine to the UN and misled world leaders doing it.

This is a guy who has said or done anything to preserve his own "in-ness" and influence.

Now if we could just figure out a way to get Tom Brokaw off the celebrity circuit talking about his big coup interview with flipper.

OPEC CALLS EMERGENCY MEETING: OIL BELOW $70

Wonder how you say "Food Stamps" in arabic.

CHICAGO: DA TROOF AND OLD RADICALS

We're up to our national crack in unmanageable debt. We're in two wars. The international monetary scene is so bad that freaking Dubai is out of money!

So what is the McCain/Palin team talking about? Whether BObama is friends with some used up 60's radical/criminal. How many people even know what the Weather Underground was?

Ah, but you see, they're only doing it because it impacts Obama's candor. My God, they were on a charitable board together. Obama's even been in the rad's living room. Not only that but the guy's wife's parents couldn't even spell "Bernadine". Come on, Barry, tell the troof about this important stuff. We need something to take the troops' collective minds off of the Dow roller coaster

Wake me up when ya'll have an economic plan.....or a defense plan.....or a space plan.......or an infrastructure plan......or even a plan on when your staff can agree on whether you will be announcing a plan or not.

PALMER BOYS FINISH WHAT THEY START!

NOTE: Click on the PDF to make it bigger if you have trouble reading it.

AND THESE ARE GUYS WITH REAL JOBS AND NO REAL ROAD RACING EXPERIENCE!

Way to go, guys!

SATURDAY: HOW ABOUT THEM TIGERS?

Detroit, Missouri and Auburn. What a day to be stuck away from television screen!

Whooooo, Pig, Soooie!

A POLITICAL ISSUE NEW TO CONGRESSIONAL RACES

Been in another state and heard all the political ads with interest.

Dem Challenger, four term congressman GOP incumbent. Challenger alleges that incumbent STARTED A FOREST FIRE, was fined seven grand by the park service, refused to pay the fine then went back to congress and sponsored a bill to make it more difficult to fine folks who start forest fires. (Note: I have no idea if the this charge is accurate).

It is not often I hear a campaign issue in a congressional race I've never heard before but this is a new one on me.

I guess you could call it "swift-smokeying"

FICHIGAN OUTTA PLAY, NORTH CAROLINA IN PLAY

Your friendly Basin is in the Old the South, but we still see Yankee TV.

Michigan abandoned. Volunteers from the Ol' Souf, being deployed into NC because it's too close to call there.

Johnny Mack trying to crack Ohio and Florida but the undecideds are quivering like a giant bowlful of electoral jello.

VEEP SHOOTOUT: WHAT'S ALL THE FUSS?

Anybody ever seen a presidential election decided by a vice-presidential debate? How much more inside can inside baseball get? The East Coast Newsies tell us it's important because it's important to them. None of them have ever tried to make a truck payment on twelve an hour and four dollar gas. It is of no moment to the middle of the country whether Palin is pretty in Pink or Joe Biden says "Osama" when he means "Obama". Get Real.