Kerry Edging Out Bush In FL?
MSNBC attributes a recent six point boost in Kerry's Florida rating to the convention.

Democratic Sen. John Kerry has taken a slight lead over President Bush in Florida, the essential swing state in the 2000 election, according to a poll out Thursday.

Kerry and his running mate, Sen. John Edwards, had the backing of 47 percent in the poll by Quinnipiac University of Hamden, Conn. Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney had the support of 41 percent, and independent Ralph Nader and his running mate, Peter Camejo, had 4 percent.

Bush and Kerry were deadlocked in Florida at 43 percent each in a Quinnipiac poll in late June.

Must be hard to have any kind of advantage in a state that is currently evacuated...

Bush Sr. Prophecy
The following is an excerpt from Bush Sr.'s memoir, A World Transformed, published in 1998:

"Trying to eliminate Saddam ... would have incurred incalculable human and political costs. Apprehending him was probably impossible ... We would have been forced to occupy Baghdad and, in effect, rule Iraq ... There was no viable "exit strategy" we could see, violating another of our principles. Furthermore, we had been consciously trying to set a pattern for handling aggression in the post-Cold War world. Going in and occupying Iraq, thus unilaterally exceeding the United Nations' mandate, would have destroyed the precedent of international response to aggression that we hoped to establish. Had we gone the invasion route, the United States could conceivably still be an occupying power in a bitterly hostile land."

Charley comes ashore
All of this talk about the importance of Florida this fall, and from the looks of it, it might not even be around by then.

McGreevey Follow-up
After rushing back to my college dormatory to post about the McGreevy story, I returned to find that Peter had already gotten to it. Although I agree that his actions were noble, one has to wonder why it is necessary to resign over this affair. Surely neither being gay nor having an affair would impede his ability to govern the state of New Jersey. Perhaps Pete missed the second half of the article...

His administration has been buffeted by some scandal.

A Quinnipiac University poll released August 4 showed McGreevey's approval among state voters fell sharply after two Democratic fund-raisers were indicted on federal charges in July -- one of them accused of lining up prostitutes to discredit a witness in a tax fraud investigation, the other accused of extortion.

So, on the heels of scandal, McGreevey announces he is coming out of the closet and then, seemingly without reason, resigns? It seems as if McG chose an alternative way out so the other investigation doesn't go through.

For more on the McGreevey administration's history of scandal, check out this article from The Home News Tribune, a central Jersey paper.

McGreevey gay?
Holy shit. The man has balls, and no matter how anyone spins it, it's a simple story. He had an affair (which I feel is legitimized slightly due to the fact that he was clearly grappling with his sexuality and could not be fulfilled emotionally by a female), and he admitted it. He didn't have to do it, but he did in order to come clean. Applauded.

Iraqi scientists change tune?
While the right has been saying that scientists in Iraq have confirmed WMD suspicions, the top nuclear scientist is now saying they were destroyed. I guess that just confirms another suspicion - the inkling I have that the far right is just making shit up.

Slaveholders' position?!
Keyes has started his campaign against Obama.

A day after jumping into the Illinois Senate race, two-time presidential hopeful Alan Keyes ripped into Democratic rival Barack Obama, saying his views on abortion are "the slaveholder's position."
The conservative former diplomat said Obama's vote against a bill that would have outlawed a form of late-term abortion denied unborn children of their equal rights. Both candidates one an outspoken conservative and the other a favorite of party liberals are black.

Keyes' plan is apparently to play the race card on every single issue, even when there is no relation whatsoever. This is just making Keyes look stupid, however, because the last time I checked, both candidates were in fact black...