The bible says “Joy Cometh in the Morning.”

… I hope so. But not this morning. We lost a journalistic juggernaut. He was as even handed as he was sharp, and he helped me… helped all of us… understand and appreciate the machinations of our great political process with the clarity and precision of a man who truly loved what he did. He is a patriot… a statesman… he is a model for journalism itself – and I don’t even know, I can’t even imagine, what it’s going to be like navigate the rough waters of history that lay before us without his steady hand, the ever-present twinkle in his eye, to guide us.

I am waiting for that joy to come, but while I wait, I know… we all know… that he is in a better place. My thoughts and prayers go out to his wife and to his son, Luke. Be proud of his great legacy.

Take a look at:

 

http://www.electoral-vote.com/

 

You can see a poll of polls from every state, which essentially shows you a point-in-time electoral map. This is what matters. Why? Because even if Obama polls better than McCain nationally, McCain might have more electoral votes if the advantage for Obama comes from populous states like California or New York. So national opinion polls are an unreliable predictor of who will win the presidency – what you really want to know is who will win each state.

Everyone,

 

Take a look at:

 

http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2008/06/05/obama-keeps-dean/

Everyone,

 

Take a look at:

 

http://politics.nytimes.com/election-guide/2008/primaries/democraticprimaries/index.html

 

I’ve been working out the math. So, take a look at it. Right now, Barack is up 136 pledged Delegates. Let’s assume we take Hawaii and Wisconsin average of 60%-40% – that nets us about 24 delegates, which brings our lead to 160.

I live in Virginia. A gentleman by the name of Jim Webb is campaigning to oust the incumbent here. I didn’t get up to vote this morning, since I knew little more about the candidates than I’d gleaned from the commercials on SportsCenter… so rather than became one of those citizens who mindlessly pulls the lever by the D on each ballot, reveling in an idiotic delusion of accomplishment while the irony of our collective failure to hold our leaders to any real standard of accomplishment passes them like ships in the night – I figured I’d read up on the the candidates. See where they are on the issues. Feel good about my choice. This is what I get: