Tony Perkins & Lisa Bloom debate Prop 8 riots

My favorite line, from Lisa Bloom (the daughter of Gloria Allred who was one of the lead attorneys in the California Supreme Court case legalizing gay marriage) talking to anti-gay-marriage spokesman Tony Perkins: "If civil unions are the same as marriage, why don't we let heterosexuals have civil unions and gay people can have marriage, if they're exactly the same?"

It looks like Lisa Bloom has earned herself a bunch of new gay fans.

I wasn't sure how real this was last night, but will.i.am was being interviewed by hologram. For real. It looks just like when the Star Trek characters would get beamed up. Watch will.i.am's hologram interview in the first video (fast-forward about 20%), and then watch an explanation of the technology in the second video.

It looks like the African-American and the Latino vote in California played important parts in getting Prop 8 passed. Vote by race from CNN:

Yes No
White 49% 51%
African-
American 70% 30%
Latino 53% 47%
Asian 49% 51%
Other 51% 49%

From Sebastian:

A few people seem to be interested in whether or not the black vote was decisive. If the following standard analysis assumptions are true the answer is probably a very close "no", but at least one of the assumptions seems very possibly false and with other fairly likely assumptions the answer looks like a "yes."

My assumptions are:
1.that the vote among black people was as reported (69% Yes on 8).
2.that black people make up 6.7% of the CA population
3.that black people represented a share of the votes equal to their share of the population

You can read a breakdown of all the number over at his site.

From this information, I think that, yes, as I have been saying over and over, Obama should have made a direct and overt appeal to African-American voters in California to consider gay marriage as part of the civil rights movement. But beyond that, these numbers provide an insight into the fracturing of civil rights into gay and African-American factions, and they tell us where we need to focus our attention. The numbers also to tell us that we need to push to make an appeal that recognizes and includes brown people as much as black and white.

This is a time to be careful, as well. There is no need for the battle for gay rights to turn into a battle against African-Americans. Dan Savage has written a post on his blog called "Black Homophobia" that is anything but racist, but it probably could have been worded a little more carefully. Right now, I think a little extra care will go a long way.

These are all, as my former employer used to say, "areas of opportunity." But we can braid all of our yet-to-be-realized civil rights into one enormous effort. And then we can all set our bags down.

Democrats aim for powerful majority in Senate: "Of the 35 Senate seats on the line this year, 23 are held by Republicans. Five Republican senators are retiring . . . North Carolina, where Republican incumbent Sen. Elizabeth Dole is in danger of losing her seat to Democratic state Sen. Kay Hagan. Dole, a first-term incumbent, had been considered a safe seat for Republicans early in the election cycle, but she was targeted heavily by national Democratic Party ads and a CNN/Time poll last week showed Hagan leading by 9 percentage points."

More things to watch as the election results come in: "The media will, of course, get a sneak preview of the results and demographic voting patterns at 5 p.m., when a consortium of TV networks distributes several waves of nationwide exit polling. The first wave of that data is supposed to be kept secret from the general public because it is too unreliable and misleading."

The Huffington Post has a one-stop shop for all your election needs. Tons of maps and stats and info.

CBS News has 10 Questions (and Answers) for Election Day. Including:
1. What Should You Watch For Today?
2. Can Obama Win A Mandate?
3. Can McCain Pull Off A Shocker?
4. What Does Massive Turnout Mean?
5. Can New Hampshire Happen Again?

Believe it or not, this guy over at The Washington Times still likes Bush:"President Bush is far smarter, more articulate and less ideological than his plentiful detractors scream, and, ultimately, he will be judged by history - not by vengeful Democrats, hate-filled Hollywood, corrupt foreign governments, an imploding mainstream media or fleeting approval ratings."

And below, Patti LaBelle sings "He Will Rock You (Obama)"

Nick Anderson, copyright 2008 Universal Press Syndicate

The mother of Aeryn Gilleran (the gay man who has been missing for a year) returns to Austria to find out what happened to him.

Crist declares voting state of emergency


Elizabeth Dole is getting her ass kicked by Kay Hagan. So this is Dole's hysterical sucker punch. This could be my favorite political commercial. "There is no Go-ud!"

Interactive map of early voting results

Obama informercial a good idea?

Dianne Feinstein speaks out against Prop 8. Finally.

Possible roles for David Axelrod in an Obama administration

A letter to the President-elect: "This is a sobering moment in American history. You begin with a good deal of popular support, but mandates must be replenished. I suggest you think of the Oval Office as a classroom, and explain to the American people what we need to accomplish and what it will require."

McCain out of ideas

McCain aides take a swipe at Palin: "She is a diva. She takes no advice from anyone," this McCain adviser said. "She does not have any relationships of trust with any of us, her family or anyone else. Also, she is playing for her own future and sees herself as the next leader of the party. Remember: Divas trust only unto themselves, as they see themselves as the beginning and end of all wisdom."

Obama responds to McCain's Meet The Press interview

An excerpt from her CNN interview.

From CNN.com:

"Sen. Obama's grandmother Madelyn Dunham has always been one of the most important people in his life," spokesman Robert Gibbs told reporters.

"In the last few weeks, her health has deteriorated to the point where her situation is very serious. It is for that reason that Sen. Obama has decided to change his schedule on Thursday and Friday so that he can see her and spend some time with her," Gibbs said.

This was rumored for the past few weeks, but it's been confirmed that Governor Sarah Palin will be appearing on SNL this weekend. Palin has said, "I love her, she's a hoot and she's so talented. It would be fun to meet her, imitate her and keep on giving her new material."

How great was it last night when Campbell Brown released poll information that said two-thirds of those polled do not want another debate? Campbell could barely contain her laughter. Even "Joe Plumber" nodded off during a debate that the New York Post called, uh, "blistering."

After a debate last night that Paul Begala said "dragged on" (before he quickly backtracked and said, "Went on, went on"), it's pretty clear that, unless there is an "October surprise," Obama will be President. Sure, Obama is "professorial." But the one word that came to mind last night as I watched McCain be non-professorial was "coot." I think "the professor" beats the "the maverick." Regardless of "The Bradley Effect."

One of my favorite CNN analysts, Donna Brazile, has written a an article for CNN.com. She writes:

After two years of talking about the 2008 presidential campaign ad nauseam, I still get one question repeatedly: Is America ready yet? My firm answer after being on the road nonstop and witnessing the crowds of ordinary people standing together for a cause greater than themselves is that the country is poised to write a new American chapter.

I'm going to quote her, too.

Remember that cartoon from yesterday? Yeah.