From Aravosis:

This is from Stephen Bennett, a top spokesman of the religious right, and yet another man loosely affiliated with the Concerned Women for America.

Will this affect the elections next Tuesday? Are Republicans disenfranchised with the hypocrisy within their own party - especially the hypocrisy within the driving force - the Christian Conservative base? You better believe it. The more and more hypocrisy I see each day, the more I realize next Tuesday we are going to get EXACTLY what we deserve. Yet I must NEVER forget where I came from and always remember 'But for the grace of God, there go I.

Butch Cassidy sez

Statewide marijuana reform proposals will be on the ballots of three states next week: Colorado, Nevada and South Dakota. NORML has a rundown of each as well as the various municipal ordinances facing voters in other states. Here are the statewide measures:

• COLORADO: Amendment 44, the "Alcohol-Marijuana Equalization Initiative," would revise state statutes to eliminate all criminal and civil prohibitions on the private possession and use of up to one ounce of cannabis for anyone age 21 or older. The measure, sponsored by Safer Alternative for Enjoyable Recreation (SAFER), has been endorsed by numerous Colorado newspapers, including the Aspen Times, the Boulder Weekly, and the Aurora Daily Sentinel. Last year, voters in Denver passed a similar municipal initiative by 54 percent.

• NEVADA: Question 7, the "Regulation of Marijuana Initiative," would remove all criminal and civil penalties for the private possession and use of small quantities of cannabis by those age 21 or older. The measure would also seek to create a statewide system for the taxation, legal cultivation, distribution, and sale of cannabis to adults by licensed vendors. Question 7 has been endorsed by the Las Vegas Review Journal and more than 30 state religious leaders. A similar proposal was rejected by Nevada voters in 2002.

Red State thinks Vice President Cheney is funny:

THE VICE PRESIDENT: Just wait, it gets better. (Laughter.) [Howard Dean] said the capture of Saddam Hussein did not make America any safer. And maybe it should be no surprise that such a party would turn its back on a man like Senator Joe Lieberman, who has been an unapologetic supporter in the fight against terror. (Applause.)

Cheney and Lieberman, laughing at our expense. Where is that darn WMD?

Reporter Ben Smith of the New York Daily News has the exclusive on how the National Republican Campaign Committee participated in damage control talks on Rep. Mark Foley two days before ABC News broke the story of his inappropriate e-mail to a congressional page.

NRCC Communications Director Carl Forti and Reynolds then chief-of-staff Kirk Fordham both took part in the first call the evening of Wednesday, September 27, and one call the next day, Forti and other sources familiar with the call confirmed. Forti's involvement and the NRCC's role in the run-up to the Foley scandal add another link between the disgraced former congressman and Reynolds, who has said he knew only indirectly of questionable emails, and that he reported them to his House superiors. They also reflect another moment at which House GOP leadership was aware of concerns about Foley and pages.

Smith was tipped to the calls by the intrepid Murray Waas:

Amendment 43 isn't meant to change the law. It's meant to change the subject.

As Kos says,

The subject, of course, being Iraq, high gas prices, lack of affordable health care, and so on.

Say no to Amendment 43.

According to Reuters and the latest Zogby poll, Democrats have a shot at taking control of the Senate.

With Democrats needing to gain six Republican seats for a Senate majority, extremely tight contests in Missouri, Virginia and Montana could determine the balance of power.

....To gain a Senate majority, Democrats must hold their own seats and win six of seven at-risk Republican seats, including knocking off at least five Republican incumbents. The new polls show that is a viable possibility, pollster John Zogby said.

If Democrats take the Senate, think what it will mean in terms of our federal judiciary. It's the Senate that votes to confirm federal district and appeals court judges and Supreme Court judges. Bush still has two years left in office.

A Democratic controlled Senate will reduce the chances of confirmation for right-wing extremist judges. Federal judges are appointed for life. If you care about maintaining the independence of the judiciary and want to preserve our constitutional rights for your children, get out and vote for Democratic Senate candidates on Tuesday.

The New York Times reports on its final pre-election poll, conducted with CBS.

A substantial majority of Americans expect Democrats to reduce or end American military involvement in Iraq if they win control of Congress next Tuesday and say Republicans will maintain or increase troop levels to try to win the war if they hold on to power on Capitol Hill.

Bush's war approval rating sinks to its lowest level yet: 29%.

The poll showed that 29 percent of Americans approve of the way President Bush is managing the war, matching the lowest mark of his presidency. Nearly 70 percent said Mr. Bush did not have a plan to end the war, and 80 percent said Mr. Bush’s latest effort to rally public support for the conflict amounted to a change in language but not policy.

The poll also shows the changes voters expect from Democrats:

After attending a packed to the gills lunchtime fundraiser for Colorado congressional candidate Ed Perlmutter (headlined by former President Clinton, who as of 2:45 when I left, had not yet arrived), I drove downtown to the Denver Election Commission to cast my early vote. The line was fairly long, about 1/2 hour, but once you got to the first checkpoint where they examine your driver's license, it was smooth sailing. Five minutes later I was in front of my electronic touch-screen monitor.

The ballot was 11 pages, nicely laid out, and the choices registered immediately. They also could be changed. When done, you get to see all your selections on the monitor, with a second chance to make changes. Then you press print, and a paper print-out of your vote appears on the left. Only when you click that the printout is correct, do you click "submit" and your vote gets counted.

As Tristero writes over at Digby's place, those in Florida were not so lucky.

From General Clark:

The American public should simply accept no distractions. In our democracy, it is our duty to hold our elected leaders accountable. We do it at the ballot box. And we should do it not on the basis of personalities or stereotypes, but on the basis of results. Our men and women fighting in Iraq are held accountable for their performance and their conduct.

On duty and off, twenty-four hours a day. They're fighting for us, for our safety, our rights, and our freedoms. Surely, we owe it to them to push aside the distractions and bring the focus back to the essence of this election:

Iraq.

. . . John Kerry made a mistake trying to joke about "getting stuck in Iraq." But this election isn't about John Kerry; he isn't running. But, for a crazy day or two, his gaffe has provided a powerful distraction to an election shaping up to be a referendum on the President's national security policy, and his mission in Iraq, in particular. We can not allow the most powerful country in the world to get sidetracked when American lives and the future of our leadership in the world is at stake.

You're doing a heck of a job Rummy:

President Bush reaffirmed his support for two of the most polarizing figures in his administration today, saying he wanted Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld as well as Vice President Dick Cheney to remain until the end of his presidency.

The president’s verbal embrace of Mr. Rumsfeld and Mr. Cheney, offered during an interview with The Associated Press, seemed to be another reflection of Mr. Bush’s belief in the basic wisdom of the Iraq war and his determination not to back away from it as the Congressional elections approach.

Mr. Bush praised Mr. Rumsfeld’s supervision of the military campaigns in Iraq and Afghanistan and his attempts to revamp the Pentagon bureaucracy. “I’m pleased with the progress we’re making,” Mr. Bush said during the interview in the Oval Office.

How about an apology for this?

House Majority Leader John Boehner: Wolf, I understand that, but let's not blame what's happening in Iraq on Rumsfeld.

Wolf Blitzer: But he's in charge of the military.

House Majority Leader John Boehner: But the fact is the generals on the ground are in charge and he works closely with them and the president.