From the Las Vegas Review-Journal:

Exit polling of early voters conducted by a local political consultant suggests a close presidential contest in the Silver State: Democratic nominee Barack Obama had the votes of 50 percent who had voted, while Republican nominee John McCain had 48 percent of the early vote.

The poll, conducted by Las Vegas-based consultant Steve Nathan’s firm Dialing Nationwide Automatically, or DNA, was conducted by automatically dialing everyone who had voted through Friday, based on statewide voter records, and weighting responses to reflect the composition of the electorate so far.

Nathan said the statewide numbers were based on 7,147 responses to the survey. He said McCain was getting much of his support from rural and Northern Nevada.

Experts caution that it is important to take such data with a grain of salt because it reflects only who has voted, not who intends to vote.

Indeed – a few grains of salt should be added, but here’s the interesting thing: Obama leads in early voting 50% to 48%, while the party ID in Clark County (the place where Obama must do well to win the State) has been 55% Democrat, 29% Republican – which indicates a substantial number of Democrats are voting for McCain. Translate this to election day and around the country, and McCain will pull off a huge upset.

What may prove critical to who wins is the number of Democrats who decide not to vote for Obama:

WHILE BARACK OBAMA talks a good game about being able to unite this country, as a former Hillary Clinton supporter who has closely examined both his words and actions, I don’t see it that way at all. I and a growing number of my fellow Democratic elected officials in New Hampshire believe that it is actually John McCain who is best able to bring us together as a country and a people, will inspire a new American unity and patriotism and will push all of us to work together to solve our most pressing challenges at home and abroad.

Given the fact that I am making a difficult decision to cross party lines to support Sen. McCain, I thought it would be useful to explain why I am joining a growing number of Democrats (including three lifelong Democratic state representatives who have endorsed John McCain in just the last month) in this state who are uniting to elect John McCain as our next President. While Obama talks of putting partisan politics aside, the reality is that his record in the U.S. Senate shows he has voted with Democrats 97 percent of the time. He has never once taken on the Democratic Party on even a single issue.

John McCain, on the other hand, has never allowed partisan politics and Washington political scorekeeping to come before the greater good of what is necessary for this nation. I have seen him time after time rise above the political pettiness in Washington politics to get things done for this country to make it more safe, secure and prosperous. He has taken on people in his own party time and time again and has made many in the Republican Party leadership upset – which, I can tell you as a Democrat, first caught my attention and showed that will put country over partisanship.

As a former Hillary supporter, I certainly do not agree with John McCain on everything; but, what I most like most about John McCain is that he has proven continually that we can trust him to do what is right for our country.

Country first, indeed. And this is true – lost in all the hub bub of Campaign ’08 is the fact that GOPers in general and conservatives in particular have long had bones to pick with Senator McCain but aside from a few elitist “wets” (as Maggie Thatcher called them), we’re all swinging enthusiastically behind John McCain. Why is that?

Sarah Palin is a big reason, but the more important reason is that John McCain is someone who has the experience to be President from day one; that John McCain is a man unafraid of taking the hard path in service to our nation as a whole; that John McCain is a sincere patriot who views America as an exceptional place, graced by God with immense wealth and power for the benefit and example of the whole world. Trust me on this one, if McCain wins on Tuesday, on Wednesday we conservatives will start gearing up to do battle with McCain on such issues as global warming and campaign finance reform…and while I’ll be with McCain on it, there will be those on the conservative side who will still want to fuss with McCain on the immigration issue. We are not, you see, supporting McCain out of blind, partisan fury – we are supporting him because he is clearly the better man for the job.

As I’ve said before, I feel an affinity for Barack Obama – he is, after all, the first person of my generation to rise to the top of our political field. He and I disagree on 19 out of 20 issues, but I sense in him a kindred spirit in a lot of ways. I’m hopeful that Obama – now freed from Wright’s poison – will grow in his faith and start to realize that being an economic liberal is a matter of opinion, but being a leftwing fanatic is a matter of exceptionally poor choice. But, for the present, I’d rather have Joe the Plumber in the Oval Office than Barack Obama – at least Joe has been in charge of something in his life other than the advancement of Joe.

Some Democrats see this, too – and understand that while it’d be nice to win the White House, its not worth winning if the man who will hold it is not up to the job. It would not only be bad for America and the world for someone like Obama to win, but also bad for the Democratic party which would bear the brunt of anti-Obama disaffection by 2010.

Country first, fellow Americans – once we secure a government which will do that, then we can get back to our regularly scheduled political arguments.

Mary Grabar over at Pajamas Media has the scoop on Obama’s adherence to this anti-American and decidedly unjust philosophy. If anyone wants to know where Obama comes from ideologically, this article is a must-read.

Did anyone see it? From the comments I’ve read around the right blogosphere, it was a bust – but one must sit up and take notice when the AP finds fault:

Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama was less than upfront in his half-hour commercial Wednesday night about the costs of his programs and the crushing budget pressures he would face in office.

Obama’s assertion that “I’ve offered spending cuts above and beyond” the expense of his promises is accepted only by his partisans. His vow to save money by “eliminating programs that don’t work” masks his failure throughout the campaign to specify what those programs are — beyond the withdrawal of troops from Iraq…

The Mrs said she watched it – well, strictly speaking, she had it on the TV but just couldn’t concentrate on it…she did recall, however, that McCain had spots right before and right after it, which puts a lie to the concept that McCain is running a slipshod campaign. I’ve noted more than one person lately saying that Obama’s voice is becoming a bit annoying – that he just yammers on and on about the same things and when he does say something new, its usually in direct contradiction to something he said before.

Anyways – what did you think of it? Will it help? Hurt? Make no difference? Did Chris Matthews get another leg-tingle out of it?

This will not sink in for most liberals – just as the fact of Reagan’s astounding intelligence and knowledge never sank in:

I’m a Democrat, but I’ve worked as a consultant with the McCain campaign since shortly after Palin’s nomination. Last week, there was the thought that as a former editor-in-chief of Ms. magazine as well as a feminist activist in my pre-journalism days, I might be helpful in contributing to a speech that Palin had long wanted to give on women’s rights…

…Now by “smart,” I don’t refer to a person who is wily or calculating or nimble in the way of certain talented athletes who we admire but suspect don’t really have serious brains in their skulls. I mean, instead, a mind that is thoughtful, curious, with a discernable pattern of associative thinking and insight. Palin asks questions, and probes linkages and logic that bring to mind a quirky law professor I once had. Palin is more than a “quick study”; I’d heard rumors around the campaign of her photographic memory and, frankly, I watched it in action. She sees. She processes. She questions, and only then, she acts. What is often called her “confidence” is actually a rarity in national politics: I saw a woman who knows exactly who she is.

For all those old enough to remember Senator Sam Ervin, the brilliant strict constitutional constructionist and chairman of the Senate Watergate Committee whose patois included “I’m just a country lawyer”…Yup, Palin is that smart.

Like Reagan (and, though she’s got a long way to go to achieve this level, like Churchill), Palin’s critics are hammering her for being dumb when she’s actually thinking so far ahead of them that they can’t even grasp the concept. What newspapers do you read? For crying out loud, who reads newspapers at all anymore? Why on earth would a governor of Alaska be even remotely interested in, say, the New York Times? Other than glances at papers while sitting in waiting rooms, its been some years since I’ve read newspapers – there’s usually no point, as the news is something I read a day or two before on the internet. I don’t know where Governor Palin draws her information from, but she’s certainly drawing from better sources than the MSM.

A lot of things go into making a person smart – and very often these days, an Ivy League diploma, outside of the sciences, is an indicator not of smarts but of the willingness to swallow and regurgitate the reigning liberal orthodoxy. The crucial divider between “smart” and “dumb” is intellectual curiosity – a willingness to consider a different point of view. Our friends on the left are convinced it is they who have this talent, but the fact of the matter is that they are rigid ideologues who are terrified of anyone questioning their beliefs.

And this, I think, is what scares them most about governor Palin – her very existence is a question to their beliefs. How can it be that a woman can be an ardent Christian, a great mother and wife and still rise high in a career? This is supposed to be impossible – Christians are too dumb, wives and mothers lack motivation and to rise high in a career requires the abandonment of children. Allow Palin to rise higher in the American political spectrum and all you’ll get is endless proposals to correct liberal errors – and liberals would rather not be bothered trying to defend themselves. This requires thought – and our braniacs on the left have amply proved one thing over the years: Their lack of intelligence.

As Victor Davis Hanson notes:

The messianic style—the cosmic tug to “change history”, or stop the seas from rising or the planet from heating, juxtaposed with the creepy faux-Greek columns, Michelle’s “deign to enter” politics snippet, the fainting at rallies, the Victory Column mass address, the vero possumus presidential seal, and the ‘we are the change we’ve been waiting for’ mantra—reflects the omnipresent narcissism: the exalted ends of electing a prophet always justify the often crude and all too mortal means.

The Obama phenomena reminds me of nothing so much as the “cult of personality” nonsense ginned up for various communist and fascist dictators – the wise and charismatic leader and teacher for whom all must be given because only said leader can pull the rabbit of happiness out of the hat of global angst. It should be noted that this sort of thing only started to arise in the West as the influence of Christianity started to wane – and it is the nature outgrowth of the post-Christian mindset. People do want to hope for a better future and if they are denied (or deny themselves) the hope of the world to come, they will demand that their hopes be catered to in this world. Enter the new messiahs who will fix things right up.

Like the secular messiahs of the past, Obama comes to the pinnacle as a person who is very thin on any accomplishment other than an uncanny ability to obtain power and inspire legions of followers who not only lavish The One with endless praise, but turn immediately on anyone who questions the Dear Leaders’s ability or motivation. Its really rather creepy, if you ask me – and in a very real sense, it is un-American. If there was ever an American due the sort of praise Obama gets, it was the Essential American, George Washington – without whom there wouldn’t be a United States at all. But can anyone imagine our ancestors lavishing the Father of our Country with the sort of servile flattery Obama has been given? Can anyone imagine Washington tolerating such anti-republican monstrosities?

There is something nauseating in the whole Obama spectacle – Americans should never be followers; supporters, yes, but not followers. Obama has followers – and how you are treated by Obama is entirely determined by how much you conform yourself to his desires. This did, by the way, come out rather early on when Obama took a reporter aside and scolded her for daring to point out that Obama’s ears have a Dumbo-like quality about them. A man not hung up on himself would have laughed such a thing off – a person who thinks very highly of himself goes out of his way to instruct the erring in the proper way to treat Obama.

It will all come crashing down – hopefully on November 4th, but certainly it will come; someone as arrogantly self-centered as Obama is bound for a fall.

In a powerful, unanswerable video which, it is hoped, will actually recall to Jack Murtha a sense of honor.

Or is it that they support Obama’s Getintheirface?

Two people were arrested Monday afternoon after an altercation led to five Republican campaign workers being sprayed with Mace at their headquarters in Galax [VA].

Galax Police Chief Rick Clark said officers were dispatched shortly before 1 p.m. to the Galax Republican headquarters on East Grayson Street when a caller reported someone had sprayed office workers with Mace.

Responding officers arrested Daniel Cason Meinecke, 29, and Cara Annis Hindman, 26, both of Galax.

Meinecke was charged with one count of misdemeanor assault, Hindman was charged with five counts of misdemeanor assault.

Galax Republican Chairman Mike Stevens said he was one of the volunteers sprayed. He said a man and woman came into the office and asked for campaign yard signs for the Democratic ticket of Barack Obama and Joe Biden.

After being told the Obama-Biden campaign office was up the street, Stevens said, the man said he was aware of that, but that he thought Democratic signs were being stolen and “stashed” at the Republican office.

Stevens told him that nobody there had stolen signs, not were they “stashing” any in the building.

A confrontation escalated and, Stevens said, the man began to use some four-letter words.

Stevens said there were older women in the office and he asked the couple to leave the building.

“With the ladies in the office, I said that was enough and asked them to leave,” he said. “I told them, if they had a problem with someone stealing their signs they needed to contact the police department.”

Stevens said the couple replied that they weren’t leaving, and that they didn’t have to.

“I kind of moved them towards the door and he lashed out at me,” Stevens said. “So I lashed out at him.”

No punches were thrown, but instead the two simply held each other at bay, according to Stevens.

Once outside, Stevens said, the woman sprayed Mace on him and another volunteer before turning back to the office and spraying inside the building.

That is our liberals – convinced that the GOP is doing wrong; impervious to the fact that the GOP is not doing wrong; irretrievably vulgar; violent when confronted. Paranoid, hate-filled and intolerant.

This is change we can believe in, but it sure isn’t change we want.

I know, its waaaay the heck off the public radar, but its important, all the same:

October 27, 2008: The war is over. Most of the noise these days is from politicians arguing, not bombs going off. There are still bombs, but now they tend to be assassination attempts, as some political parties play dirty (not unknown in this part of the world)…

…Iraqis now concentrate on more mundane things, like a serious drought, and the difficulties in attracting doctors, and other professionals, back to Iraq (after they fled the violence of the past few years.) The drought has been regional, and serious. Crop yields are down nearly 30 percent, and some food imports (like grain) are up 40 percent. Growing prosperity is sharply increasing the demand. While the economy is booming, the government is having a hard time carrying out needed infrastructure projects (like the irrigation system farmers depend on.) Most of Iraq’s infrastructure dates from the 1970s. Construction basically ceased in 1980, when Iraq went to war with Iran. That war ended in 1988, quickly followed by the invasion of Kuwait in 1990. There followed a decade of UN sanctions, then five years of terrorism. Now people want the country rebuilt, but the democratic form of government makes it difficult to agree on where to start…

Never forget: Obama wanted us to lose this war. He wanted us out, Iran in and the terrorists triumphant. He has been proven a complete fool and utter ignoramous.

Elect him, if you want – but he’s a man entirely unequipped to be President of the United States of America.

Obama on what “we” will need to do:

…make no mistake: the change we need won’t come easy or without cost. We will all need to tighten our belts, we will all need to sacrifice and we will all need to pull our weight because now more than ever, we are all in this together.

Somehow I doubt that ol’ Barry is going to sell his swell mansion and put the proceeds into the US treasury. I’m not expecting a tax on Ted Kennedy’s yacht. We’ll be waiting a long time for a tax on John Kerry’s ski chalet. Does anyone want to bet me that we won’t see a surcharge on John Edwards’ haircuts? And does anyone want to imagine what screams there would be if anyone proposed a tax on Pelosi’s winery?

No, when Barack Obama proclaims the need for all of “us” to tighten our belts and get ready for sacrifice, what he means is that you and I, dear middle class taxpayer, had better get ready to pony up. The change Obama wants to bring certainly won’t come easy – for us, that is. Obama and his fellow rich, elite liberals it will be quite easy. Oh, to be sure there might be a slight rise in their income taxes, but their actual wealth will remain untouched – because rich liberals need to remain rich if they are to lead the Little Guy properly.

I think I could take this socialist nonsense a little better if the people who push it were down on our economic level. Filthy rich and with large staffs to take care of their day to day chores, people like Obama can’t imagine what the fuss is all about when they proclaim their desire to “spread the wealth around”. As a rule, socialist leaders – like Obama – are rich because of inheritance (like Ted Kennedy or, for that matter, Lenin) or because of strange circumstances (such as Obama’s book sales being propelled because he was made famous by the MSM)…not knowing how real wealth is created, they have a disdain for those who create wealth and a fairy-tale notion of a battle between rich and poor with the liberals and socialists as the defenders of the poor.

The catastrophe which would be an Obama administration stems from this entirely unrealistic view of the world coupled with the normal contempt felt by leftwing leaders of actual members of class they claim to represent. He’ll lurch from theory to theory and demand the world fit itself into his received worldview and when it doesn’t he’ll retreat from it and insist, like Carter over the past 28 years, that the world had it wrong and he was right. America will survive, but it’ll be quite a mess for us to clean up, should we be unwise enough to elect Obama.