1 hour & 24 minutes

That's how long my hubby & I stood in line today (on our 13th anniversary together, thank you very much!) at the local public library to cast our early votes. It was, by far, the longest time I've ever had to wait to vote in the 28 years (ouch! that number hurts) that I've been voting!! I had NO idea there would be SO MANY PEOPLE THERE!! No wonder Gov. Charlie Crist declared an election emergency & ordered the early polling places to stay open 12 hours a day (7 am - 7 pm, and a total of 12 hours this weekend, too). There had to be at least 300 other people there waiting in line with us. If you've ever been to Disneyland or Disney World, it was the kind of winding queue that kinda makes you dizzy & makes you wonder where your next step will take you! I have to say that, while no one LOVES standing in a painfully slow-moving line, I didn't see anyone leave or really complain much (beyond moaning about tired feet & how warm it was in the library). I guess I could have been doing something else for nearly two hours, but I know it was time well-spent & it made me feel good (my aforementioned tired feet notwithstanding) to do my civic duty. All-in-all, it was worth every minute (and then some), and a great way to spend part of my 13th anniversary.

When I finally got back home & read my local newspaper online (The Orlando Sentinel), I got some potentially good news (although, here in Florida, it's not wise to count your electoral chickens before they're hatched), but the hateful Amendment 2 seems to be stuck just a tad below 60% in approval (since 2006, in Florida, to add an amendment to the state constitution, you have to get 60% of the vote + 1, instead of the traditional 50% + 1). Of course, there's always the margin of error involved in polls, and the one involved in today's Orlando Sentinel article is plus or minus 4%, but still if it's at 55% support, if you took the pessimistic view (at least pessimistic for me), support would be at as much as 59%...which is less than what is needed for passage, but which is also too close for comfort for me! Of course, I'm hoping it's closer to the 51% mark (55% - 4%).

Anyway, voting for me for 2008 is done. If it's this bad on the Friday before the actual national election, I don't even want to think about what the line will look like come the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November! I am glad that part--for me--is over! Now all I have to do is keep nagging my friends & relatives to vote Obama: YES & Amendment 2: NO!

Is it too much to ask for 2 out of 2?? I don't think so.

Though I am as far from a Bible-thumper as one could possibly be (ya know, being the abomination to the Lord that some say I am), I am reminded of the verse from James 4:2, to wit, "...ye have not, because ye ask not."

Well, universe, I'm asking...

Dole-ing out Desperate Distortions & Downright Devious Deceptions...

Seems like this is becoming Dole's modus operandi--and, golly gee, it fits her so well!

Appears that the ever-so-virtuous Elizabeth Dole is so desperate, she's willing to lie & make up a reality that is better suited to her own personal tastes & pass it off as fact. Typical of Republican politics of late. Her ad is not surprising, just sickening...


Kay Hagan's response? Call Dole out on her lies & deceptions. Make sure the North Carolina voters know just what kind of Senator they'll be re-electing if they decide to give their blessing to Dole's ugly, contemptuous treatment of what passes for truth in Liddy's World:

I'm Mr. C, and I approve THIS message...

So, They Think They Can Dance???

A little video levity to help lighten up this most serious of election seasons...

http://view.break.com/592648 - Watch more free videos

God Love An Apple!!

Obviously, Apple is putting its money where its heart is!

From Apple's corporate website...

No on Prop 8

October 24, 2008

Apple is publicly opposing Proposition 8 and making a donation of $100,000 to the No on 8 campaign. Apple was among the first California companies to offer equal rights and benefits to our employees’ same-sex partners, and we strongly believe that a person’s fundamental rights — including the right to marry — should not be affected by their sexual orientation. Apple views this as a civil rights issue, rather than just a political issue, and is therefore speaking out publicly against Proposition 8.

A Taco For You, and You, and You, and You....

Mark your calendar.

Tuesday, October 28 from 2 pm - 6 pm at your nearby Taco Bell.

Everbody gets one Free Taco!

Why ask, "Why?"

Liberals "Anti-American"? "Pro-America areas of this great nation"?

We didn't misunderstand what Sarah Palin & Michelle Bachmann said or read more into what they said than what they intended. We KNOW what we heard & we KNOW it speaks of what is truly in their hearts.

Just like this clip tells us what Barack Obama has in his heart, and why this country needs him now...more than ever.

I guess, bottom line for me, voting for Barack Obama represents my way of lighting a candle in the midst of the ignorant darkness that people like Michelle & Sarah work so hard to perpetuate.

Republicans for Obama??

So, maybe, as the rabid Obama supporter that I am, I can't really convince you to vote for the junior senator from Illinois as the next President of the United States. Maybe it's hard for you to consider any of the arguments I make as a lifelong Democrat (who has been really dis-heartened & disappointed at my own party of these past 8 years when they've completely lost their backbones at a time when our country needed a STRONG loyal opposition) to support the candidate of the opposing party. Maybe all I say comes out as AUTOMATICALLY suspect when you're seeing things from a different point of view. That only makes sense, I guess.

I found this YouTube video of current mostly Republican voters who have said they are going to be voting for Obama this year. Each tells, from their own perspective, why they cannot abide voting for the candidate of the party to which they claim membership. Maybe--as I have been through the years--they've become disenchanted & disillusioned with the actions/inactions of a political party from who've they've expected so much more.

Seems, in listening to these people, that--as one of the participants in this video stated--whatever happens if Obama is elected cannot be worse then they've (actually, we've) endured these past long 8 painful years. Like me, the John McCain they see today is not the man he was in his real "maverick" years. He's given up so much ground & wasted the trust & good will of those who--even if they didn't support him--admired the man for his much-vaunted-and-sorely-missed "Straight Talk".

These conservatives in this video obviously cannot & will not waste their sacred vote on the shadow of man who really doesn't exist any more. They are tired of defending a party that has left them behind as that party loses its way & whatever used to be their moral bearings.

To paraphrase the Republican hero, Ronald Reagan, they didn't leave the Republican Party; the Republican Party left them.

Here's what they are saying about why they have decided to place their trust in a man who is as un-Republican as they are feeling forced to become:

¡Viva La Vida!

So, I recently discovered the group Coldplay's song, "Viva La Vida", and while I am not a huge follower of the group, I must say that I really like this song. It's got a catchy tune that I am still humming!

Hope you enjoy it, too!

Lyrics:

I used to rule the world
Seas would rise when I gave the word
Now in the morning I sleep alone
Sweep the streets I used to own

I used to roll the dice
Feel the fear in my enemies eyes
Listen as the crowd would sing:
"Now the old king is dead! Long live the king!"

One minute I held the key
Next the walls were closed on me
And I discovered that my castles stand
Upon pillars of salt, and pillars of sand

I hear Jerusalem bells are ringing
Roman Cavalry choirs are singing
Be my mirror my sword and shield
My missionaries in a foreign field
For some reason I can not explain
Once you know there was never, never an honest word
That was when I ruled the world

It was the wicked and wild wind
Blew down the doors to let me in.
Shattered windows and the sound of drums
People could not believe what I'd become
Revolutionaries Wait
For my head on a silver plate
Just a puppet on a lonely string
Oh who would ever want to be king?

I hear Jerusalem bells are ringing
Roman Cavalry choirs are singing
Be my mirror my sword and shield
My missionaries in a foreign field
For some reason I can not explain
I know Saint Peter won't call my name
Never an honest word
And that was when I ruled the world

Hear Jerusalem bells are ringings
Roman Cavalry choirs are singing
Be my mirror my sword and shield
My missionaries in a foreign field
For some reason I can not explain
I know Saint Peter will call my name
Never an honest word
But that was when I ruled the world

A Good Day for Barack Obama X 3!

Part I: The General's Blessing

Considering that John McCain has long touted his own foreign policy experience, which, he claims, makes him imminently more qualified than Barack Obama to be president, it is HUGE news that Colin Powell, a former Dubya Secretary of State; a former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff; a former National Security Adviser for Poppa Bush has said he will vote for Barack Obama!

In his interview with Tom Brokaw this morning on Meet The Press, in which the man whom John McCain once described as "a man who I admire as much as any man in the world," General Colin Powell, endorsed McCain's Democratic opponent, Senator Barack Obama. Powell, in explaining why he opted for Barack Obama over John McCain for president, said he was concerned that his party was heading too far right for his liking & that he thought that Sarah Palin was not "ready to be President of the United States, which is the job of the Vice-President". General Powell explained that he's been watching the Obama & McCain campaigns closely, and he spoke of the stark contrast between McCain's seemingly unstable, unsure handling & poor judgment of the recent economic crisis and Obama's "steadiness", "intellectual curiosty" & "depth of knowledge". He also was impressed with Obama's choice of Joe Biden as his VP who, as General Powell stated, "is ready to be President on Day One."

It's telling, too, that General Powell had brought up the fact that some McCain supporters had noted that Obama is a Muslim, which, of course, Powell noted is a lie. General Powell then asked why it would matter if he was a Muslim, and proceeded to tell Tom Brokaw about a picture he saw of a mother grieving the loss of her 20-year-old son who had apparently died in the Iraq War. Powell explained poignantly how she was obviously mourning at her son's grave site & explained that his headstone didn't have a Christian cross on it or the Star of David, but a Cresent & Star, indicating that this young American man, born in New Jersey, and who gave his life fighting for his country, was of the Islamic faith. Yes, some true blue, patriotic Americans are Muslim, and some of them have given their last full measure for their country. There may be some who don't believe it, but you can be a Muslim & still be a "good American".

Hearing this mother's story reminded me of the line from a letter written by President Lincoln to Lydia Bixby, the mother of 5 sons, all of whom had died in the Civil War:

I pray that our Heavenly Father may assuage the anguish of your bereavement, and leave you only the cherished memory of the loved and lost, and the solemn pride that must be yours, to have laid so costly a sacrifice upon the altar of Freedom.

I have no doubt that this mother of an American solider (who happened to be Muslim) has sacrificed & has been unspeakably hurt no less than any Christian or Jewish mother who has given the most precious gift she has--her own flesh & blood--for her country.

Powell reiterated what Obama himself has always said: Barack Obama is (and always has been) a Christian, but Powell then asked why being a Muslim would matter anyway? Powell spoke of this intentional distortion by some of the McCain-iacs for the sake of the few votes that they hope that such lies would garner & of McCain's hypocrisy in calling Bill Ayers (he of Weatherman infamy) "a washed-up terrorist" in whom he claims he does not have any interest, but--in the same breath--belying his true motivation to shackle Barack Obama to Ayers' ankle by saying the relationship between the two needed to be investigated more closely. The interview is about 7 minutes long. It's really worth a view.


Part II: (Not Just) Pennies From Heaven

In separate, but just as exciting, news, the Obama Campaign reports that in September the Senator from Illinois added over 600,000 new donors, and raised an astonishing $150 MILLION.

Think about that!

Because McCain opted for government financing of his campaign (not counting other money raised for his campaign by the RNC & other independent groups, a.k.a. 527's), he can spend no more than $84 million in September & October. In ONE month, Obama raised very nearly TWICE that! That is simply astonishing! According to the MSNBC article, Obama now has received contributions from 3.1 million people. These are not huge "special interest" contributors either; these are individuals who, in September, gave an average of $86 each. It was also reported that the Democratic National Committee raised nearly $50 million in September (which they can use to help Obama & other Democrats running for office...of course, it doesn't look like Obama will need to lean too heavily on the national party, though, which, of course, frees up more money for other Democrats running for office across the country...which is ANOTHER good thing!).

Part III: You Gotta Have Friends...

Editor & Publisher is a New York-based monthly journal of the U.S. newspaper industry. One of the things E&P does is keep a running tally of the U.S. presidential endorsements of its member newspapers.

E&P now reports that Barack Obama has nearly FOUR TIMES as many newspaper endorsements than does John McCain. By way of comparison, John Kerry edged George Bush in newspaper endorsements in 2004 by 213 to 205.

In the list below (which is obviously not totally comprehensive, but it a snapshot of the current endorsements that have been made as of today), newspapers which endorsed George Bush in 2004, but who are endorsing Barack Obama this year (14 of the 85 listed) are marked with an asterisk (as an aside, I am not sure that all the papers who supported Bush in 2004, but who are now endorsing Obama are noted here, as E&P did not note some papers with information on their 2004 endorsements). Interestingly enough, none of the newspapers who are endorsing John McCain this year had endorsed John Kerry in 2004.

This list is based on information provided by Editor & Publisher's website as of about 11:50 am ET today (Sunday, Oct. 19):

Some of the newspapers Endorsing Barack Obama (the 85 listed here have a readership of about 10 million)

Akron Beacon-Journal (OH)
Argus, The (Fremont, CA)
Arkansas Times (AR)
Asheville Citizen-Times (NC)
Atlanta Journal-Constitution (GA)
Austin American-Statesman (TX)*
Bangor Daily News (ME)
Blade, The (Toledo, OH)
Boston Globe, The (MA)
Brunswick Times-Record (ME)
Burlington Free Press (VT)
Capital Times, The (Madison, WI)
Charleston Gazette, The (WV)
Chattanooga Times (TN)
Chicago Sun-Times (IL)
Chicago Tribune (IL)*
Columbian, The (WA)*
Commercial Appeal, The (Memphis, TN)
Contra Costa Times (Walnut Creek, CA)
Cortez Journal (CO)
Daily News, The (NY)*
Daily Review (Hayward, CA)
Dayton Daily News (OH)
Denver Post, The (CO)*
Detroit Free Press (MI)
Durango Herald, The (CO)
El Diario (NY)
Eugene Register-Guard (OR)
Express-Times, The (Easton, PA)*
Falls Church News-Press (VA)
Fresno Bee, The (CA)
Gunnison Country Times (CO)
Honolulu Star-Bulletin (HI)
Houston Chronicle (TX)*
Huntington Herald-Dispatch (WV)
Idaho Statesman (ID)
Kansas City Star (MO)
La Opinion (Los Angeles, CA)
Las Vegas Sun (NV)
Las Cruces Sun-News (NM)*
Lexington Herald-Leader (KY)
Los Angeles Times (CA)
Lufkin Daily News, The (TN)
Mail Tribune (Medford, OR)
Miami Herald (FL)
Mid-Columbia Tri-City Herald (WA)
Modesto Bee. The (CA)
Monterey County Herald, The (CA)
Muskegon Chronicle (MI)
Naples Daily-News (FL)*
Nashua Telegraph (NH)
News & Observer (NC)
Oakland Tribune (CA)
Oregonian of Portland, The (OR)
Orlando Sentinel (FL)
Ouray County Plaindealer (CO)
Philadelphia Inquirer (PA)
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (PA)
Plain Dealer, The (Cleveland, OH)
Record, The (Stockton, CA)
Repository, The (Canton, OH)*
Rockford Register (IL)
Sacramento Bee (CA)*
Salt Lake Tribune, The (UT)*
San Bernardino Sun (CA)*
San Francisco Chronicle (CA)
San Jose Mercury News (CA)
San Mateo County Times (CA)
Santa Cruz Sentinel (CA)
Santa Fe New Mexican (NM)
Seattle Post-Intelligencer (WA)
Seattle Times, The (WA)
Southwest News-Herald (IL)
Springfield News-Sun (OH)
St. Louis Post-Dispatch (MO)
Standard-Times, The (New Bedford, MA)
Storm Lake Times, The (IA)
Tennessean, The (Nashville, TN)
Tri-Valley Herald (CA)*
Tuscaloosa News (AL)
Washington Post, The (DC)
Wilmington Star-News (NC)
Wisconsin State Journal (Madison, WI)*
Yakima Herald-Republic (WA)*
Yamhill Valley News-Register (OR)


Some of the newspapers Endorsing John McCain (the 22 listed here have a readership of about 2.5 million)

Amarillo Globe-News (TX)
Bakersfield Californian (CA)
Baltimore Examiner, The
Boston Herald (MA)
Courier, The (Findlay, OH)
Daily Sentinel, The (Grand Junction, CO)
Daily Press of Hampton Roads Virginia, The (VA)
Dallas Morning News (TX)
Foster’s Daily Democrat (NH)
Las Vegas Review (NV)
Mountain Valley News (Cedaredge, CO)
Napa Valley Register (CA)
New York Post (NY)
Pueblo Chieftain, The (CO)
San Francisco Examiner, The (CA)
San Antonio Express-News (TX)
Spokesman-Review (Spokane, WA)
Sun, The (Lowell, MA)
Tampa Tribune (FL)
Union Leader (Manchester, NH)
Washington DC Examiner, The (DC)
Wheeling News-Register (WV)

What are the odds???

So, if you had to guess what the percentage chance is that Barack Obama will win the 2008 U.S. Presidential Election, what would you guess? 45% 50%? 60? 65%

Woe, Ye Unbelievers!

How about better than 90%?

That's what the polling experts at FiveThirtyEight.com are saying as of today!

You never know, if Senator Obama keeps throwing that 4-letter word around, maybe he can run it up to 99%. You know the word:

"Vote for Barack Obama. Before it's too late!"

Ok, this just makes me giggle...

"....and a little child shall lead them."

Or in this case, a quarter of a million little (and not-so-little) children (from 1st to 12th grades) shall lead them!

What's so special about this poll??? According to Scholastic:

Since 1940, the results of the student vote have mirrored the outcome of the general election all but twice: In 1948, kids voted for Thomas E. Dewey over Harry S. Truman. In 1960, more students voted for Richard M. Nixon than for John F. Kennedy. In 2000, a majority of student voters chose George W. Bush, mirroring the Electoral College result, but not the result of the popular vote.

WWBD? WWAD? WWVD? WWJD??

So, this election is now about whose God is greater? It's about protecting Jesus's reputation? If Obama wins this election, the deities of the "fake religions" will have "won" & will have beaten God's Chosen Ones? Is our Lord a Republican after all?

To me, this video clip highlights the fact that both the political AND religious right (which are really basically the same thing) have become completely unhinged.

To listen to Arnold Conrad (a former evangelical pastor) speak (see his video below), a "real Christian" would NEVER consider voting for Barack Obama, because he's OBVIOUSLY the candidate of Buddha, Allah, and Vishnu.

So Conrad's assertion that God has to let McCain win in order to remain #1 on the Hit Parade begs the question: If Obama wins, would the good reverend consider changing teams? Would Conrad be so disappointed & so disillusioned with Jesus Christ that he'd feel compelled to go with the "bigger" deity, get fitted for a Buddhist Monk's robe & take the next slow boat to China? One can only hope.




"There are millions of people around this world praying to their god—whether it’s Hindu, Buddha, Allah—that his opponent wins, for a variety of reasons. And Lord, I pray that you will guard your own reputation, because they’re going to think that their God is bigger than you, if that happens..."
--Arnold Conrad, the former pastor of Grace Evangelical Free Church in Davenport, Iowa, delivering the invocation at a McCain rally yesterday (10/11/08)

Happy Coming Out Day!!

Whether you're lesbian, gay, bisexual, queer, transgendered, questioning or just too fabulous for words, you've got the whole world wide web to help in the Coming Out process!

While Coming Out is almost never easy & is usually a life-long process, a life of truth & freedom is worth it! Having said that, I feel the need to say that very few of us ever take this step on a lark or take this task lightly at all. You always need to make sure you have someone somewhere in this world (if at all possible, someone who is geographically close to you) to whom you can turn if the reaction you get is not what you expect.

In my own coming out, I only ever had one experience that was even close to bad. A friend of mine, who was deeply involved in "the Church" & with whom I had been able to share so many good times & even a secret or two told me that she loved me & that she will always be my friend, but that she didn't want to hear about my "lifestyle". How she expected me to take this huge step in sharing my heart & then keep quiet about it when I was around her, I will never understand. She & I have since parted ways & I do miss her sometimes, but if the only way I could keep her in my life was by hiding my heart again, then it was too high a price to pay, in my opinion. Besides, God has blessed me with so many other friends who know & love me for EXACTLY who I am.

Coming Out was one of the most difficult, most wonderful things I have ever done. Sometimes, though, I feel like I really didn't have much of a choice. My old "sinful lifestyle" in hiding was killing me, and coming out was the only way I could ever hope to make things right in my life. As I've described here before, it was a leap of faith into the Everlasting Arms that God had been telling me for so long I needed to do to save myself from living Death.

If you are at that place in your life where you feel like you're able to take that huge step out of the dark & into the light, remember, you're doing this NOT just for yourself, but for those who love you & who are missing out on the TRUE GIFT you are!

For sure, October 11th is a great day to Let The Sunshine In, but, whatever you do, don't feel pressured to do it one moment before you feel you're able & ready!

If you have any questions or doubts, a great resource is the Human Rights Campaign's website.

The Constitution State Says, "Gays OK!"

Gay marriage is breaking out all over New England!! What's next??? People believing that the homosexuals aren't child-molesting, society-destroying, fire-breathing, soul-less, red-eyed demons from the bowels of Hell who get off on kicking puppies?!?!?!

And now for the Fundie Weather forecast: Expect widely-spread gnashing of teeth accompanied by extensive sky-falling, and 100% chance of eternal damnation.

Change Doesn't Come FROM Washington; it comes TO Washington

4 Days in Denver

Judge Not...Yeah Right!

I have one of my absolute best friends for the last 30 years happens to be gay, and I love her dearly. And she is not my “gay friend,” she is one of my best friends, who happens to have made a choice that isn’t a choice that I have made. But I am not going to judge people.--Sarah Palin

When I heard Mrs. "Joe Six Pack" talk about one of her best friends "who happens to have made a choice that isn’t a choice that I have made," and whom she says she has known for 3 decades or so, I had to wonder how--after all that time knowing her friend--she still believes her friend actually chose to be a lesbian. I really don't get how people like Sarah Palin think that such an innate part of our human-ness, our sexual orientation, is subject to change on an apparent whim, akin to choosing a salad with the #7 combo instead of fries.

And her line that she's "not going to judge people"??? In my humble opinion, the mere fact that she asserts that we chose something that is not choose-able is a judgment. Palin appears to couch her judgmental words in love & friendship, but the judgment still comes shining through. As the old saying goes, you can put lipstick on a pig & it's still a pig!

I don't know about Sarah Palin, or her friend, but, in my own life, I never got the chance to choose to which gender I am attracted. There never came a time in my life where I thought, "Hmmmm...which will it be? Males or females??" I can almost guarantee you that almost everyone (regardless of their orientation) would say the same thing. If I ever did have a choice, I'd have to be either psychotic or a sadist (or both) to choose a sexual orientation that I had to work so hard at hiding & which would cause me to be treated like a second-class citizen & that would put me at odds with the vast majority of others & cause people who don't even know me to hate me & wish to do me harm & which would cause me to be subjected to such venom & such vilification by so much of society (especially by people I once considered my family in Christ).

How could I ever have had a choice & then intentionally choose the most difficult path, when being one of the "normal" people would have made my life so much easier & so much less painful??? Considering the foregoing, the idea that any kind of "choice" is involved where sexual orientation is concerned is ridiculous on its face. I don't know if Sarah Palin ever remembers having to make a choice to be attracted to male of the species at some time in her life or not, but I'd wager she would tell you she didn't. How typically hypocritical for people like her to say that they never chose to be heterosexual, but that I did choose to be homosexual. Can they not see how illogical that is, or do they just believe that logic is too science-y & too much of a threat to their obviously-adored dogma & preconceived notions??

I have to wonder if Sarah & friends ever even really pay attention to the words coming out of their own mouths, or if it's just an automated party-line response to which they don't even give a second thought. To be fair, a second thought implies that they were thinking in the first place. My bad. :-/

Ultimately, I know that people like Sarah Palin have to cling for dear life to this old, discredited line that we are choosing to be something we really aren't, because if they ever admitted that we didn't choose our sexual orientation, then they'd have to admit that--like the heteros--we are who God made us, and that it's all about how our hearts work and not how our genitals work. Then they'd have to deal with all the guilt I'd at least hope they'd have over the real harm & real pain they've caused so many of us.

Maybe that thought is just too much for them to bear. Maybe it's just easier for them to choose to continue to spread lies & misconceptions about non-heterosexuals.

It's apparently one of the things that Sarah Palin has chosen to do.

God, I Love Me Some "Dexter"!!

...and so do 21% more people than last season apparently!

Of course, it doesn't hurt one bit that Dexter (a.k.a. Michael C. Hall) is just the sexiest blood-splatter expert/Serial Killer on TV!!

Obama's is 3 times larger than McCain's...

According to CNN's website, John McCain's lead over Barack Obama in his home state of Arizona is 7 points (45 to 38% with a 3% MOE), while Barack Obama's lead in his home state of Illinois is...wait for it...wait for it... 20 points: 56% to 36% with a 3.5% MOE! In short, Obama's lead in his home state is nearly TRIPLE what McCain's lead in his home state. I think it's also worth noting that in the Arizona poll, McCain doesn't even get support of half of those who were polled!

To be fair, polling for Arizona was done between Sept. 25 - 28 & in Illinois, it was done Sept. 15 - 18. Since things have only gotten worse for McCain since the middle of September (what with the ongoing economic collapse & the faux "suspension" of his campaign to get us all to believe that he was going to be our white knight & come galloping in on his (not-so) Straight Talk Express jet of a steed & heroically fix what he & his political pachyderm pals labored so mightily at breaking & coming up with--as my awesome Jewish friends call it--bupkis; his cranky behavior in the first debate; not to mention that mean ol' "gotcha" journalist, Katie Couric's torturing poor Sarah Palin with questions about foreign policy & John McCain's role in government regulation of the financial industry, and viciously forcing to her think of a Supreme Court case other than Roe v. Wade & practically screaming at her to provide the name a newspaper she reads; and, that snotty Tina Fey with the Sarah Palin glasses making fun of John's soul mate by repeating nearly word-for-word what Sarah had said to that beast Katie), I'm sure Obama's numbers in Illinois may be even better now (seeing as how Obama has improved ALL OVER THE COUNTRY lately).