Month: October 2014

If/when Jodi Ernst wins next Tuesday…

…it’s going to be because of stuff like this:

…Ernst, who was wrapping up her 99-county tour, appeared with Republican Sens. Marco Rubio and John McCain. Braley, who earlier this week finished his part of the Democrats’ 99-county tour…

Bolding mine. ‘His part?’ Tell me: did Bruce Braley at least get a participation trophy?

Via

Moe Lane

PS: Vote.

Hey, did you know that somebody was trying to take out Fred Upton?

Yeah, it was news to me, too.  And, for the record? Fred Upton, contra the text below, is still cruising toward victory.

Veteran Republican Rep. Fred Upton appeared to be cruising toward victory until Harvard law professor Larry Lessig’s Mayday PAC targeted him earlier this month, buying $2.15 million in TV ads against him.

Lessig’s PAC targets politicians who don’t back campaign finance reform, but hitting Upton was an odd tactic, not only given his support of the issue but also because of his ties to the tech industry.

Continue reading Hey, did you know that somebody was trying to take out Fred Upton?

Jonathan Coulton did, indeed, get threatened by the Democratic party of New York state.

Just because it’s a bluff doesn’t mean it’s not a threat.

This is… interesting.

Quick background on this: Jonathan Coulton is a songwriter and performer who is popular in the science fiction and fantasy community, particularly the section of it that goes to conventions. He does a lot of stuff that’s gaming- and geek-themed, and he’s one of the people who makes his living via using the (air quotes) ‘Internet’ pretty much exclusively. And if you’re wondering why any of that matters, let me put it this way: a nontrivial percentage of the people in your IT department can sing along to RE: Your Brains*.

And Mr. Coulton just told over a hundred thousand people that the Democrats threatened him. Continue reading Jonathan Coulton did, indeed, get threatened by the Democratic party of New York state.

Evergreen post: watch out for fake stories.

Matt Lewis revisited some last-minute election stories over the years – some true, some kinda-sorta true but not really, and some outright whoppers, and concluded:

Well, we have now entered the period in the campaign cycle where people go crazy and campaigns get utterly desperate. This is good advice for the political activists and operatives who tend to go insane this time of year. It’s also valid advice for the general public who are media consumers — but it’s especially good advice for those sleep-deprived bastards charged with covering the dwindling days of the 2014 campaign: For the next week, be even more skeptical than normal. Don’t trust anyone. Or, if you prefer, as the saying goes, “Trust, but verify.”

My rule of thumb: if it sounds too good, or too bad, to be true – it probably isn’t.  But I do not point fingers; I have been fooled myself, and I do not flatter myself by thinking that I will never be fooled again.  I probably will be.  Most of us will be, at some time or another.