Video Diary

Obama Congratulates McCain on Cheney Endorsement



I know here in Oklahoma we don't get much of a chance to see presidential commercials, so I've included Obama's new endorsement commercial below:

Democrats on Economics

Since there's no early voting today, I finally have enough of a breather to do something I've been meaning to do for quite a while: inject some facts into the presidential race. A big thanks goes to Brad DeLong for compiling all the pretty graphics for me.

Since John McCain's entire economic plan centers around earmarks, let's start with those. Everyone agrees that the Federal Budget is out of control. So how much good is he liable to do for us by concentrating on earmarks?

Some of you might have to go get your glasses to make out that blue sliver at the top labeled "Earmarks". Is McCain really planning on wasting effort trying to shrink that tiny sliver, or is he just lying to everyone? I almost hope it's the latter, and that's sad.

Democrats are Better Democrats
The traditional Democratic economic goals have always been increasing jobs and economic fairness. How have they done in reality?




Note how in every graph the Democrats are at the top and the Republicans are at the bottom. The only exception is the Roosevelt/Truman cycle, where all our drafted soldiers from WWII came back into the job market at once.

Democrats Are Better Republicans
Republicans, on the other hand, have traditionally sold themselves as the folks who will control the budget deficit, increase the Gross Domestic Product, and be better for the stock market. What has the truth been?



Once again, the Democrats tend to all be clustered at the top, and the Republicans at the bottom. The exceptions for the Democrats again seem to mostly be WWII related. The Republicans would look far worse if not for Eisenhower. He was a popular General drafted into the Republican party before anyone really knew his politics, very much like Colin Powell.

How is it, one might ask, that Democrats do better on Republican goals, when in theory the are concentrating on their own goals? Perhaps it is as Obama keeps saying: businesses do better when they have more customers who can afford their services.

Whatever the reason, the results are pretty clear. When it comes to economics, if your priorities lean Democratic, you should vote for Democrats. If your priorities lean Republican, you should still vote for Democrats.

McCain and Friends

Early Voting - Day 2

Today is the second day of early voting in Oklahoma. This is the same deal as yesterday with one exception: Polls close at one PM today. So get up a bit early to vote today.

According to reports, there were long lines and congestion at the polls yesterday, but the lines moved very quickly. Although the wait in some places around OKC was quite long, here in Tulsa it was only about 45 minutes.

One of my fellow denziens on SoonerKos who lives in the area reported that parking was a real issue. He suggested:

If you plan on going to The Election Board be prepared to park a couple of blocks away and walk. There is plenty of street parking on Denver or Cheyenne in The Brady Heights Historic District. There was a very long line of cars waiting to park at the Election Building so to help ease congestion come in from the north and park at one of the Churches or on the street.

Also, remember no campaign gear is allowed. Be considerate and bring a coat or sweater to share with any of your neighbors who didn't get the message.

The reports I got were that roughly 5,000 people voted yesterday in Oklahoma County (OKC) and 4,000 in Tulsa County.

Attack of the Robots

From the Obama youtube channel:

More Early Voting

I've seen reports from both Tulsa and Oklahoma City that early voting lines are quite long, but manageable. In both cases the lines are snaking out around the board of election parking lot. However, reports are that the lines move fast. Wait time in OKC this morning was about an hour, and in Tulsa 45 minutes.



Make sure you budget yourself the proper amount of time, but please get out and vote as soon as you can.

First Day of Early Voting

Today is the first day of early voting. Just come on down to your County Election Board offices (see my previous post for directions) between the hours of 8AM and 6PM. For Tulsa County voters that is 555 N. Devner, in downtown Tulsa.

One thing I neglected to mention is that state law prohibits you from entering the polling place wearing any candidate supporting materials. So leave your Obama buttons and shirts at home, or put on a sweater over them. I'd like to ask everyone to bring an extra sweater or jacket to lend in case one of your neighbors in line did not realize this. Some of them might object to voting topless.

If you can't come in today, there is also early voting Saturday and Monday. Please try to vote early this year. The line will probably be shorter, and it will help prevent polling place directed shenanigans from taking your vote away.

Obama Visit
We weren't successful in securing an Obama visit to Tulsa this cycle. However, he will be visting Springfield MO tomorrow night. That's about a 3 hour drive from Tulsa. So if you are up for that kind of road trip, check out the info here. I checked out the venue and it seats about 8,000.