SURPRISE! JOHN MCCAIN COULD LOSE ARIZONA!

In a stunning (but not too surprising) turnaround, Presidential hopeful John McCain could lose his own home state of Arizona.

According to a story in yesterday's Arizona Republic, John McCain is tied with Barack Obama in Arizona. In the most recent poll, conducted by Arizona State University, McCain leads Obama by only 2 points - 46 to 44. Since the poll has a 3% margin of error that equates to a statistical tie.

Just one month ago McCain's lead was 7% and over this past summer, it was in the double-digits.

Wes Gullett, co-chairman of McCain's Arizona campaign, said "We're doing fine in Arizona. We're not going to win by 30 points, but we're going to do fine. We're going to win."

Gullett and co-Chairman Kurt Davis said tracking polls often have methodological problems. But the two did not provide specifics about what was wrong with the recent poll.

If you've paid attention to how vile and dangerously inciteful the McCain/Palin attacks against Obama have become lately then it wouldn't surprise you to hear this.

In the world we live in today, voters desperately want to know what, specifically, the candidates plan on doing to get us out of all the messes that have been created over the last 8 years. They're tired of all of the down-in-the-dirt politics and are flat-out repulsed by the dangerous racial and terrorist innuendos that McCain and Palin have been throwing around lately.

I'm hoping that McCain not only loses nationally but also loses Arizona by a wide margin. It's a very real possibility given the overwhelming support Obama has with gays, blacks, hispanics and young students voting for the first time. And Arizona has a substantial population of all four groups. A expected voter turnout here of 80-85% certainly would bode well for Obama.

I can't stress enough the importance of every single person who is registered to vote actually going out and doing it!

VOTE! VOTE! VOTE! VOTE!

CONNECTICUT GAY COUPLES WILL BEGIN MARRYING NEXT MONTH

Now that the Connecticut Supreme Court's ruling to allow same-sex marriages has been published in the Connecticut Law Journal it is considered official. That means that sometime next month, gay couples will be able to legally marry.

The exact date will be announced by the superior court judge as soon as the 10 day waiting period following the publication ends. The waiting period is intended to allow for motions for reconsideration of the case but it seems unlikely that any motions will be filed.

According to the Hartford Courant, a poll conducted Oct. 18 to 22 by The Courant and the Center for Survey Research and Analysis at the University of Connecticut found that although 50% of voters favor a constitutional convention, 55% oppose a constitutional ban on gay marriage.

"The constitutional convention question appears to be a referendum on the performance of the General Assembly," said Christine Kraus, who directed the poll.

UPDATE...Barring any unlikely motions for reconsideration, the target date to begin gay marriages is now set for November 10th.

2ND UPDATE...According to Box Turtle Bulletin, Superior Court Judge Jonathan Silbert on Monday scheduled a hearing on November 12th to enter the final judgment in the case that allows same-sex marriages in the state.

The proceeding is scheduled for 9:15 a.m. Attorneys in the court case say that once the hearing ends, couples can pick up marriage license forms at town and city clerk’s offices.

BIG UPDATE...On Tuesday, by a huge 2 - 1 margin, Connecticut voters rejected a call for a Constitutional Convention solidifying the legality of gay marriages in this state. Now that's good news!

MORMON CHURCH BEING TORN APART OVER ANTI-GAY MARRIAGE PROPOSTITIONS

It has become obvious even to Mormons themselves that their leadership's obsessive involvement in the anti-gay marriage propositions is tearing the church apart from within.

As I've reported in earlier postings, there are a significant number of LDS (Latter Day Saints or Mormon) members who have very publicly disagreed with what their leaders are doing. They feel their church has no business being so involved in a political endeavor that many feel is a violation of the Church's own tenets. Some of the members have even lost their jobs or have been excommunicated because of nothing more than their outspoken and very public expressions of disagreement.

The Church leaders seem to have miscalculated the blind support they thought they we entitled to. As a result, not only have they not increased respect for the LDS Church by the outside communities, they have created serious chasmic divisions throughout their own institution.

The Salt Lake Tribune just did a piece on the growing unrest within the LDS Church over the same-sex marriage proposals. I recommend that anyone who is interested check it out.

There are, of course, statements made by Prop 8 proponents in the article that I totally disagree with but overall, it does show the serious divisions that have been created.

The article can be found at: Salt Lake Tribune

YES ON 8 CAMPAIGNERS MORPH INTO MAFIOSOS

It's a pretty well known fact that the Yes On 8 campaign has regularly used lies and twisted truths in their attempts to influence voters. Now they've started using tactics that can only be compared to the old days of the notoriously amoral mafia.

And make no mistake about just who the Yes On 8 campaign is. By virtue of their member's millions of dollars in donations (77% of the whole) and the staggering amount of man hours their followers have contributed at the direction of their leaders, the Mormon Church is and has been the primary driving force behind not only this campaign but the Arizona Yes On 102 campaign as well.

Now they've stooped to an alarming new low. On October 20th, the campaign's executive committee sent threatening letters to every small business in California that contributed to the No On Proposition 8 campaign.

The letter said, in part:

We respectfully request that (name of business here) withdraw its support of Equality California. Make a donation of a like amount to ProtectMarriage.com which will help us correct this error and restore Traditional Marriage.

Were you to elect not to donate comparably, it would be a clear indication that you are in opposition to traditional marriage. You would leave us no other reasonable assumption. The name of any companies and organizations that choose not to donate in like manner to ProtectMarriage.com but have given to Equality California will be published. It is only fair for Proposition 8 supporters to know which companies and organizations oppose traditional marriage.

We will contact you shortly to discuss your contribution sincerely hoping to receive your positive response.

The letter was signed:

Ron Prentice, Campaign Chairman
Edward Dolejsi, Executive Director, California Catholic Conference
Mark A. Jansson, Executive Committee Member
Andrew Pugno, General Counsel

They obviously added their general counsel's name and signature as a lame attempt at subliminal intimidation.

This, to me, is outright, blatant extortion (possibly even qualifying under the "Rico" act) and certainly should be prosecuted as such by the California Attorney General.

MCCAIN/PALIN & RNC SINK TO DISTURBING NEW LOW

The McCain/Palin Campaign, through the Republican National Committee (which, when you're the candidate for President of the United States, is one and the same), have sunk to a very disturbing, disgusting and dangerous new low.

My brother in Illinois sent me a email from a friend of his. Attached to the email was the following jpeg of a mailer that the RNC sent out in a mass mailing.

Below is what my brother's friend said in his email. The capitalization is all his. Obviously, he is very upset:

I CAN’T BELIEVE HOW LOW THE REPUBLICAN NATIONAL COMMITTEE HAS GONE!! THIS IS THEIR NEW MAILING THAT INFERS OBAMA IS A TERRORIST!! THIS IS NOT FROM SOME FAR RIGHT GROUP – IT IS FROM THE RNC.

I DON’T CARE IF YOU’RE REPUBLICAN OR DEMOCRAT, THE SCARE TACTICS, THE FEAR, THE LIES AND THE DANGER OF INCITING REALLY KOOKIE PEOPLE WITH THIS KIND OF MAILING IS THE LOWEST, MOST VILE FORM OF POLITICS I HAVE EVER SEEN!!

IT’S ONE THING TO ATTACK THE POSITION OF AN OPPONENT, BUT THIS IS ALTOGETHER DIFFERENT!!! THIS REALLY SCARES ME!! THERE ARE A LOT OF CRAZIES IN THIS COUNTRY THAT NEED VERY LITTLE EXCUSE TO ACT OUT THEIR THOUGHTS. THIS TYPE OF CAMPAIGN LITERATURE COULD INCITE ALL KINDS OF AWFUL EVENTS.

THIS IS CHARACTER ASSASSINATION AND NOT ONLY DOES IT HAVE NOTHING TO DO WITH TAKING A NEGATIVE POSITION WITH RESPECT TO OBAMA’S POSITIONS ON THE ISSUES, IT IS IRRESPONSIBLE AND DANGEROUS.

I HOPE EVERYONE THAT SEE’S THIS, REPUBLICAN OR DEMOCRAT, IS AS INCENSED AS I AM AND WILL DO EVERYTHING POSSIBLE TO LET THE REPUBLICAN NATIONAL COMMITTEE KNOW THAT THIS DANGEROUS, INCITEFUL AND DIVISIVE ACTION IS UNACCEPTABLE.

I HAVE BEEN SUPPORTING OUR INCUMBENT REPUBLICAN CONGRESSMAN, FRED UPTON, BUT HIS SIGN IS COMING OUT OF MY LAWN TODAY AS LONG AS THE RNC EMPLOYS SUCH LOW TACTICS.

IF YOU ARE INTERESTED, THE WEB ADDRESS TO EMAIL TO THE RNC IS: http://www.gop.com/Connect/ContactUs.htm

THERE ARE A NUMBER OF EMAIL ADDRESSES SUCH AS COMMUNICATIONS AND POLITICAL CAMPAIGN OPERATIONS.

I BELIEVE EACH ONE OF US NEEDS TO ASK, REGARDLESS OF WHO IS ELECTED, WHAT WILL BE THE LONG-TERM EFFECT OF THIS ACTION? AS FOR ME, I BELIEVE IT WILL FOSTER FEAR, HATRED, DISTRUST AND DIVISION AT A TIME WHEN AMERICA NEEDS UNITY AS NEVER BEFORE.

PLEASE CONSIDER JOINING WITH ME IN LETTING OTHERS KNOW THIS ACTION IS FRIGHTENING AND NEEDS TO STOP!!

The McCain/Palin campaign and the Republican Party have turned themselves into racist, religious fanatics who would clearly stop at nothing to win this election.

As I've said in the past, I used to like John McCain. That was before he did his infamous 180 in his fervent and seemingly blind support of everything Bush. And now, with this latest turn of what has become a bastardized version of his own personal morality, I've lost whatever modicum of respect I had for him.

He has become an embittered, sad old man whose once grand legacy has become completely and irreparably tarnished. This is not a person who deserves anyone's support.