Today Tonight Tomorrow

Did you catch the Today Show this morning? For the third time this fall, I squared off against James Carville, with Ms. Couric in the anchor chair.

Mr. C handed me a couple of openings, especially with his crack that people who think we're on the right track in America are "the stupidest people" in the country. That's how you attract voters: insult 'em!

Carvville also sounds thoroughly defeatist about Iraq. Defeatism is widespread inside this city. News executives and DC insiders (think tankers and assorted liberal elites) betray their Vietnam-era gloom in the slightest unguarded moment. I guess I understand it but I find it troubling.

Optimism alone will not advance America's interests, but without it the defeatists will be self-fulfillingly correct.

I'm optimistic about tomorrow's election -- and will share it with Larry King Live and Hardball viewers later tonight.

Comments

[wtfwjd?]

Tucker, speaking of defeatist, has Bush decided where he will deliver his concession speech tomorrow night? I'm thinking it will be somewhere in the 11:30 PM - 12:30 AM timeframe.

No more "hard work"!!

[cheney_usa]

Hey, Glad you stopped wearing those bowties!

[wwiivet]

When did the Bush campaign first begin to get the sense that they were going to lose? During the debates, or only in the past few days?

[Teddy Roosevelt]

Unfortunately some other folks seem to have a "defeatist" attitude about Iraq as well:

"Even Secretary of State Colin Powell, a former general who stays in touch with the Joint Chiefs, has acknowledged this privately to friends in recent weeks, NEWSWEEK has learned. The insurgents have effectively created a reign of terror throughout the country, killing thousands, driving Iraqi elites and technocrats into exile and scaring foreigners out. "Things are getting really bad," a senior Iraqi official in interim Prime Minister Ayad Allawi's government told NEWSWEEK last week. "The initiative is in [the insurgents'] hands right now. This approach of being lenient and accommodating has really backfired. They see this as weakness.""

[wasted potential]

I want to personally thank all of the opposition for coming to this blog and testing our thinking, facts and beliefs. I have personally enjoyed matching wits with everyone to prove or disprove points. In my humble opinion, I think that the arguments by the right have bested those by the left, but I am just a dim-witted Christian conservative. However, the time for argument and debate is over. Now we get to see who has the most persuasive arguments with the general population.

Our country is very polarized about this president and tomorrow we find out which side has more voters. The undecideds, of which there were few this year, will be making up their minds tonight and tomorrow, and will ultimately decide the election in many battleground states. Isn't it amazing that those most disinterested (by and large anyway) and uninformed are the ones who decide the elections for the rest of us activists?

However, I urge everyone to use their God-given right in this country and vote for their interstes tomorrow. If you are Republican, vote early and often :) Seriously, this is not only a right, but a privilege as a citizen of the United States of America. Urge all those around you to participate!

Win or lose, I hope all of us respect the results. The amazing thing about our country is that our government is re-elected or passed on at the ballot box, not the ammo box.

After the election we can all begin arguing with each other about why the election went the way it did and criticize our opposition again. That is the beauty of this country. If my side loses, I will accept it and work through the constitutional means given to us to defeat the agenda of the other side in the minds and hearts of the people, as well as the legisltatures of this country.

By the way, I believe Bush will win OH and FL, solidifying his victory early in the night, but still a close election over all. I am so pumped up and cannot wait to vote and work for this president tomorrow. I am sure those on the other side feel the same way.

See you all out there tomorrow! and remember ...

Its good to be in Bush country in the buckeye state!

[Hecate]

What will Bush say in his concession speech? Will he finally admit his mistakes? Will he need a wire like he had in the first debate? Will he blink and scowl? Smirk? And when will he start drinking again? When he loses Florida? Before his concession speech? During?

Bush is toast!! Kerry in a landslide!! You people can't even steal this one!

[Christian for Peace]

Wasted,
As a fellow Christian, I thank you for your invitation to the opposition (I count myself among them) to speak our minds.

I am optimistic! If Kerry wins the church can go back to what it does best: speak to people from outside of politics in their personal lives. If Kerry wins we can begin to rebuild coalitions and unity again. If Kerry wins we can work to further dismantle the military/industrial/media complex. The latter goal would be a possibility under a Kerry administration.

I vote for peace through strength, but a kind of strength a judo master has: the strength to see through fear and terror and apply the winning (killing if need be) strike at the heart of the enemy. Mr. Bush's strength comes through rallying fear and xenophobia, and winds up hurting those who are innocent.

I am voting for Kerry.

[jus' sayin']

"wasted potential" hmmm...
I know a place where you can Be All That You Can Be! Perhaps you should look into it!

[wasted potential]

Jus' Sayin' - Wasted potential is a name I picked up as a young man because my teachers and coaches all believed I had all this potential and I was wasting it because I like to have fun. As I grew up, I found I still like to have fun, except now I also have the responsibility of 3 kids.

I am 34 and can't be all I can be now, draft, volunteer or whatever. However, I will not waste my potential tomorrow - I am voting and working for the President!

As I said, the time for debate is over, now its time for all of us to go out and do what Americans do better than anybody else - participate in the democratic process by voting for the candidates and issues of our choice!

I'm Jus' Sayin' that I will now be all I can be, but I am too old now for the armed forces, so I have to be all I can be as a father, husband and citizen.

Its good to be in Bush country in the buckeye state.

[Former GOP]

Whatever Republicans are supposed to stand for, it's not what the Bush crowd laid on all of us. I've voted the "R" column since my first vote (for Nixon) and tomorrow? I'll be voting for Kerry (as will a large crowd of folks like me). When Bush loses this, the GOP is going to have to figure out where it wants to go next. I can only hope that someone with a speck of wisdom will take the reins away from clowns who've been dragging us through the gutter for the past four years.

[rls]

I live in the CST and by the time I go to bed tomorrow at 10:00 PM, GWB will be reelected. He will have carried PA & FLA & thus Kerry CAN'T win. Florida by 2% (100,000 votes) and PA by 2%. The rest of you can stay up hoping, but after that it will be a landslide for GWB.

My conservative (pun intended) estimate is that GWB gets 53% PV & 329 EV. Hope you all have a happy Election day. I urge EVERYONE, even the oppossition, to get out and vote - take a neighbor with you. If we can get 60% plus of the voting age populace out to vote, I'll consider the election a success - no matter who wins.

[recovering republican]

Bush refused to go after and capture Osama bin Laden. He fought, every step of the way, the investigation into the 9/11 attacks. Who on earth would oppose such a thing? If 3,000 people died at your place of work and your boss said we don’t need to find out why or how it happened, he’d be thrown out on his ear. Bush’s behavior after this great tragedy alone is reason enough for his removal.

I know that George W. Bush is the farthest thing from a conservative. He’s a reckless spender who has run up record-breaking deficits and the biggest debt in our history. He believes in having the government pry into everything from your library records to your bedroom. He has hit you with hidden taxes with his tax cuts for the rich.

[keefer]

recovering republican, you are a walking, talking, talking point. Go to one of your kook blogs where your comments will be hailed as intellectual.

[RH]

It's unfortunate that the average people are being mislead and brainwashed by the Liberals and the Liberal media.
Despite that I know that when people go to the polls and really search their heart they will realize how bogus the Democratic propaganda is and they will inevitably vote for George Bush.

[keefer]

Christian for Peace, you're a bigger kook than recovering republican. Dismantle our military? Are you out of your freaking mind?!!! More talking points!!! Tomorrow can't get here soon enough for me...

[RocketPunch]

keefer - calling something a talking point doesn't invalidate it. Don't hide behind the word. If you think they are wrong, disproof them with some facts.

[RocketPunch]

Things are heating up here in Florida. A reporter was tackled and arrested today for taking a picture of a long line at a early voting center. Now this report right from the line ...

Well, the police are in riot gear. Protestors for both sides could explode. Lines are 5 hours long for early voters. The reason for the wait is for early voter registration verification. Tomorrow it shouldn't be that bad. The machines are very sensitive and if the voter doesn't mark the ballot in exactly the right spot, it has been defaulting to Bush. The polsters can recalibrate it, but they have to be advised. The lawyers are fighting, The Repubs are fighting where the end of the line is at the end of the time deadline, and are trying to suppress the amount of people that can enter after the deadline. It's very hostile. It's surreal.

You guys know what Miami Model is, right? I always worry about this stuff in Florida. :/

[wasted potential]

Christian for Peace - I respect your opinion, but as a fellow brother in Christ, I must disagree with your decision. First, the business of the church is to change hearts and lives throught the gospel of Jesus Christ and then to disciple those converts in the teachings of Christ and the Bible, so that they can begin to live His life and win new converts themselves. The first church did this under Nero, so we can do it here under Kerry or Bush.

However, under a Kerry administration, federal dollars will begin paying for the killing of unborn babies here and abroad from day one. In light of this, I cannot find any other reason strong enough to support a vote for John Kerry.

We can disagree over foreign policy, tax cuts, social security, education reform, health care reform and immigration. But on the issue of protecting life, we should all be in agreement in the church.

As a fellow brother, I urge you to reconsider, but respect your right to disagree with me. I leave you with the following verse:

"Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God" Romans 13:1.

Whoever wins, it will be by the will and power of God, so we all must accept the results peacefully and with thanks.

God bless you brother!

[wasted potential]

Recovering Republican - Recover more quickly! You have been weighed down with the arguments of the left! Shed them and you will find it easy to support our candidates.

President Bush never said he did not want to know why 9/11 happened. He wanted to spare us a political show like the 9/11 commmission. At the end of the day, the commission condemned no one and laid out a plan that many had already discussed. In fact, I believe it outright covered up mistakes by both the Bush and Clinton administration in an effort to avoid mistrust in the government or politicizing the issues even more.

What are the hidden taxes? Higher oil prices? Ummm, I thought we went to war in Iraq for oil, so I guess measured in that regard, the whole effort has been unsuccessful. Seriously though, if you work, you received a tax cut from Bush. In fact, those who do not pay taxes even got a check from the government!

Turn off your TV and your computer and think without the noise of the media and the propaganda machines on both sides. Then you will recover more quickly!

[wasted potential]

RP - Don't fall for the tired issues of terrible things happening in voter lines in FL. You said that your experience was very good. These items are being brought up so that a close election in FL can be contested in court.

Just relax and let the process take care of itself. If you are worried about it, go to the DNC headquarters and volunteer to help fight these Republican thugs. I think you will find a bunch of middle aged men with glasses handing out buttons and holding signs, so take it easy on them :)

[Oh Shoot]

I am sorry but Bush will lose on the morrow. There are too many stats which go against him. When you look at just about every poll, Bush's lead in everything has been eroding like a sand castle that had an encounter with the incoming tide.

In the mean time, Kerry's lead has been growing and in those areas where he was trailing, he is now tied. Even in an important area like security, Kerry is now only 4 points behind, after being more than 10 points behind 2 weeks ago.

Add to all this, the fact that lots of the younger generation has not been polled because they are so dynamic. Then add to all this, the fact that a week before the big day, people are lining up for as much as 5 hours to vote and refusing to leave until they vote.. then you can even add the fact that there are record numbers of early voters. These situations speak volumes for Kerry and not Bush.

Add the numbers real and perceived and you will quickly see that Bush cannot win. From the dynamics presented, its more likely that Kerry will win by a land slide than that Bush will win even by a slight margin.

I doubt very much that Rove's strategies will work this time. As a matter of fact, I know that he is over rated and over blown.

Go vote for your man on the morrow... but be prepared for the results. I might not be a pretty sight.

[RocketPunch]

Curious - on the subject of "liberal media" ... I am wondering where this thought process comes from. I know it's always fun to invoke the words, but, seriously, it is kind of like saying Fox is fair in balanced. Everyone knows it's not true but they just keep on saying it.

[Jeffraham Prestonian]

wasted: "President Bush never said he did not want to know why 9/11 happened. He wanted to spare us a political show like the 9/11 commmission."

Exactly. He wanted his staff & GOP insiders to do the "investigation," and then, when HE came out and told you what happened, he knew there's a lot of you folk that wouldn't question a single thing he had to say about it. Case closed, everyone goes back to campaigning.
.

[RocketPunch]

Wasted - you know I am nervous. Orlando has been really calm but down south is where the troubles always hit. That report actually came from someone I know! That is why it kinda freaked me out. But, you are right. I just need to stay calm. I can't do anything about it at this point.

[L.D.S. Laura]

Tax cuts for the wealthy???? I'm not wealthy and I got a tax cut. And, Kerry stood in front of the camera and promised not to raise taxes on the middle income. Has anyone thought about the fact that if he repeals the Bush tax cuts that's raising the taxes on the middle class????? I'm middle class and if he repeals the Bush tax cuts my taxes go up!!!! Hello???? Are you paying attention????? I believe Bush will win tomorrow by more then most people think. I'm guessing about 5 points. Are you libs going to be able to take it or are you going to wine for another 4 years because you didn't get your way?