Politics and other nightmares

Election Day myths: The Republican Party will benefit from some time out of office. A Congress and a White House unified under the control of a single party will function more efficiently. If Obama wins, our standing in the world will improve immediately. And this:

A small-l libertarian's voting dilemma:

Barr isn't the sort of candidate I'd pull the lever for in any other circumstance. But I don't live in a swing state where voting for the Libertarian is effectively the same as a voting for Obama (who—for me anyway—fails the libertarian lesser-of-two-evils test).

Today's quiz: What do Indiana, Kentucky, South Carolina, Utah, West Virginia, Alaska and Massachusetts have in common?

7 States prohibit the sale of alcohol on state and national Election Days. This restriction is a relic of the Prohibition era when saloons sometimes served as polling stations. The only states that still cling to statewide Election Day sales bans of alcohol at restaurants, bars and package stores . . .

John McCain finally made it to Indiana -- at least to the Indianapolis airport:

McCain spent much of his 20-minute speech attacking Obama's policies, arguing that Obama would raise taxes and increase spending.

"I'm not going to spend $750 billion of your money bailing out Wall Street bankers and brokers who got us into this mess. Senator Obama will," he said.

Getting ready for the future:

OK, granted, this is a "complicated" story. Anybody who wants to put a Jesus statue or any other religious icon outside his patio door is free to do so. It's part of our heritage -- both of religious freedom and freedom of expression. But if you live in an apartment, the place isn't yours -- you have to abide by the landlord's rules, even if he says to keep your Jesus inside. What got my attention were the dictates of federal fair housing laws:

More on the bellwetherness of Vigo County, which has been correct in every presidential election but two since 1892:

Tom Steiger, a sociology professor at Indiana State University, said one plausible theory is that the county's population -- and therefore its culture -- has been very stable, with no large influx of new residents and no big population losses.

We can only hope

Barack Obama's senior advisers have drawn up plans to lower expectations for his presidency if he wins next week's election, amid concerns that many of his euphoric supporters are harbouring unrealistic hopes of what he can achieve.

This has been the longest presidential campaign ever. We know about the two candidates' positions, opinions and backgrounds than we probably know about our own family histories. And yet:

I say stuff here just to say stuff, then other people say stuff, and we have a real good time. But this is just blogging, which doesn't amount to much in the long run. People who are running for governor shouldn't say stuff just to say stuff, and too often that seems like what Jill Long Thompson is doing. Like here: