Presidential Race T-0

1. Be Afraid: Unfortunately, it appears that when Elizabeth Edwards speaks some people actually listen. This sad fact might be innocuous enough if the aspiring Second Lady were trading parenting or dieting tips. But instead semi-reformed former Deaniacs and Kucinich Kids seem to have latched onto Edwards' recent promise to a worried supporter that post-election riots will not wrack the nation -- so long as the Kerry-Edwards ticket walks away with it.
   The suggestion, of course, is that there indeed will be riots if John F. Kerry's boyhood dreams of ascending to his rightful position as ruler of the universe are squashed by the result of today's voting. It is just such a scenario for which a group called No Stolen Elections is currently preparing. The newly-minted organization has already gotten more than 17,000 of the young and restless to sign the following pledge: (american spectator)
2. Dutch Filmmaker Who Angered Muslims Shot Dead: A controversial Dutch filmmaker who outraged Muslims by branding imams women-haters was stabbed and shot dead in Amsterdam Tuesday, shocking the Netherlands where the killing was denounced as an attack on free speech. (yahoonews)
3. The Revolution will be Posted: Every four years, by journalistic if not political tradition, the presidential election must be accompanied by a "revolution." So what transformed politics this time around? The rise of the Web log, or blog. The commentary of bloggers - individuals or groups posting daily, hourly or second-by-second observations of and opinions on the campaign on their own Web sites - helped shape the 2004 race. The Op-Ed page asked bloggers from all points on the political spectrum to say what they thought was the most important event or moment of the campaign that, we hope, comes to an end today. (nyt)
4. Suing Your Way to Defeat Tom Daschle goes mad and tries to lose the election all in one night. (weeklystandard)
5. Live Report From Courtroom: Daschle vs. Thune (typepad)(johnfund.pdf)
6. 'AMERICA CAN'T DO A THING' Carter in Iran 1979 (amir taheri, nypost)
7. From Kerry's Own Boat: Interview With Swift Boat Vet Steve Gardner (deanesmay)
8. Top Ten Media Egregious Bias (mrc)
9. The Top 10 Distortions by the Times in Campaign 2004 (timeswatch.org)
10. Arab writer analyzes OBL tape: The second point is that the tape is one of capitulation and bankruptcy, and not one of threat and warning, since bin Laden appears in regular robes and not in a military uniform with a rifle on his side. Bin Laden has relinquished his military [character] and his arms. This, of course, is intentional on the part of the public relations administration within Al-Qa'ida and outside it. (antimedia.blogspot)
11. Justice Ends Effort to Stop G.O.P. Challenges in Ohio: Justice John Paul Stevens of the United States Supreme Court refused today to set aside an early-morning Ohio appeals court ruling that allowed Republicans to send challengers to polling places, effectively ending Democrats' efforts to block what they had cast as an effort to intimidate minority voters in this key battleground state. (nyt)
12. Michael Moore is proud to have Osama bin Laden mimic "Fahrenheit 9/11" (beldar)
13. Mark Mellman, Kerry Pollster, bearish on Kerry chances: First, we simply do not defeat an incumbent president in wartime. After wars surely, but never in their midst. Republicans have been spinning this fact for months, and they are correct.
    These models essentially confirm that the level of economic pain we are now feeling is not commensurate with voting an incumbent president out of office.
    Taking all that and more into account, an expert forecasting model suggests that Bush will get 51.6 percent of the two-party vote. (thehill.com)
14. French Fables: But France, an enemy? When it comes to military power, France doesn't count for much these days. But they do still have a veto at the U.N., where Mr. Chirac rallied a coalition of the coerced and the bribed (literally) with the aim of defeating us and preserving Saddam. Added to that is a formidable diplomatic and propaganda machine, which is working intensely to undermine U.S. interests around the world. Radio France International broadcasts anti-American venom throughout the Arab and Muslim world, and ranks along with al Jazeera in its incitement of hatred and delegitimizing of the state of Israel.
    To help those French patriots who believe their country still treasures the values of liberty, free speech, and representative government, we should consider launching a French language service of Radio Free Europe. Six years after the fall of the Berlin wall, the French have erected a new wall of propaganda and anti-American filth. The next American president should help tear it down. (nationalreview)
15. Baradei Concedes Iaea Is in Dark on Fate of Arms: As Washington officials questioned the reliability of an Iraqi official who reported that 377 tons of explosives went missing after the war, the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency acknowledged yesterday that his agency is in no position to know what exactly happened.
    IAEA Director Mohammed ElBaradei confirmed in an interview yesterday that the sole source for the story that dominated the news last week was a letter sent to the agency on October 10 from an Iraqi official, Mohammed Abbas.
    "All we know (is that) the Iraqis reported to us the material is missing," Mr. ElBaradei told The New York Sun. "We have been out of Iraq for a long time. If it were destroyed I would be very happy, if it hasn't been destroyed I'd be very worried. But I have no clue." According to a Washington source, Pentagon and State Department officials now suspect Mr. Abbas might have acted on his own and was unauthorized to write a letter to the IAEA. (nysun)

Other

• Michael Eric Dyson, Univ of Penn (professor of africana studies)(leftist baptist)
• Most families don't comprehend layoffs until it happens to them: We pulled out of it, and we're back on our feet. The experience has made me braver because I know that I can make it through tough times. When my current boss is difficult, I think to myself, "What can you do to me, take my job?" I've been there. I can go there again.
  Last year, we started college savings plans for our daughters and bought them dress coats they could wear to the ballet. I tell people that the coats are my middle class dream, and then I laugh with relief and a little sadness. Most people don't get the joke, and I hope they never have to. (pittsburghlive.com)