These photos are from a three hour walking tour of the National Mall area less than 24 hours before the inauguraiton of Barrack Obama as the 44th president of the United States. It began with a brief metro ride that led to a crowd gathered outside a cordoned off area, hoping to catch a glimpse of the president-elect as he got in his car.

A quick survey of the area surrounding the Washington Monument and the mall area revealed a buzz of energy and excitement, even though the amount of people walking around was a mere fraction of those that would be in attendance on Tuesday. The term “palpable energy” to describe was was floating in the air is a hackeneyed journalistic expression trotted out for events such as these. It seems the MSM has gone out of its way to overuse that phrase throughout Obama’s ascent to the presidency.

But it was the same buzz that one could feel walking around Denver during the Democratic National Convention. It was the electricity of mostly like minded people (the protesters in the slidehow above being one of the rare exceptions) gathering around a hugely sympblic event of epic generational proportions.

In many people’s minds, the slate wipes clean on Tuesday.

You ain’t got no job, and you ain’t got shit to do! Chris Tucker never sounded so prophetic in the 90’s stoner classic Friday. The national unemployment rate hit 7.2%, according to a U.S. Department of Labor report released this morning, cited on CNN Money. That is the highest since 1945 when all of the jobless soldiers from WWII came home. Yikes. The juiciest quote in the CNN article: “‘We’re seeing a complete unraveling of the labor market and are on track for getting beyond 10% unemployment,’ said Lawrence Mishel, president of the Economic Policy Institute.”

I can’t HEAR YOU…la la la la la la: In another astounding display of force and relevance, the U.N. has issued a call for a cease fire in Gaza, which both sides promptly ignored. They are, however, attempting to reinstitute (and HONOR) the three hour halts to firing for aid to enter Gaza. Meanwhile, the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights is opening up investigations into possible war crimes in the area. And in cyberspace, the war among Arab and Israeli Facebook statuses is JUST beginning…

U.S. Senate vs. Gossip Girl (You decide which has more drama): Sarah Palin has chimed in on the Caroline, you know, Kennedy debacle, saying that she has received a free pass from the media compared to what they did (and are still doing) to the Alaska governor. Meanwhile, the Illinois House of Representatives has formally impeached Gov. Rod Blagojevich with a vote of 114-1 (attention Fox News assignment desk) a few days after Blago’s appointment to fill Obama’s shoes was turned away in the rain. Who knew Al Franken was the choice with the LEAST drama for the Senate? (And I couldn’t mention “Gossip Girl” without throwing you this bone.)

The last great hopes of two former Kings: As the Consumer Electronics Show enter full-swing in Las Vegas, both Microsoft and Palm are debuting new products that are being billed as do-or-die for former kings of their respective hills entering the ‘Aughts. Palm unveiled their iPhone rival, dubbed the “Pre” to high praise from the geek blogosphere, and Microsoft released the first public beta of Windows 7. General consensus seems favorable on both, but also that Palm could fold entirely and Microsoft would have to exit the operating system market altogether if both were to fail. Even the mighty Apple is struggling with lukewarm reviews on their latest Macworld keynote (the first in 10 years not delivered by ailing CEO and resident deity Steve Jobs). eek.

Just for gits and shiggles: As even the juggernaut U.S. mainstream hip-hop market stagnates beyond recognition, we are forced to turn to the balmy shores of Halifax, Nova Scotia for fresh lyrical, production, and video craftsmanship: Classified – Trouble.

For the past month, an Aussie accent has been conspicuously missing from the morning airwaves of Los Angeles’s radio station 89.9 FM.

As of December 1, Nic Harcourt vacated his post as the host of Santa Monica-based independent radio station KCRW’s pivotal daytime show, “Morning Becomes Eclectic,” and left his position as the legendary station’s music director.

In his place as the new host of “Morning” and as music director, is Jason Bentley’s smooth baritone. Bentley started at KCRW as a phone volunteer over 20 year ago, and hosted the weeknight show, “Metropolis.”

Bentley has been a mainstay in the dance music scene in Los Angeles, but his resumé extends far beyond the 1’s and 2’s. He was the music supervisor for The Matrix trilogy, an avid music producer and remixer, as well as a promoter of local music and art events. He recently became the first DJ ever to play the post-Academy Awards Governor’s Ball. He also headlined the Obama campaign’s official Los Angeles celebration on election night.

Now he takes on the daunting task of running KCRW, one of the last true vestiges of independent music on the airwaves. With the help of podcasting and Internet radio, KCRW and “Morning Becomes Eclectic,” have gained prominence throughout the world. Maintaining the status that previous music directors carefully cultivated is no small task, but Bentley has a thoughtful approach to his new digs.

P+P had a chance to speak with him on the phone and ask him a few questions about the KCRW legacy, as well as what he plans on doing different now that he is in the driver’s seat.

What’s your impression of outgoing music director Nic Harcourt’s legacy at KCRW?

I think he’s really taken the brand experience of KCRW and given it more of an international profile, by really taking KCRW.com on his back and putting that out there—The KCRW Presents” and “KCRW.com Presents” that we do in places like San Fran, New York, and Chicago. It’s a funny thing because KCRW is strong because it’s rooted in a community and it’s uniquely Los Angeles. But it has grown far beyond LA. “Act locally, think globally,” I believe, is the expression. He’s kind of been the international ambassador for us. He’s also strengthened the importance of live music…I think Nic took it to a whole other level—things like broadcasting live from South by Southwest in Austin and other big music conferences around the country. I think in certain ways he’s really helped to build the station’s influence and profile nationally and internationally. I think we’re fortunately positioned because LA is the entertainment capital and we’re sort of feeding the other media outlets. They’re either listening to us or hiring our DJ’s as consultants.

How do you plan on making the show your own while still embodying the spirit of ‘Morning Becomes Eclectic’?

I have a high regard for the music directors that we’ve had. I hope to take measured doses of each—the sum of the strengths. I want to break the show down in terms of what you’d expect. It’s been pretty rigid so far and I want to make it a little more unexpected. I want to give people the sense that it’s beyond music, which is the anchor, but I’d like to welcome people by.

We’ve had a lot of success with this guest DJ project. I think it opens up an interesting angle in the broadcast component. I’d like to bring that same success to the airwaves and maybe bridge to online using on-air teasers.

As far as my dance music roots, I can’t deny my own identity, I owe a lot to the scene, and it’s part of who I am. There will be that. It’s just that I won’t launch into the 30/40 minutes of minimal German techno.

I want to cast it as sophisticated and cosmopolitan international music. I think I can present dance music as international culture and it will make more sense in the context of ‘Morning Becomes Eclectic.’

You’re quoted in the press release announcing your move to host of MBE, talking about the “hypnotic pulse of the night” vibe for’ Metropolis’ versus the  “optimism of the morning” for ‘Morning Becomes Eclectic.’ Can you elaborate on these metaphors?

I kinda feel like there’s a responsibility to be optimistic, to a certain extent, in the morning. I think a lot of the success of morning radio has to do with listeners in the stereotypical urban zoo; the escapism it offers them. You don’t want to worry about the traffic or the day ahead, it’s just something where people can check out a little bit. I don’t want to bring the darkness, the feel of the night, to that point in people’s days.

Garth Trinidad and ‘Chocolate City’ are going weekly to fill your Metropolis timeslot from 8 – 10; Why did you pick them?

I needed to fill that, and after looking at a few different scenarios, I just felt like Garth really still has some room to grow and something to offer. I think that his program has suffered a little bit after becoming a once a week thing. I think he can be even better-suited playing more often. I think it gives him more time to explore new music and I think he has an appreciation of that challenge.

I’ve always been a fan and we’ve been friends since he first came to the station. Communication is essential to having a better continuity in the station. Sometimes in an organization, there’s too much dysfunction. I needed someone that I could jive with. There’s no doubt that he’s a confident person and he has a voice. You can’t just be looking at it as a paycheck and you have to understand your role as a community servant, and I think he broadens that community for KCRW.

A friend who works at Artist Direct said that music director at KCRW is one of the top five jobs in the world (music nerd or not)z—What do you think about that?

I didn’t fully appreciate the influence of this position until the announcement. My inbox flooded. You’re sort of the commander of this fleet of incoming ships. You gotta navigate and keep track of all of these movements. You’re really trying to connect the dots with the bands that are trying to emerge and make a difference.

I was definitely humbled in the first week with the kind of attention. Not only does it drive home just how strongly that people feel about MBE and the station, but real difference that you can make in the lives of a band. Presenting a show in the LA market. Helping them find a spot to play at a showcase that we’re sponsoring at SxSW or CMJ. All of these little things make a difference for bands trying to get out there. I knew all of this on the periphery, but it’s been interesting and eye-opening to see the type of responsibility that I have.

What is your process for planning out so many sets throughout the course of a week and still keeping it fresh?

One thing I’ve noticed from doing the nighttime slot for so long is that it’s kind of a constant. Imagine you’re kind of refining your sets and your acts all the time. You have this idea of what you’re playing generally. You’re the one listening the closest so you kind of have this overall sense of whether you’re burning stuff out or you need to work something else in, or you have to challenge yourself.

I think it’d be more difficult to do one show a week than doing it consistently because it’s almost like you’re picking up right where you left off for five days. There’s no perfect show, but you’re going to keep working on your skill like a martial art.

“Morning Becomes Eclectic” airs weekdays from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. on 89.9 FM and can also be streamed and podcast at www.kcrw.com. Check out the site’s announcement about Jason’s new job here.

Second grade English teachers wince at texting shorthand’s butchering of the English language, but even the staunchest of linguistic purists recognize the convenience it offers. When it comes to Facebook status messages, however, there is no good excuse for such mangling of the English language.

“_________ is relaxes after a bout of house work.”

See, the default for a Facebook status message is “name is gerund something something.” Chris is walking his dog. Not too complicated. To call the rampant, blatant disregard of the most generic of all verbs irreverent would give these rogue grammarians much too much credit.

“_________ is has a big headache and playing hookie from school tonight.”

What these lazy bastards don’t realize is that by choosing not to double-click and hit delete before offering an inane description of their momentary state of being to the world, they are essentially defining themselves as their inane, momentary state of being.

“_________ is go see slumdog millionaire.”

So that’s what you are, eh? That is your essence, the fiber of your being? Danny Boyle is a great director, but I’ve never been so exuberant about his work as to tell someone “I am go watch Trainspotting!” Unless, of course, he was willing to give me five percent of net box office. (psst, ten percent will get you a forehead tattoo).

For the record, I am the guy that insists on spelling everything out and fully punctuating, whether I am on email, IM, my iPod touch, or my cell phone. That probably makes me more technologically OCD than it makes all of my friends inept when they don’t diagram their Facebook statuses before posting.

But just as the spell-checker has undone much of the meticulous work Dr. Huyler did in ninth grade honors English, this small, seemingly insignificant oversight by thousands on a daily basis serves to degrade our perception of each other as intelligent human beings.

Chris is why does cyberspace make him so grumpy.

The President-elect’s transition to power is a funny time. The outgoing Prez Bush gets some airtime again. Incoming Prez Barack Obama has to remind everyone that he’s not president yet. And you know the election-season media machine is finally running on empty when you see the “Meet the First Grandma” story on Michelle Obama’s mom.

After months and months of Barack Obama chilling in the public’s eye all day and every day, he has suddenly retreated behind closed doors, starving the news cycle of anything substantive to spin. So what’s the next best thing? Speculation, of course!

With that in mind, we present the things that Obama should do immediately after assuming office (in a perfect world, that is):

1. Hang a “Closed for Business” sign at the gates of Gitmo.
2. Not wait 6.5 years to hold a Middle East peace summit.
3. Send a clear message to his own party by ousting Ben Bernanke, Harry Reid, and Nancy Pelosi.
4. Send a clear message to the Republican party by inviting their leadership to the White House (and promptly schooling them in a one-on-five game of b-ball).
5. Send a clear message to his country that fixing the economy in the short-term is priority #1.
6. Send a clear message to the next century of Americans that education is the real long-term fix to the economy by completely overhauling No Child Left Behind.
7. Send Joe the Plumber a plumber’s license with the Presidential seal on it.
8. Make Asia his first stop to pick up some tips on financial collapse in the modern age from Japan, sell off some more of our debt to China, and have a Come to Jesus meeting with the Pakistani and Afghan governments.
9. Call Putin and remind him that oil is below $65 a barrel, then beat him in an online game of Battleship; type “If October is red, then this November was BLACK! LOL ” And then restore relations, or whatever.
10. Invite Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton over for dinner and let them know that their services are no longer needed.

Be careful what you ask for: Barack Obama won the US presidency in convincing fashion, taking 53% of the popular vote and snagging the lion’s share of the electoral college (349 with North Carolina and Missouri still hanging out there, according to CNN). With plenty of “this is breaking down racial barriers” stories already on tap for the immediate news of his win, the media is turning to the “now what?” question. The answer is a resounding “this man has a lot of work to do and an uphill battle to get it done,” despite Democrats having almost total control over both houses of Congress (they just missed the filibuster-proof 60 seat majority in the Senate). What is clear is that Obama has the support of his country and his planet like no one this generation has ever seen.

Bittersweet Victory: Californians (as well as Floridians and Arizon…ians?) elated with the symbolic progress their country made last night by electing the first African-American president had a short honeymoon when they awoke to discover Proposition 8, which writes a ban on gay marriage into the state constitution, passed by a narrow margin. The nation appears to have moved beyond the racism that suppressed Black America just 50 short years ago, but has replaced it with a church-sanctioned form of bigotry. Between the vast financial support of the Mormon Church (you know, the people exiled to their own state because of intolerance) and the supposed “Obama Effect” of socially conservative minority voters showing up in droves for Barack and voting for Prop 8, I think we can all agree that gay is the new black in this country.

Oh yeah, those guys: So what is on tap for the GOP? For starters, the real John McCain finally made an appearance last night during a magnificent concession speech where booing at the mention of Obama’s name epitomized everything wrong with his party. Conservative writers lament Obama’s electoral landslide as a referendum on Republican economic policy, but as Elizabeth Dole would probably tell you, it was more a definitive death-blow to the Atwater/Rovian/Schmidt style of smear tactics and voter-intimidation by fear.

Oh yeah, her: The real enigma of the GOP is Sarah Palin. McCain gave her a full-throated endorsement for 2012 in his speech last night, even though she apologized for costing him votes. But Steve Schmidt equivocated when asked early on Election Day if Palin was to blame for his campaign’s eventual loss. Not exactly the unified front we are used to seeing from a party that had won seven of the past 10 national elections. She tickled the base, but the Moral Majority might be no more and one has to think that Republican strategists are already concocting ways of replacing the requisite pandering to the Religious Right with a broader appeal. Whether or not she studies up in the next four years will determine if she is her party’s savior, or its John Edwards.

And the award for the most shamless election night technological gimmick goes to: CNN. No shocker here, coming from the network with more giant flatscreens than a Cribs marathon. After several teases by a purple-tie-wearing Wolf Blitzer as “something you have never seen on television before,” Jessica Yellin was beamed into the election center as a hologram for conversation with the political reindeer himself. Why have we never seen this on live TV before? Because it’s absolutely f***ing worthless. “Help me Ander-San Cooper, you’re this network’s only hope.”

Award for most interesting, non-racial, non-freak-out at the uphill battle, post-election slant: McClatchy’s story on how Obama plans to utilize his 3 million strong volunteer database as president.

photo of video tag in Arizona by Obama-rama Tour.

Barack Obama’s presidential candidacy has inspired a legion of supporters from the artistic community. From the infamous Will.I.Am “Yes We Can” video to the heavyweights like Wyclef Jean performing in Denver for the DNC to the ubiquitous Shepherd Fairey posters, those with creative bones have rallied behind the Illinois senator and created art inspired by the politician. Artists and fans have used the internet, YouTube videos, or other viral content to spread the word of Barack, pushing stories up the hotlist at Digg and helping articles spread like a California wildfire on Facebook.

But with around 90% of all Facebook users in the United States (roughly 20 of 22 million as of January 2008) on a site that has averaged 250,000 new members a day since the start of 2007 falling into the under 30 and college-educated demo, are all of these stunning endorsements simply preaching to the young, liberal-minded choir?

When we heard about Jared Lovejoy and Lisa Chacón’s “Video Tagging” Obama-rama tour around western battleground states like Nevada and Colorado, we were immediately intrigued by the premise. Get a powerful projector, get in a van, and drive around playing all of this content on the sides of buildings to make sure people are getting a chance to see all that’s out there. Lovejoy’s project was almost like bringing a Twitter feed to life.

“What we love about what we’re doing is that it takes the sense of connection to an ‘idea’ that you have when you watch an MCYogi video on YouTube at home, and extends it to the streets so that it becomes a shared experience with others as well,” Lovejoy said.

But taking it one step further, he speaks of a convergence between digital and earthly analog worlds: “The power of the internet and social technologies like this is that they are being used to mobilize the people’s movement,” he said. “That’s what this was about for us, seeing people connect with each other and with this content which was originally only available virally on the internet. We use every day networking technologies (Facebook, Blogs, twitter, Youtube) to bring people together in 3D and catalyze interactions and motivate people to get involved. Ideas inspire people but ideas alone don’t vote.”

We caught up with Lovejoy via email:

P+P: As you tour across battleground states in the West, what have been your plans logistically to avoid preaching to the choir and making sure this content reaches people who have never seen it before?
JL: We keep it open to a wide cross-section by hitting areas that are mainly about traffic, not demographics. We’ve done our show outside of bars and restaurants, near college campuses, and interesting areas that lend themselves to a surprise encounter with what we are doing. Our “Video Tagging” concept is meant to explore the iconic nature of the HOPE poster created by Shepard Fairey. This poster created by a street artist has captured the spirit of the entire vision of the campaign. So, yes, it is promoting Obama and we are all for that, but equally as important, it represents the hope an entire generation has for the future of this country. Tagging has been the voice of many young people for decades, in many communities it’s the only voice some kids have. It’s a way of claiming space, demanding in the face of crass overly advertised landscapes what WE want to see—that this is everyone’s space. It is about claiming, for a moment, public space and capturing the public’s attention. The Video Tag is a HUGE, non-destructive, ephemeral, yet impactful, statement that everyone “gets” right away. Tagging is like a coded message to whoever has eyes to see and it will evolve but it will never go away. People have been tagging since the dawn of time with drawings, images and icons. Neo-graffiti like this challenges us to explore our concepts of art, public space and awareness. Artists like Jenny Holzer have used light to create thought provoking graffiti to international acclaim. We thought since Shepard is a legendary street artist, using his image to paint the skylines was an appropriate homage not only to Obama and the vision of HOPE, but also to the long history of street art and tagging as a way of reaching out beyond words to other human beings. We have managed to tag every state capitol building we’ve come across and create video tags the size of 20-story buildings that dominate the visual landscape. Even if the tag is only up for a a few minutes, we document it all, so it manages to reach a pretty vast spectrum of people.

P+P: Do you find that your events are leaning more towards Obama-themed gatherings for Obama supporters or that you are drawing crowds that are legitimately on the fence on these states?
JL: Its been pretty random. We find that the crowds are self selecting, Obama supporters love it and tend to stick around. People who are open or on the fence are drawn in by the inspiring vibe. The show is completely positive—we don’t spend any airtime slamming McCain, so its not about “us and them.” It’s just about the issues and all the cool inspiring art being made in support of Obama. A few people might shout “McCain!” as they walk by, or simply resist engaging with us. People are  surprised by the spectacle and often want to know if it’s being paid for by the Obama campaign. When everyone (Obama supporters included) finds out that it’s paid for solely by us and by kind donations from supporters, they are more inspired because of that. That was our hope in taking this on the road indie style—we wanted other people to get creative too, see all the different creative things people are doing and go do their own thing to help.

P+P: What do you make of the overwhelming support for Obama in the American artistic community?
JL: What’s unique in our eyes is that in the midst of what may be the most fear oriented period in decades, people are hungry for vision. Obama inspires people, he’s a mix of Kennedy, MLK and every visionary that has been lost to the world in the recent past. Artists from all over the world are making positive art about Obama. It’s not just American—that’s what is so amazing —this is affecting the entire world. It’s a positive movement, it’s not Anti-Bush or McCain. For instance, there’s one piece that is a montage of art made for the Manifest Hope show in Denver hosted by Shapard Fairey. In that montage there is just a minute or less of some pieces that are Anti-Bush and Anti-McCain/ Palin, and we had our most vocal negative feedback of the entire trip, but it was from two Obama supporters telling us how they thought we shouldn’t stoop to showing anything negative about the other side. They are the ones that gave us the “No Hate in ‘08″ line we use in the blog. What makes Obama’s campaign radical is that it is boldly positive, intelligently optimistic, and takes the high road. People want that right now because they are actually sick of the cynicism and fear that’s been jamming the airwaves since 9/11.

P+P: Do you think that this support has been successful before you started the tour?
JL: Absolutely, the Will I Am video inspired millions of people, that speech will go down in history, and he was a genius to make it into a song. We felt we were simply responding to a wave of incredible work being done by artists, our artistic contribution is Cultural Engineering, taking it to the streets, catalyzing spontaneous connections between real people in real time.

P+P: How has the tour enhanced its success?
JL: In this election every VOTE counts, literally. We hope we’ve inspired a few people to vote and to get involved. I think we’re doing that.

P+P: Have you been contacted by any of the artists whose work you are displaying?
JL: Yes, we have. We are doing a performance with MC Yogi at an election night event we recently got invited to in Mountain View, CA. We met him through mutual friends in our initial call to artists for content. We’ve had a few things sent to us and everyone that is aware of our efforts seems very thrilled and grateful.

P+P: The Obama campaign?
JL: I was trained as a Deputy Field Organizer by the Obama campaign and it was that training that got me inspired because they wanted us to get out there and do something, anything to get people inspired and make genuine connections. I’d never heard a political group talk that way before and I’ve done events for Clinton several times in the past. So NO we are not affiliated in the way of being funded by the campaign but we are definitely in alignment. We stop at Obama campaign offices and do shows for volunteers whenever we can, too. There are thousands of volunteers working all throughout the swing states right now, so we’ve had a good time “inspiring the base” as well.

P+P: What did they say?
JL: Our best nod of appreciation was being asked a week into our tour to come play for the Mountain View/Bay Area election night party. We hooked them up with MC Yogi as well, thought it would make a killer show.

P+P: Do people outside of the 18-29 demographic who are attending your events “get” the content?
JL: The message of is trans-generational. It’s about a psycho graphic not a demographic, so yes there are people of all ages that get it for sure. Thats one of our favorite things about this tour, there is such a wide diversity of material so we can shift the playlist to rock the kids with hip hop, funk or dance music, or make it more mellow for different audiences. We have an all-Spanish playlist that we showed in Denver outside of a Latin night at a night club and entertained the crowds waiting to get in. The Will.i.am video almost always brings people to tears, regardless of age, almost every time we play it. (It still brings us to tears every time!)

P+P: Have you encountered any heated opposition from McCain supporters who happen upon your events?
JL: Last night in Albuquerque was the most heated opposition we’ve encountered, but it was just some loud comments on one guy’s part mostly to be heard over the music. When he realized it wasn’t resonating enough with anyone around him, and that he couldn’t instigate any kind of interruption, he just walked off.

P+P: Had they already seen the content, or was that their first time?
JL: He seemed unaware of the content, but was clearly annoyed at its popularity. The more people had fun the more he seemed pissed. It was funny to watch, he hung out for a while before complaining and when he did he was surprisingly childish about it.

P+P: Any interference from local authorities?
JL: We’ve been asked to either leave or turn down the volume on the sound system by police and security in response to noise complaints. There are laws about amplified sound, so it’s hard to tell if it’s politically motivated. The cops are usually pretty cool, and we just move to the next location. The weirdest incident was when a guy in a black suit showed up on the roof of a parking garage in Reno saying quickly that he was an Obama “delegate” and warning us that security guards from Fitzgerald’s Casino were on the way. We were pretty much done, so we left without ever seeing these guards.

P+P: Do you think it was at all politically motivated?
JL: Hard to say, possibly in the case of the man with the black suit, and a security guard last night that we talk about in the blog. For the most part its been surprisingly mellow on that front.

P+P: What is your general sense for each of the states you have visited and how they are going to lean on election day?
JL: Nevada—turning Obama. People seemed very positive in Reno, thousands of volunteers, very successful early voting campaign, lots of great feedback on our shows. Utah—very positive feedback, Obama folks say the country will be surprised with the Democratic turn out, lots of Republicans voting for Obama. Supposed to be a lot closer than people expect. Colorado—Denver had that massive rally. Everyone feels strongly that Obama is taking CO, the early vote network there has been very successful as well. New Mexico—45K showed up for Obama and 1500 showed up for McCain, ‘nough said.

Terry Tate, the Office Linebacker, is back. And not a minute too soon…

Now if only we could get this guy in schools.

As has been par for the course this election cycle, with the most striking and relevant criticisms of the candidates coming from the likes of The View, David Letterman, and the SNL writers, the most scientific poll by a longshot is being conducted at your local 7-11.

That’s right, the neighborhood bastion of democracy. A place where all people from all walks of life inevitably see the three day old corn dogs slowly rotating their way to a dried-out death in one of the 7,500 national locations at least once throughout the course of a week.

Many of those people buy a cup of coffee (I’m going on the record, 7-11 has effing fantastic coffee). For the past few elections, 7-11 has stumbled on the genius idea of having a cup for the Democratic candidate, and one for the Republican candidate available at all of their coffee bars.

Gallup polls and the like have been criticized for small sample sizes, excluding people who only use cell phones, and general unreliability due to phenomenons such as the Bradley Effect.

The coffee cup methodology, on the other hand, removes all of those barriers (assuming someone too timid to tell a poller they don’t like Obama would be less concerned with a store clerk’s opinion). The cups called the 2004 election within less than 1 point, and actually called 2000 for Bush by about 2.5 points.

So who’s up now? It’s Obama by 18 points nationally (59-41), with Obama taking Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Missouri, Colorado, Nevada, Utah, Indiana and Virginia all by margins far wider than in anything you’ll see on RCP or FiveThirtyEight (most are in the 20 point neighborhood).  Interestingly, the Democrat is only enjoying a six point lead in New York.

Beaned: the final dagger for McCain in the coffee war? Obama takes Arizona by six points.  Ouch.

I’m pretty sure the debates would be a whole hell of a lot more interesting if the candidates did Extreme Activities Competitions instead of putting East Coasters playing the “My Friends” drinking game into a drunken stupor.

As the McCain campaign renews attacks from the primary season regarding Barack Obama’s associations with William Ayers and Rev. Jeremiah Wright, it is worth pointing out that this is coming from a man who promised to run a clean campaign. McCain even went so far as to call Rev. Wright a moot issue (see above interview clip with Sean Hannity).

Granted, it is Sarah Palin’s role to be the attack dog, but the diversionary tactic is all the same.

With the Dems winning the two debates thus far (according to polls), a Republican-led economic crisis, and a widening gap in crucial battleground states—capped by the Republicans’ stunning pullout from Michigan, the GOP has little recourse but to desperately shift the conversation to the least substantive of topics.

Steve Schmidt may have gotten Ahnuld, Alito, John Roberts, and G-Dub (part deux) through the grinder unscathed, but when the economy is being dragged through the gutter by excessive deregulation that has defined Republican platforms for at least two decades, the guilt-by-association smear tactics may prove too superficial to distract voters from their financial woes.

I’ll freely admit that I don’t have a hint of blue in my collar. You’d have to go back to Grandpa Nelson before you could find someone in my lineage who has any legitimate claim to really understanding the mentality of labor forces such as steel workers. But I’d say there’s a tendency among good old liberal elites like myself to assume that labor workers would lean Republican based on that nebulous “small-town” ideology that the McCain-Palin put front and center in their campaign.

AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka proves my ignorance and chastises that of many other Americans in a rousing speech to his constituents. It’s nothing earth-shattering, but he definitely lays it out in starker terms than most high-level officials would, indicting anyone holding back on supporting Obama because of his skin color.

If nothing else, it’s gripping to see a white man take all of the bullshit excuses out there and clump them under the racism moniker.

The first debate is in the can and apparently, I got it all wrong.

The most compelling portion of the event came before it even began, when a haggard John McCain crawled back in front of the press, tail between legs, and said he would come out and play after all, his bluff called by the suddenly granite-infused Sen. Barack Obama.

But as I watched the debate itself, I kept having flashbacks to the final Bush/Kerry debate of 2004.  John Kerry, a very capable, if somewhat over-nuanced, debater was overwhelmed by an inexplicably articulate George W. Bush. G-Dub’s performance was an extended dead-ringer for Will Ferrell’s miraculous turn in  Old School’s quiz show finale featuring  James Carville.

Sen. John McCain also channeled a bit of Will Ferrell when speaking on the economy, avoiding any clumsy missteps while playing to America’s anger at the staggering “greed” and “corruption” in Washington and on Wall St. that led us to this precipice.

Obama, by comparison, seemed content to wallow in the details of his plan, sacrificing emotional appeal for gravity and intellectualism.

By the time the debate switched to foreign policy and McCain shifted into attack mode, I got very uncomfortable on behalf of the Democratic candidate. As the Illinois senator deflected attack after attack, looking like Luke Skywalker in The Empire Strikes Back when Vader pounded him with inanimate objects, Obama still found a few windows to insert a “good point, Johnny Mac!”

Was this the seasoned veteran of a grueling 18-month campaign process, who Democrats hoped would come out swinging? Was this the same guy who was torn to shreds in St. Paul by Skeletor Thompson, Rudy Poot, and a Tina Fey lookalike, and who his own base subsequently reamed him for being too nice?

I saw visions of countless people in their living rooms, connecting with Everyman McCain just as they did with Bush, watching in awe as McCain repeatedly put Obama, the uppity Hawaiian equivocator with the funny name, in his place.

For the countless many who either choose not to or do not have time to follow the nitty gritty of each issue, the offense/defense ratio is king in choosing the right man for the job. Anytime you can make your opponent sound like a little boy talking out of turn, you score Presidential Points. It’s the age old high school conundrum: the douchebag with a mean-streak always gets the girl.

McCain clearly hoped to establish his dynamic going into the debate. Obama did an admirable job of parrying the barbs and clarifying the distortion of fact where he could. McCain’s strategy, however, is similar to a lawyer blurting something out that will influence the jury, knowing full-well that the judge will ask that it be stricken from the record. As soon as Obama was forced to justify his positions, the damage had been done.

Incredibly, CNN’s brilliantly conceived “impulse monitor”  did not tip me off that the polls would fail to bear out my pessimism.

CNN’s own poll had Obama winning by a margin of 51-38. Drilling down, Obama was “more in touch with the needs of people like you” by a two to one margin in the same poll. A CBS poll indicated that on the issue of “understanding your needs and problems,” Obama catapulted from a +18 to a +56 advantage. Even on Fox News, their test group of 27 undecided voters split 17 to ten in favor of Obama.

Why the perception gap?

For some odd reason, I think Obama supporters are the last to call it for their man. With two elections of being beaten into submission by Rovian campaign tactics, McCain’s acrimony triggered a Pavlovian fear of defeat.

The economy is also the one issue that makes people sit up and pay attention. While McCain was uncharacteristically competent on one of his notoriously weaker issues, he choked on specifics. His call for a blanket spending freeze, for example, seemed impetuous and was appropriately criticized by Obama.

McCain’s ambiguous promises to “clean up Washington” seemed pointedly hollow in a climate where people are looking for reassurance that their $700 billion will not be spent recklessly.

If someone was looking for a presidential demeanor peppered with a depth of knowledge and compassion for the middle class, apparently, Obama hit the nail on the head.

They could have just gone to www.voteforthemilf.com and found out who the real lowlifes are and exposed them as undeniably chauvinistic pigs.

See for yourself.

UPDATE: Prank or not, the link has now been change to redirect people (even first time clickers) to Google.  Party’s over.

Source (and home to plenty of evidence): GovGap.com

In Wednesday’s Salon.com re-publication of a Sept. 13th article by Dutch writer Margriet Oostveen, the details of her role as a “letters to the editor” ghost-writer for the McCain campaign are laid out in disturbing clarity. Oostveen offers up some evidence in support of her claim, including an email exchange with someone apparently in the McCain campaign, and a sample editorial she was given as a guideline.

“The assignment is simple: We are going to write letters to the editor and we are allowed to make up whatever we want — as long as it adds to the campaign,” she writes.

This plays into a larger trend that we’re noticing here at P+P, and will be addressing in a series of upcoming posts: the McCain campaign is startlingly adept at bending the will of the mainstream media. This is not a new concept in a post-Rovian world, but with the advent of You(tube)biquity and the ways in which MSM bits filter to the extremes of net-dom, the strategy has gained a new degree of potency. Despite claiming to be on the defensive, the Republicans are forcing their agenda across all mediums.

Whether it’s rigging editorial letters to papers in battleground states, stepping on Obama’s post-convention bounce with the Friday morning Palin pick, reigniting the culture wars with the “liberal media,” blockading their VP choice from all media scrutiny outside of hand-picked interviews, or the power-play behind the debate-cancellation plea, the McCain campaign knows how to flex its muscle.

With so much competition in the 24-hour news cycle, networks have no choice but to kowtow in hopes they will get an exclusive ratings boon that can be teased ad-nauseam for a week prior (see ABC’s Palin interview blitz). Step out of line, as CNN did with Tucker Bounds, and you get a Larry King Live appearance canceled as punishment.

On the paper side, with staff budgets being what they are, there is no time to vet letters supposedly sent from well-meaning citizens of the community. Just as the Bush Administration took advantage of the need for “military experts” in the tenuous initial phase of the Iraq War as a means of advancing their agenda, the Republican strategists are subverting the midsize newspaper as a community voice by planting signed letters laced with talking points.

Where does this leave us? With the likes of David Letterman, Jon Stewart, SNL, and Barbara Walters to do the dirty work, expose hypocrisy, and ask the tough questions. It’s strange to witness traditional media being relegated more and more to the role of conduit, with fringe elements filling the shoes of Edward R. Murrow, and even, Tim Russert.

It has become all about taking control of the “media narrative.” That is, being the one fueling the echo chamber fodder, and leaving the other guy to react. Take McCain’s request to cancel the debate: In the face of economic meltdown that can be tied to the Republican party in no less than 17 ways, McCain’s people seize control of the dialogue by requesting to “set aside partisan politics” to address the crisis. If Obama had conceded, he would have been following the leader. If Obama had said the show must go on (which he did), he would be callous in the face of the need for bipartisanship.

(It worked with Ike, but this time it seems to have backfired.)

Full circle: The ghost-writing ploy reflects a “leave no stone unturned” philosophy. Not only is attention paid to gaining traction in cable news airwaves, but in the blogosphere and, as evidenced by Oosotveen’s article, even the print industry. The editorial sections of mid-sized and small Midwest towns are still the blogs of Midwest battleground states in many ways, and with even the tiniest of papers posting content to the web, the dissemination is just as likely as with a piece on Townhall.com.

It’s a cynical approach to grassroots organization that would make even the most jaded community organizer appreciate the mechanical efficiency of it all.