are over, people are going into Rove-watch mode. When and where will the October surprise come from? Who’s going to be in on the whisper campaign? How many Democrat registration forms are going to be destroyed? How many people impersonating FBI Agents are going to try to scare African-American voters on The Day?

the level to which US Republican support has sunk, one only has to follow the Sinclair Broadcasting affair. The NYTimes has the basic story: Talking Points Memo (the link goes to one entry, but scroll down to read lots more, including a letter to Marshall from Reed Hundt, former chair of the FCC).

Yet again Kevin Moreno has the next-day analysis of political spectacles down pat, hitting the highs and lows with his own brand of wry humour.

debate as I did? Kerry sends his voice down to the bottom registers and clearly explains his opinions and his plan. Bush launches into an unintentially dada performance art piece that basically hinges on one phrase: “What kind of message does that send to…” [insert group here]? And the pundits all say it was a wash. It was true then and it’s true now, “How [is he] losing to this guy?”