COLORADO SPRINGS, Colorado - Heading east on a windy Interstate 70, we've entered the Great
Plains of Kansas, leaving the behind the Rocky mountains, where our
visit to Colorado Springs gave us the opportunity to attend one of the
now-famous Sarah Palin rallies. Colorado Springs is definitely what
Palin would describe as one of the "pro-America areas of the nation,"
home to some of its most powerful conservative evangelical
institutions.
NEW GLOUCESTER, Maine - Robert Horr insists that his political sign is just intended to provoke debate about the presidential candidates' backgrounds and their qualifications to lead the military.
Paul Proudian, who stopped by to see it for himself this week, views the sign very differently: as a deceitful attempt to mischaracterize the Democratic candidate.
Proudian says the sign appeals to the worst in people's fears, with ethnic and religious overtones, and tries to show Republican John McCain as "more American" than Barack Obama.
Saying early voting cost too much money with rules that weren't uniform, Republican legislators led a charge three years ago to set new statewide standards limiting the number of polling sites and their hours of operation.
Those revamped rules trimmed early voting from 12 hours per workday to eight.
This year the Republicans are rolling out
one of their oldest and most misleading charges: that Democrats and their
supporters are planning to flood the polls with illegal voters. Although the
GOP first raised a hue and cry against Democratic voter fraud more than 40
years ago they have failed to turn up any credible evidence to support their
allegations. The purpose of such charges has been to discredit their Democratic
opponents and discourage minorities and poor people from voting.
This a pivotal presidential election that finds America mired in two wars abroad, floundering through an economic crisis and digging itself deeper into debt every day, all during a time when global credibility is at an all-time low.
John McCain paid $175,000 of campaign money to a Republican operative accused of massive voter registration fraud in several states, it has emerged.
As the McCain camp attempts to tie Barack Obama to claims of registration irregularities by the activist group ACORN, campaign finance records detailing the payment to the firm of Nathan Sproul, investigated several times for fraud, threatens to derail that argument.
At this point, many journalists are speculating about the number of congressional seats that Republicans will lose on Election Day. But a boost in the size of the Democratic majority might not count for much if a blue wave simply makes it possible for conservative and centrist "blue dogs" to end up doggie-paddling into the House.
TOLEDO, Ohio -
With John McCain and Barack Obama
already swapping accusations of widespread voter fraud, experts warn
that a bitter and protracted fight could ensue if the race to the White House is decided by a narrow margin.
The legal battle over election rules has already made it all the way to the Supreme Court
as Republicans fight to block potentially false registrations from
being validated and Democrats struggle to prevent voter
disenfranchisement.
