Greg Sargent continues reading the Rove tea leaves:

It looks like it may be time for pundits to drop the Karl Rove-is-supremely-confident-about-winning storyline -- because it's now pretty clear that Rove, for all his outward expressions of confidence, has also begun to lay the groundwork to spin his way out of blame and preserve his reputation should the GOP get shellacked next Tuesday.

Rove's emerging spin appears to be this: If the GOP loses, it's the candidates' fault, not mine.

Check out this passage at the end of today's Washington Post piece on Rove:

Associates say Rove is privately frustrated that individual candidates have not been more aggressive in drawing contrasts with Democrats on national security. In Buffalo, Rove dished out red meat with relish...

Collectively, the group could tilt the balance of power within the party, which has been struggling to define itself in recent elections.

Sounds ominous. Except:

The candidates cover the spectrum on political issues; some are fiscally conservative and moderate or liberal on social issues, some are the reverse. They could influence negotiations with Republicans on a variety of issues, including Social Security and stem cell research.

Sounds like a Big Tent group to me. And a bunch of DLC type nonsense from the NYTimes.

This:

Rove is giving a virtuoso performance designed to prevent the Democrats from taking control of the House and Senate or, if that is no longer possible, to hold down the size of the Democratic victory to make it easier for the GOP to come back in 2008.

If Rove is spinning that he is still a genius even if the GOP loses both houses of Congress, then the Republicans must really be in trouble.

At mydd, David Sirota notes:

Sen. Joe Lieberman says the likelihood that he would take a leadership role if the Democrats take control of the Senate on Nov. 7 is helping him in his race against the endorsed Democrat in Connecticut.

David blasts the Dem leadership for this result. I don't agree. If the Dems need Joe for 51, then they have to take him of course, seniority and all. Actually I was struck much more by this:

"There's no question it's better to have seniority in a majority than seniority in a minority," Lieberman said.

What is Lieberman saying? I think it is clear. If the Senate is divided 50-50, or if the GOP retains a majority, he will caucus with the Republicans. What do Conecticut voters make of that? Is that a plus or minus? Do Dem voters in Connecticut relish the idea of Lieberman caucusing with the GOP?

A good ad from Lamont

George Allen and his campaign hit men this week chose to again attack Jim Webb and his military experiences, this time by taking passages from Webb's novels to try to suggest that the explicit war time experiences Webb writes about are demeaning and repugnant.

I like the fighting instinct but I think Jarding and Saunders miss the negative branding opportunity. James Carville does not:

[B]ook burning is not the greatest tactic in American politics in 2006. And I think it's going to draw attention to the fact that Webb is one of the most decorated veterans of the Vietnam War, and Allen sat it out.

. . . Webb has got some pretty good answers. I'm saying to the Webb people, get out in front of this. Go take every interview you can. Challenge Allen to debate your record. Challenge to debate whether or not literature should be censored. Say: You know what? When I do vote on a Supreme Court justice, I'm going vote on somebody that allows people to write about the horrors of war, without the fear of -- of censorship.

You got to give this National Review guy the chutzpah award:

Stop it Chris Matthews. You and people who share your weird, racial paranoia are poisoning the national debate and hurting the country.

Hahahahaha. The Rich Lowry Loves Race Baiting Magazine can actually print that. Hilarious.

Of course, Sheryl Gaye Stolberg is too lousy a reporter to notice but President Bush ripped the NJ Court for agreeing with him on gay unions:

Yesterday in New Jersey, we had another activist court issue a ruling that raises doubts about the institution of marriage,” Mr. Bush said at a luncheon at the Iowa State Fairgrounds that raised $400,000 for Mr. Lamberti.

Except the NJ court adopted the view Bush espoused in 2004:

President Bush said in an interview this past weekend that he disagreed with the Republican Party platform opposing civil unions of same-sex couples and that the matter should be left up to the states."

The Paranoid Style and the Politics of Hate remain the GOP staple, Bush's prior statements notwithstanding. Despicable.

Barack speaks:

Ned Lamont has waged an impressive grassroots campaign to give the people of Connecticut a choice in the November Senate election. He has a vision for his state and country, and his campaign has been about presenting that vision to Connecticut voters.

Ned Lamont and I share a commitment to bringing our troops home safely from Iraq, to achieving energy independence, to helping all our citizens realize the American dream, and to empowering the American people to reclaim their government. Ned Lamont’s campaign is about delivering on these goals in Washington.

The November 7th election is right around the corner. Please join me in supporting Ned Lamont with your hard work on-the-ground in these closing weeks of the campaign.

For those of you near Denver, forget the snow and come on out tonight:

Amendment 44 would legalize adult possession of up to one ounce of marijuana. I will be a panelist at an event hosted by NORML Board Member and former Washington State Senator George Rohrbacher (DU, ‘70). It is free and open to the public. Here are the details:

Thursday, October 26
7 p.m. - 9 p.m. — “Marijuana: The Unnecessary War”

University of Denver - Boettcher Hall - 2050 E. Iliff Avenue, Denver

A new Zogby-Reuters poll finds that 44% of voters are more likely to support Democratic candidates in House races in November. Only 33% were likely to support Republican candidates.

On the issues:

Asked to rank which party they thought was better suited to handle 13 pressing issues facing the country, likely voters favored Democrats on nine of them, the Reuters/Zogby poll shows.

As to where we are headed:

As kos says, it is hard to get excited about Harold Ford's candidacy for Tennessee Senate when he talks like this:

"I do not support the decision today reached by the New Jersey Supreme Court regarding gay marriage. I oppose gay marriage, and have voted twice in Congress to amend the United States Constitution to prohibit same-sex marriage. This November there's a referendum on the Tennessee ballot to ban same-sex marriage - I am voting for it."

Ford deliberately lies about the New Jersey decision to enable him to bash gays. I call this the Politics of Hate. It is despicable when practiced against Ford by Corker. It is despicable when Ford is the perpetrator. I think he is going to lose in Tennessee, mostly because he is black. But, like Markos, my tears will be few when it happens.