Guilt by Association

Dina reminded me about the questions about Andrew McCain, Cindy's son, and his role as director of the Silver State Bank, which Federal regulators shut down earlier this year. I thought it had been a bigger story, but since a few people have told me now they don't know anything about it, I duly include it here. "Andrew K. McCain, a son of Republican presidential nominee John McCain, sat on the boards of Silver State Bank and of its parent, Silver State Bancorp, starting in February but resigned in July citing "personal reasons," corporate filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission show. Andrew McCain also was a member of the bank's audit committee, responsible for oversight of the company's accounting. Regulators on Friday shut down Silver State Bank, saying the Nevada bank failed because of losses on soured loans, mainly in commercial real estate and land development." Not that anyone will investigate or anything.

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The poll analyst Nate Silver at FiveThirtyEight.com is now showing a win percentage for Obama over 90% of the time. 538 runs 10,000 election simulations each day of how the election might go based on the probabilities, and in 90% of the scenarios, Obama wins.

Oh, it looks crazy cool. I love it. But in a way it's not surprising. Remember, folks, Obama used to lecture on Voting Rights and Election Law at the University of Chicago. I think if any candidate has carefully assessed how to build a successful campaign, how to assemble a solid base of electoral votes, it's the relentlessly practical Obama. A former student of his notes that, "Obama reminded me that whatever my beliefs were, I'd have to find a way to implement them in the real world if I wanted to make change happen."

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Also don't forget to check Project Vote, which lists the names and addresses of purged voters in Colorado, Florida, Indiana, Missouri, Nevada, New Mexico, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Texas (so far). If you live in one of these states, check the list TODAY to see if you have been purged and also check for friends, relatives, and neighbors." If you find yourself or someone you know on one of these lists, they may be able to protest being removed from the rolls.

In the NY Times yesterday, there was a piece that noted that these purges may be illegal! "The six swing states seem to be in violation of federal law in two ways. Michigan and Colorado are removing voters from the rolls within 90 days of a federal election, which is not allowed except when voters die, notify the authorities that they have moved out of state, or have been declared unfit to vote.Indiana, Nevada, North Carolina and Ohio seem to be improperly using Social Security data to verify registration applications for new voters. In addition to the six swing states, three more states appear to be violating federal law. Alabama and Georgia seem to be improperly using Social Security information to screen registration applications from new voters. And Louisiana appears to have removed thousands of voters after the federal deadline for taking such action."

My own humble opinion is this: while I'm thrilled that there may be a legal challenge to the purging, CHECK TO MAKE SURE YOU'RE NOT REMOVED ANYWAY. NOW. JUST IN CASE. Maybe it will be ruled illegal, but maybe that won't happen until November 5, y'know what I'm saying?