Seeing that the lines on election day are going to be horrendous, I went to San Francisco City Hall and voted early today. I have to say, I was feeling pretty pumped to go in and vote for Obama after two years of supporting him.

But as I went into City Hall, I was kind of taken aback. This was not an uncommon scene today:

Lots and lots of same-sex couples were getting married today -- many more than you usually see at City Hall -- and it quickly hit me why. They were all rushing to get married before election day in the event that Proposition 8 passes, thereby restricting their right to marry afterward. Indeed, a quick Google News search shows that city halls around the state are prolonging hours to allow as many couples as possible to tie the knot before Nov. 4th.

It was really saddening. All these couples were tepidly enjoying their newly recognized rights because people downstairs were deciding whether or not to take them away.

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I just saw this banner ad over at Real Clear Politics:

I of course sent it to Fail Blog, but I thought I'd post it in case they don't.

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I just wrote a script that takes random pictures from my gallery, formats them as though they're printed photos, and makes my blog logo out of them. The logo updates every ten minutes with new pictures:

Pretty awesome compared to the normal programs I write that just tear through large amounts of data.

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For those who read Get Your War On, the series just went animated.

Here's the promo:

The first episode:

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Forward Thinking Friends,

If you've been paying attention to the presidential race in the past 48 hours or so, you've surely noticed a marked change in how John McCain is running his campaign. Instead of campaigning on the issues and policy, McCain and the Republicans are trying to make this election an up-or-down vote on Obama and portray him in the most negative light while doing so.

It started yesterday with a television ad by McCain that compares Obama to Britney Spears and Paris Hilton. To back the campaign up, the Republican talking point machine was on TV throughout the country repeating the campaign's shameful message. Today, the McCain campaign injected race into the discourse for no real reason other than to stir up racial fears of some voters.

So much for being a maverick -- this is page three of Karl Rove's playbook.

I don't think I need to convince any of you that Obama policies will be great for America, but to beat back this utter filth, the Obama campaign needs resources. I'm once again making a modest online contribution, and I hope you can, too. If everybody receiving this email donates $30 and gets five friends to do the same, it puts us nearly $30,000 closer to putting this deplorable Republican nonsense to rest.

Donate Here

I've set up a page to track how much we and our friends give with a goal of reaching $30,000. Please forward this fundraising link around to help make an Obama presidency a reality.

Thanks,
Ryan

http://my.barackobama.com/page/outreach/view/main/rhughes

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I've been thinking off and on about who would be the best VP for Obama to pick. At first, my money was on Ohio Governor Ted Strickland to seriously bring in Ohio's electoral math, but he wasn't interested. Then I very begrudgingly thought Virginia Senator Jim Webb might be the best pick, bringing in VA electoral math, military expertise, and a maverick reputation (despite his craziness). But then he too expressed zero interest.

And now lately, Virginia Governor Tim Kaine's name has been thrown around -- and he is very clearly the best candidate out there. He's consistently popular in Virginia, which unequivocally puts it in play, more than it already is. On top of that, Tim Kaine's approach to governance mirrors Obama's promise to break partisan bickering in DC. Tim Kaine is also just a good guy. When Tim Kaine was small-time, I didn't know a single person in UDems who didn't like him.

In other words, all upside and no downside. You might say he's not well known outside of Virginia, but I don't think that's necessarily a bad thing or even relevant to a VP candidate.

Anyway, here's the parade of other contenders that makes me gag a bit:

Evan Bayh, Governor of Indiana: Let's be honest. We aren't going to carry Indiana, no matter what the polls are saying right now. Despite his closeness to Hillary Clinton, selecting him is also not going to mollify the small contingent of her supporters that are still angry about the primary.

Joseph Biden, Senator from Delaware: Buffoon.

Wesley Clark, Retired General and Former NATO Commander: Wes Clark is actually my second choice if Kaine doesn't get the VP nod. He has a lot of upside with his military experience. But his stage presence is less than great, trust me.

Hillary Clinton, Senator from New York: Some say she'd bring money and her holdout supporters. However, Obama can raise money without her, as he raised $52 million last month alone. And furthermore, her supporters will come home by November, unless we're talking about the racist ones, of course. Even if she does bring something to the ticket that is of value, she also brings Bill Clinton back to wander the White House. And she's hugely divisive to the general electorate. We're not in the primary anymore, folks.

John Edwards, Former Senator from North Carolina: I'm sorry, I like the guy, but he's done after so many strikeouts. He doesn't really do much for the ticket at this point, either.

Chuck Hagel, Republican Senator from Nebraska: I'm not too cold on this one, but I don't think he'd ever accept the nomination. We'd lose a swing vote in the Senate if he were VP, anyway.

Sam Nunn, Former Senator from Georgia: Dude might put Georgia into more play than it is now, but he's kinda nutty. Nobody cares about his foreign policy experience from serving on a Senate Committee.

Edward G. Rendell, Governor of Pennsylvania: Crazy and a loose cannon.

Bill Richardson, Governor of New Mexico: Meh.

Kathleen Sebelius, Governor of Kansas: I actually like her, but talking heads say Hillary supporters would flip out about Obama picking another woman over Hillary. I don't exactly see why picking another woman over Hillary is different than picking a man over Hillary. How is a woman somehow worse? Maybe it's just nonsense punditry. Anyway, it would be kind of a shame, because Sebelius isn't a bad choice. But, Kansas is also not in play at all.

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