As the Slog pointed out yesterday, giant baseball nerd (God bless those of us that are left) Nate Silver uses some sort of math (snore) to project what he claims is non-biased polling data. Recently on the Colbert Report, he was asked to compare the candidates to baseball teams. He called Barack Obama the Tampa Bay Rays, not because of their all-secret Muslim infield, rather, because of his status as an up-and-coming power house.......

Washington State voters have been polled up the wazoo by SurveyUSA after each debate this campaign season. And while they turned in a win (within the margin of error) for McCain in the first Presidential debate, and a split decision (later amended to a slight win for Biden) in the Vice Presidential debate, this time around, the Washington State sample polled clearly thought that Obama won the second presidential debate. Immediately following last night’s......

DRINKING GAMES: It's too predictable at this point to use the word "maverick" for your drinking game. Considering McCain's newly announced strategy of character smears and trying to make the country hate their savior, we would suggest going into tonight's debate with a list of drinking game terms that includes "Ayers," "palling around," "that's not true, John." Just a thought. Oh, did we bury the lead? The second presidential debate is happening tonight at Washington......

SurveyUSA, who also conducted a poll of Washington State voters after the first Presidential debate, just released their results from last night's Vice Presidential debate: Immediately following last night’s debate between Republican Sarah Palin and Democrat Joe Biden, SurveyUSA interviewed 1,100 state of Washington adults, of whom 806 watched the debate. Of debate watchers: 42% say Palin was the clear winner. 39% say Biden was the clear winner. 18% say there was no clear......

There are five weeks until Election Day, and five issues in our state's gubernatorial race (six if you count Eastern Washington's concerns). Each week we'll be taking an award-winning look at where the candidates stand. We are a week behind, so it’s time for a double-shot-rock-block-Friday. Transportation Gregoire: I’ll get to it, geez, what’s the rush? Rossi: I’m gonna build roads, roads, nothing but roads. Healthcare: Gregoire: Rossi wants each patient to choose between a......

Since no one reads the Weekly's blogs, we figured the post where Chris Kornelis pulls for Sarah Palin in tonight's debate might have passed under the radar. Let's skip the overt retardulousness--Kornelis likes Palin because he graduated from one of the five colleges she went to--and focus on the more glaring bit of idiocy in the piece. Kornelis comes out: as an undecided voter. Dear God, man, undecided?!? Declaring that you're "undecided" at this......

">Throughout the campaign we have been gathering the top political writers in the country, and asking them to discuss the presidential race. Today they discuss the Republican ticket and look at tonight's vice-presidential debate. Seattlest: You’ve all spent time with the McCain campaign since the convention, what are your thoughts on the Republican ticket? Ryan (The Washington Post): My thoughts are irrelevant. Only The Lord Jesus Christ matters. And Obama is a Muslim. Case closed.......

The deadline for registering to vote in Washington State is this Saturday, October 4th. We know all of our readers are well-informed, politically savvy, perpetually active voters, but you still might want to make sure your voting status is up-to-date. If you don't mind using a partisan website, Obama-affiliated VoteForChange is a super-easy tool to verify and update your registration status and address of record. The other options are the Washington Secretary of State's MyVote......

"polite society" by Seattlest Flickr pool contributor gaijinrunner According to SurveyUSA (actually one of the best pollsters in the business), Washington voters thought John McCain performed better in last night's first Presidential debate. Immediately following tonight's debate between Republican John McCain and Democrat Barack Obama, SurveyUSA interviewed 1,000 state of Washington adults, of whom 631 watched tonight's debate. Of all debate watchers: 40% say McCain was the clear winner. 38% say Obama was the clear......

Kim is relieved the debate is actually going to happen. She'll be watching with friends tonight before working all weekend. Saturday, she'll take a break for a quiet night out, and then she'll close the weekend off getting funky in the balcony of Jazz Alley with Maceo. You can take the boy off the farm, but...MvB will be spending Saturday in a barn, hauling away old equipment, so Sunday he'll be recovering at Top Pot,......

In a completely unsurprising move, Seattle Times has endorsed Obama for President. The paper's thoughtful endorsement cites the Iraq war and the three Es of Necessity (economy, energy, education), claiming also that Obama's youth and relative inexperience pales compared to his strengths: "We need the leader of the free world to think things through, carefully. We have seen the sorry results of shooting from the hip...On numerous other issues, from media consolidation to health care,......

The thing that can make improv comedy so fun is that you never know what you're going to get, and neither do the artists performing in the show. There was enough funny in Election Show that we're willing to imagine that some nights are far better than others. Clearly these folks are good at what they do—they never committed the cardinal sin of breaking character, among other things—but, when all was said and done,......

Sarah Palin and her husband Tom are members of a Seahawks fan club up in Alaska. Seth Kolloen at Sports Northwest confirmed it with the president of that club earlier today: I spoke to Tom Spindler, President of the Mat-Su (Matanuska and Susitna Valleys) Seahawkers. “She joined about two or three years ago,” Tom told me. “Her husband Todd is the one who enrolled them.” Tom told me that, in addition to gathering for Seahawks......

There are 10 weeks until Election Day, and 10 issues in our state's gubernatorial race (11 if you count Eastern Washington's concerns). Each week we'll be taking an award-winning look at where the candidates stand. We are about to take off on vacation, and, well, we wanna get out of here. So this is going to happen lightning-round style. Abortion: Rossi: Anti. Gregoire: Pro. Taxes: Gregoire: For the rich only. Rossi: None at all, ever.......

Throughout the campaign we have been gathering the top political writers in the country, and asking them to discuss the presidential race. Today they discuss the Democratic National Convention. Seattlest: Thank you for taking some time off in Denver to speak with us. What are your impressions of the convention so far? Tom (The Wall Street Journal): First off, there's an EDWARD Kennedy? Where has this asshole been hiding?! Mark (CBS News): I had the......

Tonight in Denver, Barack Obama will make history by becoming the first man in over three and a half years to accept the Democratic Party’s nomination for President. Here is everything you need to know about tonight. •The speech will take place at the 75,000 seat INVESCO Field at Mile High, where the Seahawks are 1-0 all time, beating the Broncos 23-20 in 2006. •The speech should start sometime between 6:45 and 7:00 p.m. (ish).......

Tuesday was Hillary Clinton Day at the Democratic National Convention in Denver. The Senator and former Presidential candidate gave a rousing speech that most pundits agreed accomplished what she had promised to do: leave no doubt that she is fully behind the candidacy of her former rival, Sen. Barack Obama. Before the speech, all any journalist trolling for stories inside the Pepsi Center wanted to do was figure out any sort of fresh angle on......

Oh those wacky Republicans in Snohomish County. Geri Modrell, the chairwoman of the Snohomish Republican Party, has issued an apology after some GOP volunteers at the Evergreen State Fair sold racist $3 bills (available at conservative websites everywhere!) "depicting Sen. Barack Obama in traditional Arab headgear with a camel." Good one, guys. He's a Secret Muslim A-Rab devil, who goes by "Da Man," and he's got Ted Kennedy as his "Chief Socialism Advisor" and......

Courtesy of local politics blogger extraordinaire Goldy at HorsesAss comes a YouTube video of the Washington delegates at the DNC when Michelle Obama takes the stage. We knew we weren't the only person who got teary or swelled up with pride during the speech, and it looks like Governor Gregoire was excited from the get-go...listen to that hooting and hollering!......

Between the nonstop DNC coverage and last night’s episode of The Hills, we came to a striking conclusion: Bill and Hillary are the Spencer and Heidi of the Democratic Party. See for yourself: All about the drama? Check. Constant, shameless self-promotion? Check. Apt to turn on close friends/family over any perceived betrayal? Check. Soft spot for boob jobs? Check. We're sure there’s a handful of people who purchase Heidi’s "music", and there’s still a......

One day down and three more to go here in Denver at the Democratic National Convention. Below are some of the top moments of Day 1 for DCist (and a couple lowlights for good measure). Sen. Ted Kennedy's speech, obvs. The expectations going in were that this would be the senator's final public speech -- but Kennedy walked out on stage and continued standing during his entire speech, defying expectations that he would look different,......

There are 11 weeks until Election Day, and 11 issues in our state's gubernatorial race (12 if you count Eastern Washington's concerns). Each week we'll be taking an award-winning look at where the candidates stand. Washington residents pay the highest gas tax in all the land. Wait, what?!?! We demand to know who is at fault for this! Rossi: She is, because she signed the 2005 bill that increased the gas tax 9.5 cents for......

There are 12 weeks until Election Day, and 12 issues in our state's gubernatorial race (13 if you count Eastern Washington's concerns). Each week we'll be taking an award-winning look at where the candidates stand. Rossi: His detractors claim that he's a Bush model global warming denier. Well Mr. Rossi, if there's no such thing as climate change, how do you explain the crap weather we've been getting the last few years? He's probably......

There are 13 weeks until Election Day, and 13 issues in our state's gubernatorial race (14 if you count Eastern Washington's concerns). Each week we'll be taking an award-winning look at where the candidates stand. This Week: Small Business. Gregoire: She will continue to help business owners. Gregoire Website: “[Washington is the] Fourth best state for starting a business.” Rossi: He will do more to help small businesses owners. Rossi Website: “Washington has one of......

Throughout the campaign we have been gathering the top political writers in the country, and asking them to discuss the presidential race. Today they discuss the media’s role in American politics. Seattlest: How do you feel the media has covered this year’s campaign? Jeff (NPR): I'm still waiting for the shoe to drop on the media's coverage of the anointed one, Barack Obama. He's like a perfect storm of taboo topics. I remember watching Daily......

There are 14 weeks until Election Day, which is great because there are only 14 issues in our state's gubernatorial race (15 if you count Eastern Washington's concerns). Each week we'll be taking an in-depth, and we predict award-winning, look at where Governor Christine Gregoire and Just Dino Rossi stand. This Week: The Alaskan Way Viaduct. Rossi—That waterfront tunnel no one liked. Gregoire—She will decide by December 2006, the voters will decide, an elevated replacement,......

"Sound Transit test" courtesy of Flickr contributor andrewmartin Seattlest always kind of wants to roll our eyes when some transportation option gets put to voters in these parts. Call it a Pavlovian response trained into us through years of noncommittal discussion about monorails. But, today the Seattle Times is reporting that we'll get to vote on a light rail system that'll take folks to places like Overlake, Star Lake, and Lynnwood (sweet!). In order to......

As our friend pointed out, between the weather, the Mariners, and The Love Guru, 2008 could go down as the worst summer in history. The Seattle Times took a big poop-poop all over everyone's lives by reporting that the cooler than normal temperatures could be with us through July. We understand that not all of you prefer blue skies and warm temperature, so enjoy this, it's your time. As for the rest of us,......

">Throughout the campaign we have been gathering the top political writers in the country, and asking them to discuss the presidential race. Today they discuss the end of the Democratic primary, Senator Clinton's future, and a brief look at the general. Seattlest: It's been a very eventful week, with Senator Obama wrapping up the nomination and Senator Clinton set to end her campaign, where do you see the race going now? Ryan (Time Magazine): Finally.......

This whole thing started way back on January 3, a gray, rainy winter day with a high of 47. Now, six months later in the heat of a gray, rainy summer day with a high close to 60, it will come to an end. Remember how all those states moved their primary/caucus dates up so they would be important, how did that work there, Florida/Michigan? Senator Obama has rented out the 20,000 seat Xcel......