One Little Victory

On this fine Monday morning…

- This is priceless; the Anchorage Daily News has endorsed Barack Obama for President. Yep, that’s right… the Anchorage Daily News… of Alaska. Even Palin’s homies acknowledge that she is nowhere near ready to be President.

Among the points made:

…Sen. Obama warned regulators and the nation 19 months ago that the subprime lending crisis was a disaster in the making. Sen. McCain backed tighter rules for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, but didn’t do much to advance that legislation. Of the two candidates, Sen. Obama better understands the mortgage meltdown’s root causes and has the judgment and intelligence to shape a solution, as well as the leadership to rally the country behind it. It is easy to look at Sen. Obama and see a return to the smart, bipartisan economic policies of the last Democratic administration in Washington, which left the country with the momentum of growth and a budget surplus that President George Bush has squandered.

On the most important issue of the day, Sen. Obama is a clear choice.

Sen. McCain describes himself as a maverick, by which he seems to mean that he spent 25 years trying unsuccessfully to persuade his own party to follow his bipartisan, centrist lead. Sadly, maverick John McCain didn’t show up for the campaign. Instead we have candidate McCain, who embraces the extreme Republican orthodoxy he once resisted and cynically asks Americans to buy for another four years.

It is Sen. Obama who truly promises fundamental change in Washington. You need look no further than the guilt-by-association lies and sound-bite distortions of the degenerating McCain campaign to see how readily he embraces the divisive, fear-mongering tactics of Karl Rove. And while Sen. McCain points to the fragile success of the troop surge in stabilizing conditions in Iraq, it is also plain that he was fundamentally wrong about the more crucial early decisions. Contrary to his assurances, we were not greeted as liberators; it was not a short, easy war; and Americans — not Iraqi oil — have had to pay for it. It was Sen. Obama who more clearly saw the danger ahead.

The unqualified endorsement of Sen. Obama by a seasoned, respected soldier and diplomat like Gen. Colin Powell, a Republican icon, should reassure all Americans that the Democratic candidate will pass muster as commander in chief…

- Add former Sen. Larry Pressler (R-S.D.) to the long list of Republicans supporting Obama.

- Down as they might be, Republican efforts to suppress votes through illegal purges of voters continues. And when it is happening in Georgia, you know the GOP is in trouble.

- Here’s how the electoral map projectors are looking today:

CNN

Electoral Vote

270toWin

FiveThirtyEight

RealClearPolitics

Politico

- Finally, the New England Patriots beat the St. Louis Rams yesterday 23-16, almost in spite of themselves. The Pats gave up two long bombs again leading to 10 points for the Rams, while Matt Cassel had a third quarter meltdown that almost led to their demise. he pulled it together in the fourth quarter and the Patriots’ defense stiffened up, allowing the Patriots to escape and improve their record to 5-2. They are now tied for the division lead with the Buffalo Bills.

Faulk’s TD with 3:13 left gives Pats 23-16 win
By HOWARD ULMAN, AP Sports Writer

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. (AP)—Short-handed but sure-handed, the New England Patriots grabbed another win.

Kevin Faulk grasped a 15-yard touchdown pass just inbounds with 3:13 left— holding onto the ball despite being hit by St. Louis linebacker Pisa Tinoisamoa — and the Patriots had their go-ahead touchdown with 3:13 left

Deltha O’Neal pulled in another ball on a juggling interception with 1:08 remaining and the Patriots rallied for a 23-16 win Sunday.

Inconsistent most of the day without three sidelined running backs, the Patriots (5-2) held on when it mattered most, winning a tight game six days after routing Denver 41-7. The Rams (2-5) played without injured runner Steven Jackson and lost for the first time since Jim Haslett succeeded the fired Scott Linehan after an 0-4 start.

“We’re behind in the fourth quarter and it was up to us to come back in the face of a little adversity,” quarterback Matt Cassel said. “There’s going to be, I’m sure, a lot of (tight games) down the road.”

Full story here…