Fingers Crossed

In a rush this morning as I overslept a little. Those Monday mornings having to be up at 0330 to make the early flight to Memphis sure to take it out of the old man. Anyhow, slept like a rock and feel like I might be able to make it through the day. The cotton harvest is underway here in western Tennessee and the highways are littered with little cotton balls. It sure seems like they lose a lot in the harvest because there is also a lot left in the fields after the machines pass through. It is very odd to see the large rectangular bails of cotton in the field waiting to go to the gin. Looks like giant pillows all lined up.

Checking the news this morning shows that Rove is pulling out the same old playboook. Once again there is no crisis the GOP won't attempt to exploit for partisan gain.

...the White House plans to amplify national security issues, especially the threat of terrorism, after North Korea's reported nuclear test, in hopes of shifting the debate away from casualties and controversy during the final month of the campaign. These efforts are aimed largely at prodding disaffected conservatives to vote for GOP candidates despite their unease.

The article notes that the GOP expects to lose as few as 7, and as many as 30, seats in the House. The Democratss need 15 to take back Congress.

In a sign the political environment is getting worse for Republicans, political handicapper Charlie Cook now lists 25 GOP-held seats as a tossup -- seven more than before the Foley scandal broke Sept. 29. Stuart Rothenberg, a nonpartisan expert on House races, has raised to nine the number of GOP seats tilting Democratic or likely to switch hands.

Let's keep our fingers and toes crossed that the upper limits of those estimates are closer to the truth. We need to put the brakes on this mess right now.