jackola | Sep. 15th, 2004

SWEET MEMORIES:

Lee Roystone dated John Kerry while she was a Harvard grad student and John was serving his first term as Senator. She pulled out her box of memories of him and made an online scrapbook!

A FAMILY AFFAIR:

Florida OK's Nader's Name on Election Ballot
MIAMI (Reuters) - Independent presidential candidate Ralph Nader's name can appear on Florida ballots for the election, despite a court order to the contrary, Florida's elections chief told officials on Monday in a move that could help President Bush in the key swing state.

The Florida Democratic Party reacted with outrage, calling the move "blatant partisan maneuvering" by Gov. Jeb Bush, the president's younger brother, and vowed to fight it. [more]

WOOPSY:

Salon: Unwitting Drudge indicts Bush
Attempting to bolster President Bush as he continues to stonewall questions about his Texas Air National Guard service, Internet gossip Matt Drudge posted a 1968 document from Bush's military personnel file Monday afternoon that purports to buttress a long-ago claim by Bush that he served not only in the Texas Air National Guard but in the Air Force as well. Although this "exclusive" Drudge posting is a trivial sidebar to the larger story of Bush's absence from two years of military service, the document itself -- presumably provided to Drudge by a Republican operative -- turns out to be an incriminating piece of evidence against Bush's case. [more]

TOO MANY COOKS IN THE KITCHEN:

Before today, I couldn't tell you who to talk to in the Kerry campaign about anything. Everybody had to check with everybody else, no doubt amounting to an unbearable waste of time and money for the campaign. No one is more aware of that significant problem than the media.

The results: The Bush/Cheney campaign let's go of its top spokesman, Terry Holt, and the media says nothing.

Republican National Committee Chairman Ed Gillespie today announced that Bush Cheney National Spokesman Terry Holt will join the staff of the Republican National Committee as Senior Advisor to the Chairman beginning this week.
[Terry Holt to Join RNC as Senior Advisor to the Chairman - RNC Press Release - 09-09-04]
Mike McCurry joins the Kerry campaign, and it becomes "an acknowledgment that Kerry and his team have failed to communicate a concise, persuasive argument." Nevermind the fact that McCurry's involvement was widely discussed a month ago.
One senior Kerry aide said McCurry will help keep the candidate's comments focused on his daily message. Another said his role will be to make sure the traveling press corps knows what Kerry is doing and why. Either way, the hiring is an acknowledgment that Kerry and his team have failed to communicate a concise, persuasive argument. McCurry starts Wednesday.
[Kerry hires former Clinton press secretary Mike McCurry - USA Today - 09-14-04]
[from Christian Grantham]

HASTA LA VISTA, HETEROCENTRIC INSURANCE:

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed the first major gay rights legislation to reach his desk yesterday when he approved a bill that would require insurance companies to offer coverage to registered domestic partners. [Governor signs first major gay rights bill - Union Tribune - 09-14-04]

FIRST DIRECT PICTURE OF A PLANET CIRCLING A STAR:

Telescope snaps distant 'planet'
Astronomers working in Chile think they may have taken the first direct image of a planet circling another star. The star, called 2M1207, is 230 light-years away and is very much smaller and fainter than our own Sun.