ONE WEEK TO GO

One week to go until Election Day...and the outlook isn't any better for the GOP. The races may have tightened, but the outcome still stands to be the same: As things stand now, Nancy Pelosi is going to be your new speaker-elect, though it will be close.

This is not a victory the Democrats will have earned. It is a game the Republicans tried very hard to lose.

In the meantime, the anti-Bush, anti-Republican media campaign is in overdrive too....with the New York Times running stories about military funerals and CNN marking the 100th U.S. military death in Iraq this month. There is no doubt as to which party the media wants to run things inside the Beltway.

So what about the Republican base? Will they stay home in droves, as predicted, or are they going to wake up at the last minute and head to the polls? Are they going to vote for Democrats, just out of spite? Well, the truth...as usual...lies somewhere in the middle. Things will be tighter than predicted. If the election were held today, the consensus is that about 20 House races are in play, of which the Democrats need 15 to take over. They should get that easily.

Pay no attention to national polls about George Bush's approval rating or Republican vs. Democrat. All that matters is who registered, likely voters are going to vote for in those specific 20 districts. It's not about George Bush or Nancy Pelosi, but rather Joe Blow vs. Mary Smith. That's what it's all going to come down to.

As for the Senate? The Democrats are out of luck there. They don't seem likely to get the 6 seats they need to take over. The more plausible scenario there is 3 seats, giving the Republicans an even smaller majority...but still leave them in control. So now you're up to date.

HOLLYWEIRD ON THE CAMPAIGN TRAIL

By Michelle Malkin

Michael J. Fox has gotten all of the attention, but the entertainment industry is trying to sway the elections in many other ways on the ground and on the airwaves.

Eco-activist Robert Redford is pushing Prop. 87 in California--a $4 billion oil tax increase in the name of environmental do-goodism. The initiative is funded by Hollywood producer Stephen Bing and supported by Julia Roberts, Jamie Lee Curtis, James Caan and Ben Affleck.

On Thursday, HBO will air a documentary called "Hacking Democracy" that lionizes leading election conspiracy theorist Bev Harris of Black Box voting fame.

On Sunday, Fox is set to air an episode of "The Simpsons" sharply critical of the war in Iraq.

Meanwhile, the desperate Dixie Chicks are on the attack against conservative Internet users of the Free Republic.

Will Cameron Diaz do a repeat on Oprah this year about how, like, rape could be legalized if we don't make the right voting choices?

Stay tuned...

PELOSI'S PUPPET & SCHUMER'S SHILL

Those are my new ‘official’ nicknames for Patty Wetterling and Amy Klobuchar. The last I checked, neither had said anything that wasn’t straight from the Democratic policy handbook. You didn’t know that they had a policy handbook? I’d say shame on you if it wasn’t for the fact that it’s more like a policy sheet. Here’s the reported contents of that sheet:

• Bush should have held bilateral talks with Iran & North Korea, and multilateral talks with the rest of the world. Bush Bad.
• Bush didn’t talk with North Korea. That’s why they’ve got nukes now. Bush Bad.
• What terrorists in Iraq? There aren’t any terrorists in Iraq. If you don’t believe us, ask the Mainstream Media. Bush Bad.
• Bush hasn’t enforced the borders. Just say no to border fences. Vote for open borders. Bush Bad.
• Repeal Bush’s tax cuts for the wealthy. Bush Bad.

Last night, St. Patty tried getting creative on the taxes issue. She said “Let me reassure you. I DON’T WANT TO RAISE YOUR TAXES. I’ll cut your taxes…unless you’re Paris Hilton.”

Later that night, Sen. Bachmann, Ms. Wetterling and John Binkowski appeared on the Steve Thompson radio program on KSTP-AM 1500. Here’s what an unscripted moment for Ms. Wetterling produced:

Wetterling: She voted to raise property taxes in the Senate. She did that.

Sen. Bachmann jumped all over that like Justin Morneau jumps all over a hanging slider in the middle of the plate. Here’s Sen. Bachmann’s response:

You cannot vote– Patty, I hate to burst your bubble, you can’t vote to raise property taxes.

This falls into the category of separation of powers, not a Democratic strength. Municipal and county governments set property tax rates. That’s beyond the state legislature’s reach.

If you think that separation of powers issues are a Democratic strength, check out this Amy Klobuchar answer about Iraq:

As with any effective plan, there should be a realistic time-frame based on specific milestones and benchmarks, with honest and current information from the administration about the status of our efforts, the training of the Iraqi forces, and the restoration of basic services to Iraq. In fact, the leaders of Iraq’s otherwise sharply divided Shiites, Kurds and Sunnis agreed that there should be a time frame for the drawdown of American troops. If the president is unwilling to provide a plan, Congress should call upon the Joint Chiefs of Staff to do so.

That’s what happens when Ms. Klobuchar doesn’t stick with her prepared script. She says that the Legislative branch should give orders to the Executive Branch in direct opposition to the Commander-in-Chief’s orders.

It’s obvious that, even though she’s a lawyer, Ms. Klobuchar either has little understanding of the Constitution or little respect for the Constitution’s separation of powers.

Speaking of Ms. Klobuchar, she’s said that she wouldn’t have voted to confirm Chief Justice Roberts or Associate Justice Alito to the Supreme Court; she’d increase taxes for the highest wage earners; she’d push for getting our troops out of Iraq “within a realistic time-frame based on specific milestones and benchmarks.” There isn’t a dime’s worth of difference between Ms. Klobuchar’s positions and DSCC Chairman Chuck Schumer’s positions.

What Minnesotans have to decide this week is whether we want to elect thinking people like Michele Bachmann and Mark Kennedy to the U.S. House and Senate or if we want to elect Pelosi’s Puppet and Schumer’s Shill to those positions.

While that isn’t a difficult decision once you know the facts, it is vitally important that we get it right and elect Sen. Bachmann and Rep. Kennedy.

PENNSYLVANIA POLITICAL UPDATE

Things are heating up in Pennsylvania as Election Day nears. Here’s a look at what’s making news in Pennsylvania.

Small-business group backs Swann

“Lynn Swann has earned the respect of small-business owners and working families throughout Pennsylvania,” said Rich Gallo, vice chair of the NFIB Leadership Council for Pennsylvania. Mr. Gallo said the endorsement was based on Mr. Swann’s “strong support” on key small-business issues. He said nearly 90 percent of NFIB’s 20,000 members in Pennsylvania had recommended the backing of Mr. Swann. “He will work to create an environment in this state where small employers can grow and create jobs. Clearly, Lynn Swann understands that high taxes and overregulation have hamstrung Pennsylvania’s job creators,” he said.

Soon-to-be-former Gov. Ed Rendell’s got to see the handwriting on the proverbial wall when he sees 18,000 small businessmen voting against him.

Santorum: Casey lacking on security

In the first of a two-day series of speeches on national security, Mr. Santorum said Mr. Casey fails to recognize the danger of a threat that encompasses both “Islamic fascism” and leaders of countries who are “fully committed to our destruction. From everything I see, my opponent, Mr. Casey, is unready, unqualified for the office that he seeks at a very critical time in our nation’s future,” Mr. Santorum said in a speech at PRL Industries, a metal-castings supplier that counts the military among its customers.
In an interview with The AP, Mr. Casey called Mr. Santorum’s charge a “ridiculous assertion,” citing his current job as state treasurer and eight years as auditor general. “I’ve been a statewide public official in Pennsylvania for a decade,” Mr. Casey said.

Little Bobbie Casey’s response isn’t exactly reassuring. Citing his time as a number-cruncher isn’t the way to tell voters about his foreign policy bona fides. Only an idiot who can’t think on his feet would try telling voters he’s qualified to vote on foreign policy issues because he’s a numbers-cruncher. This is just more proof that Casey is an intellectual lightweight.

Philly leaders object to voting monitors

TRANSLATION: How can we commit enough voter fraud to push Corrupt Eddie over the top if you’re gonna be watching? That isn’t fair.

City officials and Hispanic community leaders objected Thursday to the federal government’s plans to put monitors at city polling places on Election Day, saying those efforts could discourage people from voting.

That’s utter nonsense. People in Iraq ignore terrorist attacks to vote but election fraud monitors will drive American voters away? “City officials and Hispanic community leaders” must think that minority voters are a bunch of whimps if they actually believe this. That said, I don’t think that they actually believe their quote. It’s pretty apparent that Philadelphia’s “city officials” are Rendell’s cronies who know that he’s in rough shape after two dismal debate performances who can’t win without significant voter fraud.

Add these stories up and it’s apparent that Swann and Santorum are applying the heat to their corrupt and incompetent opponents in the campaign’s final days. Don’t think that Pennsylvanians aren’t noticing.

MICHAEL J. FOX RESPONDS

Actor Michael J. Fox is responding to the allegation that he played up his Parkinson's disease for a Democratic political campaign commercial. In an interview with Katie Couric, Fox says that he wasn't off his medication when he shot the commercials. In fact he says he was too medicated. Fair enough, but that's not really the point.

Michael J. Fox is a talented actor with a terrible disease. People like the guy and if you took a poll, you'd probably find his approval rating close to 100 percent. But Michael J. Fox chose to step into the political arena. And when you do that in this country, you had better be prepared to be challenged. There is no pass.

It's the same thing with Cindy Sheehan. She's a sympathetic figure...her son was killed in Iraq. Hopefully, most of us will never know the pain of losing a child like that...it's terrible. But when she chose to step into politics...to start attacking the president politically in a public way, then all of that goes away. She's now entering the public debate.

By the way, did you know embryonic stem cell research isn't banned by the federal government? Just thought you should know.

OUR NEW 700 MILE FENCE

The president is all set to sign today the bill authorizing the construction of a 700-mile border fence with Mexico. This would be an absolutely fabulous idea....if our border with Mexico were 700 miles long. The only problem: it isn't. It's almost 2,000 miles long. Oops! Looks like somebody fell a bit short in the arithmetic department. The $1.2 billion bill is seen as a "down payment" on the fence. Great...a fence that's too short still isn't fully paid for....this gets better all the time.

Republicans could have not only retained their majorities in the House and Senate, but expanded them this year. All they had to do was come out months ago in favor of getting tough on the illegal alien invasion. Some of them have, but the stumbling block isn't in Congress, it's at the other end of Pennsylvania Avenue. President Bush simply supports amnesty for illegal aliens...the so-called guest worker program....and does not support doing anything at all with the 12 million illegals already here.

So this fence is just another do-nothing initiative that will not stop invasion from Mexico in the least. It's not enough. As long as there are places where illegals can just walk right on in, they will. As long as they know nothing will happen to them once they get here, they will continue to take the risk.

How about a fence along the entire border? And a real fence...a manned one with gun turrets and stuff. You could even mine it. Illegal immigration problem solved. North Korea and South Korea have had a pretty good border fence for 50 years.

By the way .. have you heard that China is busy laying down a barbed wire fence along its entire border with North Korea? Let's send some observers over there to see how they're doing it.