Opening the Day: Early Voting Landslide

by: Matt Stoller

Fri Oct 24, 2008 at 08:00

• The landslide is on our doorsteps.

• Here's the Courage campaign.

  "This is part of a pattern of intimidation by the Mormon Church to raise money to pass Proposition 8 and dictate public policy to Californians," said Rick Jacobs, Chair of Courage Campaign Issues Committee. "We call on President-Prophet Thomas Monson to condemn LDS member Mr. Mark Jansson and the Proposition 8 campaign's blackmail of businesses. If President-Prophet Monson will not condemn blackmail and the breaking of the ten commandments, for what do he and his Church stand?"

  You can help out Equality for All on the Better Dems page or on their website.

• The GOP 'death list' is out.  Swing State Project has its own death list; either way, it looks like Better Democrat Eric Massa is in the House.

• Early voting is massive.

• David Roberts at Grist likes most of what Obama has to say on energy.

• Al Franken is finally leading.

• LCV is running some good ads on behalf of Democrats this cycle.  I've razzed the group for endorsing Republicans for meeting a lower threshold than Democrats, but it is true that they spend their resources going after Republicans.  Here's one for Kay Hagan.

  And here's Merkley.

• The US is preparing to build lots and lots of nuclear power plants.

  When the industry first said several years ago that it would resume building plants, deep skepticism greeted the claim. Not since 1973 had anybody in the United States ordered a nuclear plant that was actually built, and the obstacles to a new generation of plants seemed daunting.

  But now, according to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, 21 companies say they will seek permission to build 34 power plants, from New York to Texas. Factories are springing up in Indiana and Louisiana to build reactor parts. Workers are clearing a site in Georgia to put in reactors. Starting in January, millions of electric customers in Florida will be billed several dollars a month to finance four new reactors.

  On Thursday, the French company Areva, the world's largest builder of nuclear reactors, and Northrop Grumman announced an investment of more than $360 million at a shipyard in Newport News, Va., to build components for seven proposed American reactors, and more for export.

• Here's Obama's short list for America's CTO.

• We won on white spaces.  Meanwhile, AT&T might be getting screwed next year because it's so tied to Republicans.

• Wow.

  One well-connected Republican in the private sector was shocked to get calls and resumes in the past few days from what he said were senior McCain aides - a breach of custom for even the worst-off campaigns.

• Remember AIG's rescue package?  They are going to need more.

  ny from bankruptcy.

  AIG has borrowed $90.3 billion from the Federal Reserve's credit line as of yesterday, the bulk of it to pay off bad bets the company made in guaranteeing other firms' risky mortgage investments. That's up from roughly $83 billion AIG had borrowed a week ago, and the $68 billion level it reached a week before that. The news comes as the company's new chief executive warned Wednesday that the government's financial lifeline may not be enough to keep AIG afloat.

• The New York Times saw its ad revenue crumple by 14% during the quarter, and its debt was cut to junk bond rating.

  Lots of cool stuff going on today, including Chris's Use It or Lose It campaign.  What are you reading?