I will continue my commentary through the election a couple of times a week giving everyone updates on a variety of races, controversies and  basic information. Also I will attempt to have some fun with the column. Anyone who has information that would be helpful to others, please email it to me at dmixner@aol.com.

-In the 'be careful what you pray for' department, James Dobson's virulently intolerant right wing organization "Focus On The Family' started nationwide pray circles to pray for heavy rain to wash out Democratic nominee Barack Obama's acceptance speech. Given the onslaught of Gustav, and the disruption of the Republican Convention instead, it appears as though the congregation needs to work harder on getting the dates right.

-This sent to me by a friend, a porn site on the Internet is doing its civic duty by urging its users to vote ...when you go to their site it says, "Don't Stroke, Vote!"

-It's is time for Tom Brokow to move on from "Meet the Press". Bring on Chuck Todd who is current on issues and one of the brightest men in American politics. He is a worthy successor to Tim Russert. This past week on the show it was embarrassing how little serious discussion there was about the new choice of Governor Palin. David Gregory gushing about how tough she must be to get on a plane and fly eight hours back to Alaska after her water broke during her pregnancy is hardly substantive. Come on, how about strip mining, polar bears, Creationism, the War, Troopergate, her lack of experience, etc? .

-From the 'did she really say that' department, comes Cindy McCain's astoundingly clueless statement about Alaskan Governor Palin's foreign policy experience. Proclaiming how qualified she is to step into the Presidency, Ms. McCain said that Palin must know a lot about Russia since her state is right next door! Hell then, for real experience with Russia we should have picked the Mayor of Shishmaref, Alaska since it is even closer to Russia and is being forced to relocate because of rising seas from Global Warming.

-Most have heard the story of Governor's Palin, her daughter and the baby. Don't really think such a family affair should be our business but one aspect of it made me laugh out loud. Andrew Sullivan has been in the forefront of vetting this situation and Drudge called him a 'left wing blogger.' Never in my life did I think I would live long enough to hear Andrew referred to as a 'left-wing' anything!

-The new polls are rolling in at the start of the Republican Convention and so far, so good. Obama is up +9 in the Hotline/Diagio Poll, +8 in the CBS poll, +7 in the USA/Gallup poll and an all time high in the Rasmussen poll of +6. In both the USA/ Gallup and the Rasmussen polls, Obama, for the first time in the race, is above 50% .

-Well, the Log Cabin Gay Republicans have done it. They endorsed John McCain and Sarah Palin. There is not an issue that McCain agrees on with the LGBT community. He opposes us in California, Arizona and Florida. He is against the repeal of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell." The Senator is against even civil unions. He is opposed to adoption by LGBT couples. I could go on and on how bad the Republican ticket is on LGBT issues. The Log Cabin Republicans said,

""Sen. McCain has always shown a willingness to reach out and engage in dialogue with Log Cabin, while considering all sides of an issue," said Sammon. "We know that will continue when he is President."

I guess it is good enough if they just talk to us and show up. How very, very disappointing they made this decision. And how sad to beg to be asked to a party to which you'll never be invited.

-"Happy Days Are Here Again" for Democrats in Georgia. The Party seems on the verge of a huge comeback in the state. Atlanta Attorney Democrat Jim Martin is giving incumbent United States Senator Saxby Chambliss a race for his money. Obama forces have opened up an amazing total of 31 offices across the state and they apparently are swamped with volunteers. Finally, Retired Adjustant General and Commander of the Georgia National Guard, David Poythress, has announced that he will seek the Democratic nomination for Governor in 2010. Could the Old Republican South finally be cracking up into a new day for Democrats?

-Prominent Obama supporter and CEO Leo Hindery had a great Op-ed piece in the "Los Angeles Times" on Labor Day. It is well worth highlighting some of Hindery's profound words:

"It is imperative -- way past time, in fact -- for America to be as mercantilist as are our trading partners. We must forcefully counter the illegal subsidies, the manipulated currency exchange rates and the unfair labor and environmental practices that some of them are employing to strike at our economy. Domestically, we must stop encouraging the offshoring of millions of American jobs through misguided corporate tax practices. Indeed, what other country would give tax breaks to companies shipping high-quality domestic jobs overseas and hoarding their foreign profits?

At the same time, we need to get "back to the future," where success for American corporations again means success for American workers, and where corporations are again managed with concurrent and equal responsibility to shareholders, workers and the public."

-Personally, I was dead against the Republican Party shifting their Convention around because of Hurricane Gustav. The test of a Democracy is that the 'process' continues no matter what the adversity. Besides, it creates a bad precedent - do we stop campaigning every time a hurricane threatens our shores? Hell, people, there are four more hurricanes churning out in the Atlantic as I write this! If we stop for all of them, we might not have time to campaign at all. In spite of the veneer of pious concern, the Republicans were clearly acting out of desperate self-preservation: Considering the Katrina legacy, the last thing they wanted was a TV split screen of cheering delegates and drowning storm victims.

-Could this be the famous "October Surprise" that the party in power always attempts to win the election? The Jerusalem Post says the following:

"The Dutch intelligence service, the AIVD, has called off an operation aimed at infiltrating and sabotaging Iran's weapons industry due to an assessment that a US attack on the Islamic Republic's nuclear program is imminent, according to a report in the country's De Telegraaf newspaper on Friday."

-Enjoy!