Inside the Beltway: Still not ready?

STILL NOT READY?

Several of the 2008 presidential campaign battleground states are “not prepared” to meet the challenges of administering the Nov. 4 election, especially in “minority” precincts, where turnout is expected to be unprecedented.

The national voter protection organization Advancement Project obtained precinct records on allocations of voting machines and poll workers in Virginia, Florida, Michigan, Missouri, Nevada, Ohio and Pennsylvania. In certain jurisdictions, it reports, “the allocation of polling place resources is likely to have a disproportionate impact on communities of color. In other words, there will be fewer voting machines or poll workers per voter in high minority precincts than in low minority precincts.”

Judith Browne-Dianis, co-director of the group, now warns: “If they do not prepare adequately for the potential turnout, what could be the greatest collective exercise in democratic participation in our nation’s history may be stained by government failure.”

CRY, MICHELLE, CRY

The campaign desk of the Columbia Journalism Review (CJR) has issued a sharp critique of questions posed Wednesday night to Michelle Obama on CNN’s “Larry King Live,” saying Larry King did all he could to make Democratic candidate Barack Obama’s wife out to be a victim, rather than asking her about important issues and policy.

CJR published this persistent line of questioning from Mr. King:

“Do you take offense to ‘that one’?”

“Did it in any way offend you?”

“How about you and he together, looking at television, and you see a commercial on the other side that really lambasts you?”

“Sarah Palin has been taking the role of attack dog in recent days. Here is an example (he plays the ‘palling around with terrorists’ clip) and we’ll get a comment. That don’t get you mad?”

“When someone [says] - and she’s running for vice president - that your husband associates with terrorists it’s got to upset you, I think?”

“So you bear her no umbrage?”

“The Tennessean is quoting Cindy McCain saying your husband is running the dirtiest campaign in American history. Tell me have you no reaction to that … it doesn’t hurt you?”

MAKE ROOM, ABE

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