Vandalism of Democratic Offices Coincides with Health Care Vote

By GottaLaff

Racism. Homophobia. Baby killer. Poisoned. Repeal. Disbanding. These are all words that appear in my blog titles today. These are also words that pertain to the destructive behavior of the Republican party and the Tea Baggers.

Something is very wrong. The direction these people are taking this country is an unhealthy, dysfunctional, and dangerous one.

Now we can add "vandalized" to the list:

In recent days, several Democratic offices around the nation have also been vandalized. Although it’s unclear who the perpetrators are, all the incidents took place shortly before or after the House’s vote on health care yesterday:

– The glass front door of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords’ (D-AZ) Tuscon office was “smashed out” a “few hours after she voted in favor of health care reform.” Giffords’ spokesman C.J. Karamargin “said it was unclear if the glass had been shot out with a kind of pellet gun, if it had been kicked or smashed with an object. The door has been covered with plywood.”

– On the morning of March 19, someone threw a brick through the front window of Rep. Louise Slaughter’s (D-NY) Niagara Falls office. Monroe County Democratic Committee officials also said that a brick shattered the glass doors at their party’s headquarters in Rochester, NY on Saturday or Sunday.

Think Progress's Amanda Terkel has more. I wish she had less.

Gramm-pa McCain Running on Empty: The Photos

By GottaLaff

Apologies up front for the amount of space this will take up, but it's so worth it...

Volunteerless in New Mexico.. and Iowa.. and Ohio... and Virginia... and:

As the only reporter during this election who has actually visited upwards of 50 of John McCain's field offices around the country (13 battleground states and counting), this piece by Matthew Mosk at the Washington Post comes as no surprise:

The decision to finance a final advertising push is forcing McCain to curtail spending on Election Day ground forces to help usher his supporters to the polls, according to Republican consultants familiar with McCain's strategy. [...]

[O]ne top Republican strategist who has been privy to McCain's plans: "The folks who will oversee the volunteer operation have been told to get out into the field on their own nickel." [...]

John McCain's ground campaign is just not happening. It hasn't been happening, without Sarah Palin there might be four or five volunteers across the entire nation left, and now, per Mosk's piece at WaPo, it looks like it will be happening even less.

One dialer, Santa Fe:

One dialer, Albuquerque:

Staged, Española:

Closed, Durango:

Posed, Cortez:

Closed, Grand Junction:

Des Moines, empty of volunteers:

Troy, Ohio, locked:

Columbus HQ, one dialer:

Toledo, two volunteers and one security guard:

Sterling, VA, closing at 5, one dialer:

Empty, Fredericksburg, VA:

Richmond, VA, one dialer:

Raleigh, NC HQ, two dialers:

Wilmington, NC, closing at 5 and yawny, empty:

Thank you Sean, for the amazing report. There's much, much more here.

H/t: Eve