What If?

The folks at boston.com have cooked up a great "What If?" machine. It lets you move markers on demographic charts to see how turnout and voting preferences to predict how the 2008 Presidential race will turn out.




Amazing thing: check out the map above. If everyone based on race, gender, and religion turned out in the same percentages and voted for the same party as in 2006, Sen Barak Obama (D-IL) wins -- 370 - 168 in the Electoral College. (boston.com)

What's the Price of Rose-Colored Night Vision Goggles?

The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan could cost the Pentagon some of their wish list for new weapons.
The Government Accountability Office has found costs for new weapons spiraling out of control -- and competing for dollars with the wars. From the Washington Post:

The major weapons systems being developed and produced by the Defense Department will require $1.6 trillion to complete and $335 billion over the next five years -- money that may not be available because of the continuing cost of military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, according to a new report by the Government Accountability Office.

The GAO found some weapons were pitched with unrealistic price tags to begin with -- sometimes 30% - 40% below what they would end up costing. (WaPo)

This Ain't Your Father's Smoke-Filled Room

Sen Barack Obama (D-IL) is promising a political convention for the people. He's breaking with the tradition of accepting the Democratic nomination in front of convention floor delegates and taking his speech to an outdoor venue open to the general public. From an Obama Campaign email:

On Thursday, August 28th, he's scheduled to formally accept the Democratic nomination in a speech at the convention hall in front of the assembled delegates.

Instead, Barack will leave the convention hall and join more than 75,000 people for a huge, free, open-air event where he will deliver his acceptance speech to the American people.