As the Weekly Standard?s cover put it, it’s Judgment Day. I’ve been wondering how I’ll handle it if my man loses and hoping that, no matter what, we will find a way to be of good cheer.


Since we’re heading into the only poll that counts–the way we vote–I realize that this may be the last day for a while when my first act is to check the latest polls. Judgment Day is sorta late to be scrutinizing the polls, but for the hopelessly addicted, Real Clear Politics, which has seen so many of us through the election season, has all the latest.


The New York Times, which came out to the entire world and won’t be able to go back into the Objectivity Closet any time soon, does have a fascinating piece today that admits the role the blogs have played in this election: 


“Every very four years, by journalistic if not political tradition, the presidential election must be accompanied by a ’revolution,’” notes the Times. “So what transformed politics this time around’ The rise of the Web log, or blog.”


The Times asked a handful of bloggers to comment on the election–it’s a fun piece, and you’ll want to read the whole thing, but here are snippets:


John Hindraker and Scott Johnson of Powerlineblog.com:


“The most important event of the campaign was the exposure of documents cited by ’60 Minutes’ in its report on President Bush’s Air National Guard service as fraudulent. We participated in this exposure by asking our readers for information relevant to the documents’ authenticity, and then by organizing and disseminating the information we received on topics like the typewriters of the early 1970’s and arcane points of military protocol in the same era.”


Glenn Reynolds of Instapundit:


“The biggest story of this campaign was the candid admission in July by Evan Thomas, assistant managing editor of Newsweek, that the press ’wants Kerry to win.’ Though this seemed significant at the time, it was only later — with things like CBS’s bogus-document scandal, and the attempted late hit about the alleged missing explosives — that it became clear just how right Mr. Thomas was. Mr. Thomas has since suggested that press bias is probably not as influential as he first thought, but it has been abundantly clear that the press has been in the tank for Kerry/Edwards for several months.


Wonkette:


“I was all set to vote for George Bush even after finding out that he wouldn’t let me marry Mary Cheney if I wanted to. And when he made the pronunciation of ’Lambeau Field’ a campaign issue”


It’s hard to know what to post on Judgment Day, but here are three more articles that you should read today:


Is voting important’ John O’Sullivan, writing in the Chicago Sun Times, argues that the U.S. has seen a “silent transfer” of power to the courts that brings with it “the danger that democracy will be increasingly deprived of significance by dilution of its powers.”


O’Sullivan writes:


“This shift has generally gone un-remarked. Democrats have benefited from it — the elite bodies have usually legislated the unpopular liberal programs they wanted — and Republicans have shrunk from conflict with the courts, the permanent government, the U.N., etc. As a result, unelected and non-accountable bodies have determined more and more aspects of our lives from free speech to school taxes.”


O’Sullivan thinks that President Bush was forced by events to “recognize and block this silent transfer of power.” Read O’Sullivan’s piece to find out what the two most important events were.


In a democratic election, somebody has to lose. Tech Central Station poses perhaps the most compelling question of the political season: Who’s best prepared to accept defeat’


A snippet:


“[L]arge segments of the Democratic Party — the Michael-Moore, Moveon.org and it’s-at-least-conceivable-that-Bush-was-behind-September-11 people — would be virtually inconsolable. They think the president stole the election four years ago and that he has now used the War on Terror to consolidate power and march us toward a Roveian dictatorship where stem-cell researchers will be held as enemy combatants and members of Operation Rescue will be nominated to the Supreme Court….”


And finally–Te-RAY-sa. Will she be our First Lady or will we have to bid her a fond farewell as she retreats into that world of privilege where we canst not follow’ Well, we don’t know how National Review got hold of her diary, but here’s Mama T on this whole danged business of campaigning among the hoi polloi:  
 
“John taught me so much about the way the other 99.3 percent live. One time we went to Jim Rassman’s cute little suburban house for dinner and there were these metal bands around the napkins. I glanced nervously at John. He caught my eye, and said quietly, ’They’re napkin rings.’ Napkin rings’ I had never heard of them. ’What are they for’’, I whispered, as Jim poured wine out of the box for everyone. ’They’re for people who can’t afford to have their linen starched every day,’ he replied. My mind reeled. Horrified, I looked square at John and said, ’Can such poverty really exist’ Something must be done.’ Consequently, I have instructed my people in Bermuda to raise my tax contributions to 13 percent. We must go forward together.”