Through July 22 (four days):

Courthouse: 333
South Knox: 263
Halls: 388
Five Points: 75
North East: 453
Downtown West: 1032
Farragut: 502
Northshore: 155

Total: 3201

Democratic Primary: 1183
Republican Primary: 2394
None declared: 162
(Includes mail-in ballots)

Source

UPDATE: Early voting through first four days of 2006 County General: 4295. Does this indicate lower turnout, scandal fatigue, or what?

Good news! "The city [Denver] also announced today that none of the equipment purchases include nonlethal weapons that discharge "slime" or "goo" to immobilize persons or vehicles or that use microwaves or sonic waves to induce pain or discomfort in targets.

Not that I'll be protesting. I just don't want to accidentally get slimed while strolling through Denver. Of course, I don't want to get hit with a billystick or rubber bullet either.

Want to attend the festivies on the last night of the convention? You must be serious.

"Every single person is going to be a level of seriousness," Hildebrand said. "You know, 'Tell us how you're going to get there from Maine. Tell us how you're going to get there from Florida. Give us a sense of whether or not you're really serious about this. If you're not, we're going to provide someone else with this.' "

You'll probably be more likely to get a ticket if you sign on to perform volunteer activities for the campaign. Contact your local Democratic Party office.

Rikki Hall's column in this week's Metro Pulse explains the controversy surrounding a heated race for Blount County Circuit Court. Rikki is the only journalist to get it right so far. He has more commentary at BlountViews.

Related: A BlountViews interview with Judge Meares

Randy Tyree says he plans to file a formal complaint with the Merit System Council regarding the "use of uniformed and classified employees on the campaign website of his opponent, J.J. Jones, the interim sheriff."

According to a press release, Tyree alleges that:

Jones has violated Knox County Ordinance No. O-90-9-111, as amended, which created and established a merit system for employees of the Knox County Sheriff’s Department and the Policies and Procedures of the Knox County Sheriff’s Merit System Council and has violated, caused to be violated or permitted the violation of Section 42-64 of the Knox County Code, as well as the Policies and Procedures of the Knox County Sheriff’s Office Merit System Council.

The website contains the images of some 14 employees who are protected under the Merit System and are not to appear on behalf of a political candidate while in uniform and/or on duty.

Jones’ campaign website also features the use of Knox County Sheriff’s Department patrol cars, aircraft (helicopter) badges, logos and police radios.

Tyree asked his opponent on July 16 to remove the images that were a violation of Merit Council’s policies, and Jones’ response was to avoid the question of whether or not the images were allowed. He directed Tyree to file a complaint.

"It is instructive that the interim sheriff won’t do the right thing and maintains his political position," Tyree said. "These are the same tactics employed by Tim Hutchison, the man most responsible for Jones being appointed to the office.

"The employees of the sheriff’s department are to be protected from politics on the part of the sitting sheriff. They are not to be used or their images misconstrued for political activities."

Tyree will hold a press conference on Thursday at 11 a.m. in front of the City County Building to discuss the matter.

Related:

• J.J. Jones website
• Randy Tyree website

Observation: Jones certainly has a slick website. That must have cost a bundle. Good thing he's raising so much money from the local GOP elite. It also has a whole page dedicated to attacks on Tyree, based mainly on stuff dragged up from 25 years ago. Sounds like Jones is worried.

Former Democratic party chair Don Daugherty announced his candidacy for Criminal Court Clerk today. Daugherty says he has "spent the past two weeks discussing the position with grassroots Democrats, as well as officeholders, candidates, and party officials, and lining up support for a race," and is "convinced that he is more than qualified for the job."

The nomination will be decided by a Knox County Democratic Party nominating convention, and the nominee will be on the Nov. 4th ballot.

Full press release attached.

I haven't been following it closely, but you have to admit that Obama is looking and acting very presidential on his trip to the Middle East. It appears U.S. soldiers were even allowed to afford him an enthusiastic reception.

My favorite part was the press conference where he says he reminded Gen. Petraeus who's the boss, and it's the Commander in Chief not the generals. (Our present Commander in Chief notwithstanding. Sending troops to solve a political and diplomatic problem is like sending the Bush cabinet to storm the beaches of Normandy, led by Cheney and Rice.)

I also like that McCain is reduced to having a tantrum about the network media coverage and that Fox didn't get invited to go along. Now they're both whining like a couple of cry babies.

It also seems that Bush is trying to take Iraq off the table as an election issue by suddenly suggesting there's a "horizon" beyond which U.S. troops will be home. Wonder if it also had anything to do with the Iraq PM calling for a withdrawal and now agreeing with Obama on a timetable? Either way, it appears McCain is left all alone standing in the corner with his 100 year strategy.

And what's the deal with Chuck Hagel accompanying Obama? Hmmm...

Q: What's the difference between Osama and Obama?

A: The Republicans are actually trying to stop Obama.

Nashville, Tennessee, July 22, 2008 – Daniel Lewis, the Libertarian Party of Tennessee’s candidate for United States Senate, recognizes the Gulf Coast Civic Works Act (H.R.4048), for what it is yet another boondoggle.
The Gulf Coast Civic Works Act establishes the Gulf Coast Recovery Authority to administer a Gulf Coast Civic Works Project. According to The Gulf Coast Civic Works Project’s web site (Link...) the civic work jobs will be in the areas of construction and the arts (e.g., plumbing, electrical, brick building, construction, air conditioning, as well as music, murals, theater and dance.) The project will provide paid apprenticeships for unskilled workers. Civic jobs will pay no less than $15/hour and workers will have the right to join unions. A Gulf Coast Authority, similar to the Tennessee Valley Authority will oversee the Gulf Coast Civic Works Project. The program will cost an estimated at $4 billion a year and, will come from federal, state, and private sources (e.g., insurance companies). Private sources will be asked to contribute $1 billion a year.
A much wiser move would be for the government to remove regulatory roadblocks and offer tax incentives for rebuilding along the gulf cost. The minimum wage of $15/hour set by the program will cause ramped unemployment among those who complete training. The strain on the already fragile Gulf Coast and national economy could be disastrous. The aftermath of passing this act could be worse than the damages caused by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. History shows that the Civic Works Projects of the New Deal, plagued with high costs and inefficiency, prolonged the Great Depression.
For additional information on Daniel Lewis Libertarian Candidacy for the United States Senate contact Daniel Lewis for United States Senate or visit Link.... The candidate authorizes images of the candidate found at Link... to be used by the media in articles. - END -

"I think it's fair to say that we don't have any specific credible threat information with regard to the convention, you know, from a terrorist standpoint."

Let's see, Osama bin Laden is still on the loose, he got to watch Saddam Hussein get arrested, he has a degree in accounting, and he worked undercover in Chicago. Oh, and he was a "legal" attache in Baghdad.

Let's hope all of the additional security personnel in Denver do get to go there, see the Rocky Mountains, and go home.

Heckuva job, Jimmie!

McCain, Obama first joint appearance in a church?

From TalkLeft,

We should keep religion and morality out of politics. It's a private matter that should stay private. What's next, debates at churches? Televising prayer breakfasts instead of congressional hearings? This is a slippery slope.

Sheesh.

H/T egalia.

Early voting is underway, and election day is a little less than three weeks away. Here are our endorsements.

County General:

County Commission 1-A: Sam McKenzie (D)
County Commission 2-B: Amy Broyles (D)
County Commission 4-A: Finbarr Saunders (D)
County Commission 4-B: Steve Drevik (D)
County Commission 6-A: Kathy Bryant (D)
County Commission 9-A: Chuck Ward (D)
Criminal Court Judge Div. II: Ken Irvine (D)
Property Assessor: Andrew Graybeal (D)
Register of Deeds: Scott Emge (D)
Sheriff: Randy Tyree (D)

Primaries:

TN House 16th District: Barbara Nicodemus (D)
TN Senate 14th District: Steve Roller (D)
TN Senate 16th District: Jean Anne Rogers (D)
TN Senate 22nd District: Rosalind Kurita (D)
U.S. House 1st District: Rob Russell (D)
U.S. House 2nd District: Bob Scott (D)
U.S. House 4th District: Lincoln Davis (D)
U.S. Senate: Bob Tuke

Discuss...

The Orlando Sentinel posts an article on "Winning Strategies for Obama, McCain in Florida".

Florida generally tends to lean Republican. "Republicans carried Florida in eight of the past 11 presidential elections..." Nothing unique here, Republicans carried most of the states in the past 11 presidential elections.

The writer's tip for Obama, Maximize turnout.

However, it appears the one time Florida did not follow the Republican trend was Bill Clinton's second term, 1996. The 1996 election had the lowest voter turnout of the past 12 presidential elections and Florida went for Clinton. Could it really have been a great economy that won Clinton the election in Florida? I guess the writer's tip may be good after all since Obama will not win based on a good economy this year.

See BlountViews.com...

From the inbox:

"The League of Women Voters of Knoxville-Knox County will sponsor a public forum for 6th District County Commission candidates Tuesday, July 22, in the Karns High School auditorium.

Forum participants Brad Anders (R) and Kathy Bryant (D) will answer questions from Moderator Judy Poulson, and also from the audience.

The forum will start at 6:30, and will be preceded by a "meet and greet" for all candidates for countywide office from 5:30 to 6:30."

In a follow up, Foster Arnett says he has a previous engagement in the 8th.

Gore hosted fundraiser in the works. A.C. Kleinheider has the scoop.

Central Floridian, "Mike Meehan claims he never expected so many people to pay attention to the billboards that he put up around Orlando -- the ones that feature the Twin Towers burning next to the slogan: "Please Don't Vote for a Democrat."

Every picture tells a story, don't it.

This picture tells us weird (bad?) people are out there. Be careful!

Update: additional Orlando controversy, UCF student impeached from Student Senate for desecrating a sacred object (he took a Communion wafer and put it in his pocket for show and tell).

You can't make this stuff up.

While overall interest in the presidential campaign has swelled since last fall, backers of Barack Obama are more fired up and express more loyalty to their candidate than McCain's do, a poll by The Associated Press and Yahoo News showed Friday.

They needed a poll to figure this out?

At BlountViews...

According to their report, they took in $3100, disbursed $36, and have $4342.90 on hand.

John McCain is a lucky recipient of Social Security benefits.

Last week, McCain said the system for funding Social Security is "a disgrace" because it forces young workers to pay into a program that is unlikely to benefit them in its current form.

Can you turn down SS benefits? If so, shouldn't he? I mean, he's very wealthy, isn't he? I'm sure there are a lot of us who could use those benefits when the time comes.

Katie has the press release at Knoxville Talks...

There is talk that Obama and the DNC are maneuvering to keep Hillary Clinton's name off the first nominating ballot at the Democratic National Convention. In my mind, any candidate who got "pledged" delegates during the primaries should be on the first ballot and there should be a roll call vote. That includes Obama, Clinton, and Edwards.

Obama reports $52 million raised in June, and $72 million on hand. He raised $31 million in April and $22 million in May.

I was wondering about that this weekend. Well, I just got a message indicating they would be announcing endorsements Friday morning.

They have not done a second round of interviews, so I suppose they are going to rely on their January interviews? Recent media coverage? (...shudder...what media coverage? OK, it's ramped up a bit this week, I admit...) That's too bad, I think a lot has changed and a lot has gone on since then. I had some particular points I would have liked to make in a second interview.

Anyway, stay tuned.

But he's a whiz at creative campaign finance accounting.

(FBI and U.S. Treasury Financial Crimes Enforcement Network agents call this "structuring" transactions when terrorists, gangsters, and white-collar criminals do it.)

Personally, this kind of stuff makes me wonder why we have partisan races for judges, or even elections at all.

At any rate, there's some real hardball bullshit going on over here in Blount Co. re. the GOP establishment v. an outstanding judge appointed by Gov. Bredesen last year.

Here's a sort of summary, and here's the latest, with annoying facts and stuff. It's a disgrace reminiscent of Bill Hobbs and Robin Smith and the rest of the TN GOP slime machine.

And here's a poke at the outrageously biased KNS coverage.

This ought to concern anyone interested in "liberty and justice for all." If you're interested in that sort of thing and would like to help a good guy fighting the good fight, urge your Blount Co. friends to vote for Judge Meares, and consider sending him a couple of bucks.

Steve Drevik, Candidate for County Commission 4-B will be there, as well as some county-wide candidates. Find us on the side patio/inside lounge area from 6-8pm. Casa Don Gallo's is just West of Morrell Road on Northshore Drive.

Bring a friend or two!

Link...

John McCain, posting on his blog

The AP is spreading misinformation about McCain, saying he was "born before computers."

This is simply not true. Herman Hollerith invented the punched card tabulating machine (and those 80 column cards you keypunched your FORTRAN programs onto in college) in 1896. His company eventually became IBM in 1911, twenty-five whole years before John McCain was born in 1936.

Also, 1936 was the same year German inventor Knoran Zuze invented the Z1 electrical binary programmable computer in his parents' living room. It was programmed using punched paper tape, just like Bill Gates' first version of BASIC that launched Microsoft.

So AP, McCain's not THAT old. He's just, uhm, "experienced," and has, uh, "witnessed a lot of technological advancements" first hand.

More Knox County election coverage from the KNS:

• County Clerk

• Register of Deeds

• Trustee

• County Commission 6-A

• County Commission 9-A

• TN 14th House District

• Georgiana Vines on recent endorsements

Halls Shopper Bonus Coupons:

• Betty Bean on the Campfield mailer

• Sandra Clark on Randy Tyree's blog, changes at the Knox Dem HQ, and an urgent notice that there will be no cake auction at the Concord Farragut Republican Club meeting.

P.S. Speaking of Randy Tyree's blog, Georgiana Vines also mentioned it last week and quoted J.J. Jones as saying he would not have a blog because "There's too much anonymity with blogging. It means absolutely nothing." Apparently he's not clear on the concept. Randy Tyree explains it for him.

(That same article also mentioned the grand opening of Obama's downtown K-town headquarters. They don't have electricity, so folks are asked to visit during daylight hours.)