In Texas, there was definitely the conservative strategy in play. There's also a shockingly high percentage of people who still believe the now-discredited story about Obama not being willing to say "under God" in the Pledge of Allegiance. I couldn't make this stuff up.

Michelle Obama's comment about not being proud of her country until now also got a lot of play here, and it didn't sit well with either conservatives or liberals. It's amazing what an unthinking comment (something I'll be isn't even true if she were to search her feelings a bit) can grow into. But I think I like that she doesn't exactly play the political game like a pro.

Through my wife, I know a lot of Hispanic people down here, and I sense an extreme distrust of Obama that I believe is essentially racist. It's as if there is a deep-rooted fear of Black people among the larger group that I don't really understand. That Obama is at least half white (if not more) seems to not matter a bit.

I encouraged people to do what I did with my wife. Pull out some tables on the candidate's positions, print them, cut out the labels on the top and just read through the positions blind. Take a score in that way and think about voting accordingly. Sometimes I think the cult of personality and appearance carries more weight than it should.

There were reports in Houston about fraud at one of the pollstations. A credentialled observer came to (silently) monitor the station, and he was forcefully escorted from the premises by the station leader, who happens to be a well-known Clinton supporter. The observer tried to explain his role and showed his credentials. Later in the day, a higher level observer arrived and had the same thing happen. I expect there may be a legal challenge because of this, but probably not to the entire election result. The one station wouldn't carry enough votes to warrant that. However, if this was indicative of a larger "fix" . . . It's kind of scary to see the power that individual politicos can have at the polls.