Three more reasons to vote:

The Pentagon says 40-year-old Lieutenant Colonel Eric J.-Kruger of Garland was one of three officers killed in the Thursday [roadside] bombing. The military has said they were in the same vehicle in eastern Baghdad.

Everything I'm seeing is about voting problems -- at the polls, at campaign offices -- lawsuits are being prepared. TChris and Big Tent Democrat have been following them.

I'm getting ready to head to the CNN blog party.

On Election Night, Tuesday, November 7th, CNN is hosting prominent bloggers from across the country - and across the ideological spectrum - to watch returns, blog alongside one another, and share political insights during its live election coverage. Parts of the event will be streamed live on CNN Pipeline and broadcasted live on CNN's Election Night coverage starting at 7 PM E.T. Blogging begins at 4 PM and may continue into the early morning hours.

Here's a list of the bloggers who will be there.

This report discusses voting problems in Kentucky, including a poll worker's assault on a voter (talk about voter intimidation!):

A poll worker in south Louisville was arrested Tuesday morning and charged with assault and interfering with an election, an official said. Paula McCraney, a spokeswoman for the Jefferson County Clerk, said the poll worker was accused of choking and pushing the voter out of the door. Election officials called the police and when an officer arrived, the voter wanted to file charges, McCraney said.

The FCC is having a f'ing difficult time deciding whether and when the F-word is indecent. When Bono used the descriptive phrase "f'ing brilliant" on the Golden Globes in 2003, the FCC decided that "f'ing" wasn't used in a sexual context and therefore wasn't indecent, despite the flurry of complaints it received, many of them encouraged by the Parents Television Council. The FCC also took the sensible position that "fleeting and isolated remarks of this nature do not warrant Commission action." No sh--.

Pandering to the religious right, the FCC changed its position in 2004, concluding that the F-word "inherently has a sexual connotation." How f-ing stupid is that? Why can a TV personality describe a sex act in explicit clinical terms without offending the FCC, while risking a fine for using the F-word as an angry modifier in a context that is divorced from sex?

Here's an update on today's election problems, as reported in the NY Times:

In Cleveland, voters rolled their eyes as election workers fumbled with new touchscreen machines that they couldn't get to start properly until about 10 minutes after polls opened. ...

In Indiana's Marion County, about 175 of 914 precincts turned to paper because poll workers didn't know how to run the machines, said Marion County Clerk Doris Ann Sadler. She said it could take most of the day to fix all of the machine-related issues.

Election officials in Delaware County, Ind., planned to seek a court order to extend voting after an apparent computer error prevented voters from casting ballots in 75 precincts there. County Clerk Karen Wenger said the cards that activate the machines were programmed incorrectly.

And in Florida, where voters will have the pleasure of voting against Katherine Harris if they're able to cast their ballots:

Glenn Reynolds rejects the idea of race playing a role in today's election:

But if Ford loses [it won't be because of race] I think it will be because he overplayed his hand. . . . Meanwhile, if Michael Steele loses, will it be proof that Marylanders are racist? Of course not -- he's a Republican!

It won't be the only reason why Ford and Steele lose, but it will be a key reason in my opinion. Reynolds wants to reject the obvious -- some white voters are reluctant to vote for non-white candidates. This is not a new phenomenon. It is not accusing the country of being evil. It is dealing with reality.

Ford winning as a Democrat in Tennessee was a hard thing. But he ran a terrific campaign and was the Media darling. He should be close. Will he be? We'll see.

The same for Steele as a Republican in Maryland. He should be close. Will be be? We'll see.

This is one of many articles and editorials today encouraging people to exercise their right to vote. Here's how it ends:

My son isn’t sure what he’ll do after his tour is up, but he is passionate about wildlife and wilderness. Meanwhile, he has a year in the Middle East, for which he leaves on Saturday. He’s pretty miffed that only three members of Congress have sons in the Iraq war.

But what miffs all four of us is hearing that someone didn’t vote.

Problem, meet solution. Go vote.

Steven Rosenfeld asks whether this will be the election that convinces voters to insist on laws that preserve the integrity of elections -- and, by extension, of democracy.

Or will the people and organizations who raise the problems ... be dismissed as “conspiracy theorists” by the mainstream media?

Accompanying his essay is a list of problems with the 2006 election (including intimidation and other voter suppression tactics, all targeted at likely Democratic voters, as well as voting machine issues) compiled by People for the American Way.

John Nichols writes about candidates who "will form the frontline in a national push for clean and fair elections." Go vote for one of them, if you can.

Even good guys like Eugene Robinson write drivel like this:

The depressing nature of this endless campaign went beyond negative ads, however. Examine the messages that were delivered by the two parties and then try to find a reason to be filled with hope about the future.

. . . The Democratic Party had the advantage of having been out of power during the whole Iraq misadventure, which gave every Democratic candidate an even simpler message to transmit to voters: Look, I'm not George W. Bush.

In terms of politics, that was smart. But "not George Bush" doesn't qualify as much of a vision for America's future. At some point, it can't be enough just to list all the problems the Republicans have created or failed to address. What are the solutions?

"Not George Bush" is a very compelling vision of the future. The solutions will come in the GOVERNANCE, not the politics. This endless whining from a Media that does not even UNDERSTAND the issues, much less cover them (can we have ANOTHER story on John Kerry's botched joke please?) is the most sanctimonious hypocritical load of crap of all.

It was the kind of story Dateline loves: set up a camera outside a house to film the perp as the police arrest him and march him off to jail. The police love these stories, as well, because they give visual evidence to local residents that law enforcement is doing something productive.

The story didn't end as Dateline expected. Instead of surrendering himself to the police who pounded on his door, Louis Conradt Jr. shot himself. Conradt, a prosecutor, had been set up by Perverted Justice, a group of people who lurk in chat rooms, posing as minors, hoping to lure adults into a seemingly illicit chat. Conradt allegedly agreed to meet a chatter posing as a 13-year-old boy.

Dateline considers itself blameless. Its voyeuristic obsession with sex crime arrests didn't have anything to do with Conradt's suicide, it claims, because Conradt didn't know he was about to be filmed. Maybe, or maybe a neighbor called him to ask why a film crew was hanging out in his yard. In any event, it isn't Dateline's job to shame a presumptively innocent internet chatter by filming his perp walk as police show up unannounced to haul him out of his home. This is tawdry theater, not journalism.

TChris wrote about the Wisconsin robocalls earlier. Josh Marshall is following all the developments (20 districts so far) and explains how they work.

Crooks and Liars has some CNN video about the scam.

Is this what Karl Rove meant when he said he had special plans for 72 hours before the election?

I'm in Washington, D.C. for the CNN election night blogger party coverage which will begin at 5pm ET. You can view it live at CNN Pipeline (14 day free trial required) and you may see us from time to time on CNN's Situation Room. CNN internet reporters Jacki Schechner and Abbi Tatton will be with us. Pipeline has four feeds you can watch simultaneously, the bloggers will be one of the channels most of the night.

Big Tent, TChris and maybe even Last Night in Little Rock will be blogging at TalkLeft as well.

I got in around 5 pm today, hooked up with John Amato from Crooks and Liars, and Christy, TRex and Pach from Firedoglake. We went over to the Tryst, where we'll be tomorrow night. It's a large, very cool, very funky coffee house with high ceilings, great food, tables, couches and a bar.

Don't forget to vote tomorrow, so many races are just so close. Bottom line: We get the Government we elect.