POLIS

Gary Comer, founder of the Land's End clothing company, took out a full-page ad in the Wisconsin State Journal today, addressed to "Undecided Voters of Wisconsin." Land's End is a beloved business in Wisconsin, a reliable employer of thousands in the politically conservative southwestern portion of the state. In the ad, he doesn't come out and say "vote for Kerry," but the message is clear:

I have been a Republican and voted Republican most of my life. But in my opinion, this administration has high-jacked the Republican Party I knew and is taking Wisconsin and the United States in dangerous directions. If Bush is re-elected, you and your children and grandchildren and mine will pay dearly in their freedoms and opportunities long after his term of office expires. I believe that four more years of President Bush and the people who surround him is not in our Nation's best interest.

You could very well be the deciding factor in the electoral outcome of this election. Think carefully, vote your heart and head. I think of the debt that we will leave ourselves and everyone who follows, and I question the judgment that caused the deaths of 1100 U.S. friends and neighbors in a war that we didn't need to start.

Emphasis his.

UPDATE: Apparently, Rudy Guilani had recently come to the Dodgeville, WI headquarters of Land's End to campaign for Bush, so I would imagine Comer's ad is in response to that action.

I'm in Madison, WI working with the League of Conservation Voters to get John Kerry elected. Rally today in downtown Madison: 80-100,000 people.



Kerry's evolved into a very fine candidate: he delivered a strong stump speech, forceful, projecting a lot of confidence. I was a little worried that the crowd's enthusiasm would wane after Bruce Springsteen's stirring introduction (he played "No Surrender" solo on an acoustic guitar), but Kerry didn't disappoint.

5 days to go. I'll be here through d-day, posting updates here when I can and photos to my Flickr blog.

Contributors to Slate show their cards. Skip the article: long story short, they're practically all voting Kerry. Most wrote a paragraph or more explaining their decision, but this is the only one worth reading:

Henry Blodget, Contributor: Kerry

Not perfect, but "reality-based."

That's really all that needs to be said, isn't it?

The chairmen of the national parties, and a pundit round-table. 100% substance-free!