Cardboard strikes again: Jon Favreau has been busted for a facebook photo in which he was caught groping a cardboard cutout of Hillary Clinton. Now I can understand the allure of two-dimensional women. In college, my (coed) roommates kept a cut-out of a model stroking a massive six-foot bottle of beer in our common room.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper prorogued Canada's Parliament yesterday. Proroguing is not to be confused with pierogieing, a Polish sport in which competitors pelt each other with cheese-filled dumplings.

Back in the primary, pundits and critics wondered how Obama could deliver change while keeping his promise of bipartisanship, for the Republicans would surely block progressive initiatives. As Obama selects experienced insiders for his administration, pundits and critics now wonder how he can deliver change with a staff whose ideas have shaped past administrative policies. Some assume that Obama will not try or will not be able to fulfill his promises of change. Others assume that to Obama, "change" is an empty word, useful for getting elected but irrelevant to his governing plans.

Obama recently gave his first press conference as President Elect despite the fact that "President Elect" is not actually an office.

As has been well documented at TPM, John McCain ran a deceitful, jingoistic, superficial, nationalistic campaign which grew ever more incendiary towards the end. But there is one place that McCain did not go. He did not ultimately base his campaign on racial polarization. Yes, there were a few subtle coded messages, and McCain's attacks on Obama's patriotism harbored a racial undercurrent. Yes, there were Muslim rumors and Rev. Wright ads by third parties that McCain failed to publicly deplore.

Walked home last tonight after a joyful election party in the West Village, NYC--good crowd, wonderful friends, incredible victory. Felt a bit melancholy, in the way you do after achieving something for which you have striven for so long. It's my birthday. November 5th. Marvelous birthday gift from the American voters. 37. Strange age to be. People shout gleefully on sidewalks. Cars honk happily on streets. High fives with strangers. Arrive at St. Marks Place in the East Village. Crowd on the corner. Cheering. Stand on a pay phone, take photos. Walk down St.

I just stopped over at the RealClearPolitics election map. The results in truth are tighter than I would like. Obama is still outside the margin of error for 278 EVs, but last week it was well over 300. I'm not really concerned. McCain would have to win all the "tossup" states, among which Obama still leads in several, plus at least one of the "leaning Obama" states. In addition, poll analysis by A-man and FlyOnTheWall gives me confidence that Obama will outperform the polls.

FlyOnTheWall is my favorite non-dagging blogger at the TPM Cafe. He/she is the uncontested pollmaster of TPM. If you're feeling anxious about the election or just curious about the accuracy of the polls, I highly recommend his/her latest post.

Some excerpts:

The other day, I wrote a piece of snark about Joe the Plumber's brand going global, inspired by an actual quote from a Greek analyst about "Joe the Greek Plumber." Today, I read that the Joe the Plumber has hired a manager. Seriously. Jim Della Croce, president of the Nashville-based Pathfinder Management group, explains his plans for Joe the Celeb's future:

More eloquent than the sermons in Oliver Stone's W. and a heck of a lot shorter.

In a surprise move, the McCain campaign has announced that it has fired the public face of the campaign, Senator John McCain. Campaign spokesperson, Nancy Pfotenhauer, announced the decision to dumbstruck reporters at a hastily arranged press conference on Thursday:

"As of this morning, Senator John McCain has been placed on indefinite administrative leave. John and the campaign leadership have agreed that he is not a good fit for the campaign right now. The parting was amicable, and we wish him well in all his future endeavors."