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The ad that never aired

McCain never gave permission for this controversial Wright ad to air. But it has just turned up on ABC.

Remember this?

As of today, it looks like Hillary Clinton will be answering the phone after all.

Could you make the Cabinet?

Think you have what it takes to be a member of Obama's Cabinet?

Try your hand at the application form as imagined by the New Yorker. My favourite question?

Have you ever socialized with:
a. A Baldwin brother?
b. A Serbian war criminal?
c. A Senate page?
d. Senator Joseph Lieberman?

It's (almost) Thanksgiving

Time to bring on Sarah Palin and a turkey.

Head over to Across the Pond for perhaps the funniest Palin video yet.

Is Rahm Emanuel the new Chuck Norris?

You may feel you already know everything you need to about the ballet-dancing, knife-wielding, dead-fish-sending incoming Chief of Staff.

But the Rahm Emanuel fan club begs to differ. Their new site heralds pits Barack Obama's right hand man against Chuck Norris, the musician whose popularity shored up Mike Huckabee's campaign. 

His mother calls him Rahmbo. His middle name is Israel. He tried to cut Dick Cheney from welfare. And you can even buy a t-shirt.

Hat Tip: Democracy in America

The hottest ticket in town

If you haven't already got that DC hotel room booked for January 20th, then you're definitely too late.

Over a million people are expected to roll into town to watch the greatest show on earth - Obama's inauguration. That's over four for each available seat. Many expect the number of spectators to beat LBJ's record-holding 1.2 million.

Despite the fact that House Members get only 198 tickets each, political offices have been beseiged by constituency requests. And while it's illegal to sell the tickets, Craigslist is already doing a brisk trade in accommodation.

Even Congress members are getting in on the rent-a-room act. Senator Robert Casey has announced that he hopes those unable to find a hotel room in DC will think about basing themselves in Joe Biden's birthplace.

Thankfully, your constituents may have an affordable option just a short drive or train ride away in my home state of Pennsylvania

We don't know how Casey commutes but ninety minutes plus inaugural traffic is not exactly short. Still unless you actually know an Obama, it may be as close as you're going to get.

If you must ask Gore Vidal on your show....

Beam me up Blitzer: Jon Stewart takes on the CNN hologram

I've been waiting for this one. Jon Stewart tackles CNN's inexplicable decision to have a little Star Wars fun with holograms. Why indeed?

In so doing, he also silences one rumour. Yes, he will still be funny in an Obama administration.

Sarah Palin didn't know Africa was a continent

The race for the Republican nomination in 2012 has begun. Or, more precisely, the campaign to prevent Sarah Palin being the candidate has begun.

The McCain staff has begun unloading on Sarah Palin. A stunning report on Fox News reveals that:

Perhaps one of the most astounding and previously unknown tidbits about Sarah Palin has to do with her already dubious grasp of geography.

According to Fox News Chief Political Correspondent Carl Cameron, there was great concern within the McCain campaign that Palin lacked "a degree of knowledgeability necessary to be a running mate, a vice president, a heartbeat away from the presidency," in part because she didn't know which countries were in NAFTA, and she "didn't understand that Africa was a continent, rather than a series, a country just in itself."

Here is the report:

538: The people who got it right

In the past few months, Comment Central has placed a lot of faith in the fivethirtyeight.com website.

They are interested in something that deeply interests me - not so much polling but building models of the impact of polls on real results.

So I was fascinated to see how they would do.

Well, here is their final projection published as the polls opened on Tuesday. As you will see, they've got it spot on, absolutely spot on.

I wonder whether they could be prevailed upon to work on the next British election.