• "In the summer of 1916, for example, a dramatic ­week­long series of shark attacks along New Jersey beaches left four people dead...Letters poured into congressional offices demanding federal action; but what action would be effective in such circumstances? ... When President Woodrow ­Wilson—­a former governor of New Jersey with strong local ­ties—­ran for reelection a few months later, he was punished at the polls, losing as much as 10 percent of his expected vote in towns where shark attacks ­had occurred." [WWQ]

• "Hanging around with terriers." [NBC]

• "Lorraine Minnite of Barnard College...noted that "between 2002 to 2005 only one person was found guilty of registration fraud. Twenty others were found guilty of voting while ineligible and five were guilty of voting more than once. That's 26 criminal voters." Twenty-six criminal voters despite the fact that U.S. attorneys, like David Iglesias in New Mexico, were fired for searching high and low for vote-fraud cases to prosecute and coming up empty." [Slate]

• "There's no word about what Palin may do on the show." [NYDN]

• "It's not that the squiggly lines aren't fun to watch. Rather, they're too much fun to watch. It's hard to avert your eyes from them. It's hard to separate your own, independent reaction from theirs. And it's certainly hard to integrate back into to the non-squiggly universe once you've gotten hooked on the squigglys." [TNR]

• Burton actually looks kinda hot. [GQ]

Paul asks:

Since you, as a journalist, get every piece of campaign spam there is, you are in a position to tell us if Rick Davis is telling the truth and that the attacks from the blogosphere on Joe the Plumber are indeed coming from the Obama campaign or if instead that Rick Davis talking to Hugh Hewitt is full of it.

Can I trust you to do the right thing?

Rick Davis, on this score, is full of it. I should have pointed it out earlier. All of the "anti-Joe" (or at least "questioning Joe") material I've received has come from bloggers, columnists, friends, etc. (And, of course, from righties decrying their actions.) Here is what I've received from Obama and related entities about Mr. The Plumber:

UPDATE: Image fixed, sorry.

AND YET MORE: A little bird reminds me that the New York Times added to the Plumber portfolio as well, though that piece was not spammed out by the Obama campaign as well. Did it slime the guy? Well, it didn't do him any favors.

In the new dead-tree TIME, I have a story about how a sinking economy is lifting the Democrats' prospects for a filibuster-proof majority in the Senate.

Here's a good thing that has come out of the insertion of a "regular guy" into the national political dialog:

According to the New York Times, Mr. Wurzelbacher says that he is planning to buy a plumbing business that has profits of between $250,000 and $280,000 a year.

While this income would put Mr. Wurzelbacher above the threshold where he could expect to pay higher taxes under Senator Obama's tax plan, the increase in his tax bill would be relatively modest. Under Senator Obama's plan, the tax on income above $250,000 would increase by 3 percentage points from 33 percent to 36 percent. This means that Mr. Wurzelbacher could expect to see his tax bill rise by between $0-$900, assuming that this plumbing business would be his entire taxable income. If he has additional taxable income, then he would see a larger increase in his taxes.

It would have been useful for reporters to explain the extent to which Joe the Plumber would see his taxes increase under Senator Obama's tax proposal. It is unlikely that this tax increase will seriously impair his plans for his business as Senator McCain implied.

Actual examination of a real-life example of what might happen to a real person. We could totally use more of that.

Not such a good thing? Allegations that Mr. W is a nut, a "ringer," related to Charles Keating, possibly not a plumber, or perhaps just a little enraptured with his own voice. (Not bothering to link to these.) This is obviously just a case of "attacking the messenger, rummaging through his personal life and predictably wielding the race card once again." And everyone -- especially the right -- knows that citizens are not fair game when it comes to sussing out the legitimacy of the questions they raise. Right?

But Barack Obama and John McCain do. And they don't just look funny. They talk funny. This is from the Al Smith charity dinner Thursday night.

UPDATE: It's also notable that later in the event, McCain said the following:

"I don't want it getting out of this room, but my opponent is an impressive fellow in many ways. Political opponents can have a little trouble seeing the best in each other. But I've had a few glimpses of this man at his best and I admire his great skill, energy and determination. It's not for nothing, but he's inspired many folks in his own party and beyond. Senator Obama talks about making history and he's made quite a bit of it already. There was a time when the mere invitation of an African-American citizen to dine at the White House was taken as an outrage and an insult. Today is a world away from the cruelty and prideful bigotry of that time - and good riddance. I can't wish my opponent luck, but I do wish him well."