I DON'T OWN A MINIVAN
Well, actually, I do. It's titled in my wife's name, so I've enjoyed making the joke that I don't own a minivan, my wife does. After all, everyone knows there's nothing less manly than a minivan! Although, I would make an argument that it is really a home theatre on wheels, perfect for movie watching while riding home from UNC football games this fall (when we'll be anxious to take our minds off the game and get them back on beer and movies).

But my silly joke is actually John Kerry's real, straight-faced defense. He's railed against bad energy policy and high gas prices, but when asked if he owns a Chevy Suburban (good luck backing out of a parking space if you're parked next to one of these ugly things), he says "I don't own an SUV" and "The family has it. I don't have it."

So remember, I don't own a minivan!

ANOTHER HERO DIES FOR FREEDOM
An Arizona Cardinal, Pat Tillman, who gave up a $3.6 million contract to join the Army Rangers, has been killed in Afghanistan. Many other heros have died for freedom in Afghanistan and Iraq, giving up far less lucrative jobs and less cushy lifestyles, but their sacrifices are just as great. Hats off to Tillman and all the others who sacrifice their careers and their lives to make Americans safer and many people that we will never know more free.

IOWA, FLORIDA TIGHT
New polls in Iowa and Florida, with Kerry up 1 in Iowa and Bush up 1 in Florida. These are better numbers for Kerry than in the last Composite Poll, although no new national polls have come out since Monday.

AWESOME OLIVE OIL
This is the best olive oil I have ever had and it knows no politics. You can't imagine how good olive oil can be, or that different varietals can have such distinctly different and exceptional flavors, until you've had this. And even though Spain is giving up on the war on terror, this stuff is still awesome. Check it out at this link -- Aceites Aguibal.

WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED TO MY CODE?
Without editing or doing any other change to my template, my code got corrupted and my header graphics don't line up anymore. I can't imagine how this would happen, so if anyone out there has a good eye for HTML and can read through all the extraneous BS that FrontPage likes to insert, I'd appreciate it if you can tell me why my columns have expanded, causing my top graphic to become misaligned. Sure, I edited the main page and the composite poll page, but I didn't even touch the methodology page...and it went screwy too. Help!

I've also added two new links to the left hand column for two sites I've come to visit frequently. One is Cox & Forkum -- excellent political cartoonists, whom you won't see in your local liberal rag (instead, we in Raleigh get the no-talent, 1% funny, shallow Duane Powell). The other new site is Jay Reding.com. Jay is not only insightful, but takes the time to do some research and really make his case.

ELECTORAL VOTE: BUSH 328 | KERRY 210
In the latest Composite Poll, Bush leads by 2 1/2, 49.83 to 47.33, though I expect that this lead is soft. Worse news for Kerry in the Electoral College.

In other predictions, ElectionProjection has the race at Bush 48.07%, 247 | Kerry 50.93%, 291 as of April 13.

Dales' ECB has Bush 46.3%, 216 | Kerry 44.7%, 202 with 120 tossups, as of April 19.

WHAT MADE 9-11 POSSIBLE?
The Axis of Weasels says that years of political correctness, adherence to international law and even the Florida recount made things quite a bit easier for the islamofascists to succeed. See that argument here.

Thanks to Murali.