Old man winter has arrived on a mission, kicking in the door and pistol-whipping me into submission. Was it really 70 degrees here on Sunday!?!

Yesterday was the start of Week 2 of NaNoWriMo and while I have officially surpassed my output from last year's prolonged 2.5 month attempt, I'm also 7,663 words in the hole as of Day 8! I am right on schedule with what's referred to as the Week 2 Wall, though - that time where a little thing called "PLOT" is supposed to kick in. Figure I can introduce two more characters, and develop some more of the overall backstory, before I have to figure out where it's all going.

Howard Dean as head of the DNC? Like his primary campaign, on the surface it sounds like a much-needed change. Until you remember that he's a craven opportunist, a little bit more outspoken than most Democrats but at his core, not fundamentally different.

Meanwhile, John Kerry seems to think he has some political capital of his own to spend and is fired up to get back in the Senate and get his hands dirty: "Sometimes God tests you," Kerry told the crowd at H20, a restaurant on the Potomac waterfront, according to an aide. "I'm a fighter, and I've come back before." Um, John, dude, God didn't test you, he punk'd you! And a good portion of the 55 million that voted for you, mainly voted against Bush. Another significant portion will be jumping on the Hilary bandwagon shortly. Ask Al and Joe. You're done.

Does anyone really believe that blanket insults directed towards Middle America are the most effective way to make them see the error of their ways? That there really are 56 million complete idiots across this country, that had no idea what they were voting for? Like a good portion of Kerry's supporters didn't do some similar weighing of their values and choose to compromise for their perception of the lesser of two evils?

For those wondering how the Working Families Party fared in the election (you did pull Row E, didn't you?), the answer is quite well:

Labor-Backed Third Party Emerges as Statewide Force
By MICHAEL SLACKMAN
Published: November 7, 2004

With all the attention focused on the re-election of President Bush and the record voting for New York State's senior United States senator, Charles E. Schumer, the hidden winner of last Tuesday's election may well have been the Working Families Party, which established itself as an emerging political force statewide by getting a little-known candidate elected district attorney in Albany County.

The small grass-roots party, which has strong ties to labor, had already helped defeat an incumbent in the Assembly, elected a member of the New York City Council and pressed the State Legislature to pass an increase in the minimum wage. But before Tuesday, it had never flexed its political muscle so far outside the downstate region.

Suddenly, what seemed to be a city-centered political phenomenon became a potential statewide force. Although the Nassau County executive, Thomas R. Suozzi, has talked about beating incumbents in his Fix Albany campaign, his results have been limited. But the Working Families Party has, more often than not, succeeded by backing candidates who go on to do well at the polls.

In so doing, the party has rekindled a New York tradition of strong third parties, one that has faded with the collapse of the Liberal Party, an identity crisis within the Conservative Party and the lack of a popular leader for the Independence Party.

Thanks, Xia, for passing the article along.

Maybe this should have been a Pumpkin Seeds entry?