Pajamas Media

Week 37 in Progress… Thompson, Richardson win 36

Over 130,000 votes have been cast in the weekly PAJAMAS MEDIA PRESIDENTIAL STRAW POLL. The thirty-seventh week has officially begun.

NEW DEAL: Pajamas Media editors have noted that the number of weekly votes in our poll has diminished drastically from the tens of thousands cast at the outset. For months now, many readers have been complaining to us about the increasing inutility of the poll because of vote-swarming by second tier candidates. Many voters have lost interest and are not participating. Websites that had run our widget were no longer doing so.

Something needed to change.

Therefore, especially since the campaign itself appears to be narrowing its focus to front-running candidates, henceforth the Pajamas Media Poll will be restricted to those first tier candidates listed on the front poll page of the leading online poll aggregator Real Clear Politics. As of now, that is four candidates on the Democratic side and five on the Republican. We will change our lineup on the Sunday after RCP does, if it does.

DON’T FORGET: You can put the poll on your website or blog with our free voting widget and become a precinct in the Pajamas Media Straw Poll. Learn how the readers of your site are voting and compare it the the total.

Why I Can’t Vote For Any Of These Guys – Part Two

Vodkapundit Stephen Green bemoaned the dearth of Democratic presidential candidates worth supporting on PJM last week. Now it's the Republicans turn.

That’s Propa-tainment!

What accounts for Hollywood's failure to capture the reality of war? Jules Crittenden contends that Tinseltown's "moralistic monkey has climbed back up on its shoulder," resulting in films that have nothing to do with combat and everything to do with politics.

Culture Bytes: Agent Zigzag

John Le Carré? Graham Greene? Real life spy stories can be even more amazing, as PJM culture critic David Freeman discovered reading Ben Macintyre's %%AMAZON=073935454X Zigzag: A True Story of Nazi Espionage, Love and Betrayal,%% the biography of double agent Eddie Chapman.

The Short Happy Life of a Russian Anti-Corruption Investigator

Nazim Kaziakhmedov - Russia's top fraud investigator - was shot dead Thursday night in an apparent contract killing. Sean Guillory - PJM's resident Russia expert - considers whether the Wild West of the Moscow Nineties is making a comeback.

Could Indiana Become a Blue State?

PJM Indianapolis: After moving from Southern California to Indiana, Ari Kaufman was surprised to learn that some parts of America's heartland aren't all that different from liberal Los Angeles. Is the Hoosier State still a GOP stronghold?

Blog Week in Review: Petraeus/MoveOn, Ten Days After

Glenn Reynolds and John Podhoretz of the New York Post and National Review, and author of %%AMAZON=0307337928 Can She Be Stopped?,%% join host Austin Bay in this week’s show. Produced by Ed Driscoll.

PJM on XM–Listen Now

Click here to listen to the second episode of PJM Political – our new weekly presidential campaign talk show – Thursdays at 6PM Eastern/3PM Pacific on XM Satellite Radio’s P.O.T.U.S. ‘08 Channel 130.

October 4th PJM Political On XM Satellite Radio

Our September 27th debut show is still online–Click here to listen.

McCain — Boot Burma Out of ASEAN

Sen. John McCain called for Burma to be expelled from ASEAN in a bloggers' call this afternoon. PJM editor Fausta Wertz reports.

The Corn & Miniter Show: Dems in Iraq by 2013

The first Democratic debate after Labor Day is the opening topic of this week’s show: the big news there was that none of the candidates, not even Dennis Kucinich, guaranteed a total pullout from Iraq by 2013 if they win. David Corn and Richard Miniter also talk about Giuliani’s gun position, Fred Thompson and the Evangelicals, Gingrich’s toe in the water, and much more. Click and watch! (Audio-only MP3 version available here)