Out Of The Darkness, Into Confusion

Power is being restored across the region, but not all signals are clear. There's still an election scheduled for tomorrow, but it doesn't seem like everyone is one the same page.

Listen, it's perfectly understandable for there to be quibbling over poll results and expectations, but in the last few days, people from both Barack Obama's camp and Mitt Romney's camp have all but said that their candidate is not only going to win, but win big. Meanwhile, most neutral observers (as neutral as can be, at least) see the whole thing as a dead heat.

How can there be such crazy discrepancies? Worse yet, the growing concern is that there will not be a clear winner tomorrow night. Keep the coffee brewing, it's going to be a long one.

Hunkering Down With Sandy

The warnings are over and Sandy is about to arrive. The city and most surrounding municipalities wisely shut everything down well in advance of the storm and now all we can do is sit and wait.

I happened to be driving across the state yesterday and counted more than 100 utility trucks making their way east - from Ohio, Michigan, Missouri, Illinois and other points west. Sadly, they likely will not be enough to keep millions from being without power for extended periods.

We won't know the business impact, of course, for quite some time. But the pricetag will be in the millions of dollars for sure.

The worst should happen overnight, so until then, hunker down and be safe.

A Scary-Good Issue

Our latest edition is on newsstands with some worthwhile distractions from the high-pitched noise of the election season. A great look at why Halloween is almost a recession-proof "industry" these days, in addition to some fail-safe time management guidance and a look at how Philadelphia plans on collecting a lot of delinquent taxes.

So check it out and, by all means, drop me a line to let me know what you think.

Another Obligatory Debate Post

Last night's final presidential debate signalled the beginning of the stretch run for this year's contest and not a moment too soon.

Campaign fatigue has set in and the seemingly endless stream of ads and news reports are all starting to blur together. About the only thing we know for sure is that it's going to be close on Election Night. For now, we can all hunker down and watching the flurry of conflicting polls. And if you think you've seen a lot of polls, just wait. They pollsters are just getting started.

A recent sampling:

• Let Freedom Ring's latest poll shows President Obama's lead growing in the state while Sen. Casey's is slipping.
• The news for Mitt Romney is more grim according to the latest Angus Reid poll, which shows President Obama with a solid 9-point lead.
• The Morning Call's poll shows President Obama with a 50-45 lead. The folks at Real Clear Politics mash up all the polls and come up with an average and their results look a lot like The Morning Call's - President Obama with five-point lead. Mix in the margin of error, and it's close.

So hang in there. The ride is going to get a lot more bumpy.

Must-See TV? That's Debatable

At long last, tonight is the final presidential debate and while this does not mark the end of the seemingly interminable campaign, it is an important milestone.

No, not for the impact it might have on the race - odds are that will be minimal, but instead, it marks the time where in a horse race, the announcer would yell "do-o-o-o-o-o-wn the stretch!"

And not a moment too soon.

The back and forth of this race has been exhausting. At the outset, the GOP thought it merely had to show up to win. A protracted primary season deflated party enthusiasm and fractured the base, allowing President Obama to create what looked like a commanding lead.

With the Democrats on autopilot, the Republicans were poised to chip away at the lead. Instead, Mitt Romney stumbled and bumbled his way through the summer and by the time we got to September, the unthinkable - President Obama winning a second term - not only looked likely, it looked like it might happen in a landslide.

The GOP finally got down to business and nibbled away at the lead in the polls and, of course, Mr. Romney pounded the president in the first debate and, suddenly, it was a race.

But the fatigue factor is in full effect now and keeping voters interested may be the biggest challenge. Polls indicate that there really aren't many undecided voters out there, which means this election will likely be determined not by which candidate has the strongest platform, but which party has a better get-out-the-vote strategy.

Our New Investor, Issue

No surprise, but we're pretty excited about our latest issue, anchored by a great feature about how savvy investors are making a bet on the long-term profitability of newspapers. But the news of our latest investor seems to have attracted even more attention.

That's the link to the philly.com article on Raymond Perelman's investment in our company, but we also have a more in-depth piece on our site. We're excited to have Mr. Perelman be a part of what we're creating. Take a look through this week's edition and see some of what we're up to.

Teamsters Authorize Strike at Philly Newspapers

We were expecting a lot more buzz about this, but very quietly this morning - like, 3 a.m. this morning - philly.com posted a two-paragraph blurb stating that the Teamsters had authorized a strike against the company that owns The Philadelphia Inquirer, the Daily News and philly.com. These are the content producers or ad folks. The story states that this group includes "delivery drivers, clerks, dispatchers, security guards, and building services personnel."

But the other groups are also bound to have something to say, because management has made it pretty clear they are expecting everyone to sacrifice in order to get the company to profitability and the unions have, at least publicly, shown no appetite for that.

Stay tuned.