1976 – 83
1980 – 83
1984 – 91 (Dem nominee – Mondale. Central casting old white man)
1988 – 89
1992 – 85
1996 – 84
2000 – 90
2004 – 88
2008 – 95

If it fits your narrative, you can argue that Obama got a small, borderline statistically insignificant bump from black voters (the Roper Center did not post the standard error with their numbers). However, you can also argue that the campaign that McCain ran and the rhetoric that continually questioned Obama’s patriotism and citizenship, plus Palin’s… Palin-ness, could have turned a few black voters who historically voted Republican.

Another good question: How much does the show really cost? Adam was throwing around the figure of $80 per month. It really shouldn’t cost that much. If the episodes are hosted on amazon s3, $80 a month would pay for over 20,000 downloads a month. If the show was really bringing that many downloads, there would be no problem with sponsorship. So, they either are paying way too much, or they aren’t paying $80 a month. I’m sure that with a hosting play better suited to the show, they could cut their costs to $40 a month with almost no effort, or with a more spartan offering (they don’t need to offer their whole back catalog for download) they could do it for $20 a month. At those prices, their meager fundraising effort should be more than enough.

Another funny point: At the end of Jim Carolla’s “farewell” podcast (in which he claims to take responsibility for the show being cancelled, but clearly takes no responsibility), Ray tells him that Adam ends each show by saying “mahalo”. Jim responds with “Oh, really?”. Here’s to fatherhood.

Skype works fantastically well.

Like steel sharpens steel, friends sharpen friends….