Does anyone here talk about anything other than politics?

If you haven't noticed, ever since the big software changeover, there's generally been two kinds of people that are posting here: (1) people who navel-gaze about why the site is different, and what's going to happen to the way we used to blog, and why we lost our beloved tracker, and, (2) everyone else.

I, obviously, am in the former group.

What's clear to me at this point is TPM has two very distinct audiences, that of Election Central, and the old Cafe. What the new software change has done has brought these two audiences -- cultures, really -- together.

No offense to the Election Central people, but one of the happiest days of my blogging life was the day TPM moved you all over to another site.

I know that sounds rude. I don't mean it to be. We're just different animals, you and I.

You are, and this is simply my impression from the last few days, as well as knowing the old EC, fast and furious, breathlessly politically-astute and breathlessly consumed by politics. And sometimes, for me, it can be too much.

Don't get me wrong -- maybe it's too much for me, but I also admire this about you. I admire your passion, your knowledge. How you know things about undeclared delegates, or why Minnesota was so important to Obama on Super Tuesday. How you know about the "micro" of politics. I feel I can learn a lot from the people here who know so much more about politics than I know...and I actually thought I was pretty good!

Incidentally, it actually troubles me, then, when I read the "Obama Supporters Think He's Jesus" sentiment in many people's comments -- if nothing else, Obama's supporters are passionate about politics. Passionate, just like...you. What more could we want from people (other than having them vote exactly like you?)?

Anyway, the point of all this is, I've noticed that we're different. Not in a bad way; not in a good way.

Just different.

Which is, in case you were wondering, why some of us are spending so much time navel-gazing these days.

Just different...

I am hoping that I can learn from you. I am hoping I can get used to the much faster pace of things around here. I am hoping our two worlds end up being much better off by colliding.

OK, that's that.

So seriously, does anyone here talk about anything *other* than politics?

Cooking? American Idol?

Anything???

Oh, forget it...

Contrary to a lot of what I've seen written here at TPM Blog Central, via here, voters actually like both Democratic candidates:

But the early exit polls show they are not bitterly divided: 72 percent of Democrats said they would be satisfied if Clinton won the party's nomination, while 71 percent say the same about Obama.

So, please, whatever anecdotal evidence you might have, say, you heard someone on the radio say they wouldn't vote for such and such -- it doesn't measure up, at least against CNN's polling. There's no mutiny. There's no skipping out on election day. There's no taking the ball and running home crying.

Whatever differences are being drawn in the primary, remember: The voters hate this war, and John McCain and the Republicans love it.

Lots of bugs, lots of despair...

Got any tips?

Here's two: Emma is using delicious to track posts (My Kingdom for the Tracker link!!!). Me, I've found if you get timed out when posting a comment (and see the "Registration" error page...), if you hit the back button, select and copy the incredibly brilliant words you just spent 10 minutes writing, hit the forward button, click on the "original post" link, sign back in, and re-post your copied test, well, it ain't pretty, but it works.

At least the brilliance ain't lost.

Please post any tips, ideas, complaints you have, or maybe just what's cookin' for dinner, in the comments.

How do you know? Forget Super Tuesday. The NYT headline reads:

Intelligence Chief Cites Qaeda Threat to U.S.

Naturally...

I'm really not understanding why people are having so much trouble figuring out who to vote for today. It's easy:

Which candidate is less likely to drop bombs on other countries?

Cause I'm pretty sure, we need a whole lot less bomb-dropping these days.

What's your voting strategy? Alternately, you can post about what you're making for dinner tonight. I'm just as interested.

Seriously, I am.

The weirdest thing about the new TPM Cafe site is that, in real life, I actually look like that avatar thing next to the posts.

It's uncanny.

Unlike Jonah Golberg's work, a book I did not read and yet still concluded "It Stinks!," I actually read Lee Siegel's new one. And by "read," I mean, stood for about 3 1/2 minutes in Barnes and Noble and opened it to a random page and started reading.
My conclusion?

It Stinks!

Welcome to the new Cafe! This post will provide an extensive guide to all the new functionality and...

Oh hell, I got nothin'. I'm confused, like everyone.

But, please, anything you find -- tips, tricks, ideas, suggestions, whatever -- please post it here, so we can all learn from each other's mistakes.

Why did they have to change it? I liked the OLD Cafe so much BETTER!!!!!!

:-)

No, but really, this is exhausting.

One trick that seems to have improved my bloggy lot in life very much so is to clear out my browser's cache, authenticated sessions, and cookies. In Firefox, you can do that under "Tools->Private data."

Still ain't perfect, though.