QUOTE OF THE DAY. Andrew Sullivan:

THE PROMISE OF GRIDLOCK: One reason some people might get over their fiscal concerns about Kerry is that most observers seem to agree that the Congress is likely to stay Republican after November 2. That means that Kerry is unlikely to be able to afford his big healthcare package and may be forced, like Clinton, into getting serious about deficit reduction. One thing we do know is that unified Republican government means vast new spending increases, and the collapse of fiscal discipline. I'd be just as terrified by unified Democratic government, mind you (although we wouldn't have to deal with excrescences like the FMA). Divided government, in other words, is perhaps the only real mechanism we have - apart from a constitutional amendment to balance the budget - to restrain the politicians in D.C. from spending even more of our money. My advice: if you're voting Bush, think seriously about pulling the Dem lever for the House and Senate; vice-versa for the Kerry backers. The last thing we want is to give either of these guys the carte blanche Bush has had for four fiscally ruinous years.