The debate was basically a draw. But McCain lost because he had to change the game and he didn't. Obama won by NOT losing. Like Kennedy in 1960 when debating Nixon, Obama proved equal to McCain on the podium they mutually shared.

A big chunk of the American people are waiting to dump the GOP on the lamest of excuses. Now they have that excuse. Obama held his own and looked presidential. McCain looked liked yesterday's left-over meat-loaf.

Demographics have been turning against the GOP for the last decade and McCain who never had a serious chance of winning now looks pretty spent. His bag of tricks is empty.

Obama won the presidency when he defeated Hillary after Super Tuesday earlier this winter. Now the long march is nearing its end. but Obama will inherit a government and an economy that has been basically gutted.

Could this have been prevented?

Possibly.

I was watching an old clip on YOU TUBE of the 2000 presidential debate and cringed as Al Gore repeatedly made a fool of himself with his erratic behavior. Bush looked presidential compared to Al Gore. But barely....and that's not saying much.

Had Al Gore run a campaign just one fifth as good as Obama did this year there would have been no chance at all for Bush to steal the election eight years ago.

Al Gore is no fool. I met him in 1982 at a futurist conference in DC when I was a student at UC Berkeley and he was just an unknown congressman. Al Gore was a visionary then, he still is one now. But he will always be a lousy campaigner and American politics rarely ever rewards losers. Even when it rewards crooks on a regular basis.

I have never seen anything like this. The smoke is not clearing yet, but one thing is unmistakable. The concentration of financial power is stunning.  There are now only two  investment banks left on Wall Street.  Morgan  Stanley and Goldman Sachs. Also two major banks. B of A and Citicorp. Giants have certainly fallen, but even bigger giants remain.

Both are not in good shape though.

Abroad, the war is spreading towards Pakistan. A dangerous, but understandable escalation. But Pakistan has nukes.

I'm not really sure now it matters who becomes president.

This current situation is bigger than any single person.

But Obama will probably handle it better.

He had my vote long ago.

As far as global warming goes the issues  I just mentioned will be top priority for any incoming  administration.  Green issues will  take a back seat even though they are critical.

The disconnect between off-line and on-line reality continues, however. Most of the chatter on TPM is focused on a political horse-race/entertainment extravaganza.

The rest of the media too....

Watching Sarah Palin's interview on ABC with Charles Gibson was excruciating. It was obvious this woman was not qualified to be Vice-president, much less president of the United States.

The badly rehearsed answers, the pretentious image that was projected, and the blatant ignorance on the screen was a little bit too much.

Yet, it struck me that this could easily have been an episode of American Idol. Americans like to feel that---yes. That's me competing up there on the TV screen fighting to be the next super-star winner. Oh, yes, that person up there that's me and, yup that person is damn good!

But how many American Idol singers actually go on to be really talented cultural icons?

Not that many.

Why should higher office be any different?

Being president demands a bit more than just seeming to be potentially good at it. Yet, many undecided American women voters have now been seduced by a cynical political trick that plays on their frustrated emotions.

While feminists are screaming about the current turn of events. Many undecided woman voters are excited by someone who they think is just like them, when in reality Sarah Palin is NOT like them at all.

Not only is she more extreme in her political views than many of these undecided women voters,
Palin is a totally ruthless politician who knows how to play the American Idol card.

She also knows what it takes to become the governor of Alaska and not just anybody can pull this feat off. Certainly not your average hockey mom.

....and not just any governor has the necessary experience and qualifications to become president of the United States.

Bush has certainly proven this fact and he's a man.

Palin is now playing the oldest trick in the book and she should not be under-estimated. She is not ready to be president, but she certainly knows how to fool enough American women voters into thinking that she is ready for the job.

It is my hope that during this critical election year a majority of Americans both women and men will eventually come to this conclusion and swiftly too.

The limits of fantasy and TV entertainment are  painfully obvious now.  

Palin is a ruthless politician who simply got the nod almost miraculously from a desperate presidential candidate.

....and now she is tapping some high energy from some desperate parts of the American electorate...

A fluke on top of a fluke....but that's how the Nazis got to power.

 

In a Bizarre election year.  Feminists almost saw Susan B Anthony winning the presidential nomination. Instead they see the vice presidency being given on a silver platter to the bride of Frankenstein.

In a Bizarre election year.  Feminists almost saw Susan B Anthony winning the presidential nomination. Instead they see the vice presidency being given on sa silver platter to the bride of Frankenstein.

The buzz is white hot and Gov. Palin provides huge entertainment value, but it's a desperate choice. Palin is not a Dan Quayle, but her resume is even thinner than Obama's and she looks like a convenient if risky choice for McCain in a very desperate year for the GOP.

It's not going to make a big difference. But a bi-racial canidate and a woman on both tickets means big change for America and this is defintely a good thing.

M     

I've been away and have not commented since Hillary bowed out. It looks like the Spring farce is repeating itself. McCain is doing a Hillary by going negative and making it a nothing campaign. Desperation as usual.

But the cold poll numbers show an Obama win in November as the economy contiues to tank. McCain is not on the side of history.

It's also a generation thing. McCain does not resonate with most boomers, Xers and Yers. Even many senior citizens reject him. As do most women and minorities. He can have most of the white male vote, but past Democrats won without it.

Obama is hanging onto the Gore/Kerry states plus Ohio. That gives him more then he needs to win. If he captures any other states it's a bonus. 

So yes, anything could happen. But if I was in the stock market. I would be going long Obama and shorting McCain and ignoring the financial pundit noise.

Have a swell summer.

M 

Obama's speech in Berlin hit all the right notes and with great cadences. Obama is an American citizen, but also a citizen of the world. Will enough Americans decide to join the rest of the planet in November? We shall see....America has its global candidate. But is America's electorate a globally minded one as well?

If it is, it means a rare break with history.

I'm observing with very keen attention.

http://iftheworldcouldvote.com/thanks

Obama 75%

McCain 15%

Nuff said

Pretty pathetic. FOX's E.D.Hill shoots herself and Murdoch in the foot over Obama's terrorist fist-pump.  Fox becomes a laughing stock and Murdoch deep-sixes Hill. This is a taste of what crap is coming down the line in November, but it will all fail. The GOP is dead.

Hooverized....

M 

Finally Hillary gave a speech worth remembering. Better late than never. She made all the right moves and said all the right things.  The Dems are in a good position now to make a winning run in November. It will be a close race, but the challenges even after a victory in November will be awesome.

America is heading for the worst economic recession since 1982. It's an FDR moment for sure. Screaming deflation is going to take everyone by surprise. You don't believe me?.

Stocks are down, gold is down, Real estate is down. Oil and all other commodities are next. This is a dangerous moment in US history, but also a great opportunity to create a new political coalition to replace the Reagan sham that has been with us since 1980 when the US turned into a debtor nation and the US middle class became pauperized.

Barack, Hillary, and every Democrat  must now unite. McCain is not the big  challenge. History is....

Onward

Michael

Meghan O 'Rorourke's article in Slate today is intriguing...

" As he goes forward, Obama will undoubtedly be compared to Abraham Lincoln. But I always thought Whitman was a more apt predecessor for both candidates. Whitman embodied the ecstatic to which Hillary Clinton, at one time, linked her hopes for a better America. But she didn't make it part of her campaign. Instead, she made fun of Obama's knack for lighting a fire in the hearts of a wide swath of Americans. She preached pragmatism instead of fellow-feeling. And she scolded Obama for being starry-eyed. But her decision to turn away from the ecstatic was a great mistake, as Whitman might have understood. By stripping her campaign of its native appeal, by refusing to portray herself as part of a transcendent feminist narrative, by diluting the dynamic pleasures of mass political response, she let us down. After all, feminism need not be joyless. "

Was Hillary trying to be too much of a guy?

I agree with Jimmy Carter. Hillary as veep would be a disaster.  The worst of both worlds. Two outsiders is too much.  The ticket would be a little too exotic, but also  Barack's and Hillary's personalities clash far too much and Bill Clinton, Mr. distraction would complicate things even more

So who should be veep?

Tough question.

I'm all ears.

Actually Obama is not black technically, he's mulatto. His mom was white and his dad was black, This mix of race is what makes him exotic and scares some whites....America is truly catching up with the rest of the western hemisphere where mixing of race is normal.

Latin America is a good example...

America is becoming a true osterizer nation, not bad.

It always was, but now it's becoming public at the highest political level.

Plus his travel and living experience abroad is a plus.

America is on the verge of choosing a globally minded citizen to lead into a path-breaking conversation with the rest of the planet.

What a difference from the Bush years, even the Clinton ones... .you have to go back to JFK to see something like this.