Many on the Left agree that Colin Powell was duped, that he didn't sell out. He tried to stand up to the neocons and lost the battle and then got buffaloed by the CIA, as did Kerry and many others. To many, especially people on the right, he still is a man of integrity. We need him to take a stand against the neocons.

He's given hints that he's avoided being more straightforward and in the limelight because his wife is too vulnerable to tolerate the storm that would necessarily follow. But this passionate American ought to reconsider and make plans to protect her as he comes out against McCain-Palin.

Ideally, he would begin by saying that he was misled and that, like MacNamara, he made a grievous mistake by failing to thoroughly investigate the intelligence he reported at the UN. He can add that he did oppose the war and was overruled.  These  statements would help re-establish his credibility with some people on the Left, which probably isn't very important now but may be later. Moreover, they would help the swing voters to get the point that he is truly a man of integrity and, therefore, credible.

As suburban independent woman recently began to succumb to the "She's just like me" complex, I developed a deeper appreciation of Rovian tactics. He knows how to pull the levers of identity politics.The victims comply on cue.

Obama's only hope seems to be to hammer McCain-Palin for lying and hope that the media join in enough to seal the deal. I like his tactic, because there's such compelling proof that they're lying. I only wish  he would make a bit more pointed statement to the independents who are swinging to McCain-Palin. I have a modest proposal here.

I'd say, "I know that many people identify with Gov. Palin. She seems like the kind of person many people would  like to know and feel they could be friends with. She seems like the kind of person who knows many of you well enough that she can represent you. She seems to be as trustworthy as one of your good friends. But she only seems that way."

"Sarah Palin is not like you in extremely important respect. You're not bald faced liars determined to deceive people into liking you. She is. So is John McCain. She got up on one of the biggest world stages, The Republican National Convention, and told a huge lie. She tried to make you think that she is one of you, that she is a person who wants to put at end to wasteful spending. She presented herself as a reformer who's on your side concerning government spending. She tried to back up that claim by lying, by deceiving you in the grossest manner. She said that she was against the Bridge to Nowhere, the frivolous, absurd project to build a multi-million dollar bridge to an island with only ab out 50 inhabitants. The news media called her a liar, and it wasn't only the so-called liberal media. It was also the conservative Wall Street Journal. Now, a month later, she had to admit that she didn't tell lthe truth, because news journalist Charle Gibson confronted her with detailed facts about the bridge.

The politcal tactician who ran Bush's campaigns and is running this one is well-known for advising clients to lie, because he knows that, as Lincoln said, You can fool all of the people some of the time. We hunger for a politician we can trust, and it's very difficult to figure out whether a politician is trustworthy. So we often rely on our sense of the person, on whether they are like us enough to be on our side. That is a powerful idea that Bush, McCain, and Palin exploit. Don't let them do that to you. Don't let them fool you.

Lincoln also said, "You can't fool all of the people all of the time." No you can't, because most people eventually get burned enough by a powerful idea that they begin to question it. Americans have been burned to a crisp by George Bush, by his lies and manipulations of your sympathies, by his good old boy manner and his aw shucks personality.We're  lost huge amounts of money and lives on a war that he fooled us into. He even fooled Colin Powell. And he fooled us about cutting taxes on the rich down to nothing and about outsourcing jobs. He's been the flim flam artist, and now McCain and Palin are continuing his tactics. Don't let them fool you.

Take more time to look at their positions. They want to keep Bush's tax cuts on the rich. They want you to keep paying more than your share. They also want to keep outsourcing jobs and thereby making your lives more difficult. McCain thinks of the war in Iraq as a big success. He says we are victorious. General Patreaus disagrees. He was recently quoted as saying that he thinks there will never be victory in Iraq. Take more time to think about these big ticket items that directly affect your lives and the life of the nation. We absolutely cannot afford another four years of these policies and the lies that enabled Bush to get enough support to push them through.

I may not be the person you want to go to the mall or barbeque with, although most of the middle and lower class people I have one-on-one relationships disagree. They end up liking me and feeling that I'm on their side. And my stated polices that are supported by most democratic leaders are truly on your side. There's no disputing that. I'm giving you a tax break. I'm cutting back onoutsourcing. I'm ending the war and making America safer by going after Al-Queda in Pakistan and Afganistan. I'm on you side much more than you think than if you just think about my personalitly and my life story. Think about it.