McCain's campaign has been a shambles, but the strangest move has been to turn Sarah Palin into an actress.

Go to YouTube and search Palin Alaska Debates.  Watch some video of her during those debates and other posted videos of her speaking before small groups of Alaskans.  Her accent is dialed way back.  There are no you betchas, no gosh darns, no winks.  Her viewpoints aside, she comes across as a capable speaker, an administrator.  If she would have spoken like this during the Biden debate, McCain might be picking up independents and moderates.

Instead, McCain's camp created a sitcom role for Palin:  Hockey Mom Goes To Washington.  During the Biden debate, I could see her slip between Hockey Mom voice and her normal candidate voice.  To make her "one of us," McCain's camp dumbed her down for prime time TV.  Palin overplays the Hockey Mom role, but with ratings like that, she takes home the Emmy.  And come November, McCain and his team, in large part due to Palin's performance, simply goes home.

(President Bush has said that when his second term ends he looks forward to making some money, noting how Bill Clinton has -ahem- earned $100 million in six years as an ex-President.  Fast forward to 2009.  Following a quick speech as headliner at Bob Jones University's Bigotry Fest, Bush finds slim pickings on the lecture circuit.  Now, we find him walking on stage in the Herbert Hoover Auditorium in the Millard Fillmore Building in Branson, Missouri.  Ladies and gentlemen:  Georgie the President Guy!)

"You all like baseball?  I love baseball!  Before I was the President Guy, my daddy called baseball Commissar Peter Uber... Peter Uber... Pete the Bossman!  That's what I called him, The Bossman!  I paid 1.9 percent and got a 10 percent share of the Texas Rangers!  Them other fellers never knew what hit 'em.  That is doing bidness!  I hit 'em with my Harvard BMA.  I was President Guy for that team, too.  Traded away Sammy Soso.  Turns out he weren't so soso.  He hit 600 homers and the Rangers never sniffed the playoffs.  F*#ked R Up!

"My daddy loves baseball too, so he said I should really be President Guy of the United States and give up the Rangers.  Daddy said the country needed a uniter, not a divider, someone to unite the Haves with the Have Mores.  So Daddy hooked me up with Uncle Dick Cheney and the Have Mores.  I ain't figured out yet just where the hell Havmor is; I know it ain't around Dallas none.  I became the first bidnessman President Guy with a Harvard AMB!

"Uncle Dick let me bring my best friend, our pool boy Alberto Gonzalez.  Alberto!  Sounds like a big 'ol cigar.  Uncle Dick said I should make Alberto a Terny General, so I made him a General, only he didn't get no uniform.  Uncle Dick handed us a Constitution and told us these was the rules.  Well, that Constitution was all written in cursive!  We couldn't make heads nor tails of it!  We decided we'd do whatever we'd want.  F*#ked R Up!

"Being President Guy was hard work.  At first, I weren't sure what to do, but Uncle Dick splained to me that as President Guy I was responsible for moving the wheels of guvmint.  He gave me a 21-speed Trek mountain bike.  Ever day right after breakfast Condi would pack me a ham and cheese sammich and I would hop on that bike and move those wheels of guvmint while Uncle Dick stayed behind in case anyone called on the telephone.  I'd get back round supper time, Uncle Dick give me a pat on the head and tell me the guvmint rolling like it ought to now.  F*#ked R Up!

"Being President Guy was some good times, too.  I was having birthday cake with little Johnnie McCain after some big storm hit New Orleans.  My buddy Turd Blossom wanted some pictures of me in the big airplane, so we took off and they snapped a bunch of pictures of me while I looked out the winder at New Orleans.  If I can be serious for a moment here.  I'll never forget what I seen.  Everwhere I looked, there was brush needing clearin'!  One end of the city to the other, brush everwhere!  I hope you consider donating to my charity Brush Clearin' For Humanity.  F*#ked R Up!

"Well, that's all I got time for, folks.  I'll be here next week, and the week after, and the week after.  Just remember, whether you give your best shot or not, just F*#k R Up!"          

A couple things caught my eye during the debate.  McCain's body language was remarkable.  Shortly into the debate, I realized that he just wouldn't look at Obama.  This debate format was a hybrid between an open town hall style meeting and the old, ridiculous "you have 60 seconds to respond, 30 seconds to rebut" debates of past campaigns.  This should have played better to McCain's alleged strength, but last night he simply looked rigid, tense, and pissed.  He didn't squeeze out a single milli-second of humor.

My "whoa" moment came early, and I can't even remember the topic.  McCain was speaking and Obama forcefully cut him off, and McCain let Obama get away with it!  It was an Alpha Dog moment.  McCain dropped his head, Obama charged on rebutting McCain.  That immediately established Obama as an equal player on the stage. 

I was a bit surprised by CNN's flash poll result which gave Obama a large victory.  I think McCain's surreal campaign suspension / save the day in DC stunt and Palin's Couric interview may have set the foundation for some of the immediate high scores for Obama.  The independents have been marinating in McCain / Palin juice all week.  Obama didn't need to prove himself as presidential during the debate because he's the only candidate who looked presidential last week. 

Finally, the debate format was a tremendous improvement. Kudos to Jim Lehrer.  Candidates had time to actually get into some depth.  I would have liked to have seen more interplay between the two candidates, but McCain's unexpected rigidity prevented that.  Unfortunately, (and likely wisely) McCain's camp negotiated to keep the VP debate as the old style where candidates don't address each other.  Imagine Palin and Biden speaking in this format! 

Ever notice how creationism should be taught in school along side evolution because it's important that the kids be exposed to more than one school of thought?  And how that contrasts with abstinence only sex education, which is the only school of thought that should be taught, and that actual sex education and discussions of contraception is information that teens need not be exposed to? 

I just saw a clip of Cindy McCain speaking with George Stephanopolous in which Cindy actually says that Palin has foreign policy experience because Alaska is across the sea from Russia.

I feel I've awakened in Bizarro World.  What's next?  Will the GOP arrange a Disney World trip for Palin so she can pass through the Small World exhibit before the Biden VP debate?

What frightens me is speaking to my friends.  They don't follow this election that closely, don't visit various sites.  I spoke with one of our vendors, a great guy, a blue collar small business owner, and asked if he'd seen the Obama convention speech.  During our conversation, he said that he'd like to know where Obama got his money to buy a $4 million dollar house.  When I mentioned that Obama had written two best selling books and had gotten multimillion dollar advances for them, my friend said he didn't know that.  That seemed to allay that one suspicion, but he won't be voting for Obama. 

For each person on this site, there are dozens more who pay no attention to politics except for the occasional wild rumor email.  Lots of work for Obama to do yet.

Every four years, the pundits point out that the nominated candidates' first major "presidential" test is the selection of a vice presidential candidate.  That selected person must have the experience and gravitas to step in should the elected president become unable to continue in office. 

John McCain failed miserably in this test.  His choice of Sarah Palin is an obvious pander to the perceived disgruntled Hillary Clinton supporters.  Does anyone believe that a candidate whose longest term in public office is a couple of stints as a city council member in a town of 7000 is ready to be Commander in Chief?  And this running mate is campaigning with the oldest person ever to run for president?

This is not America first.  This is political pandering at its worst. 

Now, the Right will claim that Obama is only three years older and has not much more experience on the national level.  The difference is that Obama has run a 19-month campaign and has been elected by his party to head the ticket.  Millions of people, your humble blogger included, has voted for him and donated to him.  He has effectively earned his position by gathering this support.  McCain's VP choice, however, is merely a tactical choice, a pander, to bolster a flagging candidate for president.  Let's quiz Sarah Palin on world leaders and conditions, this person who thinks creationism should be taught in the classroom.

Hillary needs to jump in.  She's a definite heavyweight; she needs to put down this pretender. 

I received my $600 Chinese loan today and I immediately stimulated British Petroleum with $52 "hardly earned" dollars.  As I have no offspring myself, I'd like to personally thank the kind reader's present and future grandchildren for repaying this unsolicited payment to me as its seems unlikely that any serious effort to pay off our crippling national debts will occur in my lifetime.

While I also plan to stimulate the local tire dealer before winter, I can't help but feel I'm part of a larger shell game.  I get a few hundred bucks, the dear reader gets a few hundred bucks, the top 1 percent get billions in tax cuts.  Thousands of homes are in foreclosure; the corporations that created the mess received billions in payouts and the CEOs maintained their million dollar salaries.

Mr. Obama needs to be quite vocal in pointing out that McCain's beloved tax "cuts" without spending cuts are simply tax deferments payable by the middle and lower classes.  Reagan's voodoo economics state that massive tax cuts benefiting primarily the wealthy will increase government revenues so much that what logically would result in a deficit will magically produce a surplus.  Mr. Obama, I beseech you, have your fine, efficient staff produce a simple graph that shows how voodoo economics has produced $200 billion (or more) annual deficits every year under Reagan, Bush, and Bush, and that these three presidents are responsible for $7 TRILLION of our $9.5 trillion national debt.  Am I alone in believing that the Piper must be paid?

Normally, I wouldn't accept a check from an institution with such checkered finances, but I figure as long as the Chinese are backing it, I'll accept the check.  Keep your little ones away from soft drinks and fatty foods and provide them with plenty of exercise.  In two or three decades, they'll thank you daily for the added endurance as they work that second or third job.   

Speaking before a group, McCain recently strongly avowed - twice - that he would never surrender in Iraq.  This begs the question: to whom would he never surrender?  To Maliki's government?  To Sadr's militia?  To the handful of insurgents planting IEDs?  If McCain was pressed to answer this, I'd wager he'd say Al Queda, which most knowledgeable observers say is a very tiny presence, but which McCain and Bush believe lurk under every stone.

In truth, McCain has conflated surrender with troop withdrawal.  For him, any servicemen leaving Iraq equals a U.S. defeat.  Couple this with the ill defined metrics for success (we'll stand down when they stand up; success is a fully functional Iraqi government) and McCain truly is preaching an One Hundred Year War. 

Mix in McCain's and Bush's recent criticism of the new GI bill.  For them, 3 years of service, even in a combat zone, is not sufficient sacrifice for a service man or woman to receive a college education.  Massive deficit-causing tax cuts for the wealthiest remain a top priority for the Right; a chance for a better future for the folks actually fighting for this country requires a bit more sacrifice, please.

McCain is the wrong man to head the military at this time.  We need a leader who can correctly access the situation, who can set honorable, clearly defined and achievable metrics for success, who can avoid the sophmoric "patriotic" chest beating; and who has the courage to take decisive action regardless of personal consequence.  That ain't McCain.

Wolf Blitzer:  "Welcome to the Situation Room, home of the Best Political Team On Planet Earth (TM.)  Today, Barack Obama gave a major speech, touching on health care, globalization, the Iraq War, the current economic climate, the housing crisis.  Let's take a listen."

Obama:  "We've been to 57 states..." 

Blitzer: "Obama clearly claims 57 states in the Union. What to make of this statement?  Let's start with John King at the big board.  John?"

King:  "We're taking a closer look at the actual number of states.  We're currently up to 14, with letters A to E reporting, but remember, we've got a long way to go.  Wait, wait, letter F is about to come in.  Back to you, Wolf." 

Blitzer: "Thanks, John King, Chief Senior Head State Counter for the Best Political Team Inside the Kuiper Belt (TM.)   Let's go to our panel.  First up, George Will."

Will:  "This further reinforces the Democratic mantra of tax and spend.  Obama is proposing a 14 percent increase in states with no planned reductions in territories or commonwealths.  Under Eisenhower, the number of states only rose 4 percent, and Nixon, Ford, Reagan, Bush and Bush kept a tight lid on the number of states growth."

Blitzer:  "Let's go to Rick Davis, McCain's campaign manager."

Davis:  "Where does Barack Hussein Obama plan to get these additional states?  Obviously, Hussein Obama means to add Arab countries..."

Blitzer:  "Sorry to interrupt, Rick, but let's check in with John King.  John?"

King:  "We're up to 38 states, with 76 percent of the alphabet reporting.  CNN now projects a total of 51 states."

Blitzer:  "John King, member of the Best Political Team In Quadrant KF29E (TM.)   Let's go to Terry McAuliffe of the Clinton campaign."

McAuliffe:  "These Arab countries must be seated at the Democratic convention.  All votes should count.  To deny these hard working Arabs their right to vote is against our American values!  Hillary has said all along that these Arab countries must be included."

Blitzer:  "Terry, Hillary's strength has been among women voters and hard-working white Americans.  In these Arab countries, women aren't allowed to vote, and hard-working white Americans make up only zero percent of voting age Arabs.  Your response?" 

McAullife:  "Obama's attempt to seat these Arab delegates is an obvious ploy to save his campaign.  Hillary has always been against seating these countries as her name was never on the ballots there.  This reflects Obama's desperation, and shows that Hillary is the stronger candidate."    

Blitzer:  "Let's check in with Jack Cafferty."

Cafferty:  "Clearly, he meant 47 states, not 57.  He mispoke.  Get over it."

Blitzer and Panel:   "........"

Blitzer:  "Join us tonight at 9:00 Eastern for our CNN special '57 States--The Expanding America.'  Thanks again to the Best Political Team In This And All Alternate Universes (TM).  See you later."

I am more than slightly amused at the predicament that Hillary finds herself in following her assassination comment, even though I don't find her comment that troubling.  It seems a bit of karmic payback to see her insisting that her comments were misinterpreted after she had deliberately and misleadingly taken Obama's "cling to guns" comment out of context and hammered it home for her political gain.  Obama was clearly talking about why certain voters (hard-working white Americans in Hillary's parlance) would vote against their own economic self interest and how the Right exploited this election after election.  Any adult would look past the particular words to get the full contextual meaning of Obama's response.  Hillary, wearing her Rove hat, latched onto "cling" and "bitter" and twisted their meaning within Obama's response for her political gain.  Now the shoe is in the other mouth.  I don't for a second believe that Hillary is waiting to see if Obama gets offed before the convention.  I do find it amusing to watch her squirm a bit as she fights against the same tactic she employed.  What's good for the gander is good for the goose.

I think that one successful Republican tactic over the past few years is to take a simple slogan, true or not, and hammer it repeatedly in ads and speeches until it sounds like truth.

Regarding McCain's proposal to continue Bush's tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans, I'd like to see Obama and the Dems revive George H. W. Bush's "Voodoo Economics" claim that he made while running against Reagan for the Republican  nomination in 1980.  The Dems need to mention the $9.5 trillion deficit and that $7 trillion of this has been run up under just 3 presidents: Reagan, Bush and Bush.  Hammer home the Voodoo Economics.  Leave McCain trying to refute this.

This current brouhaha about Obama's use of the word "bitter" reminds me of the great frustration I felt back in 1996 when Kerry debated Bush.  Here's Kerry's comment.  The "Jim" reference is to Jim Lehrer.

No president, though all of American history, has ever ceded, and nor would I, the right to preempt in any way necessary to protect the United States of America. 

But if and when you do it, Jim, you have to do it in a way that passes the test, that passes the global test where your countrymen, your people understand fully why you're doing what you're doing and you can prove to the world that you did it for legitimate reasons.

Remember how the Bush election team headed by Rove jumped on the word "global" and ran ads and sound bites for days stating that Kerry would seek the approval of France before committing American troops?  The word "global" can mean the entire world, but it can also mean the full extent of a defined population, which in Kerry's remarks were US citizens, or countrymen.  As a reasonable adult, I was offended at how Bush's hit squad deliberately twisted Kerry's thoughtful response.

I see a parallel in Hillary's response to Obama's use of the word "bitter" in his meeting with San Fransiscan Democrats.  When taken within context, Obama is describing a phenomena that has affected Democratic results; namely, how the blue-collar working class often votes against their own economic self interests when swayed by peripheral issues.

Hillary's team seems to have reached the desperation stage when she starts to borrow Rove's strategy of picking one word from her opponent's thoughtful response, twisting its meaning, and printing bumper stickers to attack her opponent.  I wonder if she is capable of responding to issues on a more thoughtful, insightful manner or if she is merely another Washington politician.

I work in an industy selling and servicing industrial manufacturing machinery.  Been doing it for 15 years.  In the early, mid 90s, boom times, we put a lot of machines in American plants.  In late 90s, following passage of NAFLA (the North American Free Labor Agreement) we saw many of these companies move these machines just over the Mexican border.  The US managers down there live in the US, make US wages, commute daily over the border.  The workers in Mexico make pennies on the dollar to what the now unemployed US worker made.  Now, the machines are moving to China because the Mexicans cost too much.

How does the politician in rural PA or any other Rust Belt dying town rally votes?  Guns, God, and gays.  That's what Obama is saying.  Washington has abandoned the middle-class, the blue collar worker.  All that Washington offers economically to the middle class is the occasional drip from the trickle down tax cuts that make the fantastically weathly another 20 percent more fantastically weathly.  Politicians drum up votes by concentrating on these sideline, phony "issues" and unfortunately many Workin' Joes buy into these arguments and cast their votes on this basis, even against their own economic self interests.  I know guys like this.  Apparently, Obama recognizes this behavior. 

Obama's statements aren't a slam against the working poor but an expressed realization about the f*$*ing Washington is giving to the working poor and the middle class.  Why mention to the proletariat that the world's richest man, Warren Buffet, has a lower tax rate than his secretary or that the Columbian "Free Trade" Agreement will reward a country that has seen 2500 union activists assasinated during the last 10 years when we can instead argue about whether two loving, consenting adults of the same sex can be married?

Obama takes the conversation to a depth the two other candidates won't dare to dive to (Hillary) or don't have the intellect (McCain) to discern.  This level of thinking and expression is what we need for the next eight years.

As the Democratic primary drags onward, I hear weekly calls for a "Dream Ticket" of Obama and Clinton. Let me explain what a nightmare this dream ticket would be.