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Barack Obama ran a nearly flawless campaign. The same cannot be said of John McCain’s. Barack Obama had over three quarters of a billion dollars work with. McCain had only a third of that. Barack Obama had the unprecedented, and appalling support of the mainstream U.S. media. They fawned over him, protected him, and carried the water for him. If these advantages were not enough, Barack Obama also enjoyed an unprecedented economic crisis one month before the election … the perfect campaign issue, handed to him on a silver platter. Such is the stuff of American politics.

It was an historic victory. Barack Obama becomes the first person of color ever to be elected president. There is no doubt that his victory opens a new paradigm in American politics. For Democrats there could hardly have been better news. What must also be understood is that close to half of the American people did not vote for the winner. For the third presidential election in a row, half the nation did not support the victor.

So what has changed? Democrats will now hold the White House, and they will have a majority of 56 to 40 in the U.S. Senate, and a 246-172 majority in the U.S. House. To put it another way the ball is most definitely in their court. Democrats are solely in control.

Will they govern in a way that will benefit all Americans, or will they advance a very liberal agenda? President Elect Barack Obama hails from the far left of the Democratic Party. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reed are also far left politicians. That combination threatens and frightens half the country who are significantly more moderate or conservative. Will they ignore that, or will they offer a place at the table for the vanquished?

Politically Republicans have been rendered virtually powerless. The American people will no longer be able to lay blame on the G.O.P. Their expectations rest completely with Democrats now. Can they, will they, deliver?

Only time will tell.

At a Seattle fund-raiser last weekend, Democratic Vice Presidential candidate Joe Biden made an interesting, if not disturbing observation.

“Mark my words,” Biden said, “It will not be six months before the world tests Barack Obama like they did John Kennedy. The world is looking. We’re about to elect a brilliant 47-year-old senator president of the United States of America. Remember, I said it standing here, if you don’t remember anything else I said. Watch, we’re going to have an international crisis, a generated crisis, to test the mettle of this guy.”

Biden added these words about his running mate: “He’s going to have to make some really tough - I don’t know what the decision’s going to be, but I promise you it will occur. As a student of history and having served with seven presidents, I guarantee you it’s going to happen.”

Biden said he could envision four or five scenarios that might arise to challenge the new president, citing Russia or the Middle East as possible sources of trouble.

Biden then called on the donors at the fund raiser to be prepared to “rise to Mr. Obama’s defense because he will need to make some difficult and unpopular choices in response.” Joe Biden did not specify what those choices might be. Might it be another war? Did he mean that martial law might have to be imposed here at home? Did he mean that Obama might step away from support of Israel? Biden did not elaborate.

What’s disturbing is that Biden believes Obama will be tested. That suggests that our enemies view him differently than they do John McCain. It is unlikely that our enemies would risk testing McCain. It also suggests that our enemies might think they could enjoy some advantage over the United States with Barack Obama in the White House.

They might be thinking that he’s soft and his inexperience will lead to errors that will enure to the benefit of those who wish us harm.

Republican John McCain’s monthly financial report with the Federal Election Commission shows he spent $37 million in September with nearly two-thirds of it on ads. McCain is limited to $84 million in campaign spending between early September up to election day , because he accepted public financing.

Barack Obama, who claimed to be a staunch proponent of public financing, and then turned it down, has shattered all political fundraising records. He is outspending McCain in advertising 4-1, and has spent close to $140 million since September also mainly on campaign ads.

Meanwhile, the Republican National Committee, following the law by not coordinating with the McCain campaign, has more than $77 million on hand to finish the political season. Much of the committee’s spending will benefit McCain. Suffice it to say, this is the most expensive presidential election contest in history, outpacing by far, any before it.

Barack Obama has raised just under a half billion dollars. John McCain has raised about a quarter billion dollars. Before it is over, this campaign may well cost over a billion dollars. One must therefore ask is this an election or is it an auction? Is the American voter for sale?

Some may argue that given the incredible ignorance of so many of our fellow citizens, they don’t need to be bought, they’re willing to give their votes away to anyone with what an adoring media calls “messianic charisma”.

Some candidates make preposterous claims about themselves and about their opponent knowing well that many voters will be satisfied by clever slogans and crafty sound bites, never venturing to explore the truth of anything said. In my judgment this is proof that in our spectacular overall ignorance, spending money on a slew of campaign ads is more important than being qualified or honest. Many will follow some candidates never really knowing why. Instead of an intellectual investment, these voters make only an emotional investment.

Let’s face it, pathetic as it is, that’s where the money goes, and the more a candidate has, the more likely he’ll appeal to a vast number of voters.

Consistently throughout the presidential campaign of 2008, there has been strong denial of any significant racial component that might affect how Americans vote three weeks from now.

Recent polls show that 78-percent of blacks and 88 percent of whites say that Barack Obama’s race is not a factor in whether they will vote for him, but pollsters aren’t sure of their figures. There has been a consistent concern by pollsters that many opinion poll respondents are not telling the truth when they answer surveys. They suspect that race may be involved.

A recent Gallup polling shows that nine of out 10 blacks prefer Barack Obama. In the race against Republican John McCain, Obama draws the support of 93 percent of the black voters surveyed. Is that a statement of racial preference, or something else? Gallup Editor-in-Chief Frank Newport reports that Obama’s popularity among black voters in not unusual. Newport points out that John Kerry received 93 percent of the black vote in 2004, and Al Gore received 95 percent in 2000. That suggests its party, not race that attracts black voters.

But what of white voters…especially those Democrats and independents who say they support Obama, as they did in New Hampshire last February, but actually did not? Is that going to happen again?

As much as they want us to believe their poll numbers, in greater numbers, pollsters are expressing concern that a significant number of voters may harbor intentions that none are admitting. As in New Hampshire, they may be telling pollsters one thing, but planning to do another at the ballot box on November 4th.

Right now, Senator Obama holds a slim lead in the polls. If he loses, how will the pollsters explain that? Is it possible that racism may yet rear its ugly head?

Barack Obama sure is a pleasure to listen to. He says things with such finess and it all sounds so plausible. He sounds convincing, doesn’t he?

Trouble is, when you get past the polished rhetoric, there are always things that are not as they appear on the surface. John McCain isn’t such a gifted speaker. Hes trips on his words sometimes. He is nowhere near as clever as Senator Obama, and he risks the possibility of being dismissed because he sometimes doesn’t state his case with equal skill. When listening to these two presidential candidates last night, I wondered if anyone was looking beyond the eloquence or lack of same.

There were some very important matters discussed in the third debate. These were subjects will have a profound effect on you, your family, your security, your savings, retirement, your health care, the future of your children, and the fundamental stability of your country. While Barack Obama sounded self assured and unthreatening, that carefully-practiced facade masks policies that many would find frightening if they listened carefully. They well may have been soothed by his demeanor, except that John McCain managed to reveal some of the doublespeak in Obama’s clever delivery. “I think we have to look at that”, Obama was fond of saying last night. That kind of response is not the same as true commitment. Obama is careful not to make commitments. He is used to voting “present”. That way he can’t be pinned down and held responsible for what he stands for.

There was no clear winner in the final debate, but there was significant clarification on many substantive issues. McCain won’t impose big government on American business at a time when our economy is on the ropes. He won’t impose big government on your household or in your schools. McCain will appoint strict constructionist supreme court justices, and he will ease your tax burden, while cutting runaway federal spending. McCain did not use smoke and mirrors. Obama did. I wonder how many viewers caught on. Here’s an example. You do the math. You cannot take the incentive and capital away from Americans who risk all to invest in establishing and building the businesses that are the engine of our economy, and expect our economy to grow. Hard work and ingenuity have make our country strong. Redistribution of the nation’s wealth will destroy us. Yet suggested the way Senator Obama does, this destructive concept sounds almost cutting edge.

There are only 19 days left before we select the next president. You know what you get with McCain, and whether you like him or not, you know he isn’t the flim-flam man. Are you as sure of Barack Obama?

Neither candidate won last night, but we the people may still be the big losers.

Republican Vice Presidential Sarah Palin likes talking about Joe Six Pack. Both Senator John McCain and Senator Barack Obama spent a lot of time Wednesday night talking about Joe the Plumber.

Unfortunately, with our economy in the dumps those are pretty much the only two Joes we hear very much about these days.

Too bad there aren’t any more debates because here’s one other Joe that both candidates - and the American people as a whole - should probably spend a little bit more time talking about.

GI Joe.

Alaska’s ousted public safety commissioner claims that a state legislative report damages Gov. Sarah Palin’s image of being an upfront and open political figure. Hardly anyone is listening to him. Walter Monegan says he was relieved that a legislative report concluded last Friday that Palin abused her powers as governor by trying to have her former brother-in-law fired as a state trooper. Monegan thinks he was fired because he refused to let the trooper go.

What he doesn’t discuss is why he really was fired. He wasn’t a team player, and on several financial matters, he did not carry out the budgetary procedures that the governor ordered. That was insubordination, and that’s why he lost his job. The legislative report recognizes that and agrees that the governor had every legal right to can him for defying her order.

What happened in Anchorage last Friday was exactly what Democratic State Senator Hollis French promised six weeks ago, shortly after Sarah Palin was named as John McCain’s running mate. Hollis vowed to carry this trite investigation forward with a committee that he hand-picked from among Democrats and dissident Republicans, who he knew would be willing to embarrass Governor Palin if they could.

He even went so far as to promise an “October Surprise”.

The committee hired investigator Stephen Branchflower, who turned in evidence to the effect that Todd Palin had overstepped his authorioty as “First Dude” in pressing Monegan to fire the abusive state trooper who court records show, had injured and threatened Palin’s sister and her children. There was no recommendation in the report for any action, civil or criminal against Governor Palin, and the committee took none. In other words, this was political theater. It afforded a chance to score a negative headlines and get a little negative national media attention, despite its lightweight news value.

Why would anyone be surprised that a legislative committee, headed by a flunky from the opposition party, would find fault with Sarah Palin?

John McCain was better prepared for the kinds of questions that real people ask, rather than media people. A few times Barack Obama had a “deer in the headlights” look when it came to his turn. McCain answered all of the questions. Obama some of them, but often defaulted to his familiar campaign train talking points, when he couldn’t answer directly.

John McCain spoke with a recognizable familiarity that comes from having seen the landscape, and from having grappled with the issues before.

Barack Obama spoke with an etherial tone, like that of one whose knowledge comes from a textbook, or from considerable distance away from where the rubber meets the road.

John McCain needed to win this debate. He needed to demonstrate substance, not rhetoric, and he needed to create doubt that Senator Obama is ready to lead. With logical, thoughtful specifics on domestic economic issues, foreign policy, military strategy and credible policy plans, Senator McCain exhibited why he is the better choice to lead the country for the next four years.

Barack Obama resorted to the tired old tactic of finger pointing, and lame cliches tying McCain to the outgoing Bush administration. He offered nothing new, and nothing that served to clarify his often theoretical and convoluted proposals to deal with the nation’s problems.

McCain places faith in the strength and ingenuity of a nation of good and productive people, while Obama’s faith is in a government that he would expect to make people do what he thinks we must. John McCain presented himself well last night.

With confidence, he clearly took the measure of Barack Obama.

With less than a month before the country selects a new president, national polls show John McCain slipping. The better than expected performance of Alaska Governor Sarah Palin in last week’s debate with Senator Joe Biden appears to have helped to slow what looked to be perhaps insurmountable momentum, but the road to the White House for the McCain-Palin ticket remains steep.

Supporters are saying that tonight’s debate could be a critical moment. If John McCain doesn’t sway some doubters, it could be all but over. Others are saying that four weeks in a political campaign season that has been filled with the unexpected, means it’s entirely possible there’s more that is unexpected to come. In any event, tonight’s debate must go well for McCain.

He must do what he did not do in his first encounter with a confident and capable Barack Obama. He must go on the offensive. He must look Obama in the eye, and he must confront the Democrat with many of Obama’s most vulnerable shortcomings….issues that the mainstream press has succeeded in blacking out during most of the post-convention period. This approach is risky, and for it to work, it must be carried out with precision.

McCain is a risk-taker, and he knows the stakes are high. He also knows that unless he does this, his base in several key states will likely drift away.

McCain is no longer playing for the hearts and minds of voters in states where his party has experienced mixed luck in national elections. He actually can afford to cast off Michigan, as he did last week. He must now assure that states that have taken his party to victory in the past, are there for him on November 4th. McCain needs Florida, Ohio, Colorado, North Carolina, Virginia, Indiana, Missouri and Nevada. If they come through for McCain, he will score a narrow Electoral College win, even if he loses the popular vote.

If any of them don’t he’s finished.

The good news is that these states historically have come through for Republican tickets. If they do this time, McCain will win a thin Electoral College vote of 274-264. There are few other scenarios that will result in a Republican victory.

Governor Sarah Palin didn’t win the debate last night. Neither did Senator Joe Biden, but there was a clear winner, and it was Sarah Palin.

If that sounds confusing, let me explain.

Joe Biden, a 30-plus year Washington insider took on an opponent with less than five weeks in the so-called big leagues, and in many ways she cleaned his clock. She didn’t out-fact him, but she decidedly connected with voters in a way that all his experience and formidable credentials couldn’t match.

She demonstrated that she knows enough about the capitol political game to know that the American people are tired of slick talk, and mind-boggling figures, so she confidently told Senator Biden, and veteran Washington media insider, Gwen Ifill that she might not give them the answers they wanted from her, but she would offer talk straight to the viewers who tuned in. And that’s exactly what she did. She had more than competent command of the issues. She wasn’t expected to display that kind of knowledge. She understood the objectives of the McCain campaign, the shortcomings of the Obama campaign, and the fundamental differences between the tickets. She gave no quarter. She held her own and she even topped Biden on several topics.

Some will dismiss Governor Palin by claiming that the bar wasn’t as high for her as it was for Sen. Biden. That’s nonsense. The bar was higher. She had to go toe to toe with her opponent and lose no ground, and she had to convince her questioning base and independents, that she was no burden to John McCain. She more than accomplished both of those objectives.There was no knockout punch thrown in the debate by either side, and that alone is evidence of Palin’s success.

Sarah Palin was the underdog, but she beat the spread, and silenced the doubters.

In other words she won.

With pundits and comedians openly speculating whether John McCain would live long enough to prevent a President Palin from assuming office, the scientific study of aging has assumed a central place in this year’s race for the White House.

At first glance, the odds for McCain look grim. Longevity researcher S. Jay Olshansky said that, on average, a man of 72 would be about seven times more likely to die while in office than a 47-year-old like Sen. Barack Obama.  (continue reading)

In politics, “caveat emptor” - let the buyer beware - is always good advice. Historically in our country, the courts have been wary to intrude into the world of political discourse, warning instead that voters must educate themselves, lest they be misled or deceived.

In St. Louis County, Missouri and in the city of St. Louis, a couple of loyal Barack Obama supporters have decided that they will bring charges against anyone who, in their judgment, says anything false or misleading against their favorite candidate. City Circuit Attorney Jennifer Joyce and St. Louis County Circuit Attorney Bob McCulloch are threatening to bring libel charges against those who speak out falsely against Barack Obama.

They promise no such action if the target of falsehoods happens to be Obama’s opponent, John McCain.

Missouri is a battleground state. The stakes are high and the race is close. As of last Friday, John McCain led by a single percentage point in the “Show Me” state, 47 - 46 over Obama. With a razor thin contest underway, both campaigns, and a number of independent “527” organizations are spending plenty of money in Missouri trying to persuade voters.

Last week, an anti-McCain campaign ad aired by a left-wing organization called Democracy for America showed grotesque photos of John McCain following the removal of skin cancer lesions on his face several years ago. The ad strongly suggested that McCain is not healthy, and could die in office.

Neither Jennifer Joyce or Bob McCulloch uttered a peep. But when an ad placed by the National Rifle Association claimed Barack Obama will ban some kinds of guns and tax others, Joyce and McCulloch threatened to call out the sheriff and make some arrests.

It seems that in this election year, free speech isn’t so free in some parts of Missouri where a police state mentality casts an ominous shadow.

There was no clear winner in last Friday night’s presidential debate. I know McCain staffers flooded the media with claims that their candidate performed best. Barack Obama’s handlers claimed that their guy was best but there was no knock-out punch thrown, and no one was long on the ropes.

That doesn’t mean that there were no substantial differences between these two men. Philosophy and ideology aside, there was one major, stark difference that cannot be denied no matter which candidate you favor.

One spoke from experience. The other spoke only in the theoretical.

Experience is the sum of one’s involvement in any cause, career, venture or enterprise. It is the combination of choices, good and bad, made over time. It is about the lessons learned from judgments that proved wrong. It is about the rewards discovered from convictions that were right, even when vastly unpopular. It is about a unique vision that is formed only from having been in the game, on the field, where reality is unpredictable. Experience is acquired when risks are taken, and where there is a willingness to lose, if need be, to defend what one thinks is right. The truly experienced have the wounds and the rewards to show for their cumulative effort.

In the first debate last Friday, we saw two very different men. Both were bright, and both were dedicated to the positions they took. Each had earned the right to be standing at those lecterns. Each had won the respect and the trust of millions of Americans.

Just one of these men spoke from a perspective that comes only when a person has lived the life, and walked the pathways of the landscapes he seeks to lead. The other offered only the viewpoint of a theoretician. Never on any battlefield or in any arena, had the ethereal notions he proposed been tested. John McCain’s experience was overwhelmingly visible. Equally visible was that Barrack Obama had none.

Whether you favor one or the other in this presidential contest, it cannot be denied that only McCain brings the invaluable commodity needed most in these times of great peril. Only John McCain speaks from experience. In the debate, this was abundantly clear.

Sarah Palin really doesn’t want to entertain the media as she meets with several world leaders in New York this week.

Palin got a passport just last year. Before this week, she had not previously met with any international leaders. By the end of this day, the Republican vice presidential nominee will complete meetings with seven foreign heads of state. She began with a half-hour session with Afghanistan’s President Hamid Karzai and Colombia’s President Alvaro Uribe Tuesday. The McCain campaign has arranged Palin’s visits with these foreign leaders during the United Nation’s annual General Assembly.

The plan is to give her exposure to foreign policy in advance of her October 2nd debate with her vice presidential opponent, Senator Joe Biden.

The media wanted in on these meetings, but only a pool camera crew from CNN and some still photographers were admitted. There was much Media grousing about not being invited to attend Palin’s briefings. Some networks and newspapers actually threatened not to cover the meetings. The reason the media were restricted is because the McCain campaign knew these media vipers, most of whom are already in the tank for Barack Obama, only wanted to catch Sarah Palin in a mistake.

These so-called “reporters” who followed Barack Obama to Europe like it was the second coming, and made his first meetings with world leaders seem like a gift to world peace, only wanted to capture an embarrassing moment, if there was one. It turns out there were none.

The left-tilting mainstream media has been upset that the McCain campaign has not made Palin available to reporters for questions. Since the nomination of Alaska’s governor as John McCain’s running mate, she has given two network TV interviews, and will soon do another with CBS, but shehas held no news conferences.

The fact that Barack Obama has held no general question news conference in many months doesn’t seem to bother the media.

The media will discount any value in the meetings Palin has had with foreign leaders. They’re already saying they don’t improve her stature. Clearly the campaign coverage double standard remains inplace.

The 2008 presidential election is extraordinary in many respects. An African American man is at the top of the Democratic ticket, while a woman will become the first female vice president of the republicans win. Perhaps overshadowed by the makeup of the two tickets is the fact that for the first time since 1952, no sitting president or vice president is on the November ballot.

This fact alone demonstrates the importance of the three presidential debates and one vice presidential debate coming up later this month and next. Away from carefully-crafted and choreographed public appearances, John McCain and Barack Obama will be seen for the first time one-on-one. Their demeanor and respective qualifications will be open for direct scrutiny from the public, without spin doctors remanufacturing their every comment, (although that sort of thing will surely follow each debate).

While I am not entirely pleased with lack of balance in the selection of moderators by the Commission on Presidential debates, there will be a single moderator in each confrontation, not panel of self-important reporters. There will be more time for the candidates to expand upon their respective points of view on the issues, but make no mistake, what each says will have been carefully rehearsed to create the best possible sound bites that will be repeated for days thereafter by the media.

The candidates will be able to confront each other if the opportunity arises, but such confrontation carries high risk. Still there are substantial differences on issues between Obama and McCain and between Palin and Biden. Millions will be watching and wishing that there had been many more debates, not just the few that usually take place. The stakes are very high. These debates could be the whole ballgame.