Peace On That

Here is my objective view of the election as it stands today:

While the discussion for the next couple of days will be the Vice President debate, the real story is with the campaign tactics that each candidate is pursuing. McCain pulled out of Michigan and is now going to focus on Maine, Pennsylvania, Ohio and Wisconsin. But before I go there, lets discuss the last night’s debate.

Sarah Palin was in danger of become a caricature and a drag on the McCain ticket. Last night she did just enough to stop the bleeding. If McCain would have allowed Gov. Palin to talk more in the past five weeks, her debate with Joe Biden could have added to the ticket, but instead it simply gave a sigh of relief to the base of the Party. For voters who were looking for serious answers for serious problems, the debate demonstrated that Gov. Palin and communicate the talking points but has no in-depth understanding of the issues.

In an election where independents and new voters will make the difference, a content Republican base is not good enough. From this point on, Gov. Palin will do no more media interviews outside of the friendly confines of Fox News and conservative talk radio. Again, that will do nothing to attract independents and young voters.

The focus now returns back to McCain and five weeks may not be enough time for McCain to turn it around. There are fewer people left to sway and Joe Biden’s proclamation to end the war in Iraq will go a long way with the American people. McCain now has to fight for states that Bush won. And here is the biggest problem for McCain; if the polls are accurate, Obama needs only to pick up 10 electoral votes out of the 115 electoral votes from states considered toss ups. Obama is making a big push in Virginia, North Carolina, Colorado, Nevada, Ohio and Indiana while still holding down Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and Michigan. He is also revving up the campaign in Florida and Missouri. He may not win those two states but it forces McCain to fight for them.

Four weeks is a long time but if Obama can stay on message and fight in every battleground state, he should be able to pull this out. What Obama has to fight against is the dumbing down of American intellect by George Bush. I wished more job qualifications were based on the ability to say golly, you betcha and having a beer with Joe six pack. I’d be a millionaire.