I will respond in turn to the points some of you raised on my note. It may take more than one post to do it. Please bear with me.

1. One reader defended Obama's convention expenditures on grounds he could not be expected to speak on a soap box with no sound system. My point was that Obama did not need to move the convention to the football stadium for its final night. His decision to do so, and reportedly spend $140,000 on Greek columns and a total of $5.3 million on set up, strikes me as being excessive in comparison to $150,000 in wardrobe upgrades for Palin.

2. It is said that Palin's expenditures are "quite different" because they undercut her "narrative" as a frugal hockey mom.

Folks, you must remember, with Palin it is not just a narrative, it is her life. She is the least wealthy of the four major candidates, by more than two million dollars. And if that's doesn't impress you, recall that her 18 year old son did not go to college, he joined the infantry in Iraq. Think about what that means, in terms of Palin's socio-demographic. Not West Point, not college. The army. The infantry. Most likely to get killed in combat, volunteering to fight the end of an unpopular war. It's unheard of, among any demographic in this country other than the working class and the poor.

Most politicians pose for pictures on farms and the like, or tell stories about summertime with grandpa back in Dogpatch, where their ancestors lived. Not so with Palin. As I said, when the campaign ends, and assuming she loses, she goes back home, without the fancy wardrobe. I don't care about the spin or the narrative; these are the facts. (I would agree it may have been bad P.R.; I'm just focusing on the underlying truth of the matter).

3. The next point raised was that McCain ditched his wife for an heiress. I agree, this is a problem. I was both embarrassed and impressed by Romney's statement to 60 Minutes that his first sexual experience with a woman was on his wedding night. I also liked Huckabee for not having a trophy subsequent spouse. You will note in other letters I was not particularly high on Reagen, in comparison to George H.W. Bush. It always seemed odd to me to hold up Reagen as a Norman Rockwell family man when his own family seemed such a mess. I much preferred Carter in this regard.

Also, this may be a first for me, a complimentary word about Michelle Obama. I respect Barack and Michelle for being good family people. Similar feelings about Biden. And, of course, Palin. I'm not saying, by the way, that you can't be divorced and be president. Not all messy personal situations are created equal; some are more bothersome, as a matter of public service, than others.

But, back to McCain. I think some parts of his past are definitely a strike against him, and were a strike against him in the primaries, but they are not outcome-determinative, in my opinion, for a general election. Just as I am sure some of Obama's minor problems (from your perspective) have a similar effect.