Thanks, you really nailed it in your second paragraph:

"Back to your broader point, it's amazing to say it, but Reagan and Bush 41 were actually not too bad at regulating markets (relatively speaking) though they did kick off the ideologically blindered mania for deregulation in general. There is something to be said for limited regulation, since it seems clear to me that the federal government is not especially good at regulating financial markets. It helps, though, if for starters the administration in power has some kind of interest in and appreciation for the value of regulated markets, which is clearly a huge difference between the Democrats and Republicans (and Obama and McCain, in particular)."

Simply put, I think McCain is a simpleton on economic issues and I think Obama understands and appreciates the complexity of where we're at right now and what we need to do going forward. I also think he surrounds himself with much better people while McCain will defer to Phil Gramm. (McCain stated earlier this year that if elected, he would appoint Phil Gramm Treasury Secretary.)

So, ultimately it isn't merely Democrat vs. Republican - it depends on which Democrat and which Republican. Since Bush Sr., the hyper-deregulation Republicans have morphed beyond anything Reagan would recognize. The electric battery contest is as void of competent recognition of the challenge as is his selection of Sarah Palin to assume the duties of president should something happen to him.

Thanks for the back and forth. I'm going off line for a while to do some homework and update my resume. Enjoy your Sunday.

Okay, I'm squeezing this post in between chapters, so I'll make it fast.

McCain's lack of knowledge of the Internet and World Wide Web is astounding. He has professed to not even using email. Yet, he has taken a stand against net neutrality, calling it burdensome regulation. Seeing Meg Whitman stump for him at the convention makes all kind of sense since Ebay, one of the biggest web success stories, isn't concerned about barrier to entry. For example, if you look at a list of Webby Award nominees over the years you can see bigger and bigger players getting into the mix until they dominate. I'm not complaining about that, but what I will complain about is the domination that will occur without net neutrality. And, you're right and Obama's right: McCain just doesn't get it.

Back to slogging away on homework...

I don't need to worry about it any longer. This will seal the deal with Obama for them. Guaranteed.

Personally, I don't start trusting polls until at least a week after the last day of the last convention. I watched Biden yesterday on Meet the Press and have no doubts as to whether he could assume the job of president if he had to. I read Richard Ben Cramer's book "What it Takes" about 15 years ago and I've held a favorable impression of Biden ever since. He knows what is going on with US involvement around the world and doesn't need to be coached. He was good to go the day Obama tapped him for the position.

Obama has handled himself well by staying on message and not getting sidetracked with the spectacle of the Republicans. We have a lot of serious problems right now - wars on two fronts and an over-stretched military, rising energy prices, rising food prices, falling home prices, bank failures, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac bail-out, increased cost of higher education, health care issues, and we're hemorrhaging money while we've leveraged our future to the Chinese. I could go on and on.

The Republicans have been in power for the last eight years and our problems have only multiplied and gotten worse. John McCain has voted with his party over 90% of the time. Why do you think he will make anything better now?

Remember, Al Gore won the popular vote in 2000 (some of think he won, period), it was very close in 2004, and the Democrats gained majority status in congress two years ago.

It's clear from a number of posts that there are hard feelings left over from the primary. Please consider doing one thing: be very, very selfish. Think about what you need to get out of the next administration. Consider what your needs are and vote accordingly. I can tell you that the top 5% of people in this country will be doing the same and they usually go with the Republicans.

Are your interests the same as theirs?

If he's a maverick, he isn't very good at it.

Thank you so much for the link on Silver - very interesting.

I'm posting a sentence from the New York Times about what the Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac will mean to consumers:

"MORTGAGE RATES If you already have a fixed-rate mortgage, nothing will change, except perhaps for a rising feeling of righteous indignation that you as a taxpayer are footing the bill for the mistakes of borrowers who got in over their heads and the lenders who let them." - New York Times

Phil Gramm lobbied for relaxed regulation which opened the door to creating this mess. John McCain has said that, if elected, he will appoint Phil Gramm Treasury Secretary.

It is the Republicans who are more at fault in this mortgage mess and if this doesn't hit the middle class literally where they live, nothing will.

"Privatize the gains and socialize the losses"

Brilliant! I've been looking for a way to quickly convey to people what is going on with this.

I also find it interesting that I don't recognize any of the screen names I'm seeing on the other threads. Most of them still want to vent about Hillary and Mrs. Palin.

Go read Andrew Leonard's piece "The Truth About Fannie and Freddie" in The Way the World Works section.

Read the letters, too.