It may be less of a case of being disconnected than, like George W. Bush, not particularly caring to take the time to prepare.

President Bush, despite the jokes, is reasonably smart, at least smarter than the average. However he is also very lazy. And this laziness is apparent in his lack of preparation. Watch some time when President Bush is speaking at a fund raiser consisting of multi-millionaires: These are his base (in his own words). He is articulate and clear, because he prepares.

When speaking to the public in general, George W. Bush indicates what he thinks of them by showing how much preparation he has done: None.

Similarly, John McCain, IMO, displays the same casual attitude of contempt for his audience by not particularly caring if what he says is consistent, or even accurate. He knows that FoxNews and the rest of his media Base will carefully edit the comments so they look brilliant on air (As CBS did). So why bother?

He also knows that the fix is in going into sufficient states that no Republican candidate for president can get less than 200+ electoral votes, no matter what. So all that has to happen is sufficient voter blockages take place in a few states, with the Supreme Court standing by in case it is needed, and America will inaugurate President John McCain next January, regardless of what he says now.

I do not agree that your opinion on this point is true.

If John McCain is elected, then 75% of the Loyal Bushies that Karl Rove installed in the Federal government will keep their jobs, perhaps only playing a little musical chairs and losing those, such as Richard Pearle, who are going off to become wealthy on their Bush Administration accomplishments.

We could easily have a war by June 2009 as President McCain's hair trigger goes off against another "WMD Country".

$ 1/2 Trillion deficits will become the "good old days" as President McCain, abetted by a blindly loyal Republican Congress or a feckless Democratic one, cuts all taxes on anyone making more than $1 million a year, borrowing the rest from the Chinese Central Bank.... until they turn the spigot off.

No. As a nation I am not as sanguine as you about our future under a President McCain.

Re: "The reason this crowd doesn't win elections is the contempt for the U.S. electorate --"

To put a slight spin on your comment, it is not just a matter of contempt.

When Republicans were in control of Congress, we could expect, like clockwork, a constitutional amentbent baring gay marriage and flag burning every election year. Everyone knew it was going nowhere, but it was ther as red meat for rightwing fanatics. The day after the election the amendments died, without even a toek effort on the part of Republicans to force it thorough (as opposed to tghier pushing through the Terry Schiavo bill in less than a week when James Dobson roared).

But it worked, every time.

That was contempt for voters on the part of Republicans. The difference is that Conservatives have an infinite capacity to maintain their fantasy world, no matter what happens in fact, as long as they hear the "right words" between Labor Day and Election Day during even numbered years.

Rush also likely is jealous of the fact that the Chinease leaders can imprison and torture anyone in the country they wish, without charges or trial, and that their leaders are unaccountable for those actions....

Wait a minute!

We do have that here too!

Sorry!

If the military starts to finally stop being able to accomplish even its current missions during "President Obama's Term" (assuming he is elected), we can count, 100% on Conservatives declaring, "everything was great When George W.Bush was running things, Barak obama broke it".

Of course Conservatives will be counting on media reporters who will not remember even one signle warning, such as this, so that they repeat Conservative talking points unexamined.

The political strategy will work perfectly.

Supporting or not supporting the troops has nothing to do with declaring ones belief that the current administration is squandering talent through incompetence and arrogance.

Somehow Conservatives have bestowed themselves with the mantle of "supporting the troops" because they insist on keeping our troops in the middle of a civil war, with no prospect of progress for the next "100 years".

Please explain why wasting the lives of our troops is "supporting" them.

Now that the McCain has paid to run the ad, perhaps a half-dozen times, they can count on their Base to re-run the ads, for free, on every nightly news program for the next week: All in the interest of "political discussion", of course.

Re: "Every minute that the McCain camp talks about Obama is a minute they don't talk about McCain. Now, is this a good or bad thing for either candidate?"

Good for both.

Barak Obama gains from being shown in front of US troops.

John McCain gains because the less Americans see and hear from him, the better off he is.

I still find it amazing that some people (women or men) declare "I'm pro-choice, but I plan to vote for John McCain".

If you vote for John McCain, then you are NOT pro-choice.

Why did George W. Bush fold?

Because he assumes that both the press and the voters have the memory of goldfish and, by November they will think it was all Geroge W. Bush's and John McCain's idea.

Based on past experience, it is not a bad bet, either.

From my readings, Karl Rove is now setting the tone of the McCain campaign.

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0308/8911.html

Expect the McCain road to get much lower between now and November.