Re: "But is it my imagination or are wedge issues factoring less prominently than they have in recent campaigns?"

It is your imagination. Sarah Palin has the Religious Right on fire. They will come to the polls in record numbers to elect the woman God has chosen to lead America. The Religious Right will intimdate anyone and everyone else from showing up by assisting Republican "truth squads" in supressing votes in minority voting districts in swing states.

You are listening to too many of your Conservatives friends (the ones at the coctail parties who sneer at their Religious Fundamentalist supporters whose votes they also covet), who are lulling you into complacancy.

Apparently it has worked completely.

Joes45acp

You are 100% loyal to the Republican Party. You would never vote anything other than 100% Republican in any election, ever.

The only item in doubt is which White House talking point you will post to justify it.

It sounds as though John McCain had better start watching his own back.

Of course, from this step, FoxNews quotes these letters as "People are saying..." to lead into whatever the RNC talking points of the day are.

And our media falls for it, every time.

Re: "What is wrong with Republicans?"

It is obvious. To be a Republican, one must have ones conscience surgically removed.

Don't forget the other part of this RNC Campaign:

"I'm an ardent, Pro-Choice, Hillary supporter who, disgusted by the abhorrent treatment she has received from Barak Obama, am now throwing my full support behind John McCain..."

Said letter to be quoted endlessly on FoxNews as obvious indicators of a "trend".

Re: "However he will be losing the smart republican and independent vote. -- bernbart "

No He will not. There is not one single Republican in the United States who will vote for Barak Obama over John McCain. Republicans are 100% loyal to The Party over The Country. In every election, every time, every where.

John McCain has, therefore, absolutely nothing at risk among Republicans. And, as long as the media is controlled by Conservatives or continues to intimidate everyone else, Americans will continue to know only what the McCain campaign wants them to know about Sarah Palin.

Of course John McCain wants to "suspend" campaigning. He is dropping inthe polls as people associate his past positions with the current mess, and his flip flops.

Republican outlets, such as FoxNews will certainly not let up on Barak Obama for one second. But Senator McCain wants to stop the bleeding. All in the name of "saving America", of course.

"Every time I think I'm gettig too cynical, I find I can't keep up." Lily Tomlin.

"your liberals really think mccain is afraid to debate obama? "

dmpd1985

Yes.

John McCain has always counted on Free Passes from his Base, the Reporting Media to get away with blunders, deceit and flagrantly cynical actions.

If he is to get media attention focused on another topic (Barak Obama's American Flag lapel pin, perhaps), he will need lots more "Blind Eyes".

It appears that every time John McCain's poll numbers dip, he makes some sort of surprise announcement calculated to divert media attention away from the issues driving the voters' decision to whatever "out of the blue" item he tosses out.

The McCain Campaign is apparently counting on an electorate and media reporting establishment that are both easily led and have the memories of goldfish.

In the case of reporters they may be on firm ground, but let us hope the electorate is more capable.

Even today's Wall Street Journal editorial lambasterd John McCain over his ducking out on the debate. The had to, of course, take a swipe at Barak Obama, but generally the WSJ editorial found John McCain's move to be political posturing, nothing more. They even complimented Barak Obama by repeating his "more than one thing at a time" comment.

When the WSJ editorial board starts blasting a Republican, six weeks away from the election, then you know that the fig leaf is hiding nothing.

Re: "Let's be fair. I would MUCH rather BOTH Senators get back to Washington to address this critical issue.

And again to be fair, McCain has been after a debate for months and now there is a crisis. Seems to me they could always debate AFTER this vote is over."

Since when do Conservatives care about being "fair", other than to themselves, of course.

One problem for the Sarah Palin candidacy is that, in classic Rovian style, she is not a candidate, she is a slogan ("Hockey Mom", "Pitbull in lipstick", "Thanks but no thanks", ...)

Therefore anything she actually says will detract from that projected image as her answers are analyzed and reported. As long as she does nothing but give speeches, which themselves are nothing more than repeated slogans, the electorate can projecte anything they want on her canvas. And that image can be constructed by surrogates, such as FoxNews.

The less Americans actually hear from Ms. Palin, the more Steve Schmidt's strategy works. It is entirely likely that, given the fact that there will be no debate this Friday (whether or not Barak Obama shows up or not: John McCain will not be there), the VP debate will be cancelled by the McCain campaign as well. The excuse will be some sort of "crisis" story, but the petulence will show through very well.

So what we have heard from Ms. Palin so far is likely to be all that we will hear from her: From now until until election day.

Re:"Frankly, I care more about a candidate's judgment than whether they have total command of all things economic, historic, political, etc."

Such as, "What books can I ban from the public?"