Agreed. I now have a huge man crush on Joe Biden. I love when he talks about his dad saying "get up, champ". It's like all of those cliched sports movie that I watched as a kid rolled into one. And then, the single dad bit. Ouch! I started thinking about being in that situation with my own kids and I got a little choked up. Not only that, the guy delivered...big time. He said everything that Barack should have said about John McCain's record. It sounds oxymoronic, but he also managed to be the erudite everyman. In some ways, I wish the ticket was reversed. I love Barack, but I really feel that Biden has earned his way to the top.

This is actually an important point. Churches that proselytize for a particular candidate or party risk losing their not-for-profit status. Of course, they always find some tricky way around this. Listen to Dobson's program sometime. Anytime he talks about a political issue, he claims that the show is a "special episode" and is being funded by a source other than Focus on the Family. This is rubbish, of course, since Focus is still responsible for securing the airtime and for paying all of the fixed production costs. Still, he get's away with it, because he has friends in very high places. I attended a church a few years ago that pushed a marriage amendment petition during the service, but was careful to add that none of us were under any obligation to sign it. As for the Wasilla church, I imagine they're calling this meeting a non-sanctioned event, even though they're loaning the personnel, equipment, and facilities. Meanwhile, these folks don't have to pay taxes on the tithes they collect from poor people. Ain't America grand?

Our old friend Mike Dukakis put it best on Larry King last night. Obama's Illinois State Senate district had more people than the entire state of Alaska. The "largest state in the union" gambit sounds downright desperate.

It was a glorious evening for Palin to be sure, but it's now time to deal with some uncomfortable truths:

- Obama's national poll standing has grown and held steady over the first few nights of the convention.

- As Obama's lead grows, the percentage of undecided voters continues to diminish.

- There's very little chance that McCain's speech tonight will be hailed as a rhetorical masterwork. And, for a man who claims little expertise on the economy, he's unlikely to sell voters on his plan to address their #1 issue.

- Palin has yet to offer any opinions on foreign policy (those written into her speech by party operatives don't count).

- She has yet to answer for her extreme views on a myriad of social issues.

- She has yet to account for all of the misrepresentations about her record (i.e. bridge to nowhere).

- Mark my words: she WILL have a major gaffe during this campaign. If it can happen to an Iron Horse like Hillary Clinton, it can happen to anyone. Her positions are too extreme and she's still a neophyte when it comes to the nat'l media. The Republicans might try to shield her by putting her only on Fox News, but that won't deliver any swing voters.

- No matter how much bullying the Republicans do, her record of ethics violations, and the ongoing investigation associated with them, won't fade conveniently into the night. They will follow the McCain campaign until Nov. 4th.

- Oh yeah, unemployment figures are out today, and they're not looking good. Bad news for the party in power.

Palin may be the next Ronald Reagan, but, as far as this election goes, she may have peaked last night.

I'm very angry this morning, because Sarah Palin's speech last night prompted me to give up more of my hard earned dollars...to support the Obama campaign. Actually, the one-two punch of arrogant cynicism from Giuliani and Palen really did it for me. More than anything else, where do they get off criticizing community organizers? I suppose taking a low-paying job to help out-of-work steelworkers is somehow trivial compared to using your also-ran beauty pageant status as a springboard to a part-time sportscaster gig, but, hey, we can't all take the high road.

The Republican base isn't the only one that's fired up this morning.

If you recall, Dobson also endorsed Bush's choice of Harriet Miers for the Supreme Court (with great trepidation). Whatever happened with that?

Unfortunately, I suspect anyone willing to defer civic authority to a child psychologist will have no problem electing a small town mayor to the second highest post in the land; provided she's pro-life and advocates the teaching of theology in science class.

If it's any consolation, Obama never had a chance with these folks anyway.

I'm trying to envision how this VP debate will play out. Somehow I keep picturing LeBron James holding a basketball above his head while a fourth-grader desperately tries to jump up and grab it. Seriously, aside from the wedge issues, where does she even come close to matching up? She has a heart-warming story about a child with down syndrome. That's about it. Joe Biden must be walking around with a sh**-eating grin on his face today.

On January 19th, 2009, Dick Cheney will be our Vice President. Twenty-four hours later, it could very well be Sarah Palin; a woman who, as of this morning, had no official foreign policy positions listed in her OnTheIssues.org profile.

First the Bush administration significantly amps up the executive power of the VP office, and now McCain seeks to insert a candidate whose experience makes Obama look like an elder statesman. Maybe the Republicans really are trying to ruin this country.