When Republicans say they're putting the country first, you have to realize that for them, their party is synonymous with "country" -- e.g., they are the party of "real" Americans" in their twisted view. Kind of a variation on the old line about "what's good for General Motors is good for America." The only part of the country that matters to the GOP is the part they're representing -- and this is reflected in their policy and administration. That's been glossed over by the media that chides partisanship as if it were coming from both sides in equal measure, but for the Republicans, partisanship is EVERYTHING, and citizenship is almost meaningless.

That's how Party faithful give the laugh to Congressional subpoenas, ignore laws they're supposed to uphold -- if something's got to give, to the Party faithful, it's a no brainer: sacrifice the country, not the Party. It puts the last 40 years in perspective in terms of the conduct of the GOP.

To the GOP and their disciples, putting Party first IS the same as putting Country first, so McCain/Palin can say that almost without irony, even though the interests of the Republican Party are, sadly, quite out of step with the interests of the country at large -- at least if we want to remain a republic. But that's just so much political fine print, best not looked at too closely.

Party first and foremost -- that's the GOP way. But they can't come out and say that, because it would mean being minority status for generations. So they say "country" instead, and hope nobody's paying attention.

McCain must run as who he truly is; pragmatic, tough, bi-partisan and ready to break some special interest china to get the right things done in Washington. Fix the message, and you will fix the states.

The only "fix" the GOP will be able to reliably bring to McCain's campaign will involve voter suppression, voter fraud, and disenfranchisement of non-Republican voters. That's it.

The "real" McCain is precisely who's been running -- for far too long, the McCain brand, the Unreal McCain, aka, McCain't -- he's been able to stay politically viable long past his shelf life because of the mythology around the man, by people mindlessly mouthing "maverick" when his name came up, without looking at his record.

But running as a candidate, McCain can't hide behind that mythology, anymore. The more people learn about McCainiac politics and economic policy, the less they like.

I'm glad Albright came out for Obama, although her quote from the 90s will forever haunt me...

"If we have to use force, it is because we are America. We are the indispensable nation. We stand tall. We see further into the future." -- Madeleine Albright

The hubristic unilateralism of the Clinton years paved the way for what Bush/Cheney did over the last eight years -- it's like Clinton led the way, and Bush/Cheney turned that dismal diplomatic road into a superhighway, but the way was made by the Clinton administration, sadly. Albright's all too symptomatic of that unilateralist would-be hegemonic kind of stance that is so last century.

I think for 21st century America to truly stand tall, and to resemble something more than Ozymandias, we need to step off our high horse and rejoin the world community, reinvigorate the State Department and diplomacy, respect international law, and reinvest a big chunk of our runaway defense/war budget into this country.

Then again, that's a minority opinion, even among Democrats, so odds are we'll just run ourselves into the ground, vainly trying to be the nice empire, the empire you'd be happy to have a beer with.

As much as Palin and McCain try to channel Harry Truman as their electoral muse, in their bid to snooker enough voters to vote for them, I think Obama needs to channel FDR as a way of winning over the last of the oldster voters who are still a bit squirrelly about voting for Obama. What's more, a new New Deal would energize progressive voters, too. McCain/Palin would invoke the worst of the Truman administration; it would be nice to see Obama bring forth the best of the FDR administration -- there's plenty to draw from there, if he's willing to do it. That should drive the last coffin nail into McCain's frenetic dreams of power-grabbing on behalf of the privileged and the powerful.

Rove is just doing his standard misinformation tricks -- but it's not that Obama's NOT doing well, because Obama is doing quite well compared to McCain. But that's exactly why Rove is talking about this right now -- he wants to do what he can to energize the Republican base -- piss them off, fire them up, squeeze every ounce of support they can from the base, in hopes of somehow tweaking out a miracle win at the last minute.

In an election where they're losing the independents, that's about the only card they have to play -- ensure that every reactionary gets to the polls, try to deny as many non-Republican voters franchise as they're able, and pray that those tactics will win them the election. The only voters truly mobilized by this kind of information is the Brimstone Base of the GOP, the ones who think Obama's the Antichrist.