A superb synopsis. But I'm not as optimistic as you. As I watch the superficial coverage of Obama abroad. As I don't see any major analysis of McCain's simplistic views...I see 2004 redux. There are millions of us that understand the problem. We need to shame the media back into journalism. Somehow. Someway.

They're trying to dance past the lesion McCain just had removed from the upper right side of his face. But, I know that look. Ugh. And melanoma, once it returns acutely, typically takes you down fast. So, just for the sake of argument, what will be the Gooper Plan B if it is in fact melanoma aggressively returning?

Mork Romney?

The return of The Bootie Bandit Ghouliani?

An excellent analysis of the dynamics of this debacle. However if Obama loses it will be for the reason that the vast majority of Democrats are too timid to tell the truth and attack where it would really hurt; to drive home the message that Bush et al. mounted an unprovoked invasion of a sovereign nation solely for domestic political purposes. Sure you have to reduce this to one syllable explanations but you can’t be like a boxer in the ring, too afraid to throw your best punch when the other guy is starting to score points. From a leadership perspective Obama needs to grasp this concept very quickly.

Do Democrats want to try to win by default, because the country is sick of Bush, or win because they demonstrate that they can tackle the really hard issues in a decisive and courageous way. They must win, not because of what Bush did wrong, but what they can do right.

If it were a suspected melanoma, I would think he would have undergone Moh's surgery, where there is an immediate biopsy of the edge's of the lesion to ensure all of the cancerous cells are gone.

first thing, to show the most ignorant of the american public[ the " reds" of the red- and blue states] what way bush has failed. what the war in iraq REALLY was about!

2. play up really hard all the problems we've got right here!

a. economy/housing crisis

b. health care ONLY for those whom have great careers/are wealthy

c. energy crisis and how repugs have NO plan to solve this!

d. how high speed internet would create more self-sufficiency for people

e. how colleges activily offer scholarships to these star athletes, and honor roll preps only, meanwhile, many othere are passed by and can't afford to even go to college.

the list goes on and on!

mr obama! play it up from the po' people's outlook of things! the working class, all those whom have had sons/daughters needlessly killed to serve bush's / cheney's oil interests!

like the lawyers you are in court- dazzle that old asshole with the new tupee` on his bald old head. OUTWIT HIM! PLAN FOR PLAN!

and mostly, bring out all the similarities that bush and mc jerk have in common! 99% of them at least!

PRESIDENT OBAMA???? !!!!! YES!

Brilliant breakdown of the deal! And this is precisely why it (probably, hopefully) won't work. The only stumbling block is what Damien Morris points out: that Democrats (and Mr. Obama in particular) need to learn how to strike while the iron is hot for god's sake, to punch the Big Guy, and do it the first moment he isn't looking. In this case those moments are suddenly plentiful. I also believe Obama has the skill and cunning to know this and do what needs to be done, but it really would be great if the members of his own party were to help with the follow-through and just chew ass for once.

I continue to believe the wind is at our backs at last, and there is virtually no way to screw this one up. Unfortunately, that's when everybody usually gets complacent, and this is one election year when complacency would nearly equate with treason.

Come on, guys! Pay attention to Kamiya! This is serious. This really, truly is "our" moment. Leave us seize it.

yes, the abortion factor. mc jerk is a pro-lifer, perhaps just as much as mike fluckabee was, if not more! thing is though, mc jerk knows how to hide his true beliefs on everything.

one thing to remember about all those repugnican " old buzzards" like mc jerk. " even the cleanest buzzard or pigeon has shit hidden under his tail feathers!" that said, when it comes to reproductive rights; mc jerk is one dirty, SNEAKY, old buzzard!

he sounds smart, he sounds educated, he sounds like he would be laughing (in private )at the dimwits who voted for w, twice. oh, and he's light brown.

for large numbers, maybe most, of american voters that means he ain't like them, and can't be trusted with power. quite right, too. no telling where the american empire would go next, if the former slaves take the purple from the rich old white men who've been making such a good job of managing the economy, well no, and the foreign policy, ahh, nooo. well they have been protecting the rich, their core mission, full marks there.

It has to now be just a matter of time. Obama is so clearly head and shoulders above McCain... it is not even amusing.

Veuillez m ´excuser as we say in my part of the world but one does wonder very much what makes Obama support capital punishment.

An educated enlightened candidate hopelessly stuck in the worst of American mud? A daunting sight.

For a nation that has hit what any normal person would consider rock bottom, Americans have started blasting to reach new depths.

A blind belief in divine intervention? Pray more? Or nuke all opponents?

Obama ain't great, except when compared to the alternative!!

After living through repeated Presidential disasters, I understand the 2004 syndrome that affects those who fear a McCain election. But I am going to point out a big, big difference between 2004 and 2008: Obama is smarter than John Kerry. Okay, maybe I'm an intellectual snob, but one of the shockers of 2004 buried on the back pages, was that W actually had a higher IQ and I believe a better record than Kerry at Yale. (And he didn't study much). Both were gentlemen Cs. You would have to go back to Woodrow Wilson to find a candidate who is Obama's intellectual equal.

Not that just being smart isn't enough. (See Wilson, above) What Obama has demonstrated throughout his life is smart, socially conscious decisions. Even if his Presidential ambitions date to Kindergarten (so what?, his path has been one of activism and training himself at the grass roots level where real people (often oppressed) live, work and play.

Barak seeks three pointers and marries another activist attorney. Kerry windsurfs and marries a billionaire heiress.

And Kerry was surrounded by don't rock the boat Democratic strategists who response to the Swift Boat attack was to raise his neck and expose his jugular vein.

This is not 2004 and if Barak Obama was white, it might not be even close. It's not just that he's intelligent, it's how he's used his intelligence that sets him apart.

You have to really stick you head-up the place where the sun doesn't shine to not understand how triumphant the images from his European trip were. Speaking to a crowd of 200,000 Europeans waiving American flags is presumptuous? To paraphrase Lincoln about Grant, find-out what's he drinking and order it for the rest of the Democrats.

But perhaps, on another level, his meeting on Monday to shift to the economy with all the self-styled economic experts (with a union leader sitting at his side) was a master stroke also. And there is no doubt that he was in charge, and that the individuals there (many of them also extraordinarily bright and intelligent) were also willing to accept his leadership.

The issue in this campaign isn't going to be how qualified Obama is - he's answered that. The issue is how courageous the American voter will be, and whether, if he/she is courageous enough to vote for Obama. And whether this election can be stolen. Now matter how desperate our situation, for many American voters, voting for change and a black man may be just too much.

"We have met the enemy, and he is us," Pogo once famously noted. It's time for the voters to switch sides.

johnklotz.blogspot.com