...and the Democrats had better make sure they don't catch it, or 10 years from now roles will be reversed.

as much as I'd like to agree with you...I have strong concerns that the era of Bush is really upended.

For one thing the renegade US House Reps seem determined to cloak their radical agenda in the language of principled men. They are pushing for further tax cuts for the investor class. And if they succeed--this will be the ultimate vindication for the conservatism of Bush--that even during a national emergency with the entire economy at stake, these men are willing and able to negotiate their agenda on behalf of the investor class (Bush era style class warfare)...It does remind me of what happened after 9-11.

Liberals can't only win "by default." They need a principled populist agenda, articulated to the public. Can someone also explain this to me: if banks are currently "too big to fail" thus necessitating this tax payer borrowed "liquidity"--why are banks consolidating further with government approval? Do bank consolidations create "efficiency" or do they set us up for a rerun of the too-big-to-fail game with bigger and bigger stakes each time?

however, this is no more inevitable than the "permanent republican majority" roviacs were touting eight years ago.

and under NORMAL circumstances, i would say yes, the mccain-palin ticket and their keystone kops approach to campaigning, coupled with the current economic meltdown, is a serious blow to this toxic brand of conservatism.

but the magnitude of the meltdown is a game-changer. a wild card. we don't know how it's going to turn out. some new hole is punched in the economy each and every day.

if people had the wits and wherewithal to see that the republicans shot the bill down not because it fails to protect taxpayers, but because they can't stomach ANY REGULATION WHATSOEVER, they would realize that these ideologically bankrupt fools are not the ones to lead us out of this mess. but i don't think enough people do.

also, keep in mind that whoever inherits this is not going to fix it in a day, a year, or even four years. by then they will have whitewashed the memory of gw bush and proclaimed it all the fault of the dem congress and current administration. and they'll be back.

The President received a stunning blow yesterday, and it was delivered at the hands of his own party. Think of it, if this is truly one of the greatest calamities we are facing in our time, and the president can't get his own bill through his own party, then he is truly a lame duck. Regardless of the spin that is applied, the republicans have lost the mantle of leadership, the "mandate of the gods" as it were and people sense it.

John McCain inserted himself into this, and undeniably made an ass of himself. He killed his run there, with an assist from house republicans.

BTW, don't f*ck with Nancy Pelosi.

I too am worried about the high level of uninformed and frankly ignorant voters here in Ohio and other swing states. There are many and they could give McPain a chance. And I also worry about how there have been "suspicions" in '04 and '00 of tampering.

The bottom line way to beat this is to get every voter possible for Obama to register and then actually vote. Now that we have a Democratic Secry of State (Ken Blackwell is gone to the dustbin of history) there are many ways, times, methods to vote. I have been volunteering in the Columbus area for the campaign and there is a very organized focus to knock on doors, make calls, and register voters. Today starts the early voting window and now we're getting out the vote everyday through Nov. 4th.

Our side is fired up. Yes, there are McPain supporters, but I know they don't have the energy or desire to do what we're doing in Ohio. And there are lots of Reps. who don't like either candidate (my "Archie Bunker" neighbor is one of them) who may very well not vote at all. A non-vote, rather than a McPain vote, is a vote for Obama in this state and every other swing state.

There are more of us who are organized and doing everything possible on the grassroots level to win. I have hope and faith that we'll carry Nov 4th and give this country the president that we need.

They picked Palin just to keep the right-wing base happy but whomever pulls the strings there doesn't want to win the Presidential election.

I'm afraid you really can't underestimate the average uninformed voter. My worry is that they'll carry this election, as they did in the last.

I know what you mean, the story has been up for over 20 minutes fer crissakes.

It's been my experience that Elfantman, tiberian, berlek98, shooter007, and many of the Troll Army have specific assignments to get up early so that they can plop the first post into place.

It was my impression that their overseers have them on a point system that if they can get here first they earn points towards coffee go-cups and foam beer-can coolers. Oh, yeah, and those big foam hands that say "We're #1".

Give any of them a huge foam cowboy hat and a "We're #1" giant foam hand and they're stylin'! For the old guys there are the "Sarah is HOTT!" buttons.

McCain seems to be on a downward slide that (hopefully) ensures he will not win the election in November.

However, that does not mean that we can count of the GOP for good. They made that mistake in 2002 when they controlled every branch of government - it didn't last long.

The fact is the US is plagued by a variety of problems which will take a long time to be solved, if they can be solved at all. And let's be honest with ourselves - many of them (like the current financial crisis) have strongly bipartisan roots. Those on the progressive left like myself might never have supported deregulation or laissez-faire capitalism, but Bill Clinton didn't do much to rein either in and the Pelosi congress has only recently started making inroads on that direction.

The GOP has never lacked shrewd political operatives. In 2010, even if it follows an Obama victory, expect them to strike back, and strike back hard when all of our problems haven't magically vanished (and they won't.) They'll place the blame squarely what will hopefully be a Democratic Congress, Senate and Presidency, and they will likely regain ground.

Politicians might not be able to afford the luxury of long term thinking but their supporters should. We need to think about how to push a Democratic government in directions that will result in a reorganization of the federal government in ways that are more politically and economically viable in the long term. Even if it costs us politically. Because it will. Believe it.