I believe there are *many* moderate voters out there that currently support Obama basically because he’s good-looking, he’s well-spoken, and he has no ties to George Bush.

I think the race may tighten as more of these moderate voters become aware of the details Obama's background and record.

Please see “17 things you should know before voting for Barack Obama”
here.

I agree with the others about what the Palin pick tells us about McCain. It tells us that he would do anything to win– even setting up someone for the presidency who could potentially make George W. Bush look like a great success in comparison! Why did he pick someone that he'd only met once??Because the Obama camp was on a post-Convention high, and the Democratic Party had healed many of their wounds. He had to do something to stop the momentum. I think he panicked.

He had to know that she was woefully inadequate- but was a master campaigner- which is a scary combination and that many of her views ran contrary to his.

There's no way he's been putting Country First- either with that pick or with the divisive, partisan way he's been campaigning.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/ar…

They probably also do not trust McCain when he says he wants to control the border, that he will limit spending, that he will cut taxes, or that he will appoint conservatives to the Supreme Court. Most of those Republicans consdier McCain a RINO and thus not worthy of a vote. Being a maverick in DC means you are willing to stab people in the back and most Repubicans realize that McCAin will stab them in the back given any reason.

They worry about what aging has done to the man's mental faculties and personality.His anger seems to have destablized his judgement. They worry he is still fighting to overcome the stigma of losing the Vietnam war and what that may lead to militarily to vinidicate the great cause of McCain's life. At 72 they worry about his health, specifically will his anger cause a stroke or heart attack(more worrisome than his cancer) and leave Palin in charge which is worse than a rudderless adminstration.

In short they really worry that McCain is approaching Altzheimers as indicated by his zig zag thought process, paranoia and anger. They think McCain realizes he's losing it, but is determined to achieve the great pinnacle of his life regardless of the implications.

Don't worry, Obama (and McCain) has a top-notch team of professionals guarding him. The president probably has more protection than anyone else in the world, and when McCain took a walk in that Baghdad market a couple years ago to proclaim everything rosy and Iraqis could go about their business because we were winning the war, McCain was for a few hours even more heavily guarded than the president. After all there was a massive ground and air force (complete with circling helicopters) protecting him in that market. Our Secret Service (and military) knows how to guard people. So no need to worry much about Obama.

As far as the dirtiness of the campaign ads:

You may think that the dirty ads attacking Obama are part and parcel of political campaigns (and dirty ads exist in many campaigns). But what McCain has done, all but accuse Obama of being a traitor, stoking terrorist fears, raising racist (and anti-Christian) sentiment to the point where McCain's supporters actually call for Obama's death in such a public way and in such numbers across the country is beyond pale. Good for McCain to try to reign them in even though he only did so when he saw that it was hurting his poll numbers.

Bush divided the country and used fear to be elected and re-elected (and the first time Bush wasn't even elected by the people, but by the electoral college). McCain is doing the same.

If McCain's ideas were really as strong and received strong support from the public, then McCain would not need to resort to these tactics.

The only lower McCain could go would be to say outright that Obama is a terrorist or terrorist sympathizer. Oh, and McCain could also call Obama the “n” word.

Do we really want a president who is willing to stoop this low to be our leader? Someone that not only Americans look up to (and when I was a kid the president was an honorable position and to be admired) but much of the world, too?

With the election of Obama and large majorities in Congress, the next political fight will be about getting the most out of government while putting the least end. I think of it as big government libertarianism. People want government programs to provide jobs, checks, and money but do not want the government bothering them. Think of blacks in urban Chicago. They love goverrment jobs, government pork, and welfare but they pay no attention to any government regulation that is inconvient. That is what the U.S. has to look forward to.

…Until a couple of week ago, there was a shift. Now, the entire election is about McCain. Obama and his policies are no longer the primary focus of the election and election coverage – instead, this has very suddenly turned into a referendum on McCain.

I get the sense that in the past few weeks, that the “Obama referendum” was answered, and Obama passed the test. Now we move on to McCain, to see if he can 'pass' as well. And so far, he's running out of time to answer that question.

“Andrew Sullivan:

“12 Oct 2008 01:49 pm
Now They Tell Us

“The Right can only be depressed as they watch Obama buoyed by a world credit crisis and the deep unpopularity of a president who campaigned but never governed like a conservative,” – David Freddoso, New York Post.”

Hey, I'm voting for Sen. Obama, who's a liberal, hoping he'll govern like a libertarian Democrat.