McCain may not be as inept and clueless as he seems. Strapped for cash, by falling so far behind in the polls he has turned Obama, not Bush, into the "incumbent" and the focus is now on Obama and not Bush.

The question for flat broke McCain is to keep the focus on Obama and build up doubts among the "low information voters" (LIVs) who, with the World Series finished are just tuning into the presidential campaign. And of course the essential challenge is to keep that focus on Obama with out spending any money.

I expect that now we will be seeing all the nasty material that the Republicans are said to have saved up on Obama. We have already heard the "socialist" radio tape, there is now supposed to be a "Palestinian video" which the Los Angeles Times is accused of suppressing and also some sort of mysterious girlfriend, a certain Vera Baker, who seems to have disappeared from the face of the earth. If the Reverend Wright is not encased in cement at the bottom of Lake Michigan by now, I wouldn't be surprised if he turned up, say around Friday

The "low information voters" (LIVs) who are just now tuning into the election are only really hearing about Obama for the first time. At this point rumors about girl friends and wealth redistribution can really catch the attention of the LIVs. All this focus on Obama is a force multiplier for McCain's meager dollars.

In short, the idea is to look at the polls of the key battleground states and if Obama is not over 50% (no matter what lead he has) than those states may very well go to McCain.

Perhaps someone who can make a dollar go such a long way would do well during a severe economic crisis. Certainly spending four to one and not having everything sewn up does smell a little bit of the classic "tax and spend" Democrat that Republicans love to portray.

It is very striking how any trivial story about any other candidate that I can remember has always been considered legitimate news, but stories about Obama are considered off limits.

Somehow, someone that has appeared literally "out of the blue" is infused with some holy aura. What it most reminds me of, from my dirty hippy days of yore, is of "ashrama", the hot house climate of an Indian ashram, where the guru's every nose picking becomes cause for worshipful, treasured, celebration and collection.

Like everyone else, I really know very little about Obama, but I am coming to know quite a lot about his supporters and I find quite a few of them frankly sinister.

In full disclosure: I actually am a socialist (definition: I really believe in the welfare state, high taxes for the super rich and strict regulations for the greedy), but I don't think that this is some sort of sin that cannot speak its name. (Is there any sin besides being a socialist that cannot speak its name anymore?) I can't get a clear view of what Obama is, was, what he wants (besides power) or what he will do if elected. If after so much money has been spent over so many months and the candidate still appears all things to all men, then I don't think that this is by chance: I think that that this is the general idea, the effect desired.

What astonishes and offends me is how people are painting in the empty spaces with their fantasies and dreams. It reminds me of previous "great awakenings"* where Americans sold everything and sat in fields waiting for the second coming.

*The Third Great Awakening was a period of religious activism in American history from the late 1850s to the 1900s. It affected pietistic Protestant denominations and had a strong sense of social activism. It gathered strength from the postmillennial theology that the Second Coming of Christ would come after mankind had reformed the entire earth. The Social Gospel Movement gained its force from the Awakening, as did the worldwide missionary movement. New groupings emerged, such as the Holiness movement and Nazarene movements, and Christian Science. Wikipedia

Next comes the "Great Hangover".

http://seaton-newslinks.blogspot.com/