And it will get much, much worse.

>"if one candidate's appealing to your fears, and the other one's appealing to your hopes, you better vote for the person who wants you to think and hope."

FAIL.

What's really important for Obama and Biden now are -

1. Stay focused and on track.
2. Get people registered to vote and to the voter booths.

It isn't aimed at "undecided voters". It is fodder for the weak-minded, ignorant, dittohead Republican base, whose so-called "politics" has no real content other than hatred of "liberals". It's of a piece with the selection of vicious, lying airhead Sarah Palin as the VP nominee. The Junior Roves who are running McCain's campaign realize that the lunatic-fringe right-wing mental slaves of Rush Limbaugh are the only thing they've got left, so they are doing whatever they can to get them out to the polls.

Now that Wealthcare has passed and John and Barry have maybe a dozen billion dollars or so to spend, the campaign shifts to a POPULARITY contest.

Wealthcare has negated our government concept of being for the people by the people. Now we can all plainly see that we have a government for the rich and nothing but the rich so help us god.

So...go ahead and go negative. Get nasty. Throw mud.

Well of course McTroglodyte is going to go 100% negative on Obama. It's the only thing he's got to offer. You were expecting him top have positive things to say about himself? Please....

SecularAnimist gets it right, I think. At this point, it all comes down to GOTV. McCain's strategy is clearly going to be to run ads trying to discredit Obama among working class white and independent voters. They might not go over to McCain, but they could very well decide to just stay home. It's going to get very, very ugly. Of course we can also expect a slew of the usual dirty trick ops, voter intimidation, caging, etc. from the various 527s that hang on the RNC like so many remoras. If Obama's smart, he'll hit back on stuff that needs hitting back -- hard -- but otherwise stay calm, cool and confident. Eye on the ball.

Obama has run a steady, disciplined campaign and it's paying off. McCain's series of Hail Mary passes, conflicting statements, and changing strategies have made him look like the inexperienced beginner. Every time McCain lashes out he looks less and less presidential. He's his own worst enemy.

a bunch of those ads will end up on stopdogwhistleracism.com!

Steve -

Well, there you go again. Don'tcha know that the reason the campaign has been so negative is because Barack Obama won't have town hall meetings with McCain?? Don'tcha??

Wow. It's actually difficult to say that with a straight face...

...something Bill Clinton said a few years back...

Classic Clinton. Except... how did that work out?

Maybe that's what Buford is referring to above.

In both debates the moderators asked the debaters which of their envisioned projects would have to be scaled back in light of the financial crisis. I found myself wishing that Obama and Biden had said that McCain and Palin wouldn't have to scale back on anything because they're not for anything, only against things.

Count the lies was up to 103 this morning.

http://www.mccainpedia.org/index.php/Count_the_Lies

I do a weekly or bi-weekly blog in my local news site on "Lie of the Day" every time the number changes.

Try it in your neighborhood..

Steve,

You miss an important point on this story. It's not that McCain is going more negative, but that Obama is spending double McCain. They're essentially spending the same amount of scratch on negative ads. It's just that Obama kicks in another million plus for positive ones, too. I guess you could say that Obama can afford to go positive.

...you better vote for the person who wants you to think and hope.''

I have no hope that these voters can think.

It is an embarrassment of epic proportions that the race is as close as it is.

There is a term in psychological circles that refers to the defensive posturing and (unconscious largely) process that occurs called: 'Reaction Formation'.

Essentially, it refers to expressing / displaying the direct polar opposite of what is so.

For example:for a pathological lier, he/she will convey and associate with people and symbols that convey honesty and honor.

For someone who is feeling extreme sadness or anger, they may often smile or even laugh inappropriately.

Or for the likes Cindy McCain and company, you will claim 'no negativity' when in fact your entire campaign has been marked by the same.

It's also why John McCain-- whose entire house of cards is built upon his sense of honor and honesty --essentially loses it when confronted with any prospect whatsoever that he has faltered from this.

Not that this explanation makes it any better.

It's disturbing as all get out, frankly.

There are plenty of undecided voters

I keep hearing this statement repeated by the talking heads and repeated by writers. Who the hell are these undecideds? I don't think they exist in major form whatsoever. It's not as if we have 20 million Americans sitting around saying well, I just can't seem to make up my mind this time around, I mean, these guys are really close in their beliefs and philosophies that it's impossible to make a call

That's bullshit. The people who are going to vote McCain are the same ones who think he's doing a great job. The same people think Palin is just super-fantastic.

Everyone else, other than white folks who just can't bring themselves to vote for a black man, know exactly who they are going to vote for, and it aint McPalin.

HumboldtBlue,

Believe it or not there are undecided voters out there. I've spoken to some of them. I will tell you that they are low information voters or voters with a bit of bigotry in them. I was speaking to my landlord today. She hasn't decided yet and thought Palin did just fine in the debates last night. A co-worker of mine just can't get himself to vote for Obama because his middle name is an arabic name. And my sister isn't sure who she is voting for because she is afraid Obama may not be pro Israel enough. I don't understand it but it is out there.

I hate to say it, but the only thing that is keeping McCain alive right now is racism, pure and simple. If he were running against a wrinkly Old White Guy like himself he would be dead in the water right now. Never able to break about 30% in the polls nationwide as only the dead-ender Republicans would even consider him.

It's not just that he has run the worst campaign in my memory, and that goes back quite a bit, but the way events have transpired, he hasn't been able to catch a break to save his life. He keeps harping on the "Surge" as the be all end all of national security issues, like nothing else can possibly matter. And that's because it is the only national issue that he can make any credible claim to having been right on...and even then only right in the most simplistic of terms.

He tries a little self deprecation and admits that he might not be the sharpest knife in the draw when it comes to economic issues and what happens next? A once in a century financial disaster suddenly becomes the major issue of the campaign. Hurricanes for the party convention? Who could make this stuff up? Who would have believed it six, seven months ago? Sometimes I almost feel sorry for the guy and then he opens his mouth...

A co-worker of mine just can't get himself to vote for Obama because his middle name is an arabic name.

I hear ya Lew, but when they bring up his Arabic middle name, just remind them that his first name is Hebrew. That should confuse them for a month or two.

Cindy Mc Cain Family Values: Threaten to pull the trustifarian rug from under your recalcitrant Ivy League daughter if she doesn't vote for dad.

Honestly, too, say what you will about Nancy Reagan, but if Ron, Jr., had volunteered he wasn't so keen on Sr.'s policy, the response would have been much more measured.

Uhhh, bad example, as I believe others have pointed out... Clinton said that, and then everyone voted for the one trying to scare them.
And we all suffered.

It's all about the pin--don't ya know?

For all I know, constant dishonesty and blanketing the airwaves with nothing but attack ads is a recipe for success.

Remember to whine about Diebold on Nov 5th...

The "Fiercer" Strategy is outlined here:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/10/03/AR2008100303738.html?hpid=topnews