Some short travels and other opportunities this week allowed contact with a number of undecided voters and an informal survey of the coming election. It seems the landscape here most closely resembles 1976 when comparing the present to prior elections.

A quick consensus is that nothing seemingly contradicts the public polls much; Obama is clearly poised to capture the presidency and be the blank check and liberal panacea the media and liberal power brokers in Washington have all been betting on.


Nonetheless, there remains some - albeit slight - glimmer of hope for McCain to still prevail.


This group of remaining undecided voters is seemingly larger than the 5% (or maybe even 10%) showing in the public polls.


These folks (the undecided voters at this point) are - at large - serious people and seriously concerned; they do pay attention to the news but only tend to focus in at election time(s) and get the majority of their "news" from the MSM (main street media).


The broader pool of remaining undecided voters is fully capable of discerning the truth & making the right decisions. Of course that's provided they are provided with fact + reason that will serve them in that quest. Thus, over history, great American leaders like Ronald Reagan have always trusted in the American people … and this is one of those cases, though the McCain campaign has clearly + greatly failed its supporters in not achieving effective communications to date. The McCain campaign has simply not been very good about effectively communicating the truths + facts about our current predicaments & future prospects in simple ways that average Americans can understand + deal with, to reach the conclusions necessary to support John S. McCain over Barack H. Obama.


Here are some topical observations:


BUSH: Many undecided voters are far from Bush haters. They are unhappy with the current state of things and want revenge at the ballot box but they also give Bush a fair reading when it comes to original mistakes (i.e. WMD) in the War on Iraq. They recognize the threats we face and realize it's an achievement to have not had a major terrorist attack in our homeland since 9/11. Nonetheless, Bush is the figurehead of the status quo and the source of significant animosity, particularly amongst the least informed, who never knew the extent to which Iraq played a significant role in terrorism at large and have been subject to eight years of propaganda originating from Michael Moore and propagating + perpetuating through the mainstream media. These undecideds also largely know John McCain and they know he's not Bush and that argument doesn't really work with them ... but most effective with those who lean strongly Obama and are desperate for change ... any change ... almost / clearly regardless of consequence.


AYERS: Why was Sean Hannity et. al. the lone voice in the wilderness for so long on this one? This was something that should have been pounded over the summer - not left for the closing weeks of the Presidential campaign. The doubts are there and accepted but, as fate would have it, the week the McCain campaign finally got around to posing such question, the markets were tanking and voters clearly interested in the economic message of the day. In this way the introduction of Ayers' issues and Obama's lifetime affiliations has not been effectively managed by the McCain campaign. Undecided voters are / were also quick to state they didn't follow / care about the Ayers things - which seemingly meant that they bought Obama's defense that it was a "distraction".


WRIGHT: Rev. Jeremiah Wright continues to frighten and perplex all but the most fervent of Obama supporters. Nobody can figure out how + why Obama could have sat in those pews for 20 years. Even strong supporters of Obama who are diehard liberals fear black liberation theology as espoused by the likes of Wright + Farrakahn and others. Lest the McCain campaign believe there's still an opening left here, it requires something worthy of discussion and not simply a rehash over past associations (though some replays on Rush, Beck, Sean, et. al. approaching election day and reminding voters that is what they can hear lots + lots more + new of from Obama's friend & compatriots over the next four years ... certainly can't hurt ... Rush's cartoon depiction of the Clinton White House comes to mind). If there is a tape that shows Obama in the pews when he's denied he wasn't, bring it on, otherwise the McCain campaign needs to tread carefully here. The so-called "Bradley Effect" seems may well play a roll with voters who want to pander to public sentiments and hysteria over Barack Obama and not express any reservation, lest they be charged as being a racist, until they're provided with an opportunity to do so in private.


PALIN: The unrelenting assault against Sarah Palin has certainly taken its toll among the remaining undecided voters. It seems that not only do large numbers of these folks believe all the lies and inuendo & hatred that originated on the left wing blogs but largely subscribe to the media chariactures of her. The good news for McCain is that this doesn't seem to impact his numbers or standing at all while she is still in fine position to take the broader cause forward in 2012 if McCain does not win this election or decides to only serve one term. Her image has so far been less tarnished than Dan Quayle's was in 1992 and her general ability and standing in the conservative community, not to mention her service to Alaska, remains largely unblemished and a tremendous asset in delivering McCain's base and some undecided + women + younger voters in this upcoming election.


BIDEN: General consensus seems to be that Joe Biden is the most desirable candidate for many undecided voters. This is somewhat bewildering given that Biden is a complete + total creature of Washington, has been there longer than McCain and has never been able to garner more than 1% in prior primary elections. Most frustrating and bewildering is that many / most undecided voters are completely unaware of the tremendous gaffes, lies, hallucinations and that it seems Biden's Brain Surgery Failed Miserably. Nonetheless, undecided voters are clearly voting for McCain vs. Obama, but Obama gains some help with his own stature and willingness of undecided voters to even consider such an admittedly naive + untested candidate as is Barack Obama.


MEDIA: There is general recognition that the media is in the tank for Obama and a willingness to discount things or take another look at things given such recognition is present as observed in many undecided's thinking. Folks are not generally aware that Obama broke his promise to abide by campaign financing laws but are easily persuadable that there is a lot of $$$ and Hollywood Media support behind Obama (beyond the all too blatant press cheerleading).


ACORN: It's interesting the number of people who have quickly come up to speed on ACORN and the transparency of what's going on here. Folks recognize a total outright fraud when they see one and ACORN reaks of corruption. Interestingly enough, it seems the Democrats' emphasis on voter issues and litigating the 2000 election has heightened awareness on the part of many people. Obama is also easily + readily accepted as tied to this group, not only because of his past + current associations, but because the Obama campaign and ACORN are obviously linked to one another. There is a definite sense of restrained outrage at what's transpiring here and some sentiment under the surface that will yield some small fractional percentage of votes from folks who sense the undermining of our most precious of systems here.


MESSIAH: Many voters are fearful of the messiah image that Barack Obama has encouraged to be carried out for himself. Voters sense similarities between the Obama campaign and that of other sociopath dictators in the past. Apparently that Berlin rally still strikes up unpleasant images for many but the most enthusiastic of Obama's disciples, true believers and core supporters (like Louis Farrakahn).


Which brings the evaluation proper around to one of the general state of the electorate.


It seems the undecided voters clearly include a number of leaners on both sides of the race that will not make their final decision until they go into the voting booth on election day. Perspective here is that many of those votes may go to Obama but other more scientific + professional samples seem to indicate a large proportion will go to McCain, as the lest risky option, an hypothesis even Democrat pollster Doug Schoen has concurred with.


Like 1976 the landscape in the 2008 election involves three intertwined concerns on the part of the electorate:


1976 - Economy + War in Vietnam + lack of confidence in government institutions.
2008 - Economy + War in Iraq + lack of confidence in government institutions.


1976 - it was previously Senator Ford who was cast in the shadow of the Nixon administration.
2008 - it is Senator McCain who is cast in the shadow of the Bush administration.


1976 it was an untested governor (with arguably less experience than Sarah Palin) named Jimmy Carter who won the hearts and minds of the independent voters.
2008 we are presented with the extremely more liberal but un-vetted blank slate that is Barack Obama. If there was any degree of legitimate scrutiny applied in these regards the electoral landscape might not look like it currently does but the fault for that failing of revelation must lie largely at the McCain campaign, albeit in addition to the complicit media and elite ruling class that is pushing an Obama victory.


With those backdrops it's hard to see comparisons with other election years seen in some recent commentary.


1980: Best potential comparison here is Sarah Palin vs. Barack Obama in 2012 when - presuming Obama wins this election - for four years, year after year - Obama Fear Strikes Wall Street.


1992: There are similiarites here as the untested, clearly sleazy but exciting Arkansas Governor Bill Clinton took on GHWB #41 with VPs Quayle vs. Palin taking 2nd seat media bashing. This would rather more be like McCain winning this year and running for re-election in 2012 against Obama or Hillary Clinton. There is also no equivalent of Ross Perot nor prior pitchfork laden primary this year and the weak 3rd party candidates in 2008 do not mirror the level of support Perot achieved in splitting the Independents + Republican base in 1992.


1996: This race seems to the least synonymous with current events and Ross Perot again divided the Republican + Independent vote. While the 9/11 Commission later concluded that we were at war (Al Qaeda was at war with us while we largely ignored the repeated attacks and continuing threats) the country was at relative (albeit ignorant / oblivious) peace and busily spending all the last remnants (and then some) from the supposed "peace dividend". Technology startups were burgeoning and Windows 95 had just introduced much of the public to the oncoming Internet over the prior year. The economy, having been salvaged by the Republican takeover of Congress in 1994, was on a considerable upswing, and a feel-good populace was totally immune to the outright corruption that took place with the funneling of cash from Chinese Military Intelligence and the transfer of advanced nuclear weapons, guidance and staging technologies to Red China by Loral and Clinton / Gore campaign contributors (remember all those Buddhist Monks that we learned about in years later, just like we're starting to learn about all those illegal Palestinian donors this year in 2008). In this point in 1996 Bob Dole could barely muster a crowd while McCain and Palin are at least satisfying the incredible Obama enthuiasm gap.


So, if this election is all its own but maybe most like 1976, what does that project for the coming future and a potential Obama Administration?


Considering Barack Obama is far more liberal than Jimmy Carter, it's likely his tax + spend proposals will be far more extreme than anything Carter could have ever imagined and given the Washington Powerbrokers and Nanci Pelosi's Democrat Congress is already Measuring the Drapes in greedy anticipation, it's likely Obama administration policies will have far greater impact on our economic welfare than Jimmy Carter could have even dreamed ...


Let's assume a Barack Obama administration can only be as bad as that of Jimmy Carter's.


Let's say, that, at best, we just have to bring back the misery index to see where Obama wishes to change this country.


The index is the sum of the current unemployment rate and inflation rates.


Currently the inflation rate is approximately 5%, having risen appreciably with the cost of energy. The unemployment rate is currently 6.1%, as of last week, still not far from "full employment" which, at any given time, factors approximately 5% of potential workers as "unemployed" during times they change jobs, even during the best of periods.


So, even with all our economic travails over the past year, the current misery index is ~11%


Jimmy Carter's policies, many of which Obama plans to replicate, such as increased taxes on business + investment, resulted in a peak misery index of nearly 22%!


That means, as bad as things are, if Barack Obama's policies, albeit largely the same as Jimmy Carter's, only prove to be as "good" as Jimmy Carter was for the economic welfare of this country - that means, under Barack Obama, America's future will be at least two times worse than things are at their worst today! Can you say SUPER-UGGH ?!?!?!


Of course - at worst such reasoning doesn't even begin to contemplate all of the new taxes and increased government spending that Barack Obama has been promising or the tremendous transfer of wealth (55% of those currently paying tax giving "tax cuts" to 95% of Americans, including the 40% of Americans who don't now pay any taxes). And it doesn't factor Obama's rescinding any potential "tax cut" he's promising, even if you believe him and will be buying a new hybrid car next year or doing one of the other things his "tax cuts" are specifically allotted for.


And, of course, it doesn't factor the potential impact to our economy by Barack Obama's plans to socialize our health care system and the fines for companies and parents who don't purchase his qualified health insurance.


There is a significant potential for a Barack Obama administration to be devastating to this country's imminent economic future and posture in the world abroad.


In 1976 the country was facing the Soviet Union and a flurry of expansionist empire building took place throughout the world in the Carter years and many people of the world suffered as a result.


In 2008 Israel now stands ready to defend itself and alleviate the Iranian nuclear threat in the days following an Obama election victory, before a sympathetic Bush administration leaves office and Obama has a chance to have his long desired high social tea party or give away Israel's security to Maddie or the second holocaust he's continually promised. If Barack Obama is elected, it's only a matter of days - if not hours - before betting pools begin in earnest as to exactly when such an attack is likely to take place and the best night on which the first battles might take place (the 3rd quarter moon will occur on November 20 with following new moon on November 28). It's still perplexing the McCain campaign failed to highlight for voters that Obama refused to defend Israel when given the opportunity in the last presidential debate.


But with economic matters forefront in undecided voters' minds, in debate this week, John McCain, should remind + explain the worst thing we can do (and did do to worsen the great depression) was increase taxes & government spending. Then remind folks, while he originally opposed the Bush tax cuts, he is now opposed to allowing them to lapse since that would lead to ~5K per family tax increase, and why that points out the absurdity in Obama’s $1K “tax cut” promise (presuming you believe him) yet that yields (-$4K) [or whatever] per anum result for the average American family. Properly explained & effectively delivered, that simply fact should resonate & solidify many of the last remaining undecideds.


Simply, John McCain, should say, “Senator Obama is promising you a $1,000 tax cut … if you believe him. To start I want to be president to ensure that, starting next year, middle class American families don’t get a $5,000 or more tax increase that would turn this financial calamity into an even greater worldwide crisis Right now, in fact, the big spenders in Washington are talking about getting together right after the election, on November 14th, to begin hiking taxes and spending another $150 billion on top of $850 rescue bill on top of the nearly $1 trillion dollars Obama has already promised to raise spending and just like government did to cause or further the great depression. I want to freeze spending and put government back on the side of the people”.


If McCain can convey that message he will cement many of these remaining undecided voters.