The latest Michigan poll gives Obama a 5% gap putting the state with Obama instead of being a Tossup. CNN now gives Obama a 9% gap in Pennsylvania (Joe Biden was born there & represents next door Delaware). These 2 states give the Obama camp 255 of the 270 electoral college votes they need. The New York Times still lists another 6 states as Tossups (Ohio, Virginia, New Hampshire, Colorado, New Mexico, Nevada & Arizona) but Florida has also come into play with a 48%:48% CNN poll.

So, as long as the electoral votes in his camp stay steady, there are now 4 independent pathways to an Obama victory. If he wins either Ohio (ahead) or Florida (dead-even) he wins straightup. If he wins Virginia (ahead) and any other tossup state he wins. Or, the long shot, if he wins New Hampshire (ahead), Colorado (ahead) and New Mexico (behind), or any other ‘red’ state, he wins without needing Ohio, Virginia or Florida.

Of course standing against those pathways is the Supreme Court and a mass of extremist media outlets like Fox News. On the other hand there is a 5th way he might win – any combination, or all, of the above and they’ll start to call it a landslide. An Obama victory won’t solve the planet’s problems but it might give America a chance to avoid destroying itself and taking the rest of us with it. It’s a chance. The rest of the world hopes you take it.  . . read more

At the Victory Column in Berlin's Tiergarten, Obama extracted Old Glory from the burn-pile and gave Brand America a desperately needed shot of adrenaline. 200,000 ecstatic Germans jammed the streets in what turned out to be the political shindig of the year. Many of them were waving American flags and chanting, "Obama, Obama, Obama". It was like Jack Kennedy had risen from his moldy sepulcher and made his way across the pond for one last rousing ovation. Obama has the very same affect on crowds. Its a gift and he knows how to use it to great advantage...

What can we say about Obama's oratory skills that hasn't already been said? He is one of those unique characters who knows how to tap into the collective psyche and put them under his spell. He is the closest thing to a Pied Piper we've seen in the last half century. Whatever one thinks of his politics, his speeches are a welcome reprieve from the simian blabbering of President Dimwit. [More] . . read more

I DON'T WANT A PRESIDENT THAT THE REPUBLICANS LIKE. I don't want to make nice with them, as Obama always says. I want to have them tried for war crimes and put in jail for subverting democracy and the Constitution. Obama's wife built her fortune evicting poor people from their homes if they couldn't pay their inflated hospital bills. And he had the nerve to say about Edwards "do we want another trial lawyer in the White House?"

Obama has been absent for more votes in the Senate than present and when he is there, he usually votes "present"; not for or against. He will not make a real stand on anything. He uses the world "change" like Rudi Giuliani used 9/11. What change? What will he change? Let's see some concrete substance, not just catch phrases, sound bites. Saying the word change a lot does not make it happen. What's the change? No more Bush? McCain will beat him and it will be the end of America. I think it already is. What's next? Dancing with the Stars or American Idol? You would think America would have learned where smugness and arrogance leads. He has no humility. He is cocky and brash. He is the perfect president for the dumbed down Americans that love him, but he will lose. The media has been pushing for him from day one, because they are told to by their bosses Murdoch, etc. Why? Why does the media love Obama? Because he can't beat a Republican thug. [More Doglove]  . . read more

Do we have the second American civil war? Will some states want to secede from the Unitedness of it all? Will Bush hang in there for an extended second term 'in the national interest'? Will Mugabe ask for asylum?

Add to these nice concerns the impact of the recession-which-isnt-really-here-yet but will bite in the fall and the inevitable global tensions of a turbulent Beijing Olympics and you'd reckon on the message for 2009 being a right royal state of disunion. Get into gold or cash. Soonest. . . read more