Pic,

Wow... I'm in on that one. Sorry but if Bush can win a second term... I'll tell you why he will win.

The Bush era is simply too recent, it was a disaster and no one wants to go back there.

Obama is an expert at politic-ing, who on the conservative side would have a hope against him in a campaign?

We're only in year one, the year where smart presidents try and do something on the domestic agenda that requires doing. If all else fails, refer to my last e-mail, he will shift to foreign policy and win some quick percentage points. Presidents are remembered (unfortunately) for their foreign policy work as they have no real power domestically (Cuban Missile Crisis, Vietnam, Iran hostages, Iran contra scandal, Tear down this wall, Northern Ireland, Afghanistan, Iraq...)

The Republicans are in disarray. while you list a few 'radical' elements of the left wing (sorry the word communist just doesn't scare me anymore), I don't have enough space here to write about all the criminals on the right wing. We don't even know yet what deep dark secrets are hiding in Cheney's closet of 'doings' over the past 8 years.

As I stated previously, I honestly believe that Obama opened up the conversation over health care for everyone to participate, from those with logical rational views (lets look at best of breed in other countries and emulate their success) to the scare monger looney bin (Obama wants to have death panels to decide your grandmas life!). So if he's taken a hit in popularity, I think it's unfair. I do wish however he had been a little less consensus building (god knows the Republicans hated consensus unless it was on their turf: question the Iraq war, heck you must hate our troops! Troop hater! Unpatriotic!) and just tried to make changes without engaging the lobbyists and insurance companies who will try as hard as they can to protect their golden egg.

Pic... just so I can wind this to some kind of conclusion. Let's talk real things for a moment. Which of these statements do you agree with:

1) Health care is a right of all people, a more important right than that to bear arms

2) Some services are better not left to the greed of the market (police, libraries, military)

3) Having 50 million people uninsured and millions of others underinsured is a national shame

4) There should be some government oversight to ensure the markets stay 'honest and fair' (god I wish that were true in the case of naked shorting)

This above points are the real issue, not the myriad of arguments running around Fox at the moment regarding silly things like: Obama speaking to kids is propaganda aimed at brainwashing them for life. Since when was open and honest discourse a bad thing. The right wing love it when they dictate the national discourse through fear tactics (Commies under your bed... no wait, terrorists under your bed). There should be more respect to the right of free speech, more latitude to allow for disparate opinions. BTW, I may be foreign (Canadian/Scottish living is Switz) but my degree is in US history and politics, so I do pay attention to whats happening there. Why the interest? Because it's a fact that US policies normally influence the world. I just pray there are no more instances of weak US presidents unable to influence domestic policy who have to impose their will through foreign policy, it isn't usually all that good for the rest of us when they do!

10 grand. Give me a slice :) And congratulations Pic, you told me you don't like to reply to well written opinion pieces in kind... you just did! Respect.