While it's nice to see borredo make a "reasonable" post, the likelihood that it's sincere, based on his "body of work" is suspect, so he's not much different than McCain and Obama, lol.

While I voted "undecided" in kiddtrader's poll, realistically, I don't expect to hear much that will help me to decide between now and Nov. But with that in mind, while Obama talks nice and presents the aura of a newcomer who wants to enact change, the fact that he's such a newcomer and has gotten to this point supports that he is beholden to the existing political machine who's main goal is to protect their own interests first and do what it takes to get elected, not necessarily what it takes to solve America's problems.

Obviously, the same can be said for McCain and amplified 10-fold considering his involvement in that same corrupt political system for so long and all the EXTRA beholdenness that conveys. So the choice in reality is not that different, and in reality EITHER candidate represents in large part, MORE OF THE SAME...the same that we've had for the last 40 years, IMO. While the parties are different, and the COMMUNICATED messages are very different, the results are the same. More government, more spending, more corruption. It's the same as a box of tootsie pops, several different flavors, but in the end, all of them have a soft brown middle....luckily the Tootsie Pop is something that tastes good and we can enjoy, rather than something we want to scrape off the bottom of our shoes.

With this cynicism in mind, perhaps the most optimistic thing about the election is that one candidate is obviously near the end of his politcal career. While it's possible he could run for a second term, I think it's likely that he won't. The only way I see him running for a second term is if he is wildly successful. With that in mind, I think it IS likely that John McCain will pursue an agenda that reflects a change to the status quo. I also think that because of his real world and real government experience and bi-partisan relationships it's likely that he could have some success. In reality, he has little to lose by pursuing this type of agenda and VERY MUCH to gain.

On the flip side, while I don't doubt Obama has sincere desires to change things, I think his inexperience is a REAL factor and detriment to his ability to effect REAL change. Clearly, based on the perception of the Bush adminstration, and the low approval of Congress, it seems like this shouldn't be a close race, and much less so the republicans in the lead, yet less than two months before the election that's where we find ourselves. And much of that I think has to do with Obama's struggling with knowing what to do. If he's struggling with this, it certainly seems he would struggle much more with the presidency. If he's unable to hold true to his message of Positive Politics and instead has seem to have taken the forefront of negative attacks, how can we expect him to stand up the the political machine that has gotten him in the position he's in.

While on the surface, many have seemed to think Obama would represent the changes we desperately need, in reality, I think it's more likely to come from the source that on the surface seems less likely to provide it, McCain. I hope whichever of them wins will hold true to their word and elevate our national discourse away from the vitriol that we find in most blogs and commentary.