Genie - you wrote:

"Much as I admire and support Barack Obama, I do not believe this upcoming election is or should be "about" him.   It's about seeing a train about to run full speed off a cliff and doing our damnest to stop that and get the engine back on the right track."

You are absolutely right in what you say about the importance of this election, but I have to disagree with you in one respect.

To prevent the nightmare of which you speak, it is essential that the party gets behind him and gives him all the support they can muster.

If it is true that he and McCain are neck and neck, then he needs an extra push to stand out as the best candidate.

Most people vote for personalities not policies and will go with their impressions of people rather than an informed assessment of a candidates history.

McCain seems sincere sensible and patriotic despite the evidence clearly pointing to a quite different reality.

To stop him the democratic party need to sell Obama-Cola like never before.

Once people have developed a taste for it then you can tell them what's in it and why its better for you.