1) Comparing this year's election to 1972 makes little sense. I'd say a better comparison would be to 1976. In 1972 Nixon and his fellow Republicans had yet to show their true colors, but by 1976 enough people were sufficiently sick of Republicanism to toss Gerald Ford out on his ear. I think Mr. Bush has poisoned the Republican Party's well almost as completely as Nixon did.

2) "His plan, McCain will say, is to win. The Democrats' is to surrender...." Surrender to whom? There's no "enemy" in Iraq. If there ever was one it was Saddam Hussein and he's dead. Other than that, there's just a bunch of pissed off Iraqis who are trying to get an invading army to leave their country. They're not the enemy, they're the people the invasion was supposed to make free. They're free now, so get out. If they don't like each other and want to fight among themselves, get out of the way and let 'em do it.

3) Saying that the closeness of the race for the Democratic nomination is leading to a trainwreck in Denver is BS. That's the way nominating contests should be run. I personally find the fact that both parties' candidates are usually decided upon by the end of February to be appalling. The Democratic nominee will be decided at the convention. So what? That's what the convention is for. We've gotten so accustomed to conventions being little more than ceremonial rubber stamps that we've forgotten what their true purpose is.