Riginslinger, McCain has a snowball's chance in hell of getting elected as things stand right now.

But as we all know, shit happens. Between now and November, lots of shit is gonna happen, and this last week is but the beginning of both sides trying to out-Machiavelli the other.

I'm not labeling that voting as machismo, but there are always efforts, including efforts by Obama himself in the "god and guns" remarks, to portray the white working class male voters they need to win, as being dumb, machismo, and reactionary.

I think the realities on the ground are far more complex than that, and that Obama already dug his own grave in terms of being able to pull in that voting bloc Clinton has so easily carried.

Which does beg the question, when Clinton and Obama's stands on the issues are virtually identical, why does this gulf remain in the Democratic party?

Answer: war veterans and their families. Veterans of WWII, Korea & Vietnam. And they vote for the candidates they feel respect them, even if they opposed the Vietnam war. So it isn't the youngsters voting for Clinton. It's the older vets & their families, whose lives were so changed by the wars they fought in, they still look to national leaders to recognize them and respect them in every single election.

Which is why we need to put an end to our military madness in this country. It is the engine that drives us everywhere we go in the world.

One more reason why I love Russ Feingold--he challenges citizens to become citizen diplomats for the US in their international travel.

I'm guessing Obama hasn't learned the importance of the aging vet vote to the national psyche at this point, largely because he and his advisors have their heads up their asses. It doesn't matter if he won't win their vote, he still needs to pander to them.

Obama should be standing alongside Iraq Veterans Against the War. He should be demanding they no longer be marginalized by Congress, and that the Winter Soldier Hearings be shown the light of day, in hearings that don't stick them in a back room, and keep their testimony out of the Congressional Record. He should be their champion, in terms of getting Congress to listen to them.

He doesn't have to change his pro-war position to do that, but if he wanted to pull a lot of those Clinton voters inside the fence, he'd start making a huge deal about their right to be heard by the very people who sent them into harm's way.

When Obama meets with vets, there is a huge cringe factor I see that is reminiscent of the Dukakis in a tank photo.

Say what you will about Clinton, she knows the importance of vets to the national "don't tread on me" psyche and how to play to them.

Obama clearly doesn't.

He is surrounded by far too many Ivy League elitists to ever "get it".

Which is one reason why McCain still poses a threat to the Dems winning the White House this year.

And the Bush/McCain machine was very savvy framing Obama for November this week.

Brilliant stroke of genius, and if I may say it, a play that has Rove writ large all over it.