I do think the issue is not just whether to cut taxes, but also how much, and for whom. Most people who move beyond sound bites and get into the particulars recognize that the tax cuts the Rebublicans are most intent on enacting have an impact that disproportionately favors those who need them the least, however they are packaged for public consumption. But the Republicans are getting good at naming, and thereby framing, these issues -- the so-called "marriage tax" and "death tax" make for pretty good sound bites, and since most people don't dig into these issues any deeper than the sound-bite level, the phrasing matters greatly.

I also think it's interesting that a number of people seem to feel the VP nominees are better qualified than the Presidential candidates. I don't necessarily feel that way this time around, but I did several years ago, when I cast the only write-in vote of my life for Lloyd Bentsen, Dukakis's running mate.