The Home Stretch

So here we are, 2 weeks and 1 day out from one of the most critical elections in our history. 2 wars, a stained reputation around the world, economy in crisis, health care costs growing 5 times faster than our wages, the number of uninsured Americans nearing 40 million, costs of essentials-gas, food, housing higher than ever, and 2 very different choices for President. Both promise change. But both are promising very different kinds of change. And I can hardly keep up with the rush of information these days!

So many things going on today! But for the news that made my life, yesterday Ret. Gen. Colin Powell (a Republican I would have voted for in a heartbeat should he ever have run for public office) endorsed Barack Obama on Meet the Press yesterday. Despite his longtime friendship with McCain, like so many Republicans, Powell is disappointed by the lack of judgment McCain showed in choosing Sarah Palin, his erratic handling of the economic crisis, and the nasty campaign that has been hateful and has no place in American politics. He has been impressed with the superior intelligence, calm and comforting demeanor which Barack has exhibited over the past several weeks and believes that he will best handle the mounting number of issues the next President will have to deal with, and you all know I totally agree! But if you missed MTP, PLEASE go read the transcript or watch the video-did I mention I love Colin Powell???? He made a simple, straightfoward, and thoughtful endoresement for Barack, and also for a return to better politics in general. It was LOVELY.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/27266223/

So of course, the McCain campaign must try to minimize this.....remind everyone of the 4 former Sec's of State that DO support him (never mind that none of them are as relevant right now as CP), and generally try to make everyone forget about the mass number of Republicans who are jumping ship faster than you can say "DRILL BABY DRILL!" (a good list of Republican ship-jumpers is here: http://www.jedreport.com/shipjumpers) And the ones who are still willing to stay on the sinking ship are going to try and convince you that Powell has a grudge against the Republican Party, doesn't want to be tied to another awful administration, and/or is supporting Obama because they are both black. See case #1 here: http://www.politico.com/blogs/jonathanmartin/1008/The_Powell_move.html?showall

But others are acknowledging how important this endorsement is, and First Read has a roundup of the major newspapers thoughts here:
http://firstread.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2008/10/20/1570501.aspx

And another scandal has emerged regarding Freddie Mac and sister company Fannie Mae, this one involves a secret plot to kill the regulation bill by REPUBLICAN lobbyists. This is interesting because John McCain regularly used his support-and Obama's lack of it-for the Fannie/Freddie regulation bill as evidence of the Republican party's superior economic intelligence-i.e., we knew it was going to crash and the Democrats killed our efforts to prevent this crisis. But this article at MSNBC today paints a very different picture of the Republican party's relationship with Fannie and Freddie, and it appears that they are just as culpable for this mess as anyone else (and includes evidence that John McCain also has major ties to F&F, even though he's tried to distance himself publicly from the troubled mortgage company) .
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/27266607/

And finally, Sarah Palin and her doppelganger, Tina Fey, came face to face briefly for the first, and I suspect only time, if Tina has her choice. Palin appeared on SNL Sat. night in two sketches and apparently got SNL its highest ratings in 14 years. I thought it was pretty lame. I'll take Tina's Sarah over Real Sarah any day. Judge for yourself.
http://www.nbc.com/Saturday_Night_Live/