. Seems pretty hot to me.
  It's hard for me to think like a Republican, but I try. One thing you can see from the huge surge in Democratic registration all across the country is that the Democrats will now win any election that matches up their base against the Republican base. The strategy that worked for the GOP in 2004 is no longer viable. It isn't an option for John McCain. And McCain seems to understand this:  IN A WIDE-RANGING INTERVIEW aboard his campaign plane this morning, John McCain said that he is open to choosing a pro-choice running mate and named former Pennsylvania governor Tom Ridge as someone who merits serious consideration despite his support for abortion rights. McCain also criticized Barack Obama's presidential campaign for attempts to "politicize" the debate over Georgia and criticized President Bush for failing to recognize the true nature of Vladimir Putin."I think that the pro-life position is one of the important aspects or fundamentals of the Republican Party," McCain said. "And I also feel that--and I'm not trying to equivocate here--that Americans want us to work together. You know, Tom Ridge is one of the great leaders and he happens to be pro-choice. And I don't think that that would necessarily rule Tom Ridge out."  If you're upset about FISA or some other blasphemy out of the Obama Camp, imagine how diehard Republicans feel reading something like that? As Karl Rove notes in this morning's Wall Street Journal, McCain needs to win Michigan and Ohio or he's toast. I can't think of a state in the country where the Democratic Party is in more disarray than in Michigan. We had the disputed primary. The Dems couldn't field decent congressional candidates in at least four potentially competitive races. And the Detroit Mayor was just indicted. If McCain is going to breakthrough in any major Gore/Kerry state, Michigan is the place to make it happen. But, as discombobulated at the Michigan Democrats are, there is no way that McCain can win a base election there. With an African-American at the top of the ticket, the turnout in Detroit is going to be historic. McCain can only win by tacking to the center and winning over the Reagan Democrats in the Detroit suburbs. Racializing the contest (unfortunately) will bear much more fruit than culturizing it. Picking Tom Ridge as his running mate makes a whole lot more sense than picking a social conservative...especially a Southern one. McCain would be more competitive in this race if he had not allowed himself to get tied so closely to George W. Bush. His old reputation as a maverick is pretty much up in smoke. But one way to restore it is to make a pick that pisses off what's left of his base. There is a degree of desperation in this analysis, but looking at the state-by-state polls, McCain should be feeling desperate. He is not competitive in many Kerry states and he is playing defense from Virginia to North Carolina to Florida to Iowa to Colorado, New Mexico, Nevada, North Dakota, Montana, and Alaska. McCain needs a game changer that will appeal to moderates in New Hampshire, Maine, Connecticut, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Michigan. If he can't force Obama into defense in any of those states, he's going to lose...possibly quite badly. When you look at the list of pressing challenges facing the country, abortion rights, gay marriage, and school prayer are way down the list right now. McCain would be a fool to pander to the people that still make their political decisions based on those issues. If I were McCain, I'd pick Sen. Olympia Snowe of Maine. No one can say anything bad about her other than she is a Republican, and she would signal that the Republican Party no longer is the exclusive province of white-male protestant southerners. But, Tom Ridge would be a good pick, too. I would fear those picks. Romney or Pawlenty or Huckabee or Jindal? They aren't going to change the underlying dynamics of the race.
Nevertheless, the impact of higher gas prices is quite literally more visible than that of other commodities--gas stations bellow their prices from every street corner. In the Pew poll, 38 percent of Americans voters identified energy prices as the most important economic problem facing the country. That was far and away the plurality response--unemployment was cited by only 11 percent of the sample, and the housing crisis by 10 percent.The economy is the election. And gas prices have become the economy. John McCain has been smart to champion the issue. The policies that McCain has advocated--a suspension in the federal gas tax and expanded offshore drilling--are both fairly popular, with the latter being favored by around a 70/30 majority.
  So who is responsible for the looming five-year (or more) gap in US government human space access between the retirement of the shuttle and the introduction of Constellation? President Bush, for introducing the Vision in 2004 that had, as an inherent part of it, the gap? NASA, for failing to be able to close the gap with the development of Ares 1 and Orion? Congress in general, for not providing the agency with sufficient funding to accelerate Constellation? If you’re the Florida Democratic Party, though, one person in particular comes to mind: Republican presidential candidate Sen. John McCain. And in a press release Wednesday, they don’t mince their words.  McCain’s NASA stance went from “downright schizophrenic” to outright delusional yesterday with his campaign boasting of his influence on space policy in his former role as Chairman of the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation - without mentioning that, under McCain’s watch, the impending five-year gap between the retirement of the Shuttle and the development of the next generation vehicle was created, putting thousands of Space Coast jobs at risk.  (The “downright schizophrenic” quote is from a Florida Today editorial in June that questioned McCain’s support for NASA while also calling for a discretionary budget freeze.)The Florida Democrats accuse McCain of “ignoring” the gap problem as early as 2004, when the Commerce Committee held hearings on the Vision. While Sen. Bill Nelson (a Florida Democrat) asked questions of McCain (chairman of the committee at the time) about the gap, “McCain had no response.”Meanwhile, the Orlando Sentinel reports that McCain himself plans to visit the Space Coast on Monday and address space issues while he’s there, including plans to “tweak Barack Obama” on the Democratic candidate’s recent statements on space policy.Hmmm. Instead of calling policy stances “outright delusional” or planning to “tweak” their opponents, perhaps the campaigns can take some time to offer some substance on these issues, including how they plan to minimize the gap given the recent delay in the first crewed Constellation flight, as well as concerns about access to the ISS given the apparently dimming chances of getting an extension of NASA’s INKSNA waiver.
SUBJECT: IS MCCAIN SECRETLY A WOMAN...OR EVEN WORSE?For the love of -od and the love of this country, you will forward this email onto all your friends and family. The fate of the free world may rest solely on this information becoming mainstream. If we can not stop this, I pray for all of our souls. -od speed!I have confirmed these facts through my reliable sources. I suggest you take it to heart – feel free to confirm these disturbing truths. Please print out copies and hand them out or mail them to friends and neighbors without access to the Interwebs.Who is John McCain?US Presidential candidate, John SIDNEY McCain, was born in Panama (thus the reason he doesn't mind his people flooding across our borders). He tries to hide his middle name by constantly referring to himself as John S. McCain. Do not let this fool you. John SIDNEY McCain, the probable presidential runner-up, has a woman's middle name. At the very least, the concealment of his middle name, SIDNEY, raises serious questions about his true gender and whether he is a SECRET woman. He has admitted that economics is not an issue he understands well. A certain gender is well known to be less inclined towards math and numbers. Then there are his $500 shoes. If elected, it's very likely McCain will institute mandatory lingerie pillow AND tickle fights.John SIDNEY McCain was raised by parents of Scots-Irish and English ancestry. At their most harmless, the Irish are notorious drunks who enjoy fighting while stashing large piles of gold underneath rainbows. In the extreme, the Irish are violent TERRORISTS attempting to overthrow the government. While no evidence exists explicitly linking McCain to a TERROR organization, he has never denied membership in the IRA. It is also unclear whether he or any of his drunken relatives ever knew anyone who might know someone who once interacted with or passed in the street a member of the IRA. Given the challenges facing our country, we need confirmation that McCain is not affiliated nor knows people affiliated with TERROR organizations.Born in 1936, John SIDNEY McCain moved around a lot throughout his early years, which coincided with World War II. The exact details of McCain's behavior during this time are sketchy at best. It is interesting to note there is no record of McCain denouncing the actions of the Nazis while they were committing genocides. He was noticeably silent. He may not have been a NAZI SYNTHESIZER, but this raises doubts about which side he was rooting for during World War II. This also raises questions about his potential loyalties as president, given our current wars and the wars he promises to start.John SIDNEY McCain served as a naval pilot during the Vietnam War. While executing a mission in 1967, McCain was captured in Hanoi, where he stayed in the Hanoi Hilton for 5 long years. McCain's fellow soldiers battled valiantly against the evils of Communism while McCain was lounging in a hotel (most likely alternating between the pool and the hot tub to enhance the experience of both) run by Paris Hilton! If McCain had fought alongside his comrades, we may have never needed Rocky to defeat Communism.After Vietnam, McCain returned to the US to discover his first wife with horrific injuries from an auto accident. He promptly began an affair with a woman 17 years his junior, eventually divorcing his disfigured first wife in 1980. As President, McCain will be faced with a similar situation, given the current wreck that is our country. He will be tempted to fool around with other countries. It will just be a matter of time until he divorces the US for a newer, younger, and more attractive country that offers him more than we can.During this presidential election, we must be vigilant to prevent a John SIDNEY McCain presidency.Can we really risk having a drunk, fighting Irishman who may or may not have ties to TERRORIST organizations? When troubled times arrive, will McCain fight for us or will he fall into the arms of another more-youthful country that looks strikingly like his current country? Do we really want to trust this country to someone who may secretly be a woman or a NAZI SYNTHESIZER? Please forward to everyone you know. We can not have this (wo)man leading our country.Your Friend,Bo Gus Smear
  Despite having previously cited Sen. John McCain's statement during the January 30 Republicanpresidential debate that he would nolonger vote for the comprehensive reform bill he co-sponsored with Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-MA) if it came to a vote on the Senate floor, ABC News seniornational correspondent Jake Tapper cited immigration reform as an example ofwhen "McCain has broken with his party on controversial issues." During the August 12 edition ofABC's World News with Charles Gibson, Tapper played a video clip of McCain saying, "I just want to say that Ihave a record of reaching across the aisle ... and working with my friends,whether it be [Sen.] Joe Lieberman [I-CT] or Ted Kennedy" and cited"immigration reform" as an example of McCain breaking "withhis party on controversial issues" without noting that under pressurefrom the Republican base, McCain reversed himself on a key component ofimmigration reform, now saying that "we'vegot to secure the borders first" -- a position at odds with his prior assertion that border security could notbe disaggregated from other aspects of comprehensive immigration reform withoutbeing rendered ineffective. Nor did Tapper note, as he had previously reported,that McCain stated during a Republican primary debate that he wouldnot vote for the immigration bill he co-sponsored. From the August 12 edition of ABC'sWorld News: TAPPER:With so many voters seeking an end to partisan gridlock, both Obama and McCainhave long been delivering a message of uniting the country. And they haveremarkably equal appeal across the aisle. Thirteen percent of Democrats saythey're likely to vote for McCain; 13 percent of Republicans prefer Obama.OBAMA:They're called Obamacans. They're Obamacans. There's one righthere.McCAIN:I just want to say that I have a record of reaching across the aisle, ofreaching across the aisle and working with my friends, whether it be JoeLieberman or Ted Kennedy.TAPPER:McCain has broken with his party on controversial issues such as campaignfinance reform, global warming and, most recently, immigration reform, hissupport for which almost cost him the Republican nomination. In the Senate,Obama has teamed up with Republicans on important issues such as securing loosenukes and ethics reform, but nothing that has caused him any serious politicaltrouble with voters.Haveyou ever worked across the aisle in such a way that entailed a political riskfor yourself?OBAMA:Well, look, the -- when I was doing ethics reform legislation, for example,that wasn't popular with Democrats or Republicans. So, any time that youactually try to get something done -- something done in Washington, it entails some political risks.
 BIRMINGHAM, Mich. — Senator John McCain turned aside questions today about whether Senator Joseph I. Lieberman, had strayed over the political line yesterday when he said that Senator Barack Obama had shown inexperience in his initial response to the war between Russia and Georgia.And he tried to tamp down earlier charges from the Obama camp that he was responding to the Russian crisis with a belligerence that could only make the situation worse. He said he was taking a hard line on Russia but wasn’t trying to “reignite the Cold War.”It was all part of a continuing effort by the McCain campaign to seize on the events overseas to appear presidential and in command on the world stage while at the same time not appearing to be political. At several points today, he emphasized that he had visited Georgia many times and was familiar with the players.He also said he was sending Mr. Lieberman, of Connecticut, and Senator Lindsey Graham, Republican of South Carolina, to Geor