The Ole Miss campus was giddy.
All the debaters were there.
Outsiders waved signs and screamed.
Insiders sat importantly and waited for the cue
to applaud.
Jim Lehrer asked leading questions,
begged them to talk to each other, but nobody followed.
McCain was alone on stage.
Barack respected the back of John’s head
no matter what he said.
Listening to commentators pundicate, and spinners recite,
I [...]

As McCain and Palin stumble
from fumble to sack to hail Mary pass,
the polls stay stuck.
Pundits search for the cause,
but find none. Ignoring Hillary’s not a red flag.
Race is just a red herring.
TV concludes the race is tight,
because voters aren’t paying attention yet,
so stay tuned — please stay tuned.

TV commentators seem shocked that
many states permit early voting.
They want citizens to wait for the
end of the campaign before deciding
so analysis of polls, commercials,
and potential gaffes in the debates
can influence the election result.
Anyone who watched Bush’s six year
4th of July parade, and hasn’t picked
a political party by now, might as well
flip a coin. Since neither [...]

Now that Democrats finally have
a brilliant and inspiring candidate,
they should start promoting voting
for the party instead of a person.
Republican philosophy clearly
caused our current problems, and
that wouldn’t change if McCain
replaced Bush in January.
And, just as an attractive VP
reinvigorated Republicans, the idea
of considering party first may reassure
Democrats who are afraid of the dark.

I still remember the commercials
about less paperwork for mortgages,
no proof of income required.
Greenspan heard them too, but he
implied the housing bubble was just
effervescence – a little local fizz.
Instead of asking the foxes to fix
the hen house door we should move
the hens to a better neighborhood.
Government shouldn’t bail out banks,
in the hope they will make needed [...]

McCain abandoned accuracy, so Democrats
should discard decorum and start spreading
the truth about Obama. Too many avoid
talking politics because their friends might
disagree. It’s time to put country first.
Politics should not be linked to religion
as taboo subjects for conversation. A person’s
faith need not affect anyone but the believer,
but elections impact everyone. That’s why
friends don’t let friends vote [...]

Ron Silver, actor and pundit, says
Republicans nominated the only
candidate who might win, while
Democrats chose the only one
who could possibly lose.
Reasons for voting, as numerous
as balloons at the convention,
will all sound like “paying our debt,”
but mean “afraid of the dark.”
It’s time for Obama enthusiasts
to stop patting themselves on the back
and start lighting candles.

Rhetoric that rained on Republicans
reminds me of the Democratic deluge.
Both performances triggered emotions,
without leaving any evidence of ideas.
A burdened nation has a choice
of artificial columns or a slide show,
the only real substance behind
either convention’s winsome words.
Barack’s list of promises is sort of a plan.
Paying for them by letting temporary
tax cuts expire is not really [...]