Odds and ends

Nov. 4 is just 10 days away. Still time for disaster to strike or for the election to be stolen by intimidation of voters or dirty tricks in the machines. But as each day brings us closer to the actual election without a game-changing event, these seem less likely to be decisive.

Here are some miscellaneous items that bolster my hope for a transforming victory for Obama and the politics of hope and change.

1. Charles Fried, Ronald Reagan's Solicitor General, Harvard Law professor, and respected conservative thinker, has asked that his name be removed from several McCain campaign-related committees on which he serves. Although he expressed enthusiastic support for McCain last January, he now says that he has already voted for Obama-Biden by absentee ballot. In his letter to the General Counsel to the McCain-Palin campaign, he said that chief among the reasons for his decision "is the choice of Sarah Palin at a time of deep national crisis."

2. Fried joins other prominent Republicans endorsing Obama, the latest being former Governor of Massachusetts William Weld.

3. Conservative columnist Charles Krauthammer is not joining. In a strong rebuke to these "ship-jumpers," he wrote, "I shall have no part of this motley crew. I will go down with the McCain ship. I'd rather lose an election than lose my bearings."

Note: "I will go down with the McCain ship."

4. Obama's support among white voters is now the highest of any Democratic candidate since Jimmy Carter in 1976. At 44%, he evens tops Bill Clinton's 43% in 1996. Admit it, Hillary, Yes He Can. In this New York Times/CBS poll, he leads among all voters 52-37%, among men 52-39%, women 52-36%. He is ahead in all age groupings, as well as in voters with incomes both above $50,000 and below that level. The only demographic group where McCain is significantly ahead has to do with religion. McCain leads among white protestants and especially white evangelicals, while Obama leads among Catholics.

5. Several news sources are reporting on the tension between McCain and Palin, especially evident in their joint ABC interview. She is increasingly speaking out and going her own way in her rally speeches. It's said that she is no longer listening to her "handlers," and that she's hardly speaking to those travelling with her from the campaign. I'm guessing that the reality of defeat is sinking in, and she's beginning to look to her political future. Alas, that may not be so shiney. A poll shows that she is now only 3rd choice among Republicans for 2012. At 20% she is trailing both Romney at 35% and Huckabee at 26%.

6. Leaks from the campaign speak about the infighting that is going on over the blame game. A lot of this seems related to the choice of Palin, who now seems to be a net drain on the McCain ticket as more people view her unfavorably than favorably. Just as McCain's picking her took "experience" and "putting country first" off the table, now Shoppergate seems to be destroying the "hockey mom" image. Even some insiders are speaking of the campaign in the past tense.

7. In contrast, as Obama's polls continue to creep up toward solid double digits, attention is turning to speculating about an Obama chief of staff and cabinet positions.

8. And my final hopeful indicator is the formidable ground game, get-out-the-vote organization that Obama has organized. Just here in Georgia, there are over 3000 volunteers working on GOTV, and because the race is getting close here they're sending in 100 more volunteers from out of state.

Ralph