LUCKY FOR OBAMA HIS OPPONENT IS SUCH A CLUELESS DOOFUS-- BAD DAY FOR McCAIN

McCain had a lot of bad slip-ups this week-- enough to hasten the sunset of his media-friendly, but otherwise unremarkable, political career. None of these slip-ups are reflected in a new Pew poll that was just released. Pew only polls registered voters, not the general public, so is a more reliable indication of electoral outcomes. Please recall that their previous poll, in late May, showed Obama beating McCain 47-44%. Since then, but before the latest round of gaffes and mishaps are factored in, McCain has slipped further while support for Obama has grown. Obama now leads McCain 48-40%. The poll also shows that John McCain's supporters are convinced that Obama is the candidate with new ideas (58%- 24%) and that Obama is more likable (45%- 34%).

One of the worst of the McCain camp's new problems this week came from McCain's would-be Secretary of the Treasury, former Texas Senator Phil Gramm, author of the Enron loop hole (sometimes called the Phil Gramm Loop Hole). Gramm was a radical right ideologue in the Senate and is now a lobbyist for the shadiest of the Swiss banks, UBS, currently under federal investigation on very serious swindling charges. Gramm is also co-chairman of McCain's presidential campaign and his chief economic advisor, a very powerful position given that McCain has no interest in economics-- other than at the craps tables-- and admits he knows nothing about it but ought to learn... some day.

Today's problem arises out of Gramm's interview with the Washington Times in which he claimed that there is no recession other than in peoples' minds and that America is "a nation of whiners." This went over badly. At first the Double Talk Express jumped on its high-horse and tried defending it's chief economics strategist. After all, he was discussing economics strategy. But as the media yowled, McCain backed down and distanced himself from Gramm. Gramm still insists he was correct about there not being a recession-- and claims the Moonies misquoted him about the whiners and that he really meant "our leaders" are whiners, not the American people. More straight talk from Camp McCain. It was extremists like Gramm in the late 20s and early 30s who kept telling millions of out of work American families that it was all in their minds. Something tells me, though, that Obama is no Roosevelt. I hope I'm proven wrong, although at this point I wouldn't be shocked if he actually does something that makes me not even vote for him-- like naming and arch-reactionary like Evan Bayh or Sam Nunn to be his running mate.

Today's straight double talk: