• MORE EVIDENCE THAT REPUBLICANS DON’T WANT TO WIN

Anyone viewing footage of the Republican campaign’s recent ad showing Obama waving to a sea of people should wonder if this really achieves its negative intent. Comparison to Spears-like stardom doesn’t make Obama look bad. The video footage does quite the opposite.

One gets the feeling that McCain's sense of envy is palpable, but so is the sense that the McCain campaign is confused. Both candidates have taken cheap shots at one another, and the onslaught will get nastier ramping up to election time. If he really wanted to win this election, McCain would be reversing the process of political polarization that so evenly split the country in the last two elections.

It is entirely possible that McCain just does not understand his opponent’s popularity or how to campaign against it. It is also possible that his support system is guiding him down the path to oblivion. Anger and emotional outbursts don’t look Presidential against a candidate whose backdrop is a mob of attentive listeners. Where is the cool, calm and collected demeanor of a naval aviator McCain who once captained the helm of a fighter jet? What is inciting his pugnacious reactions?

McCain and his handlers are missing or ignoring the fact that voters have taken a reserved and cautious liking to Obama. Voters are not yet convinced because they still are looking for confirmations that his definition of hope is in tune with their own. Obama's non-existent political voting record remains his overwhelming Achilles heel. Voters are fully aware that he was launched into the stratosphere of stars by Oprah’s powerful endorsement. That’s just a fact of life. McCain should get over it and take the high road.

The electorate doesn’t deserve, nor is it presently in any mood, to tolerate much that doesn’t bring solutions to its serious economic concerns. The American taxpayer is looking for substance. If it wasn’t, Obama would have long ago been well ahead and on his way to winning by a landslide. This race is not over because on this election, voters are seeking both a vision for their future and a plan that will bring about peace of mind. Only specific, clear, insightful and bold actions, will lift the blanket of anxiety hovering over the Nation. Petty bickering only deepens the apprehension. The Republican Party may be receding from the challenge.