"As the elder statesman, McCain can effectively wield the weapon of experience, pat Obama on the back for a good effort and then send him to perhaps the University of California at Berkeley, where his socialistic utopian ideas would sit well in a first-year philosophy class."

You are such a hack, Alana. Can you name a single, socialistic-utopian idea of any consequence that McCain opposes?

Social security? Medicare? Welfare? Government-subsidized mortgages? Federal deposit insurance? Federal pension insurance? Farm subsidies? Foreign aid?

The differences between McCain and Obama are minor. For anyone responsible enough to value liberty and individualism, it makes little difference which of them is elected. McCain will ensure that more booty flows to defense contractors. Obama will do the bidding of unions.

Give it a rest.

"The younger, uninformed voters are influenced by how cool, fly and sick the candidate is."

WHAT AN INSULT! -- She simply cannot fathom the fact that younger voters examine the issues more carefully than older voters because they are not influenced by previous loyalties to either candidates or parties.

AlanaMarie doesn't "get it" any more than McCain does. It's about the issues, not about being "cool". Besides, watching McCain trying to be "cool" would keep Saturday Night Live busy for a decade or more.

re: "The younger, uninformed voters are influenced by how cool, fly and sick the candidate [Obama] is."

This just shows how out of touch you are, Alana.

I'm a 55 year old white guy, and I'll be voting for Obama. I'm also supporting his campaign with my money and my time...a first for me. I'm doing this because I truly believe that Barack is the better candidate, and it's important that the country change directions after 8 years of the disasterous Bush administration.

Thankfully, change seems to be in the air, even here in Redding. I stood on the corner of Cypress and Churn Creek yesterday afternoon in intermittent rain showers with 50 Obama supporters holding up signs. We got hundreds of honks, thumbs up, and shouts of support from passing drivers.

And, besides...there's no time and no way that McCain will ever be able to do "hip". As we used to say in the South..."That Dog Won't Hunt".

You live or die by the chances you take. That would be the life philosophy of the fighter pilot. I don't believe that anyone with an attitude of "I'm right and you just need to have faith in me" , needs to be in charge of everything that may control my well being over the next four years. The great thing about having freedom is that you can choose who you follow. Become a free thinker. The McCain/Palin ticket will soon pull the line, "God told us we were going to lead."

With the ability to research the facts from computers, young people are more informed than ever and that is why they are voting for Obama. No longer do we have to rely the words of political hacks for our information. Check out the candidates websites and read what they stand for. Go to the various news sites and listen to their supporters and opponents. When you look at all sides you will find Obama standing above McCain in all areas.

I'm sure Obama appreciates the advice and concern.
I am always touched when a right-wing hack like you has advice on what the Democrats should do.

But you might want to take note that he beat Hillary, and is now beating McCain handily, doing it his way.

Alana Marie wrote: "The younger, uninformed voters are influenced by how cool, fly and sick the candidate is."

It's sad that the young people that Alana Marie hangs out with are superficial dolts, but perhaps not surprising.

The young folks that I hang out with, including my daughters, are generally more informed about the issues than the people of my own cohort. But more importantly, I find that young voters are less cynical and in many cases less entrenched in political orthodoxy than their parents. Most of my male friends around town in my age group can't break away from thinking, "Demos will ruin the economy by raising taxes," and "The Demos will take away my guns." They quite literally think in Fox News sound bites.

I find that many younger voters are more willing than their elders to look out the window and say, "Wow. The people running this show really deserve to get fired. We need to try something new."

My favorite line of Alana Marie's column, by the way, was her suggestion that McCain needs to hit the tanning booth.

Old dude's had skin cancer. Twice.

But what he needs to do is get some more medium-wave ultraviolet in his diet.

HA HA HA HA HA HA HA! Priceless.

He's more than a crusty old curmugeon.

He's had a temper problem his entire life. In his book:

"At the smallest provocation," he would hold his breath until he passed out: "I would go off in a mad frenzy, and then, suddenly, crash to the floor unconscious."

His parents cured him of this habit in a way only a CIA interrogator could appreciate: by dropping their blue-faced boy in a bathtub of ice-cold water.

I suspect that a lot of people like McCain because of his tough guy reputation...but he is letting those people down by trying to be MR. nice guy...He should have knocked Obama and the media snobs on their sissy butts...To late now.
Most young people dont even know who the vice president is let alone what the issues are...they just go along with is trendy at the time...do you want these voters picking the next leader...lol...god help us.

Yes, God help us after 8 years of Bush/Cheney Co.

In fact, God help us for ever letting the republicans convince feeble minded folks that if we just keep giving more tax breaks to the wealthiest that we would somehow all benefit from their crumbs.

Trickle down & degegulation are now dead. Why would anyone think Republican McCain, the deregulator and Reagan/Bush protege, is what America needs now?

OBAMA/BIDEN 2008

Does Sarah Palin post under the name, "The Hermit?"

I'm just guessing, based on the babbling incoherence that they share.

"As the elder statesman, McCain can effectively wield the weapon of experience, pat Obama on the back for a good effort and then send him to perhaps the University of California at Berkeley, where his socialistic utopian ideas would sit well in a first-year philosophy class."

I would just like to remind Ms. Burke that Berkeley has produced more Nobel laureates than any other public university in the world.

I really love her suggestions for John McCain. He would be real hip with baggy pants and a sideways ball cap. That should really pull his campaign out of the current nosedive toward certain defeat.

Ms. Burke's desperation and fear gives me much pleasure. I can't wait to see her post-election dismay.

It seems to me that we are looking for a LEADER, leastwise that's what we are supposed to be doing, right?

Constantly we hear about Obama's inexperience and yet he seems to be LEADING the majority of people to the poll's. He LED them through the primaries against several more experienced candidates, some more experienced than Senator McCain. The majority consensus is that he prevailed in the first debate, or in other words he LED the majority to that conclusion. Community organizing is all about LEADING people to achieve a goal(whether you agree with that goal or not). Though Senator Obama has not been a part of Washington politics(something I think most of us are pretty disgusted with)as Senator McCain, he has surely shown himself to be a LEADER(a natural leader) and continues to do so. We can debate the issues and whether or not we agree with how the candidates plan to resolve or address them, but it would seem to me that whether or not Senator Obama is capable of LEADERSHIP is pretty obvious as he has been able to capture the hearts, imagination and hope of more than half the American people with a fraction of the Senatorial experience that people continue to put forth as Senator McCains greatest asset.

How do you explain the "Galacticly Stupid" who picked GW Bush and let him ruin our country, squander our budget surplus and make us the laughing stock of the world.

I think the younger voters might be a step or two up on the "older ones" when it comes to making smarter choices here.

The older ones are too indoctrinated with overdoses of Rush/Hannity and FOX News Spin.