For months the Republicans have been campaigning against Obama on the grounds that he is too inexperienced to be president. On the other hand, Obama has been campaigning since the beginning as being a true agent of change.

Now, all of a sudden, during the Republican convention, just 8 weeks from the election, the Republicans apparently decide that their current strategy isn't going to win, and they decide to adopt Obama's strategy.

Hmmm...doesn't that mean that Obama had good judgment and McCain had bad judgment? I mean, if Obama picked the winning strategy over a year and half ago, and McCain picked one that they now think is a loser, and they are switching to Obama's, what does that say about McCain's judgment and ability to devise good strategies?

But even moreso, how can McCain be an "agent of change" when he's been in the Senate for decades and is part and parcel with the party that has been in charge of the white house for the last 8 years? If the American public falls for this ruse, then P.T. Barnum (or McDonald or whoever actually said it) was right - there is a sucker born every minute - at least in the U.S.

I don't think that McCain can win as the candidate of change. And, his shooting star, Sarah Palin, who is his banner for "change" will be brought down to size in the next two months I would predict. The change that is needed is for Congress and the president united to take on the big corporations and wrestle some of their outrageous wealth away from them and use it to benefit the public at large. Both the Republicans and Democrats are way too much in the pocket of these corporations, including the mainstream media, and the liklihood that this is going to occur is slim. Nevertheless, it's greater with the Democrats, because they are the party out of executive power at the moment and by definition, putting them into the white house means change. Also, it is almost certain that the 3rd party candidates will not be in a position to make a difference. I guess we'll see about that.

But, let's look at reality here. McCain, if he gets in, is going to be dealing with something between a strong majority and a veto proof majority in both houses, according to almost every prognostication about the election. He's not going to be able to get diddly done if it isn't to the liking of the Democrats. So when he says, "look out Washington, change is coming," what is he talking about? If he gets in, he's going to either do things the Democratic way or he will get nothing done.

Let's give some examples. For example, McCain gets in and is faced with increased majorities in both houses of Congress. He tries to put through some big time Republican promises, like privatizing social security, or even an outspoken "pro-life" supreme court nominee. How far is that going to get? It's going to be Dead On Arrival. I mean, the best he can hope for is to be a Nixon like character where he signs a bunch of Democratic reform bills in order to have anything to show as president. And while historically, there have been worse things, the change is going to come from Congress, not from McCain. McCain is going to be too beholden to the Republican right which will pay a big portion of his campaign costs as long as he at least tries to toe the Republican line. McCain will not stray far.

I think McCain's switch at the last minute in campaign strategy is about as much a sign of desperation as his pick of Palin. McCain has no issues to run on, as evidenced by his and Palin's speeches this week, where they didn't come close to matching Obama's laundry list of what he going to do if he gets in. That's because if McCain, on national TV, actually said to everyone what the Republican platform was, he'd get blown out of the water. Regular people would be outraged. But that's typical of the Republicans - they always try to hide what they really are going to do.

The debates are going to be important. It's too bad the small 3rd party candidates can't get into the debates. What can be more important? If it takes 3 or 4 hours to hear everyone, then so be it. But oh no...not in our "democracy." Our "democracy" is only for those that agree to shake hands with the big corporations. And that's a crying shame and not fair to the people at all! We need to be hearing all the points of view, and not just the corporate ones. So we have a lot of work to do. But long time Republican McCain, agent of change? Hah! That's a doozy!