With all concern troll portions excised:

What is [   ] with the Obama Campaign?  Don't they know that [   ] means they don't have [   ]?  It's no time to [   ]!  Just because it's August doesn't mean [   ].  

If it were my campaign, I would [    ] immediately.  I would also [   ], fire [   ], and generally [   ].  I mean, there's no choice now but to [   ], even if Obama prefers to [   ].

How can you let McCain [   ]?  Even if [   ] happens, we still have to [   ], because [   ], [   ], [   ] and [   ] are at stake.

Several superfluous pictures, then jump, with what I really think.

And it's this guy:

Yep: It's Washington State Rep Al O'Brien.

Al brings all the votes from northeast King and south Snonomish Counties, along with the memorable campaign slogan, being rolled out tomorrow:

Obama.  O'Brien.  Oh boy.

You heard it here first.

Here's your opening, courtesy of nearly half of those polled by Pew last week:

[N]early four in 10 said they've been hearing too little about McCain — about four times the number who said so about Obama. About half of Republicans, four in 10 independents and even a quarter of Democrats said they've not heard enough about the GOP candidate.

Ball, meet court.

Congress passed -- and Bush signed -- the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 last December.  It had energy goodies for consumers, auto makers, and even oil companies.  John McCain failed to show up over a six month period for a single vote on the bill, despite the fact that he sits on the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation.  Let's take a look at McCain's pretty total disinterest in energy policy.

In December of 2007, President Bush signed the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007.  In Section 111, Congress mandated that, by the end of 2009, the Department of Transportation begin

a national tire maintenance consumer education program including, information on tire inflation pressure, alignment, rotation, and tread wear to maximize fuel efficiency, safety, and durability of   replacement tires.

The President thought it was important -- he signed it, without a signing statement.  On its last vote in the Senate, only eight Senators voted against it.

And John McCain?

About who to vote for:

I believe this election has put a lot of people in a strange place. It's a place that I've never personally been before. Put simply, I couldn't care more, and I couldn't care less.

Couldn't care less -- that's how we feel about you, too, Glenn; but apparently some Americans actually watch your show.  I'm sure they want you to tell them how to vote, right?

As far as who to vote for -- I'm not sure. Hopefully, I'll come up with an answer or two by, say, early November.

You go, Glenn!  And let's consider what that means for the other side.

McCain has made a mess of his campaign.  We know that; his own party knows that; even our BFFs in the media seem to be getting the point.  But something bigger has happened, and it's not getting attention -- yet.

I'll let Sherlock Holmes give you a clue:

"And a singularly consistent investigation you have made, my
dear Watson," said he. "I cannot at the moment recall any
possible blunder which you have omitted. The total effect of
your proceeding has been to give the alarm everywhere and yet
to discover nothing."

You may describe it as fighting the last war, or an overly aggressive defense, or outright lying.  I frame it this way: McCain has exhausted his strategy; he has indeed given the alarm everywhere, and obtained nothing in return.  He can't walk it back, and he can't keep it up.

The bandage may not be big enough.

Foreclosures tripled this quarter, year-over-year.  That will require an upward revision in the 2008 projections:

Because foreclosure filings are growing so quickly, RealtyTrac will have to reevaluate its foreclosure forecast for the year, according to spokesman Rick Sharga.

"We've been saying foreclosures will total 1.9 million to 2 million this year," he said. "But midway through the year, we're already at 1.4 million so we're going to be raising our projections."

Bad if you're a homeowner close to the edge.  Bad if you're a Republican running for office.  Nonetheless, this news provides Obama with ammunition to use in some very important places.

An old man goes to the park to hear the speech, armed with a bushel of rotten tomatoes.  When the speech begins, the old man lets fly -- over the head of the orator.  His next few missles sail to the right of their mark.  Soon, though, the man's age takes its toll, and his lobs fall progressively short.  Seeing this, a friend leans over and suggests that it's time to stop.  "Stop?" cries the old man.  "I've still got tomatoes, and I only have to hit him once."

Let's check McCain's remaining tomato supply.

This is part one of an intermittent series on bad journalism.  Yes, I know it's fish in a barrel.  My criterion is rigorous, though.  Mediocrity will not qualify, nor will obviously slanted pieces or punditry.  I will only discuss stories that should not have been written.  The worst are those that convey their own irrelevancy.

Today's winner is this one, from ABC News.

The lede:

Predicting the outcome of a presidential election is dangerous sport, but some political junkies are playing the game, running the numbers and coming up with a November surprise: a possible tie between Sens. Barack Obama and John McCain.

So, terrorist: we meet again.  Hey, it's just to talk, man.  I just want to get inside your head and find out who gave you the idea to do all the bad things you've done.  Let's start by having you take your shirt off.  No?  Here, I'll help you.

Hmmm.... I don't think that approach will work.  Let's try another...

Now, terrorist, we have to get to know each other better, so you can get out of this Cuban hellhole.  How about we get more comfortable?  I've got a couple of Mai Tais here, and we can soak up some sun on these chaises, and...

Man!  There must be something in the Army Field Manual covering this!  Let's see: Ah, here it is.  Forced removal of clothing is a Category II technique.  Category II: banned by the Geneva Convention!  So what do I do if he won't take his clothes off voluntarily?

Douglas Feith to the rescue!

Remember this debate comment by Dick Cheney?

You've missed a lot of key votes: on tax policy, on energy, on Medicare reform.

Your hometown newspaper has taken to calling you "Senator Gone." You've got one of the worst attendance records in the United States Senate.

Now, in my capacity as vice president, I am the president of Senate, the presiding officer. I'm up in the Senate most Tuesdays when they're in session.

The first time I ever met you was when you walked on the stage tonight.

His target, of course, was John Edwards.  How then, might he feel about
John McCain, who hasn't voted since April 8th?

Depending on how it goes, the Medicare override vote could be the perfect petard on which to hang the rusted warrior.

Grover "Bathtub" Norquist has a forum on Politico today to decry Obama's tax plan as a tax increase on small businesses.  I know, it's a shocker.  It's also chock full of dubious logic and whining.  Check out the very first paragraph:

The Tax Policy Center and the Barack Obama campaign used some sleight of hand this week in Politico. To quote Eric Tolder of the TPC, "Most small-business people, like most everyone else, are not really high-income." While this is true, it completely and totally misses the point.

Note to Norquist:  It's exactly the point.

I came home from the meeting in Unity and immediately went to dinner and a play, then a day full of grandchildren.  My priorities are in order, therefore, and I can now write a reflection on the day -- not on the meeting, but on what it may represent: the changing of the guard in American politics.

Too strong a statement?  Consider these facts:

Though the numbers are already improving (47 O, 40 M), one group that is truly torn between Obama and McCain is Catholics.  There is a single issue causing this split; unsurprisingly, it's abortion.  Despite loud, official pronouncements by some in the hierarchy, Catholics are divided on abortion -- not so much on whether or not it's wrong, but how wrong it is in comparison to other wrongs.  

Given the right forum and the right language, Obama is in a position to move a substantial number of Catholics to his side, without compromising his stance on Roe v. Wade.  If enough Catholics move from McCain to Obama, Ohio, Indiana and Pennsylvania are sealed deals -- and McCain cannot win.

It's all about the seamless garment.

Steny Hoyer, Silvestre Reyes, Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid:  You should all be ashamed of yourselves.  It apparently takes a Republican to tell the ACLU what Congress should be doing about the telecom immunity:

Sen. Arlen Specter (Pa.), a Republican long known for breaking with his party over the reach of post-9/11 executive power, is still at it. Monday, the five-term senator again demanded a judicial examination of the phone companies' role in the Bush administration's warrantless wiretapping program...

"It's very important that there be judicial review of what the phone companies have done," Specter told a large audience gathered in Washington Monday for a conference of the American Civil Liberties Union. "It seems to me that it'd be very difficult to grant retroactive immunity when you don't even know for sure what you're giving retroactive immunity for."

Dear Democratic leadership: Is that really difficult?

Oy, is he good.

"Before I begin, I want to say that I know some provocative e-mails have been circulating throughout Jewish communities across the country," he said. "A few of you may have gotten them. They’re filled with tall tales and dire warnings about a certain candidate for president.

"All I want to say is, let me know if you see this guy named Barack Obama, because he sounds pretty scary."

"But if anyone has been confused by these e-mails, I want you to know that today I’ll be speaking from my heart, and as a true friend of Israel."

Though not the way he intended it:

(T)he Clinton campaign intends to argue that Mr. Obama should receive zero delegates from Michigan because those delegates awarded to "uncommitted" have to go to the convention uncommitted.

"It’s impossible to discern the mind of each of the 238,000 people who voted for ‘uncommitted,’" Mr. Ickes said. He said the Clinton campaign’s view is that the 55 delegates representing ‘uncommitted’ "can support whomever they want but they must remain uncommitted and be certified to the D.N.C. as uncommitted." He said that 36 of those delegates have been chosen so far.

Fine, Mr. Ickes.  Let's take that at face value.  By my count, that reduces Clinton's Michigan numbers by 55, because we can discern something about those 238,000 people.