The American Spectator

Gabriel Sabbagh br> Paris, France /p>

The pre-election popular vote is irrelevant. Likely electoral votes would be more informative. Obama could win by a million votes in New York and California and lose by thousands of votes in many other states with more cumulative electoral votes.

p>Incidentally, it has been decades since pollsters didn’t give the Democrat presidential candidate at least a 5% lead, even as late as election eve. Put not your trust in pollsters. They use numbers to effect change, not to measure it. br> — David Govett br> Davis, California /p> p> I love how it must be the media’s attacks on Palin taking their toll, rather than voters merely changing their minds about her as they get to know more about her. br> — Bob S. /p>

Robert McCain refers to former Democratic consultant Jim Johnson as a “disgraced former lobbyist.” And Mr. McCain also repeats a completely discredited claim, denied by both the Obama Campaign and Franklin Raines himself in an email Mr. Raines wrote to the McCain campaign. I have three questions. On what basis is Jim Johnson “disgraced”? If it is a disgrace to be a former lobbyist, then the McCain campaign would be utterly disgusting (i.e. Charlie Black, a chief advisor). So I think readers and Mr. Johnson deserve for Mr. McCain to cite examples of Mr. Johnson’s public malfeasance that extend beyond him holding a different political perspective.

My second question is: there have been reported ties for days between current McCain staffers and Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Today it was reported that Rick Davis, John McCain’s campaign manager, was paid $2 million lobbying for the deregulation that Senator McCain is now blaming for the current Wall Street crisis. Why is that that is less noteworthy to Robert McCain than Mr. Obama’s ties to advisors that have either not spoken to him or advised him in months? Also, it seems that Robert McCain is relying on outdated reports that said Franklin Raines was an advisor to the Obama campaign. He was not. They have spoken to one another only briefly on one occasion when Mr. Raines sought a meeting. This is a claim being made by both Mr. Obama and Mr. Raines who wrote an email to the McCain campaign complaining about the ad.