Its important – he called our Marines murderers, he’s called his fellow Pennsylvanians a bunch of racists. The man is a corrupt barnacle on the body politic and he needs to go.

Mark Hemmingway has the scoop on the man trying to save the United States Congress from two more years of the shame of Murtha.

And no better way to do it than with Our Lady of Guadalupe:

A photo of Senator John McCain in front of the image of Our Lady of Guadalupe has drawn mixed reviews from Hispanic voters around the country. Some claim it shows his attempt to reach out to Hispanics…

…The photo, which was displayed by groups at the Republican National Convention in Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minnesota, has been sized-down and printed on hand-held cards. These cards are being handed out by Republican supporters to attract the support of Hispanics, a group currently dominated by Senator Barack Obama in swing-state polls, reports the Las Vegas Star.

Xavier Rivas, who has one of the cards, maintains that it illustrates McCain’s attempt to reach out to the Hispanic population in the United States. The message it sends, he explains, is that Our Lady of Guadalupe “represents a symbol of our culture, our feelings … and (the photo) is sending a signal to Mexican-Americans that McCain is saying, ‘I know and care about your community’.”

One voter, Fernando Romero, says the card gives him a better feeling about McCain. “He made the effort to visit something spiritual that is in the hearts of all Mexicans.”

Some of you are going, “who is Our Lady of Guadalupe”? Go here to find out.

Of course, tying yourself to the Blessed Virgin doesn’t hurt you with the rest of the Catholic faithful, either – I’m not hispanic, but in my wallet I have a card with the image of Our Lady of Guadalupe on it. And, in fact, I can’t remember the last day when I didn’t ask Our Lady for some help in some way – its pretty much a common thing among Catholics.

It is almost certain that a majority of hispanic voters will vote for Obama – mostly because they are misinformed about what he really plans to do plus the relentless propaganda from leftwing hispanic groups to the effect that the GOP is racist and doesn’t like hispanic people. Be that as it may, at the core of hispanic America is the Christian faith, and among its strongest symbols is Our Lady. Obama is, indeed, a brother in Christ, but one wonders just what sort of falsehoods might have seeped into Obama’s being via the poisoned tongue of Jeremiah Wright? Given the positions of the two candidates, it is my view that a believing Christian only has one course open to him on November 4th – to vote for John McCain. It is my prayer that my brothers and sisters of hispanic descent and origin will consider carefully what is at stake, and vote based on those truths we know, rather than the false promises of the political left Obama represents.

That would be Thomas Sowell, for you liberals out there:

Telling a friend that the love of his life is a phony and dangerous is not likely to get him to change his mind. But it may cost you a friend.

It is much the same story with true believers in Barack Obama. They have made up their minds and not only don’t want to be confused by the facts, they resent being told the facts.

An e-mail from a reader mentioned trying to tell his sister why he was voting against Obama but, when he tried to argue some facts, she cut him short: “You don’t like him and I do!” she said. End of discussion…

…many today seem to assume that if things are bad, “change” will make them better. Specifics don’t interest them nearly as much as inspiring rhetoric and a confident style. But many 20th-century leaders with inspiring rhetoric and great self-confidence led their followers or their countries into utter disasters.

These ranged from Jim Jones who led hundreds to their deaths in Jonestown to Hitler and Mao who led millions to their deaths.

What specifics do we know about Barack Obama’s track record that might give us some clue as to what kinds of “changes” to expect if he is elected?

We know that he opposed the practice of putting violent young felons on trial as adults. We know that he was against a law forbidding physicians to kill a baby that was born alive despite an attempt to abort it.

We know that Obama opposed attempts to put stricter regulations on Fannie Mae — and that he was the second-largest recipient of campaign contributions from Fannie Mae. We know that, this very year, his campaign sought the advice of disgraced former Fannie Mae CEO Franklin Raines…

…The public has been told very little about what this man with the wonderful rhetoric has actually done. What we know is enough to make us wonder about what we don’t know. Or it ought to. For the true believers — which includes many in the media — it is just a question of whether you like him or not.

All very true – I’ll only add this point: at bottom, to support Obama is to take the coward’s way in politics. Other than once or twice asking parents to turn off the kids’ video games, Obama asks nothing of us other than that little detail of turning all power over to him. He’s not going to do anything to us (95% of the people won’t get a tax increase, right?), but he will punish “they” who have caused our problems. You see, it isn’t us who screwed the pooch, it is “they” who did it, and Obama’s gonna get ’em and fix their little, red wagon! Oil companies, insurance companies, drug companies…we’ll get them for what “they” did to us! And all will be well – the malefactors punished, we can expect pure, unadulterated bliss without us having to do anything, ’cause we never were at fault, it was “they”, not us.

Of course, there is no “they” – there is only us, and it is we who have made a hash out of it, and only if we roll up our sleeves and get to work behind a President who has the courage to take the hard road will be get out of our current crisis. You can believe all you want that “hope ‘n change” will do the trick, but what is really going to do it is investigating carefully what has happened and letting the chips fall where they may, and then resolving – as a people – to not do that sort of thing again. Greedy bankers and corrupt politicians got over on us because we let them do it – because when voices were raised for reform we turned a deaf ear. John McCain and Sarah Palin are raising the voices for reform – Obama is saying “trust me, I’ll make it all better”. Which will you choose, fellow Americans?

Geesh:

WASHINGTON—The Obama campaign is putting a hefty price tag on the best camera and reporting positions for news organizations covering Barack Obama’s outdoor election night activities in downtown Chicago. If a reporter wants access to the file center–which will be the best place to find Obama officials and spokesmen–be prepared to write a check for $935. The cheapest place a reporter could stand on a riser with a view is $880.

That $935 covers one reporter in a heated file tent, power, cable tv, internet and food. I am told by an Obama spokesman who did not want his name used that this just covers costs and they are not turning a profit on this. The planners could have built in more al a carte options for Grant Park coverage.

This is an outrageous pay to play plan that caters to national elite outlets with deep pockets.

I am not asking for a free ride–news outlets pay for plane seats, other transportation organized by the campaign, hotel rooms, plus associated costs for filing centers.

But this Election Night list is pricey and does not take into account some reporters won’t need power, cable, internet or food but will crave the access more than the food.

This does give us another very strong reason for fighting for McCain’s victory – just imagine how ticked off these MSMers who shelled out will be when they are reporting from the loser’s headquarters. That aside, this is just a preview of how everything in DC will be for sale if Obama wins – he’s a Chicago politician, boys and girls, and it is entirely “pay for play” in that Democrat-run political cesspool. Obama and his people, having risen up through Chicago, simply don’t know any other way of doing business. Policy will go to the highest bidder – and if you liberals out there think you can out bid the trial lawyers, big corporations and well-heeled special interests, then you are the biggest fools, ever.

From Mark Levin over at NRO’s The Corner:

I want to introduce Colin Powell to Nyack police Sgt. Edward O’Grady, Officer Waverly “Chipper” Brown, and Brinks security guard Peter Paige. Powell may want to downplay Bill Ayers’s relationship with Barack Obama, but he does so out of ignorance and expediency. Obama knew about Ayers when he befriended him and throughout their relationship right up until the time it became an issue a few months ago. And keep in mind, Ayers wishes he and his fellow Weather Underground terrorists could have done more damage than murdering these three men. I have no respect left for Powell. None.

There is something very defective in American politics where anyone who comes within a country mile of someone like Ayers could be elected dog catcher, let alone be a step away from President of the United States of America. But this is, also, the fruit of poisoned tree of liberalism – poisoned by the New Left back in the 1960’s.

We’ve allowed a lot of nonsense to seep into our political life – and given the amount of tax dollars we spend on colleges, universities and various public groups, the really sad thing is that we “Joe the Plumber” sorts of Americans have heavily subsidized the “Bill the Terrorist” sort of Americans. They are rich, entrenched in the heights of American culture and twisting our laws and customs into unrecognizable shape on our dime. And the final insult to this self-inflicted injury is that by allowing them to rise in our institutions, we have given them a patina of respectability. I won’t go as far as Levin on Obama – my view is that Obama simply didn’t know any better and was unequipped by training to even get curious about who was advising and supporting him in his rise to power – after all, people like Ayers, like all leftists throughout history, talk a great game of liberty and justice, and only someone well versed in leftwing thinking understands that they leave off the “for all” part of that.

For people like Ayers – and their pupils, like Obama – liberty means the freedom to be a leftists. Justice means leftists win, all the time. To accord liberty and justice to non-leftists is to give them something they don’t deserve, as they are the roadblocks on the path to utopia. This is why we’re seeing a renewed demand for the so-called “fairness doctrine”, which will be a tool to force conservatives off the radio; this is why we see attempts at using the courts to censor conservative criticism of Obama, because to criticize Obama is to be evil, because Obama is a good leftist; this is why we see stories about holding war crimes tribunals for President Bush and his Administration, because they are non-leftist, and are thus evil and must be punished. For Obama and his like, freedom means the freedom to praise Obama and his like in any manner we choose, and that’s all.

For Colin Powell to not recognize who Obama is or who those around him are is to reveal a stunning level of political blindness – Powell is essentially throwing his support to those who called him and his like “baby killers” in Vietnam. And before you think, “well, that was a long time ago”, remember that Obama, himself, opined that all we were doing in the war is bombing villages and killing civilians. Obama is the good student of his New Left teachers – he’s bought it all; and Powell – out of who knows what motivation – has decided to endorse the folly of Obama and the wickedness of Ayers.

And on John McCain’s mind, too:

McCain/Palin have continued to pour money time and resources into PA despite a three week period where it looked like he was losing it by double digits, leaving everyone scratching their heads. But morning call has shown some movement to McCain by 3 points, and Susquehanna had a single digit loss for him, which pulls PA into where VA is now.

And then there was this today:

Steve Corbett, a radio talk show host in Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, accidentally received a copy of an internal email sent by Grant Olin who heads the Wilkes-Barre headquarters of the Obama campaign. The email went to 627 Obama campaign volunteers in the Wilkes-Barre Scranton region, saying that Obama Headquarters reported an internal poll which shows that Obama is only 2 points up in Pennsylvania.

Sean Smith, who is heading Obama’s Pennsylvania campaign, was interviewed by Steve Corbett via phone at 5:35 today to discuss this. He said that Grant “went rogue”, and aknowledged that Grant was “reprimanded” for this.

McCain has his own internals too. And if they are telling him the same thing, well that would go a long way to explaining why McCain was in PA today and why both he and Sarah Palin have spent a lot of time this week. Basically if McCain can get the states that are within the MOE, plus steal PA, then he doesn’t need CO or VA…

It must be kept in mind that when the pollsters set their demographic models for 2008 the story line was “almost certain Democrat victory”, and thus the number of Democrats polled is probably pushed up much higher than it normally would be, and GOPers in the polls are lower than they normally would be. Had this election shaped up as everyone expected, this probably would not have been a problem, but the race has not wound up where everyone thought it would be. At best, Obama has a small lead nationally while the battle for 270 electoral votes is even closer than the national polling – and that is only if the demographic model still works out for very much higher Democrat, lower GOP turnout…with Palin energizing the GOP base and McCain doing very well among Independents – and, also, getting them energized to vote – the demographic models for 2008 could be very much off…and the actual state of the race entirely unknown at this point.

To us, that is.

For McCain and Obama, its a bit different – they do their own polling and that polling might be better geared to the eventual turnout, and thus far more accurate than the polling we see in the MSM. What this means is that McCain is either the biggest fool ever for spending time in PA, or he just knows some things we don’t and is capitalizing on the big chance. Adding to this supposition is, of course, the “Bitter Effect” joined to the “Murtha Effect” in western PA – Obama and then Murtha gave Hillary Democrats all the excuse they need to turn out for McCain…we’ll see how that comes out, but I say to McCain, “pour it on in PA” and “have another look at Michigan”.

Nothing like Democrats acting like Democrats to help the GOP to victory.

Can’t get more serious about it than this:

Bishop Robert J. Herman, the administrator of the Archdiocese of St. Louis, has written a column reminding Catholics that their vote will be a decision weighed on the Day of Judgment. He urged Catholics not to treat the unborn as the neglectful rich man treated Lazarus in the biblical parable.

“Judgment Day is on its way,” the bishop wrote in the St. Louis Review. “We cannot stop it. We don’t know when it will come, but just as surely as the sun rises daily, the Son of Man will come when we least expect.”

“For many, this coming election may very well be judgment day, for this election will measure us,” he continued, referencing Christ’s words of judgment in Matthew 10:32-33:

“Everyone who acknowledges Me before others, I will acknowledge before My heavenly Father. But whoever denies Me before others, I will deny before my heavenly Father.”

Bishop Herman asked the faithful to consider what kind of witness they give to God when they enter the voting booth on Election Day.

“The decision I make in the voting booth will reflect my value system. If I value the good of the economy and my current lifestyle more than I do the right to life itself, then I am in trouble,” the bishop wrote.

He cited Pope John Paul II’s apostolic exhortation Christifideles laici, which said outcry on human rights is “false and illusory” if the right to life is not defended to the maximum.

“The right of our children to be protected from destruction is greater than my right to a thriving economy,” Bishop Herman continued.

“My desire for a good economy cannot justify my voting to remove all current restrictions on abortion. My desire to end the war in Iraq cannot justify my voting to remove all current restrictions on abortion.”

For some time now, I’ve noted the repeated exhortations from the Church to the faithful to both vote and to take care to vote in accordance with Truth – the Church, of course, cannot endorse a candidate or party, but I think the message is being transmitted loud and clear that the most important thing for Catholics – and, indeed, all Christians – to take into consideration on November 4th is the most fundamental of all things, the right to life. If you’re not alive on November 5th, then all the other rights in the world are completely meaningless.

What is at stake in 2008 could not be more stark – vote one way, and we advance the Culture of Life; vote the other, and the culture of death takes a giant step forward with the inhuman “Freedom of Choice Act”. Choose wisely, fellow Christians and fellow Americans – think about what you are doing in that voting booth.

We set aside politics for a moment and take note of the more important issue:

Almighty and Eternal God,

You are the everlasting health of those who believe in You.

Hear us for Your sick servant Madelyn Payne Dunham

for whom we implore the aid of Your tender mercy,

that being restored to bodily health,

she may give thanks to You in Your Church.

Through Christ our Lord.

But we have something better – John McCain:

..this is a transformational election year, not a base election year, says Carney. Victory depends on “swingers,” those who have yet to decide, those who will ask themselves on Election Day: “Do I trust my future, my family, to the charismatic, dynamic public official who has yet to put a concrete idea on the table? Or do I go with the man I know will be tough enough — even if he’s not really willing — to change completely where the country is going?”

Their conclusions — not the antics that both campaigns engage in for an attentive political punditry poised over their scorecards — will determine the election’s outcome.

And until Election Day, McCain will not change. He is who he is and, under the weight of his personality, his stubborn determination and his dedication to country, he always has found a way to prevail, even in the face of defeat.

“One thing that is in John McCain’s favor is that he is John McCain,” says Pennsylvania Republican strategist Charlie Gerow. “Add on the fact that McCain always polls poorly and Obama’s primary polls have been consistently inflated, and there is a silver lining to the dark cloud that has become the narrative around this race.”

Gerow thinks this a 5- to 6-point race that Obama still has not won, although he says you’d never know that from the media coverage. “I base my opinions on listening to people,” he insists. “The deal has not been closed yet.”

Not closed at all, I’d say – and God willing it never will be. The only thing against McCain is the narrative – and what we’ll find out on November 4th is whether or not the narrative will convince GOPers and Independents to stay home in large enough numbers to give the victory to Obama. That is, from what I can see, the real plan is – just keep putting out poll after poll and story after story saying its all over and hope that this plus negative ads will drive down the GOP/Independent turnout, thus allowing Obama to get a slim majority of votes, which the MSM will then translate into a massive landslide and a mandate for massive, leftwing change. I don’t think it’ll come out like that.

I think that “Joe the Plumber” has uncovered Obama’s Achilles Heel and that it is steadily eating into whatever appeal Obama had to independents, while the nasty way Obama and the MSM have gone after Joe is making the GOP base seethe with anger and thus getting them willing to crawl on their knees over broken glass to vote for John McCain. Time will tell, of course; but I feel really good about our chances.