A great actor with real class. One of the best – and one of the best movies, ever, is Cool Hand Luke.

Which isn’t, strictly speaking, news but it is interesting:

The Democratic Party has been hijacked by elites hostile to religion, said Mark Stricherz, author of the book “Why Democrats are Blue” and a Democrat himself, during the Casey Lecture delivered on Tuesday at the Archdiocese of Denver.

The Casey Series of Lectures was started by the Archdiocese of Denver in 2006 to promote Catholic thinking in political life, inspired by the life and political activism of the late Pennsylvania Governor Robert Casey, a devout Catholic and a Democrat.

Stricherz, who has focused his investigation on the historical transition that turned the Democrats from a Catholic-friendly organization to the pro-abortion rights party it is today, explained the decisive role played in American politics by staunch Catholic Democrats like Gov. Casey, Robert Kennedy and David Lawrence.

“These politicians provided a political leadership and a push for human rights based on religious convictions and personal prayer life, thus becoming promoters of Christian Humanist values,” he said.

Explaining an argument he makes in his book, Stricherz said that the Democratic Party created internal rules that favor Secular elites and limit the participation of common people. He mentioned caucuses in Iowa as an example: they are established to run from 7:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m., “preventing the participation of common people like third-shifters, military men and women or young mothers.” As a consequence, “56% of those attending the caucuses are pro- choice folks,” he said.

Thus, Secularism and hostility to religion have become the dividing line between the Democratic Party of the past and today’s Democratic leaders.

Asked about how to change the Democratic Party back to its original connection with average Americans, Stricherz said that is was critical to democratize the internal process, but added that, “I just don’t see the constituency, the drive to bring that change… those with college degrees, who tend to be more secular are in control of the party, whereas more religious, working folks are kept out of the loop.”

Almost hate to say it as, if its done, it will cause my conservatism no end of trouble – what some smart Democrat has to figure out is that if the Democrats would ditch the kook left and allow them to become the Social Democrats (ie, communists) they really are, then the residue of the Democratic party can become the Christian Democrats and make a bid for a socially conservative yet economically liberal political party – and such a party would have a lot of appeal, as a lot of conservative Protestants, and even more conservative Catholics, are ill at ease in the Republican party. Hillary could do this – all she has to do is dump the pro-abortion fanaticism, come out against gay marriage and have at it.

Will anyone do this or will the Democrats continue to slide down into socialism until they are completely rejected? Only time will tell.

With everyone pretty mad at government over this financial mess, might we see a generalized electoral massacre of the incumbents in November?

Discuss.

And a good thing, too:

In May 2006, six months after 24 people were killed in a small Iraqi town, U.S. Rep. John Murtha made a startling accusation.

American soldiers, he contended, had killed innocent civilians “in cold blood.”

Now, less than six weeks before the longtime Johnstown Democrat is up for re-election, a Marine involved in the now-infamous Haditha incident is suing Murtha for slander.

Justin Sharratt of Canonsburg, Washington County, left the Marine Corps last year. But he claims Murtha’s statements have caused “permanent, irreversible damage to his reputation.”

“What Murtha did is outrageous, and I am seeking punitive damages,” said Noah Geary, a Pittsburgh attorney representing Sharratt.

The lawsuit was filed Thursday in federal court in Pittsburgh.

If there was any way to get Murtha to see the inside of a jail over this, I’d advocate it – “treason” is not too strong a word to describe what he did.

Well, we’re having a debate after all – in my view, it would have been better had the Democrats allowed partisan considerations to be set aside for a few days while we work out what is best for the financial crisis…but a party which tries to insert money into the bail out package for the voter-fraud group ACORN is not a party which ever puts country first. So, off we go.

Obama’s people have been busily downplaying expectations – expect them, and the MSM and the “instant polls” to go on and on after the debate about how Obama won the debate and did much better than expected. But as in the first debate of 2004, what is said by the spinmeisters isn’t all that important. I remember going on a radio show broadcast in New York City the day after the first debate in 2004 and I was treated to a few minuets of The Nation’s David Corn going on and on about how Kerry had mopped the floor with President Bush. I stoutly asserted that President Bush had won the debate. Why? Because John Kerry had said we needed to have a foreign policy which passed a “global test”. It was my contention that the phrase would work its way into the national consciousness over the following days and no matter what the spin and instant polls said, it will be shown that Kerry did himself irreparable harm by making that statement. And so it proved.

This sort of thing is more McCain’s venue than Obama’s – though McCain would have preferred a more “give and take” event. If McCain makes a serious mistake tonight it will be a heavy blow against his candidacy – if he appears hesitant, or uses non-answers, or comes across as a grumpy old man, etc., then he will damage himself. Not irretrievably (there’s still a lot of time left), but it won’t help him at this juncture with Obama rising a bit in the polls to have anything other than a good performance, and a stellar performance would be best. On the other hand, if Obama comes across as something other than a calm, cool and collected man in full possession of the facts, then he’ll do himself some really serious damage. Obama can’t win the election tonight, but he can to a long way towards losing it if he flubs answers or appears to be out of his depth next to an experienced McCain. Obama blowing it badly won’t be any more the final answer than McCain blowing it badly, but a bad performance by Obama will be a worse thing than a bad performance by McCain as far more people have doubts about Obama’s leadership credentials already, and Obama daren’t give them any more reason to doubt.

Now, I had promised Matt that I would be live-blogging – unfortunately, I suddenly have some personal business to take care of right about debate time (the perils of living in a Pacific Time zone when the action happens on Eastern Time), though I intend to go through it with care post-debate and have my own comments. We’ll see if I, observing after the fact, come to a better understanding of it than the punditry who watch it live. Meanwhile, you, dear readers, have this fine blog entry to put your comments on as it happens.

UPDATE: Ok, so I managed to listen to some of it on the radio and during that was immediately struck by how much Obama stuttered. Made him seem unsure of himself. Then I got home and watched it on TV, where Obama not only stuttered but kept on finger pointing, blame laying, interrupting and generally making an ass out of himself.

I think McCain won this debate.

Have at it.

Bringing the issue of Life front and center of our national campaign:

The 40 Days for Life Campaign launched its 179-city fall program on Wednesday in South Bend, Indiana. The community-based campaign will last until November 2, focusing upon prayer and fasting, educational outreach, and round-the-clock peaceful vigils outside abortion clinics or Planned Parenthood centers.

Local versions of the campaign are taking place in 47 U.S. states, the District of Columbia, American Samoa, and two Canadian provinces, a campaign press release reports.

“During an election season in which abortion has emerged as a critical – and potentially decisive – issue, people across the nation need to be made aware of the reality of what abortion does to women, men, children, communities and our nation,” said David Bereit, national campaign director of 40 Days for Life.

Bereit said the campaign could have a “profound effect” on the country.

“With abortion in the forefront of the national debate during this heated political season, people of faith and conscience are coming out to 40 Days for Life kick-off events and getting involved in local campaigns in record numbers,” he commented. “I am seeing a greater sense of urgency to end abortion in America right now than I have seen in the last decade.”

This is, of course, all above Obama’s pay grade – and that is a pity, because if he’d think the matter through he might be able to apply some wisdom to our debate rather than just being a shill for the abortion industry. We must have patience with the poor man, though, as we must have patience with all of those on the Culture of Death side of the argument. Much poison has been injected into our society over the past few decades and this has caused a great deal of moral confusion. It will take some time to undo the damage done, but with 40 Days for Life we’re getting closer and closer to that critical mass of people who will, then, rise up and first overturn Roe, and then – eventually – end the hideous practice of elective abortion one and for all.

The Washington Post-ABC poll comes out, liberals go bonkers with joy, MSMers report it as if its news…but those of us who know a bit about polling were expecting just what Steve Gill over at Pajamas Media reports:

But what the news outlets failed to report in their coverage about the Washington Post-ABC poll was the fact that 38% of the individuals who made up the poll identified themselves as Democrats, while only 28% identified themselves as Republicans… Not surprisingly, a poll of mostly Democrats revealed that most of them wanted Democrat Barack Obama to be president rather than Republican John McCain….

The poll tweaked the numbers in Obama’s favor in other ways as well. Even the so-called “independents” that comprised the poll were actually more partisan than independent. When asked towards which political party they “lean,” the independents who replied “Democrat” outnumbered those who responded “Republican” by an 18% margin! (See poll question #904.) That’s not a lean; that’s a landslide — yet it only produced a nine-point lead for Obama.

Also, the poll questioned a lot more women than men. In fact, the gender gap was eight points. Women are expected to vote in slightly larger numbers than men this year, but not by a 54 to 46 margin! Because Democrats have consistently enjoyed a bit of a gender advantage with women voters, this margin gives Obama’s poll numbers a significant boost.

The poll also admits to “over-sampling” the percentage of black voters. With Obama pulling about 95% of the black vote, do you think that might help his numbers a bit? All of these tweaks and subtle nudges of the numbers were intended to produce a desired result, rather than providing voters with an accurate snapshot of public opinion.

I said the poll was designed to boost Democrat morale, and that is what it was – the MSM strikes again. But the real news here is that even with a poll this heavily skewed towards Obama he only comes out with a 9 point lead. This means that an MSM outfit went out and found the most heavily Democratic sample they could gin up and still came across a substantial number of Democrats who are opting for McCain over Obama. Remember, this race could come down to thousands of votes in a few battleground States – if even 5% of regular Democrat voters go for McCain, that could end up crushing Obama’s chances.

All is not well in Obama-land, and Obama’s flubbing of the financial crisis isn’t helping him any…in fact, for the first time I’m starting to hear Joe Average types (those who vote, but don’t pay close attention to politics like us junkies do) speak in terms of contempt about Obama. Things could start to get real interesting, real fast.

Being as its football season, and all that – ya know? Anyways…

Democrats had dared Sen. John McCain to show leadership on the Wall Street crisis and he stepped up. He put his campaign on hold Wednesday and challenged Sen. Barack Obama to postpone Friday’s debate, which Democrats had hoped to turn into a forum on failed Republican economic policies.

Less than a month after he canceled the first night of the Republican National Convention, Mr. McCain again flashed his signature maverick style, declaring President Bush’s proposed $700 billion bailout dead and, as he’s done so often in the past, said he could help broker a bipartisan deal to cut through the political clutter…

…The McCain campaign said last night that Mr. Obama’s refusal would not affect their plans. The Arizona senator announced that he was canceling his political commercials and would return to Washington after a final nonpartisan speech Thursday to the Clinton Global Initiative. He also said he was suspending fundraising, though the link on his Web site for contributions to his campaign compliance fund still worked Wednesday night.

Mr. McCain said top leaders from both parties should meet and hammer out details of a bill that that they would then present to their colleagues as the best solution possible – exactly the way he has crafted deals on other major issues, such as judicial nominees and immigration.

“I am confident that before the markets open on Monday, we can achieve consensus on legislation that will stabilize our financial markets, protect taxpayers and homeowners, and earn the confidence of the American people,” he said. “All we must do to achieve this is temporarily set politics aside, and I am committed to doing so.”

It occured to me yesterday morning – long before McCain’s announcement – that the key to understanding Obama is to realise that he always takes the easy way out. His whole life is nothing but a series of swift turns away from adversity and towards the open door. In a way, I actually understand this and I think its why – believe it or not – I’ve always felt a level of sympathy for Obama since he first rocketed on the scene. One of the things I had to overcome (and, indeed, am still overcoming, with God’s help) was my own desire to always take the easy way out.

Think about it – is Obama a liberal because liberalism appealed to him, or is it just that as a black college student being a liberal was a heck of a lot easier than being a conservative? Why did Obama work to get opponents off the ballot rather than be willing to mix it up with them? Why did Obama vote “present” so many times? Why did he spend his time in caucus States rather than working the more difficult rough and tumble of the big primary States? Why did he give in to Hillary’s absurd demand for a roll call vote? Why did he go with Biden? And, now, why was he caught flat-footed by John McCain in this financial crisis which is ready-made for a strong Democrat to run it for all its worth? Because each and every time the thing Obama decided to do was the easier thing – the less confrontational thing, the thing which held the least risk of Obama coming in second.

The best thing which can ever happen to a leader of a nation is to fail miserably one or more times early on – Lincoln in his Senate campaign; Churchill with the Dardanelles; Theodore Roosevelt with his election losses and bankruptcy in the cattle trade; Reagan with the collapse of his once-successful acting career and the breakup of his first marriage…the thing in common with all these failures is that they represent a failed attempt; these men tried to do something, came out badly, and emerged wiser and stronger for it. McCain has had his character-building failures – being a POW for years, the breakup of his first marriage, his loss in the 2000 GOP primary; he’s a tried and tested man who had done the hard things, lost at times, and is now ready to apply his wisdom to the problems of our age. Obama hasn’t dared greatly – heck, he hasn’t really dared at all; he’ll be eaten alive by the Presidency, if he manages to win it.

Obama has in him the seeds of greatness – he really does, even though his politics are liberal. But until he’s tempered with some hard reality and/or obtains some hard and fast executive experience, he’s just too weak a reed for America to rely on in these troubled times. Needless to say, some of this tempering would do Obama well in the policy area, too – the facts of life, as Margaret Thatcher pointed out, are conservative…and the more a person is exposed to the hard realities of life the more likely he is to become conservative in his views, or at least to modify the more flighty aspects of liberalism (its the difference between war-hero JFK’s liberalism and never-suffered-a-minute Ted Kennedy’s liberalism).

The tmes call for a man of maturity, wisdom and proven courage – the times call for John McCain. Obama’s day may yet come, but it isn’t today – and, actually, the worst thing which could happen to him at this juncture (and to us, incidentally) is for him to win. He’s not ready, McCain is. Let’s go with McCain.

Obamaniacs like one recent poll, but they won’t like this one:

The race between Barack Obama and John McCain remains a dead heat, despite financial turmoil that has turned the nation’s attention to economic issues that tend to favor the Democratic presidential candidate, according to a new Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll…

…Mr. Hart said that Sen. McCain’s ability to tap into voter anger explains why.

A near-record 73% of voters said the nation is off on the wrong track, up six points from just last month. More people think the nation is in a “state of decline.” Nearly eight in 10 voters think the nation is in a recession and most of them think the worst of it is yet to come. And public opinion ticked down for every public figure and institution the poll asked about, including President George W. Bush, Sens. McCain and Obama and both political parties.

It makes the electorate ripe for Sen. McCain’s populist message, Mr. Hart said, recalling the classic movie, “Network,” where TV news anchor Howard Beale urges viewers to proclaim, “I’m as mad as hell and I’m not going to take this anymore.”

“John McCain has become the Howard Beale of this election,” Mr. Hart said.

The survey finds that Sen. Obama has lost ground with the independent voters who will be crucial to the outcome of the election. They now favor Sen. McCain by 13 percentage points, up from eight points two weeks ago. In early September, just after both parties’ conventions, half of independent voters had a positive image of Sen. Obama; now it’s just 39%. Independents were also less likely to say they could identify with his background and values than they were in early September.

For all of Obama’s talk of change, he is just another one in a long line of people who have been part of the problem…shovelling money at problems, working out sweetheart deals for supporters and cronies, acting as if the party will never end and no accounting would ever be rendered. Well, its being rendered now – and McCain is well placed to showcase his long-standing and indisputable record as a reformer who is unafraid to step out of the party line. Palin has this, too – and while its still a long way to November 4th, its not that long and people will start to make their choices soon…and I can’t see people really deciding that Obama – of all people – is best to reform our nation’s government.

If Obama loses, liberals will blame everyone but themselves – they’ll say its because we’re a bunch of closet racists; that we’re afraid of “the Other”; that we’re fools…it will not occur to them, if they are dealing with a President-elect McCain, that it just might have been the fact that Democrats have been so deeply tied to Big Government and Big Corporation that when one fell, the other was bound to fall with it. It may prove in 2008 that only the outsider can get in – and “outsider” doesn’t mean “not in politics long” but “not a tool for the special interests”. McCain and Palin are no tools – Obama and Biden are, and on that fact may turn the electioni.