The Socratic Method of Choice

They say that in order to really understand a concept or idea, you have to know it so well that you can argue for it as well as against it. I think I am going to do that as pertains to my presidential ticket choice at present: McCain / Palin. I want to make sure one more time that I have made the right choice for me.

And I don't rule out changing my mind because of what I discover. The goal is not to save face. The goal is to vote the best choice.

And I'd love to have company, so please feel free to chime in and give your take. The best way to learn is from many sources. And, on a personal note, some of my views may still be evolving. I won't go so far as to say that I wake up every day thinking differently about this or that, but I've come close a time or two.

QUESTION OF THE DAY: Let's start with a probe into McCain. I heard various things on various cable channels this weekend that gave me pause.

unemployment was 6.1% in August, the highest % since 2003, which was when we were pulling out of the recession of 2002. Now, this number is not that bigadeal when you realize that it went up 2% in 5 years, but it sounds bad as a sound bite. The other thing about it is that it went down for the 3rd straight month, aligning with other recent economic good news.

Then, I realized that I had seen and heard things that together make me pretty suspicious that the RNC is just now gearing up for the campaign. In a story about McCain receiving his $85mil from public financing and the balance from the RNC to total $200mil, there was also comments that made me think they are just gearing up their "high tech" voter track system used in the last 2 elections, and they may have already written off all those registrations that changed over to Dems for the primaries. The cumulative effect of this made me blurt out to myself, There's no frickin way McCain can win!"

I was struck wondering how well the high-tech system stacks up this election against Obama's CIA of cyber-intelligence. I mean, please tell me if I'm over the top here, but I signed up for email at McCain's website 2-3 weeks ago and have not gotten more than a Welcome reply, and that took almost a week. By contrast, I'm on Obama's mailig list just for grins and I usually get at least one email from them daily, if not more. If I were an Obama chattering-class blog and message board activist, I'd be getting the email equivalent of talking points to spread. And McCain is not even participating.

Add to all this that I think I heard that Dems have increased their registered voters by 2 million, whereas the GOP has lost 660,000? This is the effect of the primaries again. What, if any, does all this mean?

And yet, Gallop just announced today's poll with McCain 48 and Obama 45. And Gallop and Rasmussen both said yesterday that the full week of the GOP convention would not be reflected in the poll numbers until Monday-Wednesday as far as the full convention bounce and VP pick. Interesting...

Anyway, some things to think about. I also wanted to pass on some great links to learn more about Obama and his background in community organizing with the Saul Alinsky method. I believe we have already seen proof of his campaign's use of it, and it would really be instructive to know about this very important aspect of his approach to governing and citizen participation. I'll discuss what I think of it next time:

THE AGITATOR: OBAMA'S POLITICAL EDUCATION

BARACK OBAMA: COMMUNITY ORGANIZER

OBAMA'S ALINSKY JUJITSU:

COMMUNITY ORGANIZERS FIGHT BACK


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Baby Name Trivia: ...seen on the internet, the McCain / Palin ticket has birthed a new gender-neutral name: McCailin. Place your bets on this being the "hot" name in 2008 or 2009, for a girl OR a boy...