“Change”, long the mantra of the Obama campaign, has suddenly become the new buzz word for the McCain-Palin ticket as well. McCain, long a Washington insider and supporter of Republican policies, now considers himself best suited to “change” Washington and points to his selection of Sarah Palin, the first woman to grace a Republican ticket, as evidence that he is ready to move in a different direction.In the words of ESPN college football analyst Lee Corso: “Not so fast” Senator McCain.

The sleight of hand that is currently being pulled would be rather amusing if it was not working well. The latest polls show that McCain received a precipitous bump following last week’s GOP convention and is virtually in a dead heat with Obama.Frustrated Democrats are asking themselves how this can be considering that the last eight years of Republican rule have led to:

· A squandered surplus. Yesterday the Congressional Budget Office predicted that the budget deficit would increase by 246 Billion dollars to an estimated total of 407 Billion dollars this year. The reason is simple; the Republicans aversion to tax increases has led to a shortage of revenue to pay for, among other things, the military expeditions in Iraq and Afghanistan. Peter Orzag, Director of the CBO, said in a mild understatement that “the nation is experiencing a significant period of economic weakness.” Somebody should tell that to McCain, who believes that the current economic downturn is a figment of Democrats imaginations.

· Housing Crisis: The collapse of the housing industry made headlines this weekend upon reports that the Federal government would take over Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the two quasi private mortgage behemoths that were designed to help ordinary Americans participate in one of the most sacred hallmarks of our nation---home ownership. While some experts predict that the move will stabilize, if not lower, mortgage rates, this is certainly no magic elixir. A number of financial institutions remain hesitant to lend money for new loans or refinance existing loans. This, too, is of little concern to the McCain’s, who own seven houses between themselves.

While these are but two crises plaguing economic growth, Republicans, whose zeal for deregulation is arguably to blame for the current economic mess, are sill running strong as we head into the home stretch.

Why?

Republicans, right on cue, have shifted the game from being about “policy” to “personalities.” Should Obama lose this fall despite the fact that millions of Americans are tired of the same old Republican policies that are sinking the nation deeper into debt, it just may be because McCain’s selection of Palin outflanked him in ways that Democrats wearing rose colored glasses have yet to consider. Namely, Palin may just energize enough middle aged white women, who tend to vote in huge numbers---that have grown sick of not only the glass ceiling, but also the sexist manner in which Palin is being treated by Left leaning blogs.

Every time Obama makes a comment like “you could put lipstick on a pig and it is still a pig” as he did to laughter and applause during a speech in Virginia this week, what he means to be humorous, somewhere some woman does not find it the least bit funny. More importantly, it takes the focus off what matters most, which is not that Palin is a female politician striving to balance home and work, but that she supports the very policies that have led us down a path of economic stagnation and on the verge of economic ruin.

One of the downsides of a charismatic politician, like Obama, is that they often think that their verve, or “moxie” if you will, can calm the roughest seas. The problem is that what one person considers charming, several others may despise, so it is far better to take the focus off of self and focus on what is important, which is the fact that Republicans are mortgaging our future away by cutting taxes while increasing spending.

Obama should move away from the “charm” stump speeches and provide real talk about how he will reverse the current trend, first by ending the expensive war in Iraq and second by encouraging Americans to tighten their belts while increasing tax revenue from among the group’s best situated to pay---corporations and the wealthy.

Further, with a number of pundits suggesting that Obama does not quite grasp how to attack Palin, I suggest that the ammunition is right before him. He should hammer her early and often for being a conservative, tax cutting, deficit inflating ideologue. The DNC website should keep a “deficit counter” that shows how much deeper we fall into debt each day. Remind the American people that we are vulnerable to having our economic carcasses picked by the Chinese and other nations that relish our lack of fiscal balance. The issues are ripe, he simply needs to pick and go attack

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