An Old Salt's Take

Although Roeser and I differ on small items, on the Big Stuff we are lockstep. It's a Catholic thing--some will understand.

And on national politics, Roeser is as well-informed as anyone--partly because he knows a lot of the players, and partly because he has a VERY good understanding of history.

Here are a few briefs which are of interest:

...the last two weeks... have been filled with highly determinative events to produce what will surely be regarded as one of the century’s most exciting contests in presidential history

...Then came the first event which convinced Axelrod that his client needed a grown-up realist on the ticket with him...The Saddleback Back-to-Back TV Interview on Moral Issues

...Event No.2, the picking of Joe Biden for vice president...Whether it will pay off is unknown-but my feeling is Biden was a bad choice. The logical way to bind up the Democrats’ wounds would be to hold one’s nose and nominate Hillary Clinton. For two reasons: (1) The Clintons would thus be invested in seeing the Obama-Clinton ticket win and (2) to clean up an LBJ analogy, it is far better having a rival inside the tent spitting out than outside the tent spitting in.

Event No. 3: the pick of Sarah Palin...John McCain who unlike Obama does his strategizing himself, was cognizant of his own weaknesses...He decided the election would be lost by caution…so he chose-as we all know by now-an unknown governor, but a woman governor of 44

...The spectacle of Democrats attacking a young pro-life mother-governor and abstinence supporter whose daughter fell into sin is, without cynicism, the best thing that could happen to a Republican ticket that until recently was regarded as ho-hum.

There's a lot more in his piece, including a very realistic assessment of McCain/Palin's S-W-O-T. As always, worth reading.