He admits that he will raise taxes for those making more than $250,000. He also figures if we get out of Iraq, that's a heck of a lot of money that's not being spent. Cutting tax breaks for companies that outsource to other countries is another source of more income. However, I have said before and I will say again that my biggest concern about him is "How are we going to pay for it all?"

Right. I don't think we can.

Even the cutting tax breaks for companies that outsource is potentially goofy seeing as that many companies can elect to basically relocate entirely. You don't really want to create a disincentive to be based in the US.

And I think it's going to be a long time before we can expect to see savings from being out of Iraq, and I may be pessimistic, but I don't think the money related to military and security is really the place to count on saving.

It will be interesting to see how it plays out. If you had told me a month ago that McCain would be polling as close to Obama as he is now, I'd have laughed at you.

Don't you think it's post convention bounce? Or did you expect it to have opened to a double digit lead?

Huh. I think it's a post convention bounce however, I also think that this election will be a lot closer than people realize.

People are slowly falling out of love with Obama and have begun to analyze what he's actually saying.

I'd say the convention bounces cancelled each other out - and really, the McCain campaign was approaching zombie, night of the living dead, d.o.a. status before Palin. Love her or hate her, she certainly energized the McCain campaign.

And yes, given the current approval ratings of the President, I would think the democratic candidate would have pulled further ahead at this point. (Even if it wasn't Obama - but I've always said if there is a way to pull defeat out of the jaws of victory, the Democrats will do it!)

I too think this will be a close one.

It's going to be a close election. This recent push has been the post-Republican Convention bounce, but I don't expect either candidate to open up much of a lead.

I hope it's a close one with a slight McCain win because I don't think I can realistically hope for a big McCain win, unless something huge happens before November.

What I feel like I don't know in trying to assess things is who is actually going to bother to go to the polls on election day.

It's one thing to say you're a likely voter if someone calls to poll you, join a facebook group, or otherwise support a candidate before the election; it's another to take the time to wait in line to vote on election day. (Campaign donations probably really say something, but it's in the number of distinct givers rather than in total amount, I hope.)

I tend to think the McCain/Palin voters are older and I'd be really surprised if someone who was a first time voter was attracted to their campaign. You have to have a certain cynical, immunity, probably created by years of failed campaign rhetoric, to be willing to resist the Obama campaign's message, I think.

It just comes down to whether enough Obama voters bother to show up in November.

I think it will all fold out in October. I felt the attacks on Obama during the RNC where paper thin and repetitive. That is not the Republican party I am use to. I can't help but think they have something and they are holding out so that Obama can truck right through that as well. I think October will get ugly, and when the debates start coming, we will see some shift this way and that. I do not think the polls mean much right now.

Where the heck did Trey go??????????????

McCain had a post convention bounce that has helped him overtake Obama according to the latest Gallup polls.

MSNBC dropped Keith Olbermann and Chris Matthews as election coverage. They were replaced by David Gregory.

Completely agree.

I've been interested in the TV ads I've being seeing. I've yet to see a McCain ad that tells me why I should vote for McCain -- they're all about why I shouldn't vote for Obama. Granted, I'm used to that in GOP campaigns, and I know that's how it's too often done (on both sides), but I can't muster any respect for McCain for doing it.

C'mon -- tell us why we should vote for you, not why we shouldn't vote for the other guy. The Obama ads I'm seeing are doing that; McCain should be able to make his own case, too.

Well said.