Another week

There's so much to say it's hard to figure out where to start. I have spent much of the week in front of the television set (mostly CNN) and, in the midst of the dreadful financial mess, am at least a little cheered by the slowly rising polls for Obama. I think McCain's response to the disaster has been typically impulsive and erratic. First "the economy is strong", then a demand to fire the head of the SEC (who is hardly the principal evil doer) then a "plan" complete with the names of the people on the oversight committee. The McCain approach is increasingly populist and pro-regulatory as he goes along; it sounds as times as though he has morphed into Obama. Obama, by contrast, has been steady, asking people not to panic, and placing his emphasis--as a candidate should--on how to prevent future problems rather than just how to work out the details of this rescue. I like the fact that his language supports the development of bipartisan solutions; McCain's certainly doesn't.

For me, though, the scary and painful thing about the race is the emergence of something very close to overt racism in McCain ads. I was very struck by the ad featured in this story--and I completely agree with Karen Tumulty; I hadn't known there were commentaries agreeing with me until I went looking before writing this. My foreign readers (the few who remain now that posting has become intermittent) may find this editorial instructive since it takes the time to go back through the history of language. I don't know what can be done about it--except for the fact that open discussion of "the race card" is now happening on our TV and I think that tends to help mend things or at least minimize the impact. At any rate, we keep hoping.

For those who haven't followed US races before in any detail, I strongly recommend the Real Clear Politics site--go to the polls section and then to "electoral maps"--similar information can be found on almost any US site proposing to follow the election closely--CNN, NY Times, etc. It isn't always comforting; I find myself worrying about Minnesota in the middle of the night, but at least it's informative and moves you past the national polls which don't tell a whole lot--it's possible, in this country, to win the popular vote and lose the election.

A lot will depend on the debate Friday.

End of the season

We had what was pretty clearly our last beach picnic with friends on Wednesday; it was a good summer and I'm sorry to see it gone. I'll try in a subsequent post to catch up a bit on the garden; Roger has kept a record of his crops and it's very impressive indeed. We don't have much left except cabbage and potatoes but are enjoying those. If you look closely at the picture of the picnic you can see little tomatoes and potatoes from the garden.