Targeting '08 - "Shameless"

With just over one week to go before the Election, I can't hold back on a few predictions that may quite simply jinx the future of humankind. Call me impetuous. Or Satan. I answer to both.

Sarah Palin didn't lose the Election for John McCain. But she cut his percentage of the vote by at least 5%.

John McCain appeared on "Meet the Press" where he referred to Joe Biden as "Joe the Biden" and where he "fool me once, shame on you...fool me twice, um..." struggled to remember the 5 Secretaries of State that had endorsed him. Eventually a frantic staffer off camera advised him that he'd forgotten George Shultz. Who McCain quickly called one of our greatest Secretaries of State EVER. If Bob Dole had looked this old and tired back in '96, someone would have institutionalized him.

Early voting patterns in such states as Georgia and Florida suggest that precincts with heavy African-American populations will shatter turnout records. Aside from the astonishing translation that other states like Mississippi and South Carolina are being reassessed for their competitiveness, one astonishing tertiary effect billows up. In short, incumbent Senator Saxby "Shameless" Chambliss may face a rare runoff election against his Dem opponent (Jim Martin) if neither crosses the 50% threshold on Election Day. Why should we care? Because we may be then facing a filibuster-proof majority election for the Dems a month after Election Day in an unprecedented showdown. And, not that any of us need to relive this indignity, the Bushies got Shameless elected to his only term thus far by tagging Max Cleland with an entirely baseless association with Osama Bin Laden back in '02. Confused? Trust me - if it goes down as I predict, we'll all know WAY too much about this race to discuss at length over our respective TurkeyDay gatherings.

Hope your own NFL teams are enjoying their bye week. Rock on.

Next question: "How can we ever respect a President that gets pimped by a 300-pound mega-preacher?"

I'm admittedly not out front on this - Joe Biden will be Obama's Veep Pick. I'll bet you a dollar. I'll get into my rationale more this week. But the way things stacked up over the past handful of days with regard to Russia's assault on Georgia and the various McCain campaign's talking points upticking claims of experience versus judgment...the Obama Veepstakes are over. Especially because Biden's currently in Georgia. The Nation not the State. I still believe that Bill Richardson's a better pick given what he might mean for the Electoral Map (New Mexico, Colorado, Florida, anywhere near a Mexican restaurant or goatee groomer). Regardless, there's no better current way to contrast an old foreign policy self-assured hack than with another old foreign policy pontificating-hack viable and vetted for the Veep slot. Lock it in your Filofax - this week Biden gets the nod. If not...well, what do I know.

Hope your own mega-church conversations today deal entirely with how you want to shut those reprehensible places down. Rock on.