George,

Reading the latest polls, I am simply dumbfounded by the early indications showing the Obama-McCain contest being so close!

The McCain scam to recruit the disenchanted women supporters of Hillary Clinton can only be called shameless hypocrisy, his misogynistic treatment of women's issues is well documented - everywhere from his opposition to abortion to declaring that women aren't entitled to equal pay until they are"better trained". His stupid sexist joke about Chelsea Clinton surely should be adequate to turn off any self respecting female! His insulting
obscene slur toward his wife, regarding her makeup, should be enough to convince any doubters!

Obviously it is not working based on survey after survey, but what it portrays is the phoniness of McCain's "Straight Talk" and his so called maverick style - what he better mirrors in his campaign style is typical right wing Republican sleaze and a Rovian approach to win at any cost.

McCain seems genuinely flummoxed and out of touch with the many crises that are now facing the nation. He talks of the success of the Bush economy (though, lately, Lieberman must have clued him in on the folly of that notion). His total lack of the facts in Iraq, be it troop strength or the Iranian Shiites training the Sunni El Qaeda speak volumes.

Polls indicate the electorate see McCain as the stronger candidate on national security, yet his slavish backing of Bush's War and its continuance have, by all estimates, made the United States and the world less safe than ever. He wants to bomb Iran next.

"The poor tend to vote rich", observed John Grisham on a recent PBS show with Bill Moyers or Charlie Rose (I can't recall which). John McCain has a very rich trophy wife and all the trappings of a rich celebrity lifestyle. Though those with less will probably never come close to the McCain wealth, they like to identify themselves with perceived success and think, they too, could grasp that brass ring.

McCain calls the "death tax" the worst and most unfair tax in the land, yet he doesn't mention that every individual in the nation has, at present, a two million dollar exemption and with a few drops of ink and a sheet of paper, every married couple in the country can exempt four million from the estate tax - it will go to 3. 5 million and 7 million, respectively in 2009. Though fantasy it all may be, lotteries flourish on the same foolishness; who wants to pay a tax on all that money?

So, is it the emotional appeal that is motivating the "independents" to hang in with McCain? It surely can't be based on his efforts at "change" or a message of hope and optimism.

Harry Tenney (Electronic mail, June 18, 2008)