Thanks for the thoughtful post, GammaBoy. While time prevents me from providing a point by point rebuttal, I will offer a couple of thoughts.
First, I think it's interesting you seize upon this report as being indicative of Obama's character because there is this incident, which received absolutely zero MSM play. In the first instance, Obama made it clear he was a White Sox fan and never said he was cheering for the Ray. In the second instance, you have a candidate pandering in the telling of a story that is central to the candidate's entire mythology. Just something to consider.
Second, the old political and war veteran has been anything but a steady hand during this election. He has flipped flopped on so many issues (the Bush tax cuts, offshore drilling, social security privatization, and the list goes on) that the campaign was unable to push Obama's own waiving on offshore drilling and nuclear power. And many of his campaign's critical decisions appear to have been hastily made, which have made its candidate appear erratic. Chief among those decisions is the Palin pick, which earned a temporary boost, but has caused long-term damage to the ticket. This poorly considered decision has drawn criticism from well known conservatives from David Brooks and Peggy Noonan and even caused the likes of Christopher Buckley, Andrew Sullivan, Christopher Hitchens, and Colin Powell to support Obama. Even if we don't drill down on the whole "I'm canceling the debate" debacle, McCain has looked unsure and unfocused during this election cycle.
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I understand what you are saying, but in my mind, campaigning is a completely different animal than governing and achievement in one is a poor indicator of achievement in the other. McCain is a terrible campaigner, but I don't think that is any real reflection on his leadership ability. The Palin pick is more worthy of criticism, but personally, it didn't phase me that much.
In fact, I think our current election process with the extended campaign probably drives off many potentially excellent leaders who lack either the heart, patience, or desire to manage a 18 month campaign. But that is a whole other post.
Palin didn't phase you!?!? It pushed me from 55/45 pro McCain over to Obama. Are you just that certain McCain won't die? Even if a 2% chance, the thought of her bing president was too scary to contemplate. She is a less educated and experience Bush. Further, McCain showed he really isn't as principled as he had been for the last 25 years. No way in hell he vets her and thinks, "This woman is cream of the crop, A list presidential material. I can't do better than this." You hit the nail on the head that McCain can't campaign, but he can govern. The problem is his campaign pandering put him an untenable position from which to govern.
But I digress/rant, explain your "didn't phase me much" comment.
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