Convention Time!

Apologies all around for my long hiatus from the political blogging!  Long story short big changes at work have been kicking my butt on top of all the other things we have going.

Also, to be quite honest, my enthusiasm has waned a bit, in large part because I was truly excited by Romney as a candidate, but not as much by McCain, and I have distinct differences with Obama and the Democrats.

That said, I still recognize the great important of this election, and it's time to get some discussion going again.  There's just a little over 2 months to go until election day, so let's put our thinking caps on and see what we come up with.  

Just a quick couple of thoughts to get this started, and will follow with other (issue oriented) posts in coming days.

(1) Despite Obama's distinct natural advantages in this election cycle, McCain has pulled into a statistical tie with him in recent weeks.  This is astoundingly impressive to me.  Just based on the dynamics in the political world this year, I would expect Obama to have a substantial lead.  So hand it to Mr. McCain and his team...great job so far guys.  

(2) We are nearing the end of the Democratic Convention in Denver, and Obama gives his acceptance speech tonight.  Given what a great speech maker he is, I expect a strong performance from him.  His choice of Joe Biden as his running mate I personally don't think is a big deal nor will it change anything much in the overall dynamics in the race.  

(3) It appears likely that McCain will announce his VP pick as early as tomorrow, in part to shorten the cycle of attention for Obama and the Democrats that usually follows a convention.  I've heard mixed things.  A lot of people are suggesting Romney will be the guy, but I've heard a couple of comments to the contrary so I'm really not sure.  Of course I think it would be the best pick he could make, but we shall see.  

(4) Based on my brother David's request, my next topical post will be about health care policy.  It's an incredibly complex topic, but I'll try to break it down to the essentials and tell you what I know or can discern about the proposals of McCain and Obama on health care policy.  

Thanks everyone!