Defeated her in a democratic electoral process?

While I agree with you that he defeated her, I don't consider the current primary system to be democratic. A caucus is not democratic, nor is the decision to ignore early voting by two states.

My guess is still that Obama wins, but I think popular vote wise it is going to be far closer than the polls indicate. I think the real question is whether or not the electoral vote is close or a landslide. My guess is that it will be a pretty sizable win for Obama-but it is hard to say because the state polls have really been all over the place as well.

But I do think it the problem with the polls is that they may suppress the vote-if one group thinks their candidate is doomed to lose, they may not bother voting or the reverse could be true. so maybe they cancel each other out.

FWIW, the reasons I like Sarah Palin have a lot to do with the abandonement of traditional American virtues and mores by both parties. That is the part of her appeal that you, James, and others frequently overlook. I much prefer someone whose heart and basic instincts are correct than someone who can speak well and actively encourages a cult of personality, someone who has has an extensive resume a mile wide and three inches deep, or someone who just makes shit up as he goes but never gets called on it. You can decide which of those descriptions apply to the candidates, but I digress.

I think you are rather selective in your recitation of facts to lay all the economic bad news at the feet of Republican policies. Was that 9/11 thing due to Republican policies? Or do you think that played no role in some of the economic difficulties the past eight years? Was it Republican policies that created the Internet and dot com bubbles that blew up and knocked off 60% of the NASDAQ just as Bill Clinton was signing the last pardons in his final days in office? Wasn't NCLB a bipartisan initiative between George Bush and Ted Kennedy? Hard to remember the last time Ted's name came up in connection to that fiasco. Didn't Democrats vote for the Prescription Drug Program? The economic stimulus checks? The bailouts? Was it Republican policies that have resisted oil exploration in this country for the last ten years? Or the building of nuclear power plants for the last thirty? Was it Republican policies that cause American automakers to keep their heads up their respective asses? Was it Republican policies that stood in the way of heading off the Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac crises before they blew up? Hasn't the current Democrat controlled Congress presided over the single largest increase in federal expenditures in history? And it is Congress, not the executive that authorizes spending. How in the world do you think all the economic ills of the past 8 years are strictly due to Republiocan malfeasance? I agree they haven't done much good, but that doesn't mean I want the road to be graded a little more steeply downhill moving forward.

http://www.sacunion.com/pages/columns/articles/10669/

All we do know is that the only poll that counts is the one taken by confidential ballot on Nov 4th.

I found this opinion piece by a Brit to be a funny read. Not sure if she is being sarcastic or reporting as she see it but the take and presentation is amusing. And a decent comment on where the election stands, i.e., depends on your hopes and fears.

Perhaps if the Republicans had actually been advocates of the free market instead of favoring policies that incentivized moribund businesses to maintain market share without competing and disincentivized entrepeneurship things would have been different. 8 years of stagnant median wages are a testament to how off-kilter GOP economic policies are and how divorced they are from free enterprise.

The answer depends upon "respected by *whom*?"

After what Obama did to her??

Defeated her in a democratic electoral process?

I also think that Hillary will be more respected if she endorsed McCain. After what Obama did to her?? Look what Colin Powell did..

President Obama is merely a symptom of a larger problem -- a people who have come to care less about freedom and self reliance than a desire to have someone else do for them. Congratulations Democrats! At long last, you have succeeded in creating a class system in America and are now prepared to reap the rewards whirlwind for having done so.