Flickr: Creative Commons by tiffanybbrown

There is good news everywhere (other than on the Street). Let me rephrase that: There is good news anent the 2008 presidential election if you would like to see Barack Obama win. Let me rephrase that again: Hurray!!! Folks we're looking at an embarassment of riches as we trundle inexorably to election day.

Yesterday, John McCain helped himself and the nation, though not his campaign and today Obama thanked him. Responding to a man at a Minnesota rally who expressed fear of an Obama presidency, McCain pointed out that there was nothing morally wrong with Obama--he is "a decent man" and a "family man" and would be an okay president. McCain said essentially that he would prefer to see himself get elected president over Obama. Nice. (Sorta.)

In other news, Alaska state lawmakers released a much-anticipated report on Palin's role in the 2007 dismissal of the state public safety commissioner Walter Monegan because he refused to fire a state trooper who was entangled in a nasty divorce with the governor's sister. The report said that Governor Palin had abused her powers, but that no legal action would be taken.

Frankly this is a bit of a non-story. Air America already covered (fifth item) the New York Times report Friday morning that proved Palin had made several phone calls that she later lied about regarding the dismissal of Trooper Wooten. The story hitting on the Friday evening of a long weekend is a shame, because fewer people will know about it (I was already asleep!). But news will trickle out. It effects undecided voters for the most part, and we'll just have to hope folks on the fence are paying attention.

The net result of the Palin report? Yet another reason in the skein of reasons that a person of such low caliber as Sarah Palin should be the very reason that McCain loses. He chose her, it's his problem. Live by the vpilf, die by the vpilf. She should not be allowed to be vice president of the United States under any circumstances, much less serving under a (war hero) cancer-survivor who is in his seventies. It's just common sense.

The jig is indeed up for the McCain campaign. Kudos to the senator from Arizona for kinda-sorta quashing the Muslin/Terrorist meme (he went on to talk about Bill Ayers at the same event). Kudos to the Alaska state lawmakers who told the truth, even if they did so when no one was listening.

We have not won yet, but it's beginning to seem a lot like Christmas--and all I want this year is change.