Dr. Red Eye

Over a decade ago, I bought an “as seen on TV” ab-enhancing product. I’ve forgotten what it was called but it was the forerunner to all the myriad of ab-related products today. I was hooked on its promises of making my abs look stellar with only 5 minutes a day. “I’ve had enough of the past 8 years”, I declared to my flabby-looking spare tire. “It’s time for a change. It’s time for a new me!”

After a week’s use, I actually could see a slight improvement. I was so excited. Then– SNAP! — the product broke. After closer inspection, I realized the product was cheaply made and was destined to fail quickly. I was suckered.

Today is the day of reckoning after a grueling and historic presidential campaign. And many people are declaring, “I’ve had enough of the past 8 years. It’s time for a change!”

I’ve seen this movie before and the ending isn’t pretty.

According to most major polls, Republican presidential candidate John McCain has made some gains in predicted electoral college numbers in the past final days but still not enough to pull off the victory. Polls still show Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama with a commanding lead in the predicted electoral college count.

Of course, McCain could potentially pull off an upset. After all, exit polls in 2000 had Gore defeating Bush and networks had to make red-faced admissions of error on Florida, which they had previously called for Gore. But this election is likely different in that the race is (if you believe the polls) not that close.

The grim reality is that not only will Obama most likely become the 44th president of the United States but Democrats will also gain enough congressional seats to have a filibuster-proof majority. Imagine what a highly liberal president and a highly liberal Congress will be able to do together, unchecked by the opposition party. It will lead to an unprecedented dark road for this nation. But apparently, that’s what the voters want.

McCain has run one of the worst campaigns in recent memory. His answers during the debate were not sharp. He waited too long to offer a clear rebuttal against constant Obama-Biden claims of being four more years of Bush. He inexplicably refused to raise the issue of the universally radioactive Rev. Jeremiah Wright, choosing instead to pick on obscure associations with William Ayers and Saul Alinsky. He never mentioned other unsavory relationships, like Tony Reszko and Rev. Michael Pfleger. He couldn’t explain how his economic plan was more realistic than Obama’s. He didn’t specify why he called Obama a tax-and-spend liberal even though tax analysis think tanks claimed Obama’s tax plan offered a bigger tax cut to middle class Americans. He didn’t make a bigger stink about ACORN’s fraudulent registrations (many in states allowing in identification-less mail-in ballots). He never criticized Obama’s universal health care plan. He almost completely avoided all discussion of Obama’s immoral stances on moral issues like abortion and same-sex marriage. He couldn’t differentiate himself from Obama on environmental issues. He didn’t defend Palin with the same enthusiasm that Obama defended Biden. His suspended campaign to help engineer the economic bailout plan backfired when he couldn’t help engineer it and he backpedaled on his vow to skip the second debate until the plan was finalized. And perhaps most stunningly, he couldn’t convincingly articulate why Obama is dangerous and naive in foreign affairs.

Don’t get me wrong. McCain is far from perfect. But I have no doubt in my mind that McCain is easily better for America than Obama, simply because I’ve done my homework on Obama and the results are seriously frightening. But McCain couldn’t sell his story well, forcing frustrated conservative bloggers to try to pick up the slack. While McCain has substance but empty on selling, Obama is empty on substance but fluent in selling. And as any business will tell you, if you’ve got a great salesman, you’ll perform better than the poor salesman with the better product. Don’t let the expert figurative ab-cruncher salesman sell you his product that you’ll discover later to be cheaply made.

Some people today are voting for Obama solely on the basis of his skin color, saying they want to make and see history. They would be wise to heed the words of Martin Luther King Jr., who said (and you can’t escape the irony):

I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.

The Hunt For Red November is still on, but it’s hanging by a thread. Make sure to vote. Ignore the pundits who say this election is a done deal and try to discourage you from making your voice heard. Indeed, judge the candidates by the content of their character, not the color of their skin. For you can still make history if the man predicted by some to lose in a landslide can pull off the upset.