Hanging Heavily

These white flowers beckon in my night garden.

My heart hangs heavily as I contemplate the continuing racist barrage launched by conservatives against the candidacy of Barack Obama. The trash masquerading as a book by the architect of the "swift boat" attacks against a true war hero, John Kerry, in 2004, is debuting at #1 on the New York Times best-seller list, thanks to the equivalent of how hackers game websites, such as Digg, or manipulate the Amazon best-selling list.

In other words, it is utterly meaningless. The reason I feel sad is the venerable NYT lit has been rendered irrelevent. On second thought, maybe that is not such a bad thing.

In the digital age, you have to be very careful of all "lists," trust me.

Other than this single downer, all the political news is good, and getting better for Democrats. The Clintons and Obama have made their peace, and both Bill and Hillary will be playing a big and supportive role at the carefully choreographed convention. Obama continues to impress with his grasp of the power of symbols that will leverage what the mass media can do for him.

Expect to see plenty of mentions that Hillary Clinton's keynote to the convention is on an anniversary of the day when women won the right to vote. And then, the night Barak Obama accepts the nomination, no media outlet will be able to ignore that this night will be an anniversary of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s "I have a dream" speech.

Meanwhile, the chaotic and mismanaged GOP is trying to put on a brave face as McCain continues to bungle his way to their convention. Now, he has alienated the base by overtly favoring Tom Ridge as his possible running mate. Ridge is openly pro-choice.

All signs are pointing to an enormous surge among likely voters toward Obama by the end of this month. I'm willing to predict that by the time Labor Day rolls around, Obama will enjoy a double-digit lead in the polls over McCain.

Between then and election day, as voters get to know the two candidates better, that lead will widen. I'll supply specific data behind these predictions in the coming weeks, as I continue to sort through the demographics of this cycle's electorate, which, due to excitement over Obama, promises to be the largest in American history.

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