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“But even if they can somehow gets the money and the horses to mount a ground campaign, does he have the issue to energize the ground troops?”

I don’t know, but “I’m not Obama” won’t be enough. Kerry ran on not being Bush in 2004. Not sucking as much as the other guy has never been a winning campaign strategy.

I read an interesting stat a few days ago on one of the polling websites. I can’t remember exactly where or I’d post it. Anyway, only about 30% of McCain voters are telling pollsters they will definitely vote for McCain, while over 60% of Obama voters are saying they will definitely vote for Obama. When 70% of the people currently saying they’ll vote for you might decide to switch to the other guy or to a third party or not show up at all, that’s a problem.

I think if there’s any issue that could galvanize voters to put McCain over the top it would be energy, and I think that accounts entirely for the tightening of the polls in recent days. But Pres. Bush didn’t do McCain any favors when he refused to call Congress back into session.

I think the other issue lurking out there is infidelity. Freepers can poo poo it all they wish, but if the Dems can paint McCain with that label and depress the evangelical vote, it’s all over. Liberals will vote for moral perfidy, but Christian conservatives won’t. Already I notice on Yahoo news today an article linking McCain to Edwards, asking the seemingly innocuous question “Will Edwards’ affair hurt Obama or McCain more?” Freepers who think that a decades-old indiscretion won’t hurt McCain have forgotten Bush’s DUI October Surprise in 2000, which was also 30 years old, but was enough to keep the evangelical vote home. Before then, Bush was riding high in the polls and looked like an easy win.

You are right, this issue might have very deep traction with the evangelicals. I am not much enamored of this group right now in view of their treatment of Mitt Romney, the misbehavior of some other prominent leaders, and the political inconsistency of other leaders.

By way of full disclosure, I consider myself to be one and take pride that I often post in defense of the rights and righteousness of evangelicals.