You keep trying to drag the discussion on to familiar ground, which only demonstrates the fundamentally maladaptive nature of your ideology. Republicans will lose bigtime in November in large part because of an inability to adapt to changing circumstances.

I've said consistently, for at least six months now, that Obama will win because he's the candidate who most closely matches what the country is looking for, after an eight-year long demonstration of Republicanism. You need to understand something fundamental about democracy: The people get to decide for themselves what kind of leadership they have, and it's the duty of candidates and elected officials to cater to the will of the people, not the other way around. Manufacturing consent, the goal of the permanent campaign mentality, as was practiced in the Bush White House, is deeply unAmerican. We've had enough. Adapt to the will of the American people, or sit back down on the bench.

But you can't do it, and that's why the Democrats will kick ass in November.

It may seem like a minor thing, but it's symbolic and indicative of what I'm talking about. McCain's admitted to being computer illiterate, one of those people who has to have somebody print out his email and transcribe his reponse. In stark contrast, Obama's been called a "Blackberry junkie", and last night I saw a short clip of the guy so engrossed in reading his Blackberry that almost walked into a concrete pillar. He also reportedly hits the nearest computer wherever he goes, to check email and surf a little.

The traditional Republican approach to trying to demonstrate that they're "in touch" with the "little people" has been to piss and moan about high taxes and try to demonize the intellectual elites. But times have changed, most of us are computer literate and at least minimally functional on the Net, and so Obama demonstrates that he really does "get it". He's demonstrably one of us, here and now in the early 21st century, not the early 20th.

I know you'll try to trivialize that, and I did say it's a small point. But it's one of so many. Obama's living in the here-and-now, and that's what the country wants. McBush mutters "change" because he has to, Obama shouts "Change!" because he means it and can deliver on it.