Three “medium sized” newspapers finally endorsed McCain…and subsequently, those paper’s ‘Obama coverage’ reporters were kicked off the Obama plane yesterday.  These 3 reporters have been flying with Obama since 2007, but yesterday – as the campaign draws nearer to election day, the reporters were let go without parachutes.  The only logical conclusion is that they were kicked off because they were McCain supporters and it could be dangerous to allow them to hang around Obama so close to election time.  *Sounds familiar to the excommunication memo sent by the Obama campaign to a local Florida news channel after a lead reporter asked Biden some “tougher” than usual questions.  Apparently, the Obama ticket is not used to answering questions other than “Has anyone ever told you that you look like Tom Cruise”? (I.E. the view).

Now, let’s be fair, the McCain campaign has not allowed two reporters (one from Time magazine and one from the NY times) to travel with them because of their blatant liberal articles – but these people have not been allowed this entire campaign.

Here’s The Deal…if you actually ask Biden a tough question – your news station will not be granted any future access.  If you call Obama on his tax policies in the middle of a crowd – you’ll be publicly mocked the next day (Joe the plumber), and if your views are differenthan Obama’s campaign – you’ll be thrown off the plane??   I guess if you’ll stand with him, if you’ll fight with him, if you’ll knock on some doors for him; he’ll be your friend, but if you disagree with him, if you contradict him, if you’ll stand up to him…then he’ll shut you out in Florida coverage and he’ll shut you out of the general election coverage…

Election Day is Tuesday. The survey found Obama leading McCain among all likely voters, 51 percent to 43 percent, with a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points. Almost four in 10 persuadables lean toward McCain, and about as many are considering backing Obama, while the rest are either undecided or lean toward other candidates.

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In a recent interview with Barack Obama, Matt Laurer stated that some of the Democratic leaders, some of Obama’s campaign advisors, and some of Obama’s average supporters had advised the candidate to stay away from media interviews, stop walking the rope lines and for all intensive purposes keep a low profile for the next few weeks. While the large media polls indicate Obama has an increasing national lead; the hope of avoiding another “Joe the plumber” incident is imperative before the election. In other words, Obama has been advised to shut up! Now, since he gave the interview to Matt Laurer (and trust me, the questions were not difficult) it is obvious he has rejected those calls, but it is unsettling that a presidential candidate would even be presented an option of silence. If a McCain supporter had advised John to lay low, not say much, or don’t go here and walk the ropes…I am sure McCain would have made a suggestion as to where that supporter could go.

Here’s The Deal….Obama is weak. Some misconstrue his “steady” talk and “cool” demeanor as calm and collected, confident and secure. I see his lack of enthusiasm as passive and generally lackadaisical. I fear that Obama will be “pushed around” by other world leaders and seen as generally agreeable to all sides but uncommitted to a principled stand. Even his running mate, Joe Biden, is apparently worried of this same thing. This week Joe said, “And here’s the point I want to make. Mark my words. Mark my words. It will not be six months before the world tests Barack Obama…we’re gonna have an international crisis, a generated crisis, to test the mettle of this guy…And he’s gonna need help…it’s not gonna be apparent that we’re right…”

We need to stop making excuses for Obama, he is not ready to become President. Not because he is dumb, not because he is black, not because he is a man, not because he served on a board with a known terrorist but because: his economic policy reeks of socialism, he would nationalize heath care, he is unwilling to be truthful about his friendships with convicted criminals, his foreign policy “experience” is a week long trip through Iraq, he has never run any type of government (I.E. mayor, governor) or a small business, he has not even proved to his own running mate that he will stand firm as President; apparently we will have to prop him up and if he does make a critical decision it will be some time before we anyone has any idea that Obama had no idea from the beginning…

In the past few days Obama has begun his “closing argument” speech in which he hopes to convince the American people that he is in fact ready to become President. Tonight, in what has been described as the “Obama infomercial”, Barack gave an emotionally charged 30 minute ‘insight’ into an Obama presidency, but the speech still left more questions than answers.

Like the man who tries to sell you mighty putty at 2:00 in the morning; Obama tried to sell his ‘policies’ as the end-all fix-all for the current economic, social, and health care issues in America today. He cleverly distanced himself from the socialist rhetoric from two weeks ago, in which he stated that he wanted to “spread the wealth”, he did not mention how he was going to pay for his “health care reform” in which wants health care companies to cover pre-existing conditions – and yet thinks they will NOT raise premiums, his energy plan now looks like McCain’s (specifically the willingness to now drill domestically), and these policies: if you string together, can pick up a brick, pull a semi truck or even fill in wood scratches and then be sanded to look like new, BUT wait, if you vote on November the 4th, Obama will throw into his presidency some questionable relationships with known terrorists – and not talk candidly about their relationship!

Here’s The Deal…Obama can sell his own version of mighty putty with the best of them, but in the end there needs to be substance. He has projected a lot of eloquent speeches, and he is, I believe, a true American and has the best of intentions, but he is misleading on his policies and naive in his plans to curb spending when he is running on programs that cost money. He is sneaky in his relationships with questionable people and he supports socialists economic policies.

As McCain called for “Joe the Plumber” to take the stage and join the battle cry against Obama, Joe sat comfortably on his own sofa unaware that he was expected to appear at the rally. What was supposed to be McCain’s ‘distributional’ example turned into 10 seconds of awkward calling for someone who was not coming – followed by McCain’s “quick” thinking by calling all attendees “Joe the Plumbers”

Here’s The Deal…while today’s rally gaffe was embarrassing for McCain, the same calling is a glimpse into the Obama candidacy. As these last few weeks have unfolded many people have found themselves calling out for the real Obama to be exposed. What do his economic policies really resemble? What sort of relationships did he have with these questionable men? What really qualifies Obama to change any economic crisis? What foreign policy could a one time visitor of the Middle East really evoke? What does his idea of ‘change’ really consist of other than rail against President Bush? What legislative work has Obama done to prove that he can reach across party lines and simply get things done? What, if any, executive experience does he have?

We are being told the race is narrowing, but Obama still clings to the lead. It is a shame to think that, in my estimation, 1/3 to 1/2 of the people who vote for Obama will do so because they assume he will win; they are blinded by his eloquent speeches and his charismatic tone. There are still five days left to look at the candidates. I challenge you to look at each candidate carefully, and if you haven’t made up your mind yet; call out for the truth.