[ The Making & Remaking of McCain ]

Politics to me is like a great chess game, one of the last intellectual challenges in our country. Sure, there's rooting for someone to win, but there's also reveling in the parring and jousting of two candidates struggling to get the upperhand.

If you regard this election in a similar way, I would read this great article from the New York Times, which gives an inside look into the McCain campaign strategy.

This is somewhat related to my recent screening of W. The film was kind of a train wreck, but it was a hell of a movie. It reminded me of that scene in Indiana Jones, when Harrison Ford is in Berlin and runs into Hitler. For a moment, the audience is like "KILL THE MOTHERFUCKER!" but then Indy sticks out his hand or salutes him or something. It's not unlike a scene where Karl Rove is coaching Bush into memorizing these perfect answers to use during his run for governor of Texas.

Bush is not Hitler. Assassinations were not in order, but you still grimace, because you know all that it leads to and there's nothing you can do about it.