Have you had your beer with George?

I must begin with saying that I do not drink. But I use the subject header because some say that part of George Walker Bush's appeal in the 2000 and 2004 campaigns to many people was he seemed to be the sort of guy they could imagine having a beer with. Certainly not Albert Gore nor John Kerry. Now some seem to be saying that Sarah Palin is appealing because she knows as little as they do. The Bush Doctrine? What is that? Hey, she answered Charles Gibson's question as well as most of us could, ergo, we like her.

Now, how many of you have had your beer with George? How many of you will actually attend a Palin barbecue? Or are we going to elect knowledgeable and effective leaders this time?

Will candidates for president risk our fragile environment?

Will candidates for president risk our fragile environment to win needed contributions for their campaign? Will they endanger our already threatened oceans and air for personal political gain?

I will not contend that corporate donations play absolutely no role in the Obama campaign, but the renewed and improved support from Big Oil for John McCain since his reversal on off-shore drilling (is this an example of flip-flopping?) shows how far he will go. I recommend reading Matthew Mosk's article in The Washington Post:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/07/26/AR2008072601891.html