"We don't need 4 more years of the last..."

Well, Hillary says 8. For me, it's more like 16 (arguably 20, but I always give credit to HW for Madrid, while Bill Clinton achieved practically nothing).

That's right - 4 terms worth of unconstitutional foreign interventions, and incompetent philandering peace efforts to follow.

I can't really be bothered to dissect and critique all the ridiculous class warfare cheap shots taken in the various speeches at the Democrat convention yesterday, but suffice it to say there were plenty of references to "oil speculators", "Wall Street", and other code words for the people who fund political campaigns and always land on their feet, no matter who is in the White House.

The more important outcome: the McCain team has gotten all the bang for their disgruntled-Hillary-support buck that they could ever hope for, and they'd be well advised not to pin their hopes on the likes of Debra Bartoshevich.

That's not to say they shouldn't flirt with the issue behind the scenes, but Democrat unity is a reality at this point. Think of it this way: you might not like the girl your brother is dating, but once you toast them publicly at a lavish engagement party, you're all in - and you know it's too late to be complaining. Put up, or shut up.

After this highly scripted and nauseating convention (not that I'm expecting much better from my party), the movers and shakers amongst Democrats in the political sphere have bought in to Obama. Sure some of them might not bust their tails to get him elected, but they're not at all likely to pull a Lieberman and endorse McCain.

I'm referring here to elected officials who have a public profile as Democrats. Sure, a random delegate like "Debra" might go off the reservation, but until you have anything more substantial than the mayor of Linden, NJ, breaking ranks, the issue is dead amongst political officials and operatives who influence voters and run the "machines" that generate electoral results. They are Democrats, their job is to elect Democrats ticket-wide. End of story.

The only place McCain can make hay is with the faceless, oft-nameless movers and shakers in the fundraising sphere. If some individuals who helped raise big bucks for Hillary with a particular purpose or quid pro quo in mind have cold feet about Obama, McCain's people can move in. That's not to say someone who tapped their rolodex to the tune of $100K for Hillary in 2007 for a Democrat Primary can be counted on do so for a Republican in a 2008 General. But, if they're not going to play for McCain's team, he can at least try to keep them off the field. These are the sources of dollars that can be shifted to key states to influence undecided voters in the homestretch. If that $100K is not channeled to Obama's coffers, it's to McCain's benefit.

Expect, if they're smart, that the McCain team will continue to dispatch the Carly Fiorina types to woo fundraisers. But expecting many people to fill in the gap between Lieberman and Bartoshevich on the political side is folly.