Sarah Palin seems to be taking a page from the McCarthy era, mixing it with thinly veiled racism, and igniting partisan driven hatred.  Unfortunately for John McCain, surly as he is, her message is actually more testosterone driven than his.   At times, one wonders if she has confused the order of the names on the GOP ticket.

But John McCain aside, her rabble rousing tactics jeopardize the safety of all of us. This behavior, at any time is reprehensible enough, but in the current atmosphere in America, it is obscene. The  economic uncertainty, the ongoing tragedy of the War on Terror, and the threat of growing global unrest make this a fragile chapter in the life of our country, and we had better get our priorities in order.

The divisiveness that Palin has wittingly or unwittingly enflamed with her words will not disappear after November 4th. The coming months are going to test our national sense of ourselves as Americans; spending our days at war with one another is not in our best interest.  Whichever candidate is elected President, his arsenal of skills must include bipartisan team building, and I am not just referring to Congress.

As I reviewed Palin's history in Alaska, she seemed benign enough (if you were not her ex brother-in-law, an environmentalist, or a political rival.) I find it hard to believe she masked all these retrograde political beliefs...she doesn't seem to be much of a reader or deep thinker from all accounts. I wonder if she even understands the historical context of her accusations. Could it be that the Bushies who orchestrated her crash course in politics filled her with some philosophies that suited their agenda, an agenda that had more than just the election in mind?

While the election is still officially nearly one month away, in reality it is much, much closer.  As in 'the call is coming from inside the house' is closer.  Yes, for many of us, the election is here - my husband and I are both registered as permanent vote-by-mail voters.

In San Diego County, ballots to the absentee voters have been mailed out.  Voting at the Registrar of Voters office in Kearny Mesa started Monday, and an estimated 200 voters cast their ballots that day.

Just over 60 percent of all the ballots cast in San Diego County in the June election were cast by absentee voters.  Five million people statewide, nearly a third of the 16.1 million registered voters in California, are scheduled to receive their ballots by mail. 

But what does that do for the late campaigning?  We just finally got our No on 8 yardsigns in the mail last week.  We get deluged daily with requests for more money to fund the last minute campaigning between now and Election Day.  There are all kinds of rumored plans or possibilities for different events in the upcoming months to change media focus and create publicity one way or another.  Haven't heard them?  Most aren't worth repeating on KPBS' website, but just Google '[candidate] October surprise' and giggle at the results.

But does that last minute push still work with the rise in early voting?  If a candidate or issue is leading 55 percent  to 45 percent in October, and 30 percent of the voters vote along those lines, the change on momentum must be so profound that of the remaining 70 percent of the voters, nearly 54 percent adopt what was previously the minority position.