Hillary Clinton has her ardent supporters and nobody can take that away. What
she doesn't have is a hope in hell of electability. Her core is quite large
and impressive, but she is also very polarizing and as a result those who would
never ever vote for are are also a large and impressive pool.

Personally, I think Hillary ran into a brick wall in the primary cycle where
she'd gone as high as she was going to in her supporters and wasn't going to
gain significant share outside that group.

Sarah Palin is, I believe, pretty much what she seems to be and what she claims
to be. I just don't think that makes her qualified to be the President of the
United States. That doesn't make her a bad person or a stupid one. I'm not
qualified to be the president of the United States either, and nobody I know
personally is so qualified.

As far as John McCain -- I'm deeply disappointed in the choices he has made in
getting where he is now. I'd have thought him a better man then that. In the
end, his temper leads him to burn bridges and destroy consensus, then when he
doesn't get what he wants he throws up his hands and gives in entirely to the
opinion of his advisers. He hasn't chosen those advisers well lately. I
would most worry about McCain making a decision in anger or frustration, then
letting his stubborn temper drive him to grit his teeth and hold to that
decision long after it was the best course of action. I've had enough of that
approach.

For what its worth, my nature is closer to McCain's than to Obama's -- but
then, I'd be a lousy president as well.

I want a person in office who will recognize what he's not knowledgeable enough
on, surround himself with very smart people, but not relinquish the decision to
those people.

Time after time in the last six months, when some new minor scandal or crisis
his the Obama campaign I've been impressed at how well he's managed hit. His
initial reaction is to close down a little bit while he takes some time to
think through a strategy, then to emerge quickly with a bold but considered
response. He's been amazingly successful at dealing with issues that could
have wrecked his candidacy if he'd not handled them well enough. In almost
every case, he's come out looking better for it, not worse.

I also have to admit to being impressed by the easy, comfortable, unscripted
way he interacts with his kids. A candidates wife learns to play the game
quickly, but you can't fool children and you can make them act out a script
like that day in and day out. The relationship is either there or its not. He
clearly has done the right things to build good relationships with them despite
a truly crazy amount of pressure on his time. That's impressive to me, as a
father, and I think it says a lot more about character than all the speeches or
all the good or bad things his friends have said and done over the years.