Your Abbreviated Pundit Round-up

Tuesday is a good day to abbreviate.

G. Terry Madonna & Michael L. Young:

McCain is cleaning up more than 3 to 1 among voters who think the country is headed in the right direction, he's ahead 20 points among voters whose personal finances are better off compared to last year, he's clobbering Obama 4 to 1 among voters who think family values are the top issue of the campaign, he's hammering him by 25 points among voters who say foreign policy is the biggest issue, he's beating him 5 to 1 among voters who list illegal immigration as the top issue, and he's winning by more than 20 points among voters who rank taxes as the most important issue.

Of course, there's a slight problem for McCain there. Can you find it?

Cheri DelBrocco: Hello, Memphis! Here's the story of John McCain and how he treated his wife. And, sister, it's not gonna be pretty.

It was the Summer of '98, that the Gladiators of Virtue were riding high. They were strutting their stuff with Ken Starr and his seven million dollar witch-hunt. They had Bill Clinton just where they wanted him. He had done the hot and nasty with a young intern, and was lying about it, so by God, he was going to pay for his sins. Many of those sultans of sanctimony, who are now surrogates and staff for the McCain campaign, have strangely become as quiet as little church mice when it comes to discussing the fact that John McCain has always had a reputation for being as horny as a three-balled tomcat. Loving the sinner, but hating the sin, the Moralizing Crusaders in the Republican party have suddenly laid down their swords.

Bob Herbert:

"What’s he doing?" is the most common question heard recently from Obama supporters.

For one thing, he’s taking his base for granted, apparently believing that such stalwart supporters as blacks, progressives and pumped-up younger voters will be with him no matter what. A taste of the backlash this can produce erupted on the candidate’s own Web site.

Richard Cohen: On energy, Carter was right and Reagan was wrong. Fat lot of good it did him.

Stumped:

Dear Stumped,

What if the Supreme Court had selected Al Gore as the winner in the 2000 election? Would 9/11 have occurred? I think not. Would we be fighting two wars in two Mideast countries? I think not. Would we have spent three-quarters of a trillion dollars to fight a war of choice? I think not.

Gordon Schesel

Dear Gordon,

Are you right about all of this? I think not.

Dear Stumped,

Are you right about any of this? I think not.