The Dow fall 440 points (-4.06%) and Morgan Stanley Considers Merger with Wachovia. With Lehman being acquired by Bank of America -- the world's third largest bank and largest in the US, a merger of Morgan Stanley with Wacovia, the fifth largest US bank, would mean that both these Wall Street giants would be owned by banks headquartered in Charlotte, NC. (There is some confusion whether it is the 4th or 5th largest US bank. I used as a source Forbes lists of banks.) Charlotte doesn't have the Yankees, but I am sure those from Wall Street will find many things including the BBQ to like in North Carolina. I suggest they start working on their southern accents.

Well, Seattle based Washington Mutual,the largest US savings and loan, continues to teeter. Will she fall? A check as I wrote this indicated that they were still working on how to avoid bankruptcy or liquidation. The CEO has recently been replaced. The new CEO is trying to save the company, which has seen a the price drop from a high of $38.30/sh to $2.29 as I write this.

Once again, greed and monumental arrogance are at the heart of yet another potential collapse. Perhaps stock holders need to spend a little more time when the vote for boards of companies they own. What scares me now is that the merger with banks could begin to bring the banks down as happened in 1929. You either have to be Alfred E. Neuman or be concerned about all of this.

While I have generally covered polls in a separate section that has been updated today, there is a Times/CBS poll that shows about 80% of Americans are worried about the economy. Looks like 20% of those polled said, "What me worry?" Sixty percent indicated that they preferred Obama on this issue, which has become the major concern in the election.

As I noted earlier, Obama has, in my opinion, a much sounder approach to economic policy than does McCain. It appears that much of the general public shares my belief. It will be interesting to see how this effects the electoral college numbers. I have decided that trying to figure that out this election is almost impossible. Remember, never underestimate the willingness of the American people to vote against their own self interest.

The New York Times/CBS poll finds that McCain is still tied to Bush despite his attempts to distance himself from the failed presidency. He is widely seen as a typical republican who would continue or even expand on Bush's policies. Will Palin help?

The Palin effect appears to be limited from the data. Stalwart Republicans are more enthused about the ticket than they were before the convention. Interestingly, women voters in general have not moved much as McCain's strategists had hoped. People are concerned about Palin's qualification compared to Biden. Based on the issues, NOW has announced its support for Obama/Biden. Perhaps the linkage to Bush and Palin's radical views will take their toll yet.

Bush has the highest disapproval rating, 68%, of any sitting president and 81% disapprove of the direction the country is going. Thirty-seven percent thought McCain would bring change while 65% thought Obama would. "Sixty percent of voters said they were confident in his ability to make the right decisions on the economy, compared with 53 percent who felt that way about Mr. McCain. Sixty percent also said Mr. Obama understood the needs and problems 'of people like yourself,' compared with 48 percent who said that of Mr. McCain." More than twice as many people thought Obama would improve the world image as compared to McCain doing so. My conversations with Europeans in particular would indicate this is an underestimate.

People seem to have concluded, falsely I believe, that their taxes would go up with Obama in the White House. The Republican slogan, I think that the "Tax and Spend Democrats" mantra appears to have had its effect. Obama and Co have their work cut out for them on this issue. I think the debates will be key here.

As politico.com notes, Obama should be leading McCain by double digits in all the polls given the economy, Iraq, Bush, and a historic tendency not to vote the same party in three times in a row. Instead, it is a squeakier that is too close to call. There are lots of reasons. They interviewed for prominent Democratic strategists and the bottom line is it is a nail biter.

Obama has his work cut out for him and it is even in his vaunted back office. I got another request for a donation in my email today. When I tried to donate, I was rejected because, drum roll, I would not give another name to them so they could contact another person for a further contribution. Result? They didn't get any more money from me this time. I can now eat at Burger King.

Gail Collins is always entertaining and often on the mark. Today's editorial, The McCain of the Week, is no exception. She reports on a McCain rally that she attended in Ohio. Palin and her husband were there too so the Republican faithful were "wildly enthusiastic." Still, it didn't go well.

"Nobody had warned them that he had just morphed into a new persona — a raging populist demanding more regulation of the nation’s financial system. And since McCain’s willingness to make speeches that have nothing to do with his actual beliefs is not matched by an ability to give them, he wound up sounding like Bob Dole impersonating Huey Long." It is hard for some Republicans to shift gears this fast and they began to leave before he was finished.

McCain's transformation is not sitting well with many dedicated conservatives who believe, despite ample evidence to the contrary, that government intervention is the problem. Of course, he had shifted in a flash from taking similar view so it is understandable why they are confused. Collins goes on to say,

Now in an election like this, you expect a certain amount of tactical reimagining. McCain used to like reporters, and now he treats them as if they were carrying the Ebola virus. Fair enough, although given the fact that he’s terrible at speeches, and the famous town halls have now become Republican-only lovefests, the campaign really should invent some new method of communication. (And remember, the man doesn’t text.)

It is also disconcerting, of course, to hear the Republicans rail against Washington as if the Socialist Workers Party had been running things there for the last eight years. But really, what would you do if you were McCain? There aren’t a lot of options, and he never did like George W. anyway.

Now to focus more closely on the question on whether Palin's political views will help elect McCain? It boils down to will women who supported Clinton now move to support McCain because of Palin? The answer probably won't be known for sure until November 5th. There are clues.

The LA Times reports that there are signs that even some thoughtful conservatives like David Brooks (see my quotes from his recent editorial) and George Will are concerned about her lack of significant experience appropriate to the presidency. The radical right like Laura Ingraham pass this off as conservative elites attacks saying that these concerns are nonsense. She goes on to say,

The truth is that it is no longer possible to govern this country through a conservative elite. We have a radical elite, an elite that believes in climate change, gay marriage, unrestricted abortions, and the United Nations. We have an elite that intends to make massive, liberal changes to every aspect of American life. This elite ruins almost everything it touches -- from the schools, to the media, to the universities. Giving more power to the elites means watching the United States become more and more like Europe.

...

Does Sarah Palin have the political skills to successfully govern this country from a populist perspective? It's far too early to say. She is certainly the most promising such figure to come along since the elites were denouncing Ronald Reagan. And therefore we should all wish her well. It is silly to criticize her at this early stage until we know a lot more about her abilities as a leader. I am glad to say that her instincts appear to be sound.

Last time I checked, Europe seemed to be doing better than the US. The EU has surpassed the US as the world's largest economy and the euro has appreciated significantly against the dollar since Bush took office. As for Reagan, he had far more experience when he took office than Palin has. It also ignores the fact that the unprepared George Bush ignored the elite and the results are the catastrophic failures of everything from the financial markets to job creation to unwanted pregnancies because birth control is not taught in schools. Haven't we had enough of nonsense like this?

McCain's confusion about world order has revealed itself again. His famous gaff in Iraq where his friend Sen Lieberman had to correct him after he got terribly confused about who Iran was supporting in Iraq. Well now he doesn't seem to know where Spain is (or possibly what it is.) As with the earlier incident, he rebuffed a reporters attempts to let him correct an obviously confused answer. This blog entry sent to me by one of you shows that he possibly confused a country in Europe with a movement in Latin America.

Given his age and confusion coupled with Paiin's unpreparedness, I fear a McCain/Palin administration would make Bush/Chaney look good.