In ancient times, the Chimor Kingdom of the Incan Empire practiced a particular type of ancestor worship where the deceased nobles would be kept around with all their wealth and land in tact. Their retinues would keep the mummy around, and an oracle would "consult" with the corpse to determine its will in current affairs.

It kind of reminds me of what we've been dealing with for the past eight years only it's a desicated mummy occupying the White House, and it's been left to everyone else -- the pundits, the staff, the members of Congress...even the bloggers -- to give animation, articulation and intelligence to the perceived desires of the royal corpse. (Democrats should refrain from taking any pleasure in this. That dried up stump managed to handle two stiffs named Gore and Kerry quite handily thank you very much.)

In any candidate I'm looking for a number of things, but to take two of the most important, I'm looking for two things, and in this order:

1) Stand for the right things. Ideologically even more than specific policies which always wind up being adjusted later anyway. Policy articulations during the campaign are useful mostly as a reflection of ideological impulses.

2) An ability to articulate positions and thus provide leadership we can admire.

Both aspects work together. 1 is ineffective without 2, and 2 is downright dangerous with the wrong 1.

On #1, Barack Obama and his party fail me utterly. I wouldn't vote for him if you paid me. A vote for Obama is a vote for a Reid and Pelosi co-Presidency as they will run roughshod over that noob.

I was hoping to see signs of life on #2 with McCain last night, and while not a disaster, I was disappointed and left agreeing with John Hinderaker at Power Line: A Draw, At Best. Obama spouted a stream of predictable left-wing blogger boilerplate on international affairs that any of a dozen right-wing radio hosts would have had a field day dealing with. In fact, Mitt Romney would have made mince-meat of Obama last night.

I've heard that Obama spent the week in debate boot camp, and McCain pretty much winged it and it showed. Where was the defense of his tax plan? Where was the explanation of the connection between Iraq and the Global War on Terror? At least Kissinger has come out to say that McCain is right, and Obama wrong on Iran, but that's the morning after. Most people learned about these men last night, and I'm afraid that Obama did a good job last night in pulling the wool over their eyes.

McCain has to step it up for the next time -- and Sarah Palin betting be practicing.

Update: "UndecidedMan" has a nifty post that examines the issue -- or myth -- of the single issue voter, and addresses one of my pet-peeves -- the tendency of the press to spend 10 seconds on substance and 10 minutes on horse race: Perspective

Breath of the Beast comments here: The Hidden Radical Shows Himself