m certainly not planning for this to happen, but what if I vote early, sometime during the next couple of days, and then I die before election day, does my vote count? Or, perhaps I could come back to tell the registrar of voters. Jackson, that is sick, but then so is trying to think of what I'll miss once George W goes back to civilian life. Eight years, and I felt nothing.

Sad news of the day in the journalistic world. Reports show how newspaper circulation continues to decline, dramatically. Fewer and fewer people feel the need to go pick up the paper each morning from the sidewalk or on the lawn. More and more are turning to the internet for their sources of information. It saves time and money and trees. I still need my daily stack of newspapers. One of which has announced that after many decades they soon will become just a once-a-week newspaper; the Christian Science Monitor. It is sensibly sized, exceedingly well written and a nice counterbalance to several of the other broadsheets I scrutinize. It will be sorely missed.

Have you any doubt that a President Obama would select well qualified people for his administration; certainly by comparison to President McCain's pool of potential appointees? His very first selection tells us quite a bit about the "maverick" man; his choice of a running mate, Governor Sarah Palin.
McCain's affiliation with the Republican Party has hardly been to his advantage in this election. It has, overall, been more of a liability than an asset. Already there are many influential Republicans debating over how to rehabilitate the image of the GOP. In so many ways the Republicans have lost their way. They are suffering from actions and policies and votes that have clearly hurt Republican candidates around the nation.

It wasn't too long ago that specialists were predicting that the presidential campaign would cost a billion dollars. Now it appears as if the final price might well be in excess of two billion. That is a horrendous price and somehow we have to keep future elections within a reasonable price range. The system needs reform and whoever wins the election must be in a position to deliver on their pledges to reform the system. By the way, I think that Mr. Obama bears particular responsibility: he's the first candidate to spurn public financing in the general election since the reformed system was introduced to combat the big-money corruption of the Watergate scandal.

A personal note. Last Sunday was as magnificent-a-day as one could wish for in Malibu, California. A dozen of us had gathered at a friend's cliff-hanging home for a late lunch and a lot of conversation. I failed to take advantage of the opportunity to pose questions to a most influential and knowledgeable attendee, Lee Iacocca. We spoke of the Chrysler SUV that he was driving. It was a hybrid. His answer was non-committal when I broached the likelihood of a uniting of Chrysler and Ford. But there were so many questions I would have earnestly wanted to ask if the setting had been less informal.
What if the US government had allowed Chrysler to fail in 1979? Isn't it possible that by now the domestic car industry might be in better shape ? I should have asked the industrial leader, "Lee, in the summer of 1979 Chrysler was in deep, deep trouble and angling for a government bailout. Chrysler is in the self-same tough situation today. One difference, Chrysler is not alone, they have been joined by Ford and General Motors. Three decades ago Chrysler received $1.5 billion in loan guarantees. Should the motor industry be bailed-out of their problems? Followed by airlines perhaps?
Yes, we've bailed out some banks but had governments allowed more banks to fail, the financial system might have failed. In years to come the banking system is anticipated to return to profitability. I wonder, can the same be said of the auto industry in this country. It was only a short while ago that GM, Ford and Chrysler were automatically referred to as "the Big Three". Now they are spoken of as "The Three"