I think we can all agree that voter fraud cheapens our electoral system and that people who knowingly commit voter fraud should be severely punished.

As you might guess this subject matter brings me to the issue of ACORN.  This organization has been found guilty multiple times of committing voter fraud.  In fact, they were convicted for the largest violation of voter fraud in the history of our country.  It begs the question–why are they still in business?   

Could you imagine if the Republican National Committee had committed these acts?  It would have been forced to disband, but that is not the case for ACORN.

You would think that after ACORN had been convicted that they might change their ways and clean up their act, but nooooo.  It has already been exposed that this year they have registered one man to vote 70 times, signed up a cat to vote and gave new life to dead voters.  Obviously this group is once again trying to not only steal this election for the Democrats, but also attempting to ruin the credibility of our democracy.  They need to be shut down.

The reckless and illegal actions of ACORN should be a concern for every American. 

Senator McCain did a great job tonight while Barack went to his standard talking points with all of his phony promises.  McCain did not score enough points against Barack, and therefore, the liberal media is going to gush all over the Messiah.  They will continue to enable Barack and fail to hold him accountable on his record.  God help us.

Once again Senator Obama only mentions part of Senator McCain’s plan.  I confess that it is a complicated plan, but there is no simple solution to resolving the issues of cost and coverage. 

Voters should be warned that Barack’s plan will eventually lead to socialized medicine because he does not address the issue of cost. 

Now you know that if Barack is elected that there will be no drilling on American soil.  We need to drill now.  Like Senator McCain said, “we need to bridge the gap.”

Senator McCain’s jello the wall comment is exactly correct.  Barack never answers the questions on cutting government spending nor does he give an honest answer on taxes.  He is lying just like Deval Patrick did to get elected.

Senator Obama, what good habits did you establish as a United States Senator??  Didn’t you call for $900 million in earmarks?  Didn’t you get a F from the National Taxpayer Union? 

What are the chances that Barack is going to address the national debt?  None.  As a United States Senator, he spent $1 million per day in new earmarks.  On the campaign trail he has called for $800 billion in new spending.

Finally Senator McCain called out Barack on his previous phony claims on that he warned about Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae.  Barack said nothing and filed no legislation on the issue.  He was too financially obligated.

Wow.  Senator McCain really connected with audience during the first question on economy and had some strong suggestions for fixing our problem.  Barack gave his usually standard rhetoric and once again he said he agreed with Senator McCain. 

In 1980, Democrats wanted to run against Ronald Reagan more than any other Republican. They believed he would be the easiest candidate to defeat they claimed.  He was too old and too conservative.  The Democrats got their wish and are still regretting it to this day.  Now the Democrats are licking their chops over the latest financial crunch hoping that they are able to capture momentum for a November victory.  They believe that all they need to do is coast along.  Just say that John McCain is out of touch and Sarah Palin is out of her depth, these Democrats argue.  Just as in 1980, Democrats should be careful for what they wish because there is more than enough blame to go around.  For example it did not go un-noticed that Barack looked like a deer in the headlights last week  failing to answer whether he supports the bailout and then lied in the debate about forewarning of Fannie Mae and Freeddie Mac crisis. 

Forget the national polls in this race for President.  Pundits need to focus on the key battleground states of Pennsylvania, Ohio, Michigan, and Wisconsin where the economy will be the deciding factor. 

So how does John McCain win on the economy? 

On economic issues John McCain not only has a proven record of being fiscally prudent, but he also has a secret weapon—Governor Sarah Palin.  True the news media and liberal elites continue to mock her (and a few diehard conservative supporters of other Republicans presidential candidates deride her), yet polls show she is the most popular of all of the candidates in the key battleground states.  Why?  Because like very few politicians (indeed only two in recent memory come up, Bill Clinton and Ronald Reagan), Sarah Palin can relate to voters and talk about issues that they can relate to and understand.  She can to steal a phrase, “feel people’s pain” because she is one of us but even more than that, she can state a vision on how to recover from our economic morass that reminds many of the Gipper (and let’s not forget, the blue collar Democrats in those swing states, particularly Pennsylvania, aren’t called Reagan Democrats for nothing).   

Like Ronald Reagan, Governor Palin relates and connects to the average taxpayer.  She speaks in terms that Americans can understand and relate too again like Reagan.  In 1980, the media who mocks Sarah Palin when she talks about the affects of the economy on everyday Americans also mocked Ronald Reagan when he said losing one’s job is a depression for that person.  It just showed how out of touch Reagan was, the media said.  Yet Americans suffering under Jimmy Carter’s mismanagement of the economy could relate, as Reagan who had lived through the Depression could.  Today, like most Americans Sarah Palin has to balance the family checkbook every month.  This is not a woman jetting off to overseas destinations as the media has pointedly ridicule her lack of having a passport until last year.  Rather this a woman with a real family who knows what it is like to struggle and make ends meet.  And like Ronald Reagan, she knows also that it is optimism and hope that inspires a country out of its periods of crisis. 

Could you imagine what would be happening to the GOP ticket if John McCain had selected Mitt Romney as his running mate? The Democrats would be ripping the ticket for being two rich white guys with no connection to the average taxpayer.  It wouldn’t have stopped there.  Democrats would have most certainly rolled out the old attack ads Ted Kennedy ran against Romney in 1994.  They feature jobless workers left in the wake of Romney corporate raids.  Even worse, the Party would have been portrayed as a Party of gloomy old men with no hope and optimism and just offering experience as a solution (ask Bob Dole and Walter Mondale how far experience gets you in a presidential election). 

Instead The Republican Party has a woman whose husband is a labor union member and whose life story is the American Dream. Sarah Palin is the modern day Mrs. Smith goes to
Juneau and then Washington or as some have suggested, a worthy successor to the Gipper, himself.  She is the future of the Republican Party. 

Unlike her Democratic counterpart, she doesn’t equate patriotism with a 1040 form or sees the IRS auditing tax payers part of the overriding narrative of American history.  No, unlike Joe Biden, Sarah Palin sees the sacrifices at Valley Forge, the storming of
Normandy, the gallantry of our soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan, and the everyday struggles of Americans as patriotic and part of the American fabric. 

When the last debate is over and the last leader has endorsed Barack Obama, voters in the key states of Ohio, Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Wisconsin are still going to be left with the question of do they want a president and vice president who remain silent during the worse crisis since the Great Depression and feel that higher taxes are patriotic or one who has fought higher taxes and runaway spending and believes America’s best days lie ahead of us. 

This post was written by both Holly Robichaud and David  Johnson of Strategic Vision.