Unconfirmed Reports

Yesterday’s big news - Colin Powell endorsing Barack Obama - took the election one step further towards an Obama victory. Many pundits are saying that McCain can only win this now if he pulls off some sort of masterstroke before November 5th.

Powell’s endorsement gave me an idea of what that masterstroke might be.

Here’s the deal, folks: George W Bush owes John McCain big-time. Bush is largely responsible for the depth of unpopularity to which the Republican Party has sunk; with Bush as his predecessor, McCain has been fighting this election campaign like a man with one arm tied behind his back. And his opponent is a skilled, strong boxer. Plus everyone knows that black people are better at boxing. Anyway, Bush created this mess, so he owes McCain a huge favour; and there’s something he can do to turn the campaign around.

Approximately one week before election day, Bush needs to come out in favour of Obama. Unexpected, but clear and explicit, he must publicly endorse the Democratic ticket. In one fell swoop, the Democrats and their nominee will have their image tarnished, associated with stupidity and failure. Obama will spend the last week of the campaign fighting against accusations of “more of the same”, and in a last-minute “surge”, McCain will claim victory (with the assistance of some fairly blatant Republican vote tampering).