I have to laugh every time I see something put the words 'fun', 'game', and 'Raph Koster' into a sentence together. After Starwars Galaxies I have to wonder about him. If that game was seriously his idea of 'fun' I don't think I'd ever go to his house for lunch or anything lest I end up on the menu...

The simple fact that he and his campaign managers were smart enough to buy ads in a number of Videogames and NOT tell anyone about it buys him my vote (if I could vote). It shows an understanding of people in my demographic (and people in general) that the Republicans, frankly, don't have.

The media isn't sick of the Republicans...

...it's owned by the Republicans.

There's a difference!

Politics is extremely important to technology right now, and nerds should care.

The thing is that tech is still somewhat in it's infancy so far as legislation goes. Most politicians at the presidential level aren't familiar with any of it either because they're too old (McCain) or it's not their forte (Obama).

In a generation or so the average politician will have grown up with the tech that we're all familiar with. Remember, we're the exception not the rule so far as familiarity goes.

How technology gets treated in the future, I feel, will be based on legislation that gets passed between now and then. If we elect ignorant politicans and ignore our duty to vote (thereby leaving the decisions in the hands of the ignorant masses that DO vote) we'll have a legislative base that won't encourage innovation and won't protect the people it should.

It's important, and threads like this very much belong on slashdot.

IMO (because I have nothing to back this up) the Republicans threw in the towel when they allowed McCain to even run.

He's not what they needed to win. They needed someone who was basically a knight in shining armor. The exact opposite of the last 8 years.

They presented McCain, who's presidency would simply be 4-8 more years of the exact same.

Pallin is simply their attempt to spit-polish the McCain team. If you look at her, or listen to her, she's an air-head soccer mom. They chose her because she looks good on camera as well as trying to counter-balance the "first black man in the white house" claim the democrats have with Obama with their own "first woman in the white house" claim (ignoring the simple fact that it's black president vs. woman vice president).

Basically, the whole thing is the Republicans trying to shore up their bet for the 2008 election with a pair that will allow the party to look good even as they lose.

Yes. I'm saying the previous 8 years guarantee the Republicans don't stand a chance because the White Knight they needed didn't exist in their party. They don't attract, and don't recruit, that kind of politician.

Now, if they had pushed Palin as their Presidential nominee with McCain as her Vice President...they might have done a bit better assuming they spun things harder and were able to pass Palin over as more of a go-getter and less an air-head soccer mom. Unfortunately, her record in Alaska dashed that hope.

Wait for the 2012 elections. You'll see the Republicans bring out their big guns again if Obama doesn't have a perfect presidency. Any mistakes and they'll put him in their crosshairs immediately. It will be Clinton all over again scandal-wise.

I personally expect something gang-related that's complete and utter crap yet manages to score a surprising amount of front-page media coverage for how bad it smells.