With Obama surging ahead in numerous polls this week, the battle between he and McCain is getting uglier and uglier. Is anyone else ready for this race to be over already? The debates generally re-hash the same questions and answers, while the media spend their post-debate analysis coddling "uncommitted voters." Are these people really ever going to decide?

Even more distressing is the the anger rearing its head, apparently in the wake of the recent "terrorist" charges by Palin. A Times article yesterday detailed the mixed messages of the McCain/Palin campaign, including some rather sad hatred apparently being stoked at their rallies (and Frank Rich goes deeper today). Enough!

Why can't the campaigns focus on fervently debating the complexities of the issues facing this country and leave the nastiness out of it?

One of these two guys is going to have to pick up the pieces soon and lead this country in a time of significant economic hardship. I firmly believe it will be Barack Obama. He'll clearly have his work cut out for him.