With Barack Obama still holding the edge in most polls is the conservative ship in danger of sinking? Some say no. They say that it is now up to the average American citizen to look away from everyday cares and take a gander at the rhetoric and the facts about election 2008. What are the facts?

Is it really about the Dem's and the GOP? Is it really the disparity between liberalism and conservatism? Is it really just about the economy? The answer from the average American may be no, no, and no; and here is why.

America has always been much more than just a nation but rather it is a concept. It originated in the minds of men who possessed rare character a bit over 200 years ago and became the groundwork for the noblest cause in the world in both modern and ancient times. They set the groundwork for something we call 'freedom.'

After the final debate for candidates Obama and McCain most of the media have been awash in a single almost insignificant fact that John McCain got a little 'hot under the collar' with Barack Obama. Little do they know? Millions of Americans are hot under the collar it goes with the territory, it is part of this stuff we call freedom. It is almost 'all American' to get angry with things especially political rhetoric and those who promise us the moon and the stars every four years.

It would seem safe to conclude that the angriest of all Americans is the average work a day person with lots of everyday problems on their plate. They may not be able to make heads or tails about the daily stock market report but they know if the government is taxing them off the map and they also know if they like what the Fed is spending those tax dollars on. Here the answers would respectively be yes and no.

They also know if America still looks like America! They know if they like bombers who think it's OK to blow up police stations, the pentagon or any of our buildings and institutions. They know if they like preachers who 'damn' America. They know if they want a man to be president who has little experience and has never paid a whit to defend this country in peace or war. Here again we can answer with a resounding no, no and no, multiplied millions of times over.

The average soccer mom may ponder the possibility of not having a child alive and in the game as they carry them to the athletic fields of the nation. They decided long ago that just because they could abort they would not; even if money was tight and the future uncertain. They could not imagine life without their soccer loving kids and they can't imagine how some mothers could.

They still cannot imagine that there's been some 50,000,000 little soccer players since 1973 that were robbed of the chance to experience the joy of making even one single goal for the team. Their answer to Roe V. Wade was no; and it will always be the best decision they have ever made.

Everyday Americans can be forgiving to a fault. We are the nation that likes the idea of a second chance, a new beginning or the benefit of the doubt. Yet even regular Joes can count and perhaps seven questionable associations are a bit too much.

If the media spews enough gloom about our economic woes we might miss a few we might miss a few bad associations but not all seven. The list of Obama associations and endorsees like Rezko, Wright, Ayers, Farrakhan, Odinga, Acorn and Hamas make it hard to dismiss the old adage that "you are known by the company you keep."

The average Joe may be willing to forgive the guy who hangs around with shady characters and thugs but they are not likely to give him the keys to the house. Would the same Joes' be willing to hand Barack Obama the keys to the White House? We will soon see!

At the last presidential debate Sen. Obama told John McCain that bringing up his past associations said more about McCain's campaign than himself. Is that so? Even soccer moms and Joes must undergo a background check to land some jobs. Shouldn't "We the people" be able to hold up our candidates for a look see into their backgrounds before giving them the highest job in the land?

Abraham Lincoln voiced one of the simplest yet wisest truths ever spoken, the idea of it still lives on in the heart of America's soccer moms and average Joes. He said "If there is anything that a man can do well, I say let him do it. Give him a chance."

Perhaps good hearted Americans are willing to give Barack Obama a chance and perhaps not; but there's another Lincoln saying that may be far more appropriate and that too is still close to the average American, namely, "You can fool some of the people all of the time, and all of the people some of the time, but you can not fool all of the people all of the time."