The Buffalo News : Opinion

In spite of the political mail you’re getting and the ads you’re seeing, your wretched state government does not want you to vote. Not really.

WASHINGTON — A close look at the delayed financial disclosure report of Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton for 2007 should banish any lingering thoughts that she and the former president are distinct entities.

WASHINGTON — No matter who wins the White House or Congress in 12 weeks, the implosion of America’s industrial base will continue to be a Wall Street versus Main Street thing.

The handsome former senator from Colorado was the Democratic front-runner for president in 1987 when rumors of his womanizing began to plague his campaign.

Thinking back over the highlights of the five Olympic Games he has covered for The Buffalo News, Jerry Sullivan comes up with two moments he can never forget.

“Check this one out,” Assistant Managing Editor Susan LoTempio said as she handed me a paperback copy of a memoir called “Infidel” by Ayaan Hirsi Ali, a Somalian woman who, after abuse and persecution, becomes an international champion of free speech.

DENVER — When Barack Obama feeds rhetorical fishes and loaves to the multitudes in the football stadium tonight, he should deliver a message of sufficient particularity that it seems particularly suited to Americans. One more inspirational oration, one general enough to please Berliners or even his fellow “citizens of the world,” will confirm Pascal’s point that “continuous eloquence wearies.”

I once heard of a man who was so rich he didn’t know that his kids were in college. The story was a joke. But Sen. John McCain, Republican presidential nominee-to- be, brought it back to mind when he forgot how many houses he owns.

DAMASCUS — Of all the wild cards in the Middle East deck, this one may be the most intriguing: Syrian President Bashar al-Assad appears ready for direct peace talks with Israel, if the United States will join France as a co-sponsor.

It’s August and Western New Yorkers are taking it easy. Except for the pols.

Thoughts and observations on the political scene in Buffalo and New York State:

You may not find a more optimistic political type in New York State than Ed Cox, the Manhattan lawyer who is chairman of John McCain’s campaign here.