the contrarian - SO WHO'S UNDER THE BUS? AND DOES IT MATTER?

Somebody's under the bus, that's for sure. But is it Obama or is it the entire GOP?

Obama's been ducking and weaving like an accomplished boxer, as the Clinton camp and some early Republican critics have been throwing every punch they could muster. And some have clearly been below the belt.

The latest surprise, however, was that when his own corner flung the stool at him, in the form of a self serving series of tirades by the Reverend Wright, the plucky candidate was still able to withstand the attacks with style and grace.

The majority of analysts have suggested that Reverend Wright, in effect, has thrown Obama under the bus with his divisive remarks regarding race, religion and the U.S. government.

On the other hand, some have made a compelling argument that it is the GOP who are the losers, especially after Obama angrily disowned his former pastor and rejected his remarks. Their thinking is that by the time the conventions are over, this issue will be as stale as an old movie on reruns.

Karl Rove is one who clearly does not subscribe to that theory, however. The Fox News commentator predicted that the controversy would "continue for months."

It's likely that John McCain will personally conduct a clean campaign should Obama become his opponent. However, we've already seen that the dirty attacks will continue with or without McCain's involvement, and if recent events are any indication the Republican candidate will stop short of condemning them.

Don't forget the swift-boat gang that was able to convince gullible Americans that a legitimate hero was a phony coward, while supporting a presidential candidate who ducked a combat role with a controversial stint in the National Guard and a vice presidential candidate who succeeded in getting a series of deferments, five in all, until he became too old to be called up.

If the dirty tricksters could pull that one off, maybe they can coral a significant number of voters into believing that a patriotic, clean-living, American Christian is, in fact, a closet Muslim who hates white people.

They had better be careful, however. What has been happening here without a great deal of attention being focused on it, is that Obama is gradually taking on the persona of a noble gladiator, under attack from all sides but still refusing to lower himself to the level of his attackers.

Another way to put this is that he is becoming a classic underdog - without actually being one.  And if nothing else is certain, Americans love an underdog.

Indeed, even in the face of the comments by the wrongful Wright, and some heavy "piling on" by Hillary Clinton, four more super delegates have defected to Obama in recent days, including longtime Clinton ally, and former Democratic National Committee Chairman, Joe Andrew.

And adding another potential arrow to Obama's quiver, is the possibility that minorities might perceive that the ongoing attacks are racially motivated. This could create a groundswell of inner city registrations that even the Supreme Court might not be able to quell.

And that brings us to the very discouraging question of whether the will of the people will really matter after all.

There have been some disturbing news accounts that suggest that even now, eight years after the initial barrage of problems from the electronic voting machines, the suspect brands could still play a role in distorting the will of the people.

According to Common Cause, more than a third of our states still use voting machines that do not support hand recounts and provide no auditable paper trail.

It's nothing less than a disgrace that this problem, which strikes at the heart of our most inalienable right, is still allowed to fester, particularly since Congress has been in the hands of the Democrats for the past 16 months. During that time new bills related to the electronic voting machine problem have been considered, but they have become so burdened by amendments that critics have deemed them ineffective. At present they languish in committees.

And when new regulations are eventually enacted, the voting machine vendors claim that they will need 4½ years to develop, certify and implement any new products required, which suggests that we cannot even see a light at the end of this miserable tunnel.

If the allegations that machine irregularities caused Kerry's defeat in 2004 are true, then one can only imagine the extent that the illegal efforts would take to prevent the election of a liberal, black candidate in November.

Dave McGill, News Correspondent

Dave's column, "The Contrarian," generally published every Friday, to Gather Essentials: News will sometimes present a contrary view to various aspects of the news, or an alternate take on the conventional wisdom of the day, and will occasionally appear on other days of the week

Dave has been a senior officer of a large eastern insurance company, involved in economic projections and investment strategy, president of a Midwestern mortgage banking company, and a financial consultant in Southern California, serving clients in the field of commercial real estate development

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