I got to thinking about this last week, when I was visiting my father in Gainesville Georgia. I saw quite a few McCain/Palin signs around town, but not one for Obama/Biden.

According to these poll results from Sept. 30, 50% of 561 likely Georgia voters polled said they would vote for McCain, while 44% said they'd vote for Obama (maximum sampling error +/- 4%).

The report, by UC Merced economics professor Shawn Kantor, said thousands of new jobs, paying good wages, would be one source of the bonanza. Valley residents can also expect to save around $3 billion annually in lower transportation costs, reduced congestion at airports and on highways, fewer accidents and less air pollution.

The trains would even require less of the Valley's precious farm lands than an equivalent increase in freeway lanes.

Proposition 1A is precisely the sort of large public works investment we need in these difficult times.

-- The number of houses for sale in Fresno and Clovis is shrinking.

-- Mortgage firms are again hiring employees.

-- Real estate agents say there are bidding wars for many houses.

More than 535 houses were sold in September in the metropolitan region, marking the fourth straight month of 500 or more transactions, according to local Realtors. The problem is those are not new homes, and more than half of them were foreclosure sales. That means the market for new homes still has not recovered.

Still, that's easing the housing glut, and that must happen before the entire market can right itself. But building permits are still down, according to Nax's report.

And some experts argue that a "shadow inventory" of bank-owned properties is not being counted. Those are houses that are repossessed by banks and not immediately listed for sale -- either by design or because the lenders don't have the capacity to process them faster.

"Banks are sitting on the inventory and don't have them listed yet," said Sean O'Toole of Foreclosures.com.

He said 565 houses were auctioned off at the courthouse steps in September in Fresno County, and most of those went back to banks. Many have yet to hit the market.

Still, sales activity is strong -- and that's because the median price has fallen to $195,000, down 30.3% from $280,000 a year ago.

Do you know where your candidate stands on abortion, Social Security reform, stem cell research, trade and our relationship with Cuba? Click here to find out the answers to these questions and more.

Fresno Unified is moving onto the right track, with its fiscal house in order and student performance rising, though more slowly than any of us would like to see. We think Superintendent Michael Hanson and his administrative staff are doing well, and preserving that continuity is the main reason for our choices in the upcoming election.

The big contributors in Fresno politics are the building industry and public employee unions, and they definitiely have influence over policy. Dages said he doesn't "sell" his vote for campaign contributions, but big contributors get more access.

Here's Dages quote: "What I was trying to say is that you feel an obligation to return a major contributor's phone call immediately. They don't get your vote, but they may go to the head of the line. Then they'll have to persuade me. I'll meet with anybody, but someone who donated to my campaign heavily, yes, I do put them at the top of the list. I'll make extra time."

Council Member Jerry Duncan was critical of that practice, saying it shouldn't take a campaign contribution to get immediate access to you council member. "My 25-year business career taught me that you return everyone's call as soon as you can," Duncan said. "A lot of people, contributors and non-contributors have my cell number."

Former Council Member Garry Bredefeld said Dages was wron to lump all politicians into his comments: "He is speaking about some politicians, but not all politicians," Bredefeld said, adding that Dages' comments raise the specter of what occurred during the Operation Rezone political corruption scandal of the 1990s.

Operation Rezone resulted in 16 federal convictions, including several Fresno and Clovis council members. They took bribes to vote for development projects.

Bredefeld wrote a letter to the editor that ran on Saturday. Bredefeld said Dages' comments were outrageous and he should resign.

How's this for special teams madness?: The Bulldogs missed field goals, had a potential game-winning field goal blocked at the end of the game, gave up a 90-yard kickoff return for a TD, and didn't cover well on other kickoff returns. Then there were the turnovers. Oh, my, this didn't look like a Top-25 team tonight. The Bulldogs may drop from the Top-25 after this performance.

Fresno State is now 3-2 overall and Hawaii is 2-3. The Bulldogs have not won at home yet this season, but have been successful in all of their road games: Rutgers, Toledo, UCLA.

But the best part of the evening came after the debate, when I switched over to the Dodgers-Cubs playoff game. I was about to hit the MUTE button and shut off the typically lame TBS/cable network/ School of Broadcast Smurfs duo in the booth, when one of them mentioned that "in the next booth, broadcasting the game for the Dodgers, is the great Vin Scully..."

Hot dog! (That's a Farmer John Dodger Dog, of course.) Despite my long time antipathy for the Doggers and all they represent, I love listening to Vin Scully do a game.

I grabbed the radio, shut off the TV sound and had a couple of hours of baseball bliss. I often think baseball's more fun on radio than TV, and when Vinnie's doing the game, it's a pure pleasure. Too bad the Dodgers had to win. On the other hand, as an old Cardinals fan, I can't hardly root for the Cubbies. Ah, well.

If you say Palin won, tell us why. For example, she scored when she repeatedly pointed out that Biden had said in the primary that Sen. Barack Obama wasn't ready to be commander in chief. Or if you think Biden won, give reasons, such as he struck a chord with voters when he said Sen. John McCain voted against funding alternative energy sources.

Where did you think each candidate scored points, and where do you think the candidates displayed weaknesses?

Final question, does a VP debate mean anything in the grand scheme of a presidential campaign?

I'm certain the range of bloggers on Opinion Talk are up to the task. So let's have your answers and be specific.

Analysts size up the debate this way: Palin must show she has the qualifications to serve in the nation's highest office and Biden must show that his experience is an asset and will not bring the same tired old politics to an Obama administration.

I've never thought the vice presidential candidates have a major impact on voters. In the race for the presidency, it's about the two people at the top of the ticket. They'll be voting for either John McCain or Barack Obama, and Palin and Biden don't have much influence on the presidential race. But it could be different this time around. What do you think?

Click here for the breaking news on this development.

Unlike the House on Monday, a bipartisan majority in the Senate got behind the plan to rescue the nation's financial system. The measure now goes to the House where a vote is expected on Friday. It's uncertain how it will be accepted since many House members remain opposed to the bailout concept.

Both presidential nominees support the plan. Democrat Barack Obama and Republican John McCain said it is crucial that Congress passes the financial-rescue package.

San Joaquin Valley Congressman Debvin Nunes remains opposed. "It's garbage, Nunes told reporters. "They're to put more decorations on the Christmas tree, but the problem is the Christmas tree." Those "decorations" are the additional tax breaks.

They include a one-year fix to prevent the alternative-minimum tax from hitting more taxpayers.

I've had my share of fast food -- way too much of it at times -- but posting the calories of a Big Mac or the large fries would not have deterred me. I know that fries and burgers contain lots of calories saturated fat, carbohydrates and sodium. If I want the healthy choice, I know I should choose a salad.

Restaurants have until 2011 to comply with the new law. If consumers demand menu labeling, the restaurants will do it on their own as a business practice. Many do now.

Sen. Alex Padilla, D-Van Nuys, the bill's author, says his measure will help fight unhealthy eating habits that can lead to obesity, diabetes, heart disease and high blood
pressure. Nothing wrong with that, but I don't think this bill will do what's advertised. Plus, if this is such an important bill, why are we waiting until 2011 to implement it?

Some things are just common sense. Here's a hint. If you regularly order the large fries, you're probably not into healthy eating.

So what's the problem with those who voted against the bailout bill? Simple, they have no alternative. This may not be a perfect bill-- it surely isn't -- but it's better than doing nothing. This bill started in the Republican White House and then was improved by Republicans, and yet it was not good enough for those in the GOP who killed it. The lack of leadership Monday will prolong the recession the nation is in.

The agreement among House leaders was that Democrats and Republicans were to have at least half of their members favor the bill to give it a bipartisan label. That meant that Democrats were to deliver 118 votes and the Republicans were to deliver 90 votes. The Democrats came up with 140 votes in favor of the plan, but the Republicans only could muster 65 votes, far short of their commitment.

Valley House members voted this way: Democrats Jim Costa of Fresno and Dennis Cardoza of Merced and Republican George Radanovich of Mariposa supported the bill. Republicans Devin Nunes of Visalia and Kevin McCarthy of Bakersfield voted against it. Shame on them.

Rejection of the bill drove, the financial markets haywire. The Republicans and Democrats who voted against this bill now have a hand in being part of the worst economic climate of our generation. It's time to reverse this destructive behavior.

Some are even trying to blame House Speaker Nancy Pelosi for their votes against the bill. She made a stupid remark about Bush's role in the economic failures. But if those ill-timed remarks were the reason that Republicans voted against the bill, it would mean they were willing to put politics ahead of what's good for the nation. I don't think they would do that, and they are scrambling for political cover.

Now stop the silliness, and get a rescue plan passed.

I agree with Spookygirl:

"I don't know about all of you, but I firmly believe the job of deciding what is appropriate or not appropriate for my children, is MINE, and MINE alone. The whole idea of someone else forcing their morals or beliefs on me and my family by banning books from the public library (can't say school library cause we don't use one), is just abhorrent to me!"

I actually encourage my kids to read banned books. Usually if it's troubled someone enough to try to get it banned, it means there's something worth reading in it.

This odd campaign has led Bill to make Fran Florez, the Democrat running to succeed Parra, as his political loser of the week. She has some strange campaign commercials in her race against Republican Danny Gilmore.

My political loser this week is Assemblyman Bill Maze, who authored the bill to ban motorists from driving with dogs on their laps. Fortunately for Maze, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger saved Maze by vetoing the bill. We think it's dangerous to drive with lap dogs, but there are plenty of laws banning erratic driving, and that should solve the problem.

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