Shouldn't be too long before the rats start taking action but they won't leave the ship, they'll just stay really quiet while they plot. Look out for new hairstyles and outfits as they do their utmost to show they've changed. Rats is not the best description for political manoeuvrerers though - its a very human characteristic. Poodles is a better description but not for you American cousins. The world's poodles includes the UK... I know, I know, it's technically nothing to do with us Foreigners but PLEASE remember to vote for Barack! Us poodle states need a better holder of our leashes and it would help if she or he wasn't an idiot. Like it or not, you have to see that your domestic election decides the leader of the world. Don't elect another war monger.

After McCain's poor showing at the third debate and as his negatives grow by the day, I wonder how long it will be before the rats start deserting the sinking ship. There are many people who work for McCain/Palin that have day jobs in Washington and they are not going to want to remain on the bad side of their new boss, President Obama. It's ironic that the only thing keeping this from being a runaway already is Barack Obama's skin color. One gets the feeling that a white Barry O'Brien would already have McCain's concession and the election would just be a formality. That's part of the backlash against McCain's "not one of us" strategy, IMHO, because McPalin cannot compete on the issues and Obama successfully pinned McCain to Bush on the economy (doesn't help that McCain doesn't know diddly about it) and that Senator Foreign Policy himself forgets who the players are in the Middle East. I remember reading somewhere that political leaders are viewed using the following metric: 70% is how you LOOK, 20% is HOW you say it, and 10% is WHAT you say. Obama looks presidential and calm and McCain looks old and flustered. Obama's words flow with elan and McCain looks like he struggles to find things to say outside of his campaign rhetoric. The rest is a wash. This doesn't bode well for McCain. DO YOU HAVE THE WRITE STUFF?