CONGRATULATIONS PRESIDENT DUKAKIS!!!

Michael Dukakis, Forty-First President of the United States

Okay, so he's not President yet, but he's gonna win, because it's the end of July and he's dominating George Bush, 55-38%! So you might as well call him our next President!

In the aftermath of the Democratic National Convention, the party's nominee, Michael S. Dukakis, has expanded his lead among registered voters over Vice President Bush, the probable Republican nominee, according to a Gallup Poll.

This was among the findings of a national public opinion poll of 948 registered voters conducted late last week for Newsweek magazine by the Gallup Organization. The telephone interviews took place on July 21, which was the last night of the convention, and on the night after that.

Fifty-five percent of the 948 registered voters interviewed in the poll said they preferred to see Mr. Dukakis win the 1988 Presidential election, while 38 percent said they preferred to see Mr. Bush win. The poll had a margin of sampling error of plus or minus four percentage points.

This represented a shift in Mr. Dukakis's lead from the 47 percent to 41 percent advantage he held in the last pre-convention Gallup Poll, taken by telephone July 8-10. In that poll, 1,001 registered voters were interviewed.

It's refreshing to know that after eight long years of Republican rule, we will have a Democrat in the White House!

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Except, of course, that Dukakis lost.

Granted, the poll was taken 15 weeks before the 1988 election, and we are less than 14 weeks from the 2008 election. Plus, this poll came on the heels of the Democratic National Convention, before the Republican convention started.

And yes, the Democrats are viewed in a much more favorable light than Republicans in 2008, something that couldn't be said two decades ago. And the Republicans are nominating a less-than-inspiring McCain to succeed an unpopular Bush, twenty years after an uninspiring Dukakis was nominated to succeed Mr. Likable.

However, Obama's lead over McCain is considerably smaller. And this poll form 1988 showed Dukakis above the all-important 50% mark.

My point is that so much can change in so little time. The election is 96 days away, which leaves plenty of time for fraud, Willie Horton-style attacks, and the like...

...and plenty of time for you and me to do something about it. Register some voters. Talk with your neighbors, friends, family members, etc. Write a letter to the editor.

Our nation - really, our world - need Barack, and Barack is counting on you and me. So please don't allow complacency to creep in.