The Clinton/Rommey comparisons are more apt than I care to admit.

If Romney were a Democrat, he would have moved as far to the left as necessary to win the nomination and then to the right to win the election. There's no way anybody can tell if he actually believes anything about anything.

The gap between Obama and Romney is not that great. The chasm exists between the two parties.

The gap between Gore and Bush was much greater.

And the deal that allowed the banks and brokerage giants to blow up the economy occurred when Clinton cut a deal with the Republican Congress to eliminate Glass - Steagall.

One could argue that the beginning of the end was Reagan. Or one could argue that the beginning of the end was the Republican takeover of Congress in 1992.

I am less emotional about this election than many here, because I believe that the battle for the soul of America was lost several decades ago. Obama just gave me a fleeting hope that is now being dashed. Not so much out of disappointment with him as the belief that the deck is too strongly stacked in favor of the banks and multinationals and we are too easily duped to do anyting about the systemic issues.