Zogby, Rasmussen and Gallup all report McCain closing to 5 points back. Zogby had him 12 back, Rasmussen 8 and Gallup 6 in their previous polling. McCain's use of the Joe the Plumber and the tax issue in his ads is working.

Unilaterally, McCain agreed to disarm himself by refusing to use perhaps his most potent weapon in exposing Barack Obama: the Democrats' relationship with the Rev. Jeremiah Wright. The McCain campaign and, at its direction, the Republican Party, have banned use of footage of Wright from their campaign commercials. Perhaps for fear of being accused of racism, they are not bringing up the single most compromising association in Obama's past — his close liaison with Wright.

But it does not matter that Wright is black, white, brown ... or purple. What matters is that he spews hatred of the United States and that Obama was an active participant in his church. Or are we supposed to believe that Obama regularly attended church with Wright for two decades, chose the reverend to baptize his children and officiate at his wedding, titled his book "Audacity of Hope" after a sermon of the reverend's, but did not know of his anti-American views? Nonsense.

The only time the issue has been used was during the Democratic primary, when Obama's ties to Wright were first revealed and the reverend's horrific anti-American sermons were aired on television. Even then, Obama tried to distance himself from Wright in the mildest of possible terms, only denouncing him more sternly after the relationship had begun to sap his standing in the polls.

Fortunately, one independent expenditure group — NationalRepublicanTrust.com — has the courage to bring the truth about Wright to the attention of the American people. NationalRepublicanTrust.com has prepared a hard-hitting advertisement that features some of Wright's worst rantings and explains the intimate relationship over 20 years between the preacher and the politician. NationalRepublicanTrust.com, of course, is funded by individual donations, so their financial resources are limited.

As we enter the final week, this election is not yet over. Zogby shows Obama's lead collapsing from 12 points on Thursday of last week to just five points over this past weekend. Other polls have Obama's lead in the 5 to 7 point range, little enough ground to close in six more days. Only surveys that have quotas for large number of Democratic participants show Obama's lead to be in double digits.

But McCain will not win with one hand tied behind his back. So now is the time for all good Republicans to come to the aid of their party and run the ads that should be run to defeat Barack Obama.

To find out more about Dick Morris and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate web page at www.creators.com.

COPYRIGHT 2008 DICK MORRIS AND EILEEN MCGANN

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