W ith Election Day still two weeks away, Americans may have already had their fill of startling revelations about the candidates and issues under consideration this year. There has been no shortage of manufactured "surprises" since Labor Day; some have resonated with voters while others have fallen flat.

The precipitous drop in the price of oil and a surging stock market have done little to sway attitudes about the party in power, but the loss of self control of Congressman Mark Foley seems to have had a measurable impact. Lurid accusations seem to arrive daily: about calls to phone sex lines (NY, 24th Congressional District), strangling mistresses (PA, 10th Congressional District) and patronizing a Playboy Club (TN, Senate). Many of the "surprises" of the 2006 campaign season are hardly new, in fact they seem depressingly familiar. In 2004, the timely release of a terrorist video generated just enough fear to make voters think twice about changing presidents. In 2006, such surprises could still be in store for us.

What is different this year from previous elections is that there seems to be very few surprises that can overcome the accumulated mass of opinion that has formed about the current leadership, and the Republican Party in general. After six years of near total responsibility for the issues and direction of the country, it is hard to imagine some event or revelation that could occur during the next two weeks that could outweigh the tragedies of a prolonged war, the ineptitude of the response to Hurricane Katrina, or the procession of indicted party leaders.

These "surprises" occur because they are effective. Those in power or those who are trying to attain power wait until just the right moment to send out their sideshow attractions because the sensational and the shameful grabs the attention of the media and the voting public. These peeks into the seamy side of of our public figures are easy to understand because they hinge on a voter's emotions and values. And these things, so vital in defining who we are as a community, become pressure points that are manipulated to achieve a desired effect. They do this because most people are working too hard to make a living to pay attention for the other two, four or six years between the election cycles.

The true surprise of October is the realization that there is no one party morally superior to another. There is no party that represents god, goodness, or anything other than the desire to win. Unfortunately for the Republicans, having claimed to be the party of "honor and integrity," when the inevitable fall occurs the fall is that much harder.

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