In politics, timing is everything.

Don't you think that in quiet places where they can't be heard, there aren't some involved in the 2008 political race who aren't whispering aloud questions about whether the almost whirlwind speed at which the entire financial market has melted down seems more than coincidental? Would they be guilty of unjustified paranoia -- or would they be justified in at least pondering the issue?

Oh, I forgot. When conservatives or Republicans -- or even members of the Clinton family -- dare to suggest that there might be some mischief afoot, or that some unacknowledged media, political or business leaders might have it out for them, they're just being paranoid whiners. But when liberals or some Democrats suggest that there exists an automatic anti-black vote in America, or that electronic voting machines are designed to take races away from their candidates, that's just healthy discussion -- or plain facts. Right?

In covering and polling this presidential race since its first flickers, I've noticed a lot of really weird and inexplicable things taking place. I watched the Democratic Party's national establishment do everything within its power to knock Hillary Clinton out of her party's nomination. I witnessed John McCain resurrect himself from the political dead and, using the most unlikely of candidates, former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee as a political blocker, manage to hijack conservative votes from candidates such as former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney. This split them into enough camps to allow McCain's more moderate supporters to vault him to the nomination.

You don't think Romney and the conservatives didn't wonder how all of this happened? You don't think Hillary and Bill don't still believe that the Northeast Democratic establishment had it in for them from the start? Whether or not events are the result of coincidence or some grand plan, it's only human nature to ask the question, "Who really did this to me?"

That brings us to the most amazing and perplexing happening in the entire 2008 presidential race.

As early as March 2006, I was writing that the roaring housing market was likely to collapse and bring down financial institutions with it. Now if I could see that coming, you'd think those far more gifted than I in Washington, D.C. or on Wall Street would have seen it, too.

Like most everyone and his uncle, I've been writing a book on this crazy election. Mine is called "Paranoid Nation: The Real Story of The 2008 Fight For The Presidency." The book went on sale on Amazon, of all things, during this week of historic economic news, and even as I'm preparing the final chapters about the last days of the campaign. Now more than ever am I glad I chose this title!

John McCain and the Republicans have to be wondering why the safe haven for investment bank customers known as "auction rate securities," which had auctioned off and were treated as safe as money markets for ages, suddenly started to fail to find any takers earlier this year. Continued...