A true expertise is the ability to see through the volumes of bullshit generated by the corporate outlets such the media or number crunching machines. It is the art of insight rather than bean counting. Of course, it carries a greater chance of being visibly wrong, but the rewards of being right are priceless. It is like horse racing - one can make safe bets and satisfy oneself with mediocre rewards or absence of losses or one can bet boldly and win or lose big.
I've seen some indicators suggesting that there is a sea change out there that is not being captured by the conventional "wisdom" (if the groupthink mediocrity deserves that term) - the voter registration you mention, the changed pitch of the internet chatter, the bumper stickers in the otherwise conservative areas, the hesitation in the voices of some conservative spin meisters, the fervent spin of the Bush/ Cheney gang that sounds more and more like L'etat c'est moi - and all that in the context of the well-known virulent American anti-statism and populism and many people finding it harder to make their ends meet amidst wealth growing around them. The explosive mixture is already there, for the most part at least, the question is whether it will ignite this November.
That is why I am with those few lone voices predicting Kerry victory, quite possibly by a landslide, in November. We could be wrong, of course, but I'm willing to make that Pascal's wager - the payoff is too big to resist and the loss not that great after (I will keep my job, and if not - it will not be as a result of my failure to pick the winner).
PS. Not having television is like having extropia (disorder affecting visual depth perception - Rembrandt likely had it http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/3665670.stm) - a disadvantage in every day life that turns into an advantage in art. People who are not exposed to television tend to have a better understanding of society than those who are.
Wojtek