I am so tired of "American Idol" prism of this year's election (and as a true admirer of John McCain, I've never been more disappointed in him). This race will be won by very unsexy metrics: voter registration, database strength, Midwestern states. National polls mean less and less each day that the race in the important states solidifies. This Sarah Palin nonsense is even more irritating because now everyone wants to offer a prescription to the Obama campaign: Attack her! Get Hillary in this! Stay on message! Don't patronize!

Listen, Obama and Biden have a perfect plan in place. They're just letting Palin go and ramming the Bush=McCain mantra down everyone's throat. 90% agreement with the past 8 years is pretty damning stuff. This is 70s Steelers football, and while it doesn't feed the news cycle like the breathlessly breaking pieces of news that come out of Alaska, it's just what they need to do.

If the McCain campaign is dumb enough to let their Stepford VP be defined through a month of white-hot media scrutiny and lose their own message (on top of losing their main critique of Obama - his inexperience), that's their choice. Meanwhile, Obama and Biden will hang out in Pennsylvania, Michigan, Ohio, and Florida (Virginia's just icing).

Elections are won by organization, patience, and calm, clear strategy. Is it rhetorical if I ask who's displaying those qualities at the moment?

MC,

You may not be paying attention to the polls, but a 14 point swing in 10 days sure as hell has Obama & co. paying attention. And this is because their "perfect" plan has a major flaw that, unfortunately for them, can't be un-rung...that he didn't pick the best VP candidate. Why are they scrambling so to get Hillary in the campaign now, if your logic is so sound? It's not, and you're trying to comfort yourself. I know it's tough to come to the realization that the "chosen one" just got "out'changed" by a 72 yr. old white guy. But it's happening because the populus is not buying the McCain=Bush argument. But you watch...step 3 in THIS perfect plan is coming...the Obama=muslim mantra, and it will stick. Strange, though, that you're complaining over the press Palin's getting when Obama is the one with the rock star image. Does that come under the "dish it out" category?

McGeorge is right, organization will take the cake in a close election. You've got to make it close, though. I heard somewhere that Palin won more votes as Wasilla's mayor than Biden did running for the nomination. Not exactly someone who is going to bring people into the fold. I think it's pretty clear they wish they could take that one back.

TonyDavisNelson: I heard somewhere that Palin won more votes as Wasilla's mayor than Biden did running for the nomination.

LeRoy: I heard that claim, too. But it happens to be blatantly false.

You shouldn't believe everything you hear.

Tony,

How unorganized then were Gore AND Kerry to lose close elections to such a putzboy as W? Hmmm. And this election is absolutely tee'd up for the left even more than the last two...if only you could figure out a way to keep the democratic candidates quiet, like in a closet or something, for the last couple months of a campaign so they won't blow it. It's too bad, though. This one's gonna hurt worse.

If Obama had picked Hillary as his V.P. choice, you could have mailed this election in. Palin would have been seen as nothing more than a counter for HIllary with less experience than her.

Furthermore, Obama could not put his ego in check and realize that it's not about him, it's about getting elected. Now McCain has outfoxed the dems and it will cost them the election in the fall.

Well done, Terry McAwful and Howard Dean!!

Mayzee7:

MC,

You may not be paying attention to the polls, but a 14 point swing in 10 days sure as hell has Obama & co. paying attention. And this is because their "perfect" plan has a major flaw that, unfortunately for them, can't be un-rung...that he didn't pick the best VP candidate. Why are they scrambling so to get Hillary in the campaign now, if your logic is so sound? It's not, and you're trying to comfort yourself. I know it's tough to come to the realization that the "chosen one" just got "out'changed" by a 72 yr. old white guy. But it's happening because the populus is not buying the McCain=Bush argument. But you watch...step 3 in THIS perfect plan is coming...the Obama=muslim mantra, and it will stick. Strange, though, that you're complaining over the press Palin's getting when Obama is the one with the rock star image. Does that come under the "dish it out" category?

I'm a politics junkie so I'm paying attention to all the polls. Not sure why you have to be a tool about it, but whatevs...

1) As I wasn't so concerned when Obama hit the 50% milestone after his convention, I'm not that shook up about the polls as they stand now. National polls are fairly useless in comparison to state polls. And those have not yet undergone massive fluxuation., after factoring in both conventions.

2) I think the Biden choice was great, and remains so. He's strong in Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Michigan (Obama wins two of those three and it's over...and he's ahead in two right now) and has incredible command of foreign policy, and it shows Obama was more concerned with governance than election strategy. Why would he choose some upstaging, flashy pick like Palin when he was ahead by every metric?

3) They're scrambling to get Hillary in the race because she's an extremely important Democrat with a huge following, and she carries huge sway with women voters. How is that panicking, again? They would have "scrambled" to get her in the race if McCain chose YOU to be the VP (though they're strategy for using her would've been different). They want her in the race, period.

4) If the Obama=Muslim strategy is so successful, why didn't it work in the primary, when there was much more discussion of his background? MSM won't touch it because it's patently false (unlike the congressional documentation showing McCain's voting record convergent with Bush's policies), so how it will it gain traction? If it's such a grand strategy, why has it not been rolled out yet? Another question: why are you so excited about spreading a lie? What does that say about you? I'm sure the Obama=Muslim line will work in backwoods Hill country for racist retarded people, but they were never voting for Obama anyway, and those states were already red. And they already think that, so I don't see a whole new group of converts somehow becoming convinced of this. In fact, it's a pretty dumb argument.

5) I'm actually thrilled about the coverage Palin is getting (you should take a reading comprehension class). By not getting out in front of the press, they will begin to define her. Maybe you've been looking at polls too much, but the MSM coverage of Palin (outside of People Magazine) is not hot.

6) Finally, I'm not comforting myself right now, because I'm pretty confident that Obama will win. What on earth gave you any impression to the contrary?

Take a look at the electoral map, will you?

This is still going to be an electoral landslide for Obama/Biden.

You're right, it's incorrect, but I think the point is still relevant. Exactly how many votes will Biden bring to a ticket when he can't win a SINGLE delegate for himself?

Well, on the political junkie description, you're half right. All else to be said here is, and I'm not sure I comprehended all of it, but it looks a lot like the same verbage that was being spewed by pundits just before Kerry got beat four years ago...

Anecdotally (and seriously),

My wife is a lefty, pro-choice (not rabidly), liberal-arts educated, vegetarian (with a nice ass). The other day she told me that she was leaning toward McCain because she doesn't view Obama as entirely trustworthy.

She also said that at a visceral level she liked Palin.

You can interpret that how you like, but I see it as a problem "crossing the chasm".

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Remember it takes 270 to get elected!!

You sound quite confident when Obama is 27 votes away and McCain is 91. And all the map shows is that McCain has solidified his lead in some rep leaning states adding about 50 solid votes, plus Alaska which was a tossup (with three electoral votes, BIG GAIN).

McCain, even with the convention/Palin bump, still needs every tossup state to win. Obama needs no more than two. And its still two months away and Palin still hasn't said a word without Schmidt's hand up her ass running the puppet show.

Quite a few. Because when Biden dropped out - largely because of money, there were other candidates that were being held in preference to him. For example Edwards carried the "blue collar" mantle. Biden, with his "take the train home every nigh" story, picks up that mantle in ways that Obama cannot.

You know where that "Muslim" statement came from don't you?

The Washington Times --the DC rag that is the mouth piece for Sun Myung Moon, who was recently crowned as King of Peace (sic!) in our Senate building--a coronation process that Charlie Black, John McCain's political adviser, lent his name and influence to so it could happen in a US Senate building giveing this dress-up act a semblance of legitimacy.

Either you need to check your sources, or you are a Moonie, in which case you are not for America at all! Sun Myung Moon hates Americans because we cannot be controlled--something about a constitution that gets in his way with us and our country. But they love SM Moon in North Korea.

Did you say you were a Moonie too then? Or do you just mindlessly do his bidding?