I am sure in the many books soon to to written on this campaign somewhere someone will nail down Plouffe or Axelrod and get them to admit how fortunate they felt that John McCain would be their opponent in the general election; and not someone like Mittens who seems so much better at selling the Big Lie.

I want to think that no matter who the opponent was they would have followed the Rovian playbook and punted this election from the getgo. Who knows?  But I think the real gift that kept on giving was the nomination of an aging, befuddled, reckless, addictive craps player who oozes mysogyny and entitlement from every pore of his body.  The selection of Sarah Palin was just icing on the entire mishmashed cake. 

What could have been a tight nailbiter of an election now turns into a overwhelming mandate for a New Deal---the worst possible nightmare for the Limbaughs, Hannitys, Dobsons, and Cheneys of this world.  The end of Reaganomics ["let unrestrained markets dictate the answer to all our problems"], "know-nothingism", racism as a virtue, and Presidents and Vice Presidents whose first language is gibberish sprinkled liberally with doubletalk.

None of this is possible without the help of good folks like John McCain.  God Bless You John McCain.

I wonder for the McCain faithful how discouraging it is to watch your local  news and see thousands of Obama supporters lined up to vote.  Does this make you more or less likely to actually vote on Tuesday if you have been waiting to do so? 

What if they gave an election and no (McCain) supporters showed up?

Fabulous reporting on the real McCain GOTV.  Can you smell a blowout coming?

She seems to be the only one this election year to really get under Obama's skin.  In response to a question regarding his lack of attack on Republicans in general (not just Bush and McCain) Obama actually became slightly exasperated and said something to the effect:  We're ahead so we must be doing something right.

One thing I would expect from a President-Elect Obama, less of a tendency to just brush his lapels when he or his ideas are attacked.  I would expect a very forceful response to attacks when the election and the necessity to avoid the "angry black man" pose is obviated.  I can't wait to see it!

With no offense to Bill Clinton, I wonder what it will be like to have a President who is as normal as Barack Obama is.  I was struck last night by his interview on the Daily Show.  He and John Stewart were riffing back and forth when John brings up the Bradley Effect. 

John asks Barack how being half white and half black will affect his own vote and Barack immediately grabs his hand and does a Dr. Strangelove move.  No thinking; no calculating; just honestly reacting. I thought to myself: "This guy is real as in REAL. A real person."  Not a politician or at least not reacting like a politician. 

Then I thought, "How does he do this?"  How can anyone running for President actually be a normal person.  I understand that going on the Daily Show is not like going on Hannity and Colmes, but no guard up whatsoever? 

How refreshing.  How nice.  What an interesting next four (hopefully eight) years is ahead of us.  I don't think I've ever looked forward this much to someone becoming our next President.

Just think that 2 years from now we'll certainly be out of Iraq and financially much better off.  We'll have government that once again treats its citizens as consumers who actually need some protection; not as some mindless robotic taxpayers.  No more "pre-existing conditions".  No more union busting.  An EPA that actually protects the environment.  A Labor department that actually works for labor.  An OSHA that protects workers.  An Interior Department that preserves the environment.  An Energy Department that will push and push hard for alternative sources, and in the meantime actually collects royalties from oil companies.  An administration that believes in science based science.  Embryonic stem cell research finally funded. 

How does the song go "...and I said to myself, what a wonderful world".

From ABC's latest track:  Obama 52 - McCain 44  (-1 M)

"Vote preference among these early voters is 59-40 percent, Obama-McCain, widening to 68-31 percent in the 16 battleground states and 71-28 percent in the eight toss-ups states as designated by ABC News' Political Unit (Colorado, Florida, Indiana, Missouri, Nevada, North Carolina, Ohio and Virginia)."

From ABC's latest track:  Obama 52 - McCain 44  (-1 M)

"Vote preference among these early voters is 59-40 percent, Obama-McCain, widening to 68-31 percent in the 16 battleground states and 71-28 percent in the eight toss-ups states as designated by ABC News' Political Unit (Colorado, Florida, Indiana, Missouri, Nevada, North Carolina, Ohio and Virginia)."

Lookks like a little thing called "Guilty on all counts" has given the ;ead back to Begich in Alaska.  Teddie, we hardly knew ye!

Talking about the large dropoff in ballots returned to date versus 2004, and shows how largest deficits are in Bush/McCain country.  Summarizes as follows:

"One underdiscussed scenario in this election is the one wherein Republican base turnout is relatively low. Although this has generally been an engaging election with engaging candidates, the base remains considerably less enthusiastic about John McCain than it was about George W. Bush, and McCain is also lacking Bush's ground game. While the natural assumption is that Democrats would prefer a large turnout, what they are really aiming for is something in the medium-to-high range: one where their base turns out but the Republican one doesn't."

"Among those who "always" vote in general elections, Obama leads by just a single point. Obama does better among more casual voters. However, among those with a high degree of interest in this year's campaign, Obama leads by four. Among those who say they are following the race closely on a daily basis, Obama leads by five.

Among those who have already voted, it's Obama 54% McCain 45% with other candidates picking up a single percentage point.

As for those who have not yet voted but are "certain" they will do so, the race is tied at 48%. Two percent (2%) of these "certain" voters plan to vote for a third party option while 2% say they are undecided.

Obama has a five-point advantage among those who plan to vote but say that something might come up. Hispanic voters are more likely than others to say that something might come up to prevent them from voting"

How weird is this supposed closing in the national tracking polls with more and more state polls showing Obama's lead widening?  What is going on here?  Is McCain picking up votes by the bucketload in places like Texas, California, Illinois, and New York (you know places where it won't affect the Electoral Outcome but just changes the inevitable margin of victory)?

Ohio, Florida, Colorado, and Nevada polls seem to have increased the leads for Obama, and Pennsylvania seems more "Solid-Solid like Barack" than ever!

"John McCain has ridden shotgun as George Bush has driven our economy toward a cliff, and now he wants to take the wheel and step on the gas."

How much Barack leads in any one poll is irrelevant in the final analysis.  As much as I want him to blow away McCain in total votes, we are way too easily scared an electorate to give the first African-American President a huge total vote mandate.

I try to concern myself with the top line:  Obama's percentage of voters.  As long as that stays at 49% or better he wins and wins big in the Electoral College.  Look at how Florida and Ohio are starting to reflect the solid national vote of 4-5+ point Obama lead.  There is no electoral path to victory for McCain if he loses either one of these states.  And together with North Carolina, Iowa, Colorado, New Mexico and Nevada- they are already voting in massive numbers.  Now if we can just get those right wing 527s to run those Reverend Wright ads starting say November 5th?
[I mean, really, what were they waiting for?]

Thank you.

Lat week the guy suddenly shows huge movement towards Obama from +3 to +12.  Gee I wonder how many Obama supporters jumped in to his paid service?
 
This week, time to suck in McCain supporters with an "closed to 3 yesterday; white flight to McCain" story.

Intrade should take bets on how much Zogby's final poll next Tuesday says the lead is.  I'm betting Obama +8 just like everybody else. I can just see his final headline: "Massive movement back to Obama.  Never seen anything like it!"

Meanwhile Scott Rasmussen has the race flatlined for the last 45 days with Obama+5 to +8.  There has been very little true movment in this race since the Palin pick debacle was exposed.  That's the real story of this race.

The Obama Campaign should immediately issue the following press release:

"The first order of business in an Obama Administration Justice Department will be the creation of a Special Task Force with unlimited resources to root out and prosecute all local, state, and Federal Officials involved in illegal voter suppression efforts over the past eight years.  This Task Force will be instructed to follow the criminal activity wherever it may lead including current and former members of the White House and current and former attorneys general.  All lawyers found culpable will also have bar complaints filed in the appropriate jurisdictions seeking complete disbarment for unlawful and/or unethical activities."