Today's polls (Sep 15, 2008) still show McCain leading Obama, sustaining the reversed position that has prevailed ever since the McCain ticket became he McCain-Palin ticket. They started to campaign together and are now rescheduling the rest of the campaign into mostly duet performances. There is no doubt that Sarah Palin has revitalized the Republicans and energized McCain. Uncle John now beams with pride over his niece who is vibrant and smart. No matter that Sarah's strength comes from views which are the opposite of McCain's. In the meantime, Palin's ignorance is exposed more and more and her real track record is mercilessly dissected by public scrutiny. But the poll ratings refuse to go doen. What does it portend for November 4?
The more overvalued a stock is, the harder it will fall. It is clear that the Palin phenomenon is a media happening unmatched by anything in recent history that Obama's rise to media stardom. While McCain deplored Obama's celebrity status, he revels in the reflected glory. The difference with Obama's rise is that while he constantly supports his charisma with content, Sarah Palin is failing miserably in showing herself to be fit for high office. Here are some quotes chosen randomly from today's columns:
..... I've gotten the scary feeling, for the first time in my life, that dimwittedness is not just on the march in the U.S., but that it might actually prevail......... With Ms. Palin, it's not about agreeing or disagreeing. She doesn't appear to understand some of the most important issues........ a vice presidential candidate who never even had a passport until last year........ there is a profound double standard in this country. The likes of John McCain and George W. Bush can do the craziest, most irresponsible things imaginable, and it only seems to help them politically. (Bob Herbert)
...... McCain stands revealed as a guy who can be easily rolled by anyone who sells him a plan for "victory," whether in Iraq or in Michigan. A McCain victory on Election Day will usher in a Palin presidency, with McCain serving as a transitional front man..... Aligning herself with "a young farmer and a haberdasher from Missouri" who "followed an unlikely path to the vice presidency," she read a quote from an unidentified writer who, she claimed, had praised Truman... who ascended to the presidency when an ailing president died in office. (Frank Rich)
...... an America that is focused first and foremost on drilling for oil is an America more focused on feeding its oil habit than kicking it...... the enthusiasm for oil drilling reminds me of someone who, on the eve of the I.T. revolution — on the eve of PCs and the Internet — is pounding the table for America to make more I.B.M. typewriters and carbon paper....As they say in Texas: "If all you ever do is all you've ever done, then all you'll ever get is all you ever got."... .. McCain who says that he would not sell his soul to win his party's nomination, is ready to sell every piece of his soul to win the presidency...... McCain talks about how he would build dozens of nuclear power plants. Oh, really? They go for billion a pop. Where is the money going to come from? From lowering taxes? From banning abortions? From borrowing more from China? From having Sarah Palin "reform" Washington — as if she has any more clue how to do that than the first 100 names in the D.C. phonebook? (Tom Friedman)
So do I stick to my prediction for an Obama-Biden landslide? Yes I do, with an additional note that the landslide will be preceded by an implosion of the Republican ticket. Much more severe than we anticipated.
without toss-up states, RealClearPolitics.com still shows Obama edge
