In 1992, it was the "it's the economy, stupid" mantra that carried the day. That may be still true given this week's events, but the Dems and Repubs split more often than not along cultural values. Palin was a culturally safe choice so that McCain could put that piece of his coalition together instantly and he could then be free to chase independent voters. The fact that she was devoid of any specific qualifications for VP was something the voters would decide, not Salon readership.

Palin's assignment was to glue together cultural conservatives and keep them in the fold and maybe pick up a few lost HRC stragglers along the way. For that matter, she has succeeded. Now that the "base" is appeased, McCain was supposed to do his thing and close the gap with Obama with the few independents that remain. McCain has failed to keep his end of the bargain and that is where we are today. All of this venting against Palin by Salon liberals is misdirected because her job is to simply to keep Kansas red, period.

Guys:

I would be worrying more about the economy than worrying about what some dude said at a political rally. Like it's going change anybody's mind. Obama has this thing so wrapped up it won't even be worth voting on November 4th, or is it the 5th?

Now, with all this extra time and money on Obama hands, the thing he has to be worrying about is apathy, particularly women between the ages of 18-30. This group is notorious for not voting at the last minute because "it's boring to stand in line" or "I thought it was tomorrow".

This thread is filling up with silliness about Nazis, Goering, Hitler, etc. which is totally retarded. I suppose there is a 1st amendment right to be stupid all at once. However, there is now a widespread view that the election is essentially over and Obama has won. For some people that is unthinkable and for others, there is fear and trepidation about Obama's safety. All of the above is true except that the Nazis have nothing to do with any of it. McCain has the right to connect Obama to Ayres because Ayres is a left-wing terrorist and that is that. You can accept the connection as meaningful, or not.

I trust you don't believe anything you write because, if so, you are delusional. I suggest you try reading non-fiction for starters and maybe stay away from the comic strips until after Nov 4th.

With Obama's declaration that he will move into Pakistan and clean out the Taliban types, why would OBL sit back and let Obama win?

Osama may have an October surprise in the works that puts McCain "back in business" and keeps Obama guessing.

He did it once before in Madrid to flip the election in favor of the Socialists and the result was a withdrawal from Iraq of Spanish troops.

I am surprised the author did not include this.

Obama has this thing all locked up. He is now on cruise control. Why even bother to vote. If you live in a major blue state, the pros aleady have counted your vote, so why bother to even show up.

If you live in a red state or a swing state, you should vote "early and often".

I am surprised that McCain has run such a poor compaign. He deserves to lose on that account alone. He will win only the "reddest" of red states due strictly to cultural values and not substance. I can't make any sense of his proposals other than the standard stuff adopted by the GOP platform. I have no confidence that he will bring good people into his administration, he lacks "gravitas" and seriousness on most issues, he is tempermental and quirky in dealing with people, I don't think he is a good manager or a particularly creative thinker.

Other than these observations, he is probably a good senator and a good guy to have a beer with. Joe Biden thinks so.

Obama has this thing wrapped-up and he knows it. He will clean up because (i) McCain has run a progressively lousy campaign (ii) the economy is bad but that has been good news for Obama and (iii) enough white people will have voted for a black man just like lots of black folks have voted for white people all these years.

I would discount many of the theories presented in this article until we see if Obama's coalition of blacks and other minorites, young educated whites and urban elites actually bother to vote. This may sound ridiculous but only 25-30% of this group bothers to vote. For some reason, they don't vote their numbers and they rely on the other major Democratic demographics to pull more of their weight: union members, Catholic moderates, retired Jews and older suburban white women. This is why the dems don't win national elections: one or two of their natural constituencies forgets to vote. The absolute worst is single women 18-30 years old. This demographic is solidly democratic if only they would get off their butts and vote.

Obama is counting on getting out the "no shows" which will offset expected losses among lesser-educated whites (unionized or not). Frosting on the cake will be disillusioned moderate Republicans who think Sarah Palin's is a joke and can't see her as POTUS anytime soon, if ever.