Or do you think that prosceniums and decorative columns in theaters reflect hubris?

no, i don't; i saw the convention speech and wasn't bothered by the columns. but some people i know -- not republicans -- did notice and did find them odd. at this point it's really not about the perceptions of those of us who are already planning to vote obama -- it's about the undecideds (and really, who knows what might bother these people?) and what in the presentation might open obama to some last-minute attack. you can bet they'll be going over it with a fine tooth comb. i read in the NYT, by the way, that the ad will include obama sitting at a "presidential"-looking desk with an american flag addressing the audience directly for part of the time; there will also be live footage of him down in florida.

i'm in agreement with you with regards to the overall brilliance of this campaign in terms of presentation, visuals, message -- all light years beyond previous incarnations of anything we've seen before from either party. i think the tone of the whole campaign owes a lot to obama's personality and gifts as a communicator.

as i say, the question of the ads is a good problem to have, a sort of luxury, and i hope it comes off as you trust it will. the campaign has earned our trust. and again, i guess we'll see.

as a detroit fan, here's how i'd rank the titles won by local teams:

1) tigers 1984 -- nothing sweeter than a world series win

2) red wings 1997 -- 1st stanley cup of my lifetime, and a long wait for the city

3) wings 2002 -- yzerman's last dance

4) wings 2008 -- what can i say, i'm a hockey fan

5) pistons 2004 -- sweet to unseat the lakers

6) tie -- everything else: wings 98, pistons 89, 90

----all that said, nothing quite burns like the ones where the wait has been the longest. i'd kill for another series win, and what can you say about the lions at this point?

and congrats to the phillies.

It was perhaps a deliberately brilliant piece of satire to have McCain/"Palin" making a pitch on the QVC network -- especially the part where Fey turns to the display of "Joe" action figures on a table off to the side. The McCain campaign HAS in fact been selling a collection of characters to the American people, archetypes taken from a bad commedia dell'arte sketch. First, the "Joe Sixpack" / "Joe the Plumber" types -- the first of whom was a deliberately vague figure meant to stand for a particular type of person, the second (equally as mythological, as it turned out) a particular person meant to stand for a whole group of people. Every campaign does this, but -- starting with Palin-as-hockey mom and McCain-as-prisoner, going on through the endless iterations (Tito the Builder, etc.) -- this version has taken it to a whole new level.

Of course, no commedia dell-arte set would be complete without a dark, dastardly villain. That role is being filled for the McCain campaign by Obama the Other [fill in the frightening type of your choice].

All one needs to do to see how empty this is, is look at the rhetoric coming from the other side. Obama-Biden is talking about actual hope and solutions to the economic problems facing the country. Not trying to trot out a bunch of empty action figures.

I don't see it. Even with the "tightening" in PA, Obama still seems to have a sizable lead there. It's interesting to me that McCain is pouring just about everything into that state, while seemingly more attainable prizes like OH and FL are not being emphasized as much. The logic seems to be that they know they must win at least two out of three of these states, and are hoping for a miracle there, supplemented by a whole string of minor miracles elsewhere.

Stranger things have happened. And for whatever reason, it may indeed wind up tighter than many polls are currently predicting. But with less than 48 hours till voting time, it just seems like too much ground to try to make up.

I read the article -- skimmed it, really, as parts of it really made me gag. Towards the end Kristol evokes the "inside straight" metaphor in describing McCain's scenario for winning tomorrow. The problem is, Obama's the poker player; McCain's game is craps. So he's looking for a "hard eight" at this point. House numbers everywhere else.

And thanks for the "theoretical sympathy," Bill, but I really think you'd better save it for the wingnuts who already believe Obama will win because he's "hypnotized" us, and that he's secretly raising a civilian army to do -- I don't know what, exactly (see the letters thread in Joan's column if you need examples). These people are going to need serious help.

Finally, the most condescending part of the column is Kristol's speculating on "good" a McCain win might be for the liberal cause. The idea is that an Obama win would re-energize the right and give us Palin in 2012, and maybe it's best if we wander off and do some more soul-searching... as if the past 8 years haven't been enough. Thanks, Bill, but no thanks. The country really can't afford it.

going to bed feeling hopeful and confident.

when we wake up, it's time to go vote. this is it!

i've voted in four different states now, but i've never voted using old lever-pull machines before; when i first stepped into the booth, it took me a few minutes to figure out how to do it! there was a poll-worker nearby who helped me, and the whole experience took about five minutes. lines were forming for various booths based on polling district, but luckily no one else was waiting at mine when i arrived. aside from the strangeness of the antiquated machines, no problems at all.

i'm wiping my ass with your "inside straight" column in the nyt right now...