It is crucial that voters do not feel overconfident about an Obama win.

Everyone needs to vote.

No skipping the election because you saw on the news that your state is going the way you want. It's not in the bag, and strange things have happened. They keep on happening, too.

Good article.

No doubt, the economy must turn around to help McCain. The good news is, it just might.

More generally, I think the wavering, closet racist, Bradley effect Democrats will get in line and vote for Obama. I am less sure what Rotarian republicans will do who are turned off by McCain's centrism and lack of focus on traditional republican issues (e.g., union bashing). My sense from conversations is that Ayres is helping with those voters, and to some extent, Republicans are just feeling there way toward McCain, without much help from the candidate. (Odes to Ted Kennedy and McCain-Feingold at the debates, notwithstanding). McCain really has no feel for his own party, despite making peace with the evangelical base (now very pleased with Sarah).

The biggest factor is whether the Obama hype and bubble will hold until election day, or pop sooner. I remember a major shift in how Bill Clinton was viewed, both before (the "choice of a new generation," cried Time magazine) and after his 1992 election (when people asked, "Ok, smart guy, what's next?"). There could be peril in "President Obama" taking up 30 minutes of TV time on the eve of the '29 crash, especially if the markets are no longer crashing. I would not do that, if I were him.

The legendary gambler "Nick the Greek" overheard a woman comment that she didn't like Thomas Dewey's mustache, and based on that, he placed a large bet on Truman and cleaned up. At least, that's the story. The point is, the slightest thing can tip an election, even if it's predicted to be a landslide

Between long-closeted white racism, overconfident stay-at-home-dems, rigged voting machines, the sheer stupidty of a country who "elected" George W. Bush twice, and the smug, Tina-Fey-fueled liberal confidence that Sahara Palin is a politcal liability...don't be surprised if McCain comes uncomfortably close to pulling this election off.

I think Obama will win, and I'll sleep a lot better knowing the President of the United States can at least look at an issue from more than one side before acting on it. But until it happens, I'm not sleeping very well...

This isn't over! It's not over. It hasn't been decided yet.

We can't afford to run out the clock.

Get out the vote. Get out and vote.

If Obama really is ahead, make it a landslide.

Don't get complacent!

Overconfidence only rewards the stupid.

I'd advise the Democrats to not count their chickens before they hatch. October isn't over yet and I'm thinking the Repugnicans will still pull a surprise! There's one name that's been all over the internet that the networks haven't brought to the surface....yet. Even though I believe this person is a liar, and was proven to be, I wouldn't be surprised if the Repugs pull him and his ridiculous story above ground soon. There's nothing they won't do to win. Be ready for anything.

I don't think it will matter either way (I think the election was sealed before the collapse, when McCain picked Palen and showed how shallow his commitment to experience and "Country First" was) but if I was to offer McCain advice, I would have him repudiate Rove, fire Schmidt, and, like Coleman, go completely positive the last three weeks. This would put him in the best position if Obama does slip up, and if he doesn't it will at least let him lose gracefully. He may also go a long way in rehabilitating the Republican Party and moving it away from the Atwater/Rove era.

He's still going to lose, but at least he can say he saved the soul of his party.

I'm THERE!

My absentee ballot with Barack Obama checked off as my choice for president of the United States is already off in the mail.

It's nice to see this article and the previous letters warning Democrats not to get complacent.

But the fact remains, the Republicans wouldn't know how to run a fair election if their lives depended on it. They cheat! Remember Nixon?

How about Reagan with his stolen copy of Jimmy Carter's 1980 debate strategy book? Or Reagan's use of the the FAA to throw a monkey wrench in Mondale/Ferrarro's campaign by repeatedly "inspecting" their campaign planes?

Then there was Bush, Sr.'s attempts to red-bait Clinton by saying Clinton was demonstrating against the Vietnam War in Moscow. (To the Freepers who might be lurking here, not once did he offer any proof of Clinton's activities).

Then there was the eight-year Whitewater Witch Hunt. The Rethuglicans were such sore losers over 1992, they were determined to make the Clintons' life hell, with help from their friends in the mainstream media.

Then there was the Supreme Court illegally intervening in the 2000 election. Sorry folks, Ralph Nader had nothing to do with that. That was all Kennedy, Scalia, Thomas and O'Connor's doing.

In 2004, there is a growing body of evidence that the Rethugs tampered with the outcome of Ohio, thereby stealing another election.

The mechanism to do the same vote stealing via electronic machines is still there, folks. You can bitch and moan about Ralph Nader or other piddlin' third party candidates, or you can be ready to throw down, on the streets if need be, to make sure this election goes the way the people want it.

The choice is yours.

I forgot to include Reinquist among that unholy quintet who stole the 2000 election.

@ Jameka

If you mean the nutjob I think you mean, then no way!

McCain would be laughed out of town, and all serious commentators would put a stake through his campaign's dead heart.

I don't think it matters much whether McCain goes negative or positive. If the markets come back, McCain could bounce - we saw it last weekend after the Palin debate and bailout bill passed, when McCain inexplicably went to a 2-3 point deficit in Zogby, Hotline, and CBS. That evaporated just as quickly when the stomach flu returned to Wall Street.

Obama is not going to make a mistake, the media is not going to like anything McCain does, and the fundamentals of the race are not going to change. It really is the economy, stupid. Rebound, and McCain's personality contest has an even money chance of success. Falter, and it does not.