McCain's also hurting badly in the money fight. $84m is a lot of money for McCain. But the Obama base could conceivably raise that in a month, especially given how the growth in his donor base seems to be accelerating. Hell, Obama's going to spend half that much in Florida alone as they ramp it up for the final stretch.
And the RNC's going to see its donations dry up if Obama starts crippling McCain, which means the ground game -- what little of it they have (and what little they have is almost all in Florida for some reason) -- will collapse. Their senatorial and congressional committees are already in dire straits, financially. If the RNC's cashflow starts disappearing, they're going to be defenseless.
They just poured $750k into Indiana. Yes, Indiana. A state Bush won by twenty points.
You can see how things start piling on them in one state after another.
And I'd imagine Obama will likely re-enter Missouri and maybe even Georgia or Montana if things really start moving. At some point, if this continues, too little money could combine with being too spread out, and Obama would simply bleed them to death.
The pundits are, so far, spectacularly wrong. Obama has redrawn the map. And it's starting to show finally. Conservatives want live babies so they can raise them to be dead soldiers. - George Carlin
One more bit of new CW: McCain gets two more shots at winning this, and it will be on territory that's bad for him. Of course expectations for McCain will be lower, but expectations management doesn't matter now. He needs to land a knock-out either in the second, or preferably in the third debate and needs to outperform Obama in both.
And you know, this is a guy who just is not interested at all in domestic issues. In McCain's case, that tends to show. Eehm... understatement. It tends to bleed through the screen.
P.S. John McCain: Stuntman. Or John 'Stunt' McCain. How does it sound? McCain's ability to do anything ground-changing outside of the debates should by all rights be dead now. News media = still bad, but not '04 swiftboat-era bad anymore. It helps that McCain has very bad taste in stunts.
John McCain, Stuntman - NJVoices: Jim Dooley
Senator McCain has just now pulled a political stunt, and is making no bones about it. Such it is, such is the man, such is the state of American politics on the big stage of political theater. We have something to marvel over for an hour. It is in the nature of stunts that they appeal not to reason but to our sense of wonder. Holy smoke, did you see that? What the .... was that? We are a people who have been made by Hollywood, comic books, and the boob tube, so grabbing our attention with a stunt is not as easy as it once was. We present ourselves lately as a different kind of rube. Generally speaking, it is reality that knocks us for the loop, though usually not for long and without much effect. Before long we are back to our usual entertainments. But to give McCain his due, he has pulled off a good one that featured plenty of risk. The question is for how long will it play.
I never know anymore. A vivid image of what should exist acts as a surrogate for reality. Pursuit of the image then prevents pursuit of the reality -- John K. Galbraith
Inside John McCain's campaign the expectation is growing that there will be a popularity boosting pre-election wedding in Alaska between Bristol Palin, 17, and Levi Johnston, 18, her schoolmate and father of her baby. "It would be fantastic," said a McCain insider. "You would have every TV camera there. The entire country would be watching. It would shut down the race for a week."
Ah the happy scene. As traditional an american scene as they come, authoritarianism and forced pregnancy all wrapped up in a small town megamedia bonanza, brought to you exclusively by the highest bid network live in your sitting room.....and now a word from our sponsor keep to the Fen Causeway
Conservatives want live babies so they can raise them to be dead soldiers. - George Carlin
And my fav:
I laughed so hard I nearly crapped in my pants.
Gold.... pure gold... The Dr. Evil poster is genius....
Many...so many...jokes.... Conservatives want live babies so they can raise them to be dead soldiers. - George Carlin
It helps that McCain hasvery bad taste in stunts.
No, Mig, I'm afraid this as real as it gets. Conservatives want live babies so they can raise them to be dead soldiers. - George Carlin
But if they're doing the wedding, the poster is totally believable. Conservatives want live babies so they can raise them to be dead soldiers. - George Carlin
Tina Fey part-literally copied the stumbling lines in the latest Saturday Night Live skit (see this Clemons post). Very effective.
Only in a more professional and measured way, obviously.
I kid you not: Tina Fey used Palin's exact words. Conservatives want live babies so they can raise them to be dead soldiers. - George Carlin
What can you say? Tina Fey is more credible as VP.
And if she doesn't want to be VP, she could always play one on TV.
