I think Team McCain is paranoid that he's going to stop looking competitive and if that happens the bottom might fall out, especially if looks more and more desperate. I do hope that Team Obama does not get complacent and does not let up, especially during the debates because Johnny Mac is going to come out swinging. Now is the time to bury McCain, if possible.

Definite sign of alarm.

They're busily trying to make sure that conventional wisdom doesn't solidify behind Obama the way that "Voters just want to have a beer with Bush" did in 2000.

They're busily trying to frame the "the media is biased towards Obama" narrative (utterly laughable, given the history of McCain and the media) at the same time.

And also trying to burnish Palin's pathetic foreign policy credentials with the speed-dating approach.

And, finally, trying to stomp down the Rick Davis story.

All in all, the McCain campaign is trying to do a lot of things right now, and that can't be good for the campaign: too unfocused and reactionary.

Which is just the way I like to see them.

This argument is bullshit and the WAPO data demonstrates it. When McCain was leading in this very same poll by two points, the likely voter breakdown was: 35(D), 26(R), 33(I). Compared to: 36(D), 26(R), 31(I). I can't imagine the one point increase in self-identifying Democrats resulted in the huge swing in this poll.

This underscores just how scared shitless the McCain campaign is right now. As someone said a couple of days ago, their internals must be atrocious.

Denial is an accurate indicator of a diseased mind!

Isn't the WSJ/ MSNBC poll due out today? That will be an interesting addition to the conversation, no doubt.

What liars.

The breakout is 38 28. Thats the comparison to the HISTORIC numbers. Its 10. Not 16. 10 is WELL WITHIN historic ranges. Assholes.

Oh, wait, you are referencing the 48 28 number that is the result of asking Independents to choose a party. A question that has no relation to historic numbers. Oh, I see. Well in that case lets just reference the number of coffee drinkers vs tea drinkers to make our fucking case.

These guys are so blatant in their mangling of the truth - that it honestly astonishes me. Someone please - call them out on their bullshit.

Can't help laughing about this. If the poll is an outlier it will prove out over the next week, but McCain will still have gone crying to Mommy. If the poll is accurate then McCain will still have gone crying to Mommy. Yeah that's who America needs in the White House, a Momma's boy. Another thing, outlier or not the poll supports the general trend toward Obama whether it is accurate or not.

Daily Kos has McCain gaining 2 points today in his Obama-skewed poll down to a 4-point gap behind Obama and Kos has the highest Dem ID margin (9 points) of any of the daily trackers (most of which have a 5-point Dem ID margin). So even KOs can tell you the Washington Post poll is garbage.

If Obama were actually 9 points ahead (doing 11 points better than Kerry), Obama would be ahead in OH by 9 and in FL by 6 and in MN by 14 but the state polls show nothing of the sort.

The RCP average (including the Post poll) is around O + 3 and that sounds about right.

Well all of you who were looking for this silly ape yesterday have had your wishes answered. Here is Zaius.

Have at him!

Heh, how cute. *pets the McCain camp* Panic looks pretty funny on them.

WALL STREET's RECKONING!
(Yet, it Took 10 Years to Raise MinWage $1.00)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S27yitK32ds

"Rule one: Rush the decision. Time the game to fall in the week before Congress is set to adjourn and just 6 weeks before an historic election so your opponents will be preoccupied, pressured, distracted, and in a hurry.

Rule two: Disarm the public through fear. Warn that the entire global financial system will collapse and the world will fall into another Great Depression. Control the media enough to ensure that the public will not notice this. Bailout will indebt them for generations, taking from them trillions of dollars they earned and deserve to keep.

Rule three: Control the playing field and set the rules. Hide from the public and most of the Congress just who is arranging this deal. Communicate with the public through leaks to media insiders. Limit any open congressional hearings. Communicate with Congress via private teleconferencing calls. Heighten political anxiety by contacting each political party separately. Treat Members of Congress condescendingly, telling them that the matter is so complex that they must rely on those few insiders who really do know what's going on!"

Didn't David Plouffe contest the WaPo post when McCain was ahead?

All of this proves my theory of the mcShame campaign. They have only two strategies: Lie & Cry (wolf).

This is the Crying Phase...

When USelessAToday/Gallup put McCain up by 10 points, 54-44, the Obama team didn't panic. I believe they were asked about it and they responded calmly, but didn't make a big deal about it.

The McCain camp is really starting to get into Nixonian paranoia now. They've caged Palin, have legal teams in Alaska trying to stomp out all the new fires that are starting there, they refuse to even let their surrogates answer questions on Palingate, and they blame the press for pointing out their own scandals and lies. It's just them, Fox News, and hate radio now -- circling the wagons against the world.

And all this without a single mention yet of Keating 5 or McCain covering up his wife's stealing from her charity to fund her drug habit. If the press really does take a dislike to McCain -- and it is a distinct possibility now -- look for those stories to enter the news cycle a few times.

As I said yesterday -- this election would be fun and interesting were the consequences not so dire.

The pushback from the McCain camp is odd and disingenuous. McInturff targets the party ID numbers, but if you look at the internals, they're nearly identical to the last ABC/WaPo poll. If this one is an outlier on the grounds of party ID, then what about the last poll? Was the last poll, the one that had McCain up 49 to 47, but with nearly identical part ID numbers, an outlier, too?

Also, this pushback reminds me a lot of what happened to the Seltzer poll that was done in Iowa before the Iowa caucuses. The line was essentially: "There's no way that people would turnout in those numbers on election day!" Well, guess what, they did.

Sure, we have a long way (in political time) to go, and anything can happen, and no one knows what the final turnout will be, but one thing is clear: People are starting to trust, and even prefer, Obama's ability to lead. That's a bad sign for McCain anyway they try to spin it.

List of Signals that the McCain-Palin camp is scared shitless:

1. Call the polls BS.
2. Blame the media for everything.
3. Keep hiding Palin from questioning.
4. Continued use of lies even if they have been discredited by the press.
5. They start investing in states they once took for granted (NC, IN, FL, etc.)
6. 527 are using the Wright card already.
7. They keep stealing the slogans and themes of Obama's campaign.
8. More trolls with stupid arguments keep showing in sites like TPM to try to demoralize us.
9. Try to stop high voting registration and turnout in some states.
10.They don't know what to say about the economy.

The prognosis can't be more certain: They are scared shitless!

The McCain camp is really starting to get into Nixonian paranoia now. They've caged Palin, have legal teams in Alaska trying to stomp out all the new fires that are starting there,

You know I've been thinking about all those high-powered lawyers who were dispatched to Alaska - who's paying for them? That's millions of dollars right there - those guys charge up to $300 an hour for their time and more.

The poll that really matters...

http://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/maps/obama_vs_mccain/?map=10

Obama 273, McCain 265 in the electoral college poll of polls. And this is with Obama losing Virginia, Ohio, and Florida. This projection has not changed since 8/24.

Voted for Barack yesterday, sent him $50 a little while ago. Cautiously optimistic!

"Historic voting models" just don't apply, any more than historic economic models...

WTF is this guy talking about the party affiliations were 38-28, up from 38 - 26 on 9/7 when McCain was +2 in this same poll.

That difference is 1 point max of the 9 point lead...

Per the poll article:
"Partisanship has not significantly changed.

Among registered voters 38 percent in this poll identify themselves as Democrats, 28 percent as Republicans and 29 percent as independents. That's very similar to what it was in the last ABC News/Washington Post poll -- 36-28-32 percent -- the previous one, and indeed the average all year, 38-28-30 percent.

What's changed, instead, is the preference among independents, one of those swing voter groups to watch closely in the next 40 days."

All these polls are sexist obviously.

Watch Iowa's poll numbers right up to the election... the national numbers will eventually match them.

Anyone else gettng a bit suspicious of Rassmussen? Seems they are consistently bent rightward lately.

Probably no one more than Rass and Zog NEED a protracted "close" race. When the gap widens to 10 points, the public simply stops seeking out the polls for perspective.

Rasmussen has changed their party ID to reflect more Republicans that's why it tilts right-ward. The reason why Rasmussen did that because he said there has been more GOP "enthusiasm" because of Palin.

Thus I have been taking Rasmussen numbers with a grain of salt.

I've been desperately waiting for this 1st debate, now it's time to bury McShame once and for all.
I don't except less than a very good debate from Barack, with McShame put on defense, forced to justify his shameless and poor judgment over the past 8 years...
Barack, this is your moment, hit him hard in order to make him appear foolish in front national tv.

The McCampaign is deeply and so desperately panicked that they still wanna convinced themselves that these polls are accurate, but for them and not for Barack lol !

Dear Mr. Magoo:

Good News: This poll is an outlier

Bad News: You are an out and out liar

Worse News: Nearly all polls show Obama with a lead, and amongst some polls that haven't always favored him, the lead seems to be growing still.

Panicking over one poll??!! The bottom must be starting to fall out.

This is like the Edwards' camp response after the Iowa Daily Register poll that showed Obama in the lead, and that projected a 200,000 turnout instead of the 140,000 turnout the Edwards' camp was predicting. "There is nothing in the history to support that projection," they said then.

"There is nothing in the history to support that projection," the Republicans are saying now.

And that's the point, motherfuckers.

Now us democrats need to STOP BEING HYPOCRITS. If this poll showed McCain up the first thing we would look at is the crosstabs and if they show a skewed Party ID we would be in an uproar. We DEFINITELY have a party id advantage of probably 5-10 points but 16 is a stretch folkes.