The world is upside down again - Greg is posting cold water posts and Eric is topping him with good news.

O my brain!

How can the situation still be "fluid" when the polls are consistently rising for McLame?

I don't care what that AFL-CIO says - it's bullshit.

Gwen Ifill HAS to remove herself from moderating the debate. I mean writing a book on "Age of Obama" politics and moderating the debate doesn't pass the smell test.

http://hotlineblog.nationaljournal.com/archives/2008/10/pbs_ifill_writi.html

For every cloud....

I have to say that I am absolutely loving listening to talk (i.e. Republican) radio on the way home these days. These clowns have NO talking points: they hate Bush and his impotent ineptitude with a passion since he betrayed them on the bailout and demonstrated how bankrupt neocon social and fiscal policies are. They can't stand McCain because he has no credibility nor realistic alternatives to offer (plus he's not a "true Republican"). All they can do now is stretch their tiny minds to find ways to blame this fiscal shitstorm on "failed liberal policies" of the last 8 years....which they can't find in their hearts to correctly attribute to the Republicans. Talk about cognative dissonance -- they are foaming at the mouth and are totally incoherent! A more dispirited and desperate bunch I have never heard the likes of before. Truly a delight to hear and brings me to full-on hysterical laughter several times a night for the past two weeks.

I think we are etting closer to the non-event numbers right about now. Last week was a week of hysteria.

Obama has a healthy lead and is closing the gap in swing states. He has a non-event lead in the Kerry states plus New Mexico, Iowa and Colorado -leads he kept through the height of the Palin/RNC bounce (poll of polls).

If I recally correctly from the primaries, the only state the poll of polls got wrong was new Hampshire - and that showed Clinton leading forever and then a huge Obama bounce in the last week.

I'd be sacred of Ifill is I were the candidates - she flat own pwned Edwards and Cheney on the HIV-southern black woman question in 04. Of course, no one really gave a darned that neither guy could answer the question but she did a great job of exposing both of them. I think the moderators should reserve one question for "this is the crap that keeps me up at night and
I could care less what anybody else thinks about the validity of this question"

I think Ifill will be unbiased and fair, and not just because this book thing came up. While I'm sure she's a Dem, she's always struck me as pretty fair. People will judge her based on her performance. She doesn't need to overcompensate by taking it easy on Palin and going tough on Biden, she just needs to be fair.

I LOVE the stability over the last 6 days in 3 of the 4 tracking polls. The best is that Obama has held a 5-6pt lead in the Rasmussen daily over the last 6 days and during that time, he has been at or above 50 in the Ras poll. Gallup, as usual, is the one that shows goofy day-to-day swings. I guess that's due to the fact that they don't weight by party ID.

Hey folks, this is off topic but I think it interesting enough to bring up here.

The Weird Universe web site (www.weirduniverse.net) has an article discussing McCain's use of "Tongue-Jutting." The article quites retired FBI agent Joe Navarro as saying:

Tongue-jutting behavior is a gesture used by people who think they have gotten away with something or are “caught” doing something... This behavior has several meanings – depending on specific situations – but is usually associated with one of these: I got caught (taking candy from a drawer), gleeful excitement (look at what I just did, Mom), I got away with something (and I didn’t get caught), I did something foolish, or I am naughty.

This behavior is common in predatory animals also, which leads to the finishing quote:

So the question is, was McCain's tongue jutting more reptilian or primate? i.e. was it more predatory in nature, or sociosexual? I'll leave that to you readers to decide.

The article can be found at http://www.weirduniverse.net/blog/permalink/tongue_jutting/. The site they are referencing is http://www.fivethirtyeight.com/2008/09/tongue-jut.html.

Hey, I like Gwen but must admit, she's as MSM as the rest. She knows how to toe the line and she's used to where the line is (think of WashWeek sponsors such as Boeing, etc. hanging over her head) I think bringing the issue of her book up at the last minute is an attempt to get her rattled. She will have this in the back of her mind before every pitch and thus will lob softer balls. Grounds for Wingnut excuses are secondary as a purpose and only a side benefit. Psych Ifill and Palin goes home a free hockey mom. I think i would pull Gwen out of the game and get a reliever.