American Patrol

Meditate on this, children-- after a summer spent contradicting himself, being caught in lie after lie, and basically running the worst Presidential campaign since Dole '96, John McCain is making ground in swing state polls in Minnesota, Colorado, Wisconsin, Michigan, Florida, Ohio, and Pennsylvania. Let us contemplate the possible whys of this situation for whatever enlightenment might be gleaned:

1) Polls taken in summer "silly season" this many weeks before the election probably don't amount to much in the big picture.

2) Despite the pathetic and often internally contradictory nature of McCain's proposals for what he'd actually do as President, which consist largely of good old Republican faith-based Clap for Tinkerbell economics and a lot of bombing and shooting, his overriding campaign theme, which has devolved into the slogan "Obama: He Thinks He's So Big," has found a foothold in the conciousness of a nation that re-elected George W. Bush.

3) The media, dependent as they are on an ongoing conflict to weave their narratives, have done a demonstrably piss-poor job of presenting the true nature of McCain's campaign.

4) The collected works of P.T. Barnum.