And the record lows for President Bush? And the nation’s sour mood — with eight in 10 saying the country is headed in the wrong direction? They don’t suggest an overwhelming Obama win?
Problems for McCain, certainly. Yet he’s the Republican running, not Bush — though even now Obama is casting McCain as a “Bush lite” who would give the nation, in effect, a third Bush term. McCain is less another Bush than Obama is another McGovern or Carter or Kerry or Gore.
The outcome?
The outcome is going to depend largely, as it should, on how the presidential campaign goes — on how the McCain grinder processes the Obama baloney. It also will depend on how many cranky Republicans withhold their votes from McCain, and how many Hillary Democrats (currently one-quarter in Ohio say they will, and one-third in Florida) dis Obama for McCain.
In his inky babble about “history” and “change,” Obama conceals his desires for surrender abroad and higher taxes at home. What — really — would he do to keep nuclear weapons out of the hands of a predatory Iran? Does he truly want to invade Pakistan? What sorts of individuals would he name to his cabinet, other high administration posts, and — critically — the federal courts?
So who is going to win?
Either Obama narrowly or McCain in a McGovern-like blow-out — depending. It will come down to what happens to the baloney in the grinder.
And will the vice-presidential choices matter?
Probably not much. But some possibles for Obama are Sen. Jim Webb or Gov. Tim Kaine of Virginia (or former Virginia Governor Mark Warner), or retired generals Wesley Clark or Merrill McPeak. For McCain, don’t be surprised if the choice is a sitting governor (Bobby Jindal of Louisiana, or Sarah Palin of Alaska, or Charlie Crist of Florida), Virginia Congressman Eric Cantor — or, yes, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. And here’s perhaps the ultimate McCain wild card: Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas.