Too Early to Get Nervous

We all woke up to the Gallup/USA Today poll, with McCain 10 points over Obama. You see the numbers, however we might parse them in terms of convention bounces, etc., and it makes you jittery.

On the other hand, if it were exactly reversed, which it practically was the other day, but at 8 points, it wouldn't give me any great sense of security. And that's why we shouldn't be overly nervous now. Things are bound to fluctuate, depending on who the pollsters are calling, who answers, all that.

One that is very hard for me to actually believe, that people are changing their minds that often. We've been hearing it ever since the 2000 election what a divided nation we are. Assuming that's true, people are more or less set in their ways. There may be that group of independents in the middle, but I can't believe they're simply changing their minds every couple days. Some of this has to be like what McCain said at the convention, ground noise and static.

The other reason it's too early to be overly nervous is we still have a long ways to go, two months, involving hundreds of millions of dollars in advertisements and four debates. I know we've been disappointed before, with the phoniness of the expectations game and all that, but I believe we'll see a more intelligent debater in Obama. And not just intelligence in terms of being able to run circles around McCain, but intelligence in how to handle himself. That means, no big sighs and no brahmin like qualities ganging up on the average guy.

Some of McCain's bounce is no doubt due to this she-devil, Sarah Palin. That seems like it would be short-lived because of her rather obvious downside: 1) ultra right-wing ideology; 2) obvious lying about her record and past. The "Bridge to Nowhere" might be her ticket back to oblivion, if people (and the media) would focus more on the truth of the matter and less on her claims.

One thing is for sure: this country needs change and deliverance from the Bush years. To say we could get very nervous is the plain truth, because we do not want another four years of corruption, misgovernment, and lost opportunities. But right now, we're still far enough out, there's time for everything to turn around and for Obama to win handily.