Barack Obama keeps riding high; John McCain talks about growing the pie
Friday, October 24th 2008, 4:00 AM
Barack Obama
Up Arrow: Obama remains ahead in Florida and Ohio in new polling. He could lose both and still easily get to 273 electoral votes. If he wins them both, the only betting left will be over the spread. RealClearPolitics now predicts a 146-vote margin.
Up Arrow: Colin Powell delivers Obama the most sought-after endorsement in America, and flatly calls Sarah Palin not ready for primetime in the process. The Rush Limbaugh whine that this is about race only makes things worse for the GOP.
Down Arrow: At a Seattle event, a classic Joe Biden blather: “It will not be six months before the world tests Barack Obama like they did John Kennedy … We’re gonna have an international crisis, a generated crisis.” Like another Biden speech?
Down Arrow: Looks like the “welfare” and “socialism” attacks – which flay the Obama plans to give refundable credits to those who pay no federal income taxes – are working. Obama alters one of his proposals to insert a work requirement.
Up Arrow: Obama raises a whopping, eye-popping, show-stopping, Nordstrom-shopping (well, maybe not that part) $150 million in September. Expect even more in October. That will keep McCain on defense from sea to shining sea.
John McCain
Up Arrow: McCain isn’t faring well state by state – but there are rumblings about an evangelical surge. And a new AP poll has him just a single point back nationally. It’s an outlier to say the least – but enough to let him shout, “Yes we can.”
Down Arrow: The reg’lar lady, hockey mom label is officially skating on millimeter thin ice, with the revelation that the Republican National Committee spent $150,000 on clothing and other “campaign accessories” to make Sarah Palin look fabulous.
Down Arrow: Two more Palin pains: She answers a third-grader’s question by saying the vice president is “in charge” of the Senate (he/she is not). And a report reveals that, as governor, she billed Alaskan taxpayers for her children’s travel.
Up Arrow: Joe the Plumber may not be quite the icon the McCain campaign would like him to be, but the steady drumbeat arguing that Obama would raise taxes at the top to fund giveaways to the bottom is accurate – and could stick.
Down Arrow: Despite a few decent days, the Dow keeps heading in the direction of this arrow. When you throw in rising home foreclosures and growing unemployment, it all adds up to a bowl of poisoned porridge for McCain and Palin.
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