The Race Tightens, and So Does My Throat [ by James Linkin] [News You Can Abuse]
October 20, 2008I don’t know about you, but now that the pundits have declared this race over, I’m starting to panic.
I’ll try to go easy on the sports metaphors here. To win, you have to run through the finish line.
I was all set to mock McCain for making the classic mistake of memes in the final debate when he declared that “I’m not George Bush.” It reminded me oh so much of Nixon’s declaration, “I am not a crook.” Thereafter, no one was able to separate “Nixon” and “crook” in their minds.
But incredibly, polls indicate that enough people, people who are actually allowed to vote, may be buying McCain’s line. And that might give him just enough credibility to sneak back in this race. A look at the New York Times electoral vote breakdown gives me a sense of high anxiety.
Five states are tossups: Ohio, North Carolina, Florida, Colorado, and Nevada. All went for Bush twice, at least by the official tally. So if McCain carries them, and he has two weeks to pull them out, then he needs to steal only nine more electoral votes from among the Democratic leaners to defeat Obama. It could be New Hampshire and New Mexico, or just Pennsylvania, or just Virginia (is Virginia really leaning Democratic?), or just Wisconsin, or just Minnesota, or just Washington State. A single solitary slip-up from among any of half a dozen states and we’re toast.
So don’t stop working those phones. And don’t yet mothball your plans to retire in Central America.
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