This is a guy who has good ideas, presents himself really, and is looking very presidential.

Question: why is he losing ground in so many key states?

I think this article shows how bad things are for Sen. McCain.

http://www.realclearpolitics.com/...

Larry Sabato seems to be working really hard at coming up with a plausible scenario where McCain pulls this out. I have no real issue with his solid and likely scenarios with the exception of Indiana and Montana. They are considered solid Republican states. Has anyone looked at the polls there???? That is more likely a tossup or leaner.

Leans and tossups are where the disagreement lies.

This is another metaphor that allows  people to shrug off responsibility for their actions and policies.

"the political climate" did not just happen. What the republicans are experiencing is the result of people being pissed off at the results of how they ran the country for the last 7 years. This is not "happening" to John McCain. John McCain is one of a group of people whose policies were implemented with complete forethought(at least they wanted them implemented whether they knew what the hell they were doing or not is different).  Three lost interim elections is a direct result of failed Republican policies.

I realize this will be quite short and I apologize for that.

I have noticed that there don't seem to be any super delegate declarations today. It would have made sense that following yesterday's primaries, we would have seen a pretty consistent drumbeat of declarations.

I find it useful from time to time to see what is going on over there.

http://www.redstate.com/...

Today in between very warm (no really) wishes for Sen. Kennedy, I found the above general election projection.

It is interesting to see that they believe McCain can pull out Ohio and Michigan.  

What would it take to keep those two states voting Democratic?

I have no idea if this is true or not, but according to the AP, apparently a vessel under "contract" to the US fired on an Iranian vessel.

http://biz.yahoo.com/...

Last year, I published a diary asking how low would President Bush go in approval ratings by June 2008.

http://www.dailykos.com/...

Of course, we are not there yet but I was impressed at how bad things are for "dear leader".  Looking at a www.realclearpolitics.com 's aggregate site as well as www.pollster.com 's aggregate site, it looks like we were pretty much on target, his approval rating is in the high 20's right now with most polls having him around 28%.

I was better off in 2000 than I was in 1992 and I am now.  I suspect most people in this country can make that same statement.  And that is an important standard to use to view a president. I realize it is an applause line for Sen. Clinton, but what part of the 90's did we not like? The peace or the prosperity?  I would request that everyone here ask that question and then ask if they expect a return to that with a McCain presidency?

As we bludgeon various members of our party, I hope people will remember that we have and have had a number of candidates that are far better than what the other side had to work with.

Aside from the last couple election cycles, the nominee has almost never been decided this early.  Let's all take a deep breath and let the process work.  The process helps us vet our candidates so that we really know who they are and how they stand up under pressure.

On the whole, I lean toward Obama but would happy vote for Sen. Clinton if she is our nominee.

Instead of getting too distracted by what happens today, let's spend our time and energies talking about their agendas.  

and they are scared....

http://online.wsj.com/...

Stephen Hayes does a very interesting job of dissecting Sen. Obama's rhetoric.

My comment on the NY Times discussion of the ARG poll showing Mr Bush at 19% approval:

I am bored to tears by the tone of this site right now.

The differences between our front runners are pretty minor and really don't tell you a whole hell of a lot about how either would govern.  

Both are good people and streets ahead of what the other side has to offer. These are vital, strong people in the primes of their lives. They are ready to pull this country out of the ditch that we have been stuck in since 2001.

I think HRC would be tough enough to take out the Republicans and I think Obama would rise above the fray.  It is time for us to relax a bit and be thankful we aren't trying to rationalize McCain or Romney.

How is that for a pretentious title?

That being said,  the republicans have a potential problem with their base. None of these guys is really going to be conservative enough for them.

Therefore, I recommend we celebrate the similarities on hot button right wing issues. Where their guy does not toe the party line, we run ads on the right wing and Christian radio stations thanking the republican candidate for his moderate stance.  

HRC does not find a lot of love around here.  But I would suggest you look at what the conservatives think of their front runner.

http://www.amconmag.com/...

But not by those who matter.

I am a firmly undecided voter at this point.  I like a lot of what I see in all of our candidates and am pretty comfortable with all of our front runners.

That being said, there was a very instructive link on www.andrewsullivan.com this morning.  It provides the state of the polls a bit less than four years ago for the Democratic primary race.

http://www.cbsnews.com/...

I begin to tire of dailykos.  

The Democrats have at least four fine choices for president. Clinton, Edwards, Obama, Richardson at least would do the job well.  Our second string is streets ahead of their first tier candidates.

One might be better than the others but all of them will be better than the Republicans.

The invective on the site would be better directed towards the Republicans who have caused our problems rather than which Democrat is best suited to fixing those problems.

Ron Wyden voted appropriately on Mukasey so this letter is to Gordon Smith.

If these people believe in their religions and profess to uphold the law of the land, I wonder what goes on when they chose to vote to support the likes of Mukasey.

Hence my letter below.