10/25/08: News of the week: Obama still ahead!

Well, loyal reader(s?)- sorry for abandoning you for the last week, I have been travelling, and yes, actually working, so I haven't been able to keep you on all updated on the latest goings-on in this crazy election. But the good news - for me, and, I suspect, many of you - is that there has been little news of major import this week. Which means, in particular, little change in the polls - Obama is still ahead by anywhere from 6-12 points in the national poll, and still leads in most of the battleground states. The electoral vote prediction at what I consider the most statistically savvy site - fivethirtyeight.com - still reads Obama 350, McCain 188. It would appear that most independents and other undecideds have made up their minds following Obama's impressive performance in the third debate, with the final nail in the McCain/Palin coffin being driven in by Gen. Colin Powell's ringing endorsement of Sen. Obama and scathing critism of McCain's choice of Palin for his VP.

One interesting change has been that Virginia has swung to double digits for Obama, higher than any of the other 7 key Bush states (CO,NM,NV,FL,OH,IA,NC) that Obama has targeted (and in all of which he leads). On the flip side, Florida has tightened up, with Obama's lead now within margin of error in some polls. But the good news there is that former Pres. Bill Clinton, who remains hugely popular in FL, will be campaigning on the same stage with Obama in Orlando on Wednesday. That should help bring FL safely in for the Dems.

So, McCain failing to take advantage of Obama's absence from the campaign trail to visit his seriously ailing grandmother in Hawaii to make any major inroads into Obama's lead, the major news of the week has focused on the infighting between McCain's aides and Palin, with a senior McCain aide calling her "rogue" and a "diva", and Palin fighting back saying she is NOT a "diva" and that she is being set up to take the blame on Nov 4th for McCain's failures. Interesting, dontcha think, y'all?? You betcha. Let's hope for the good of the nation that she is buried on the political scene once and for all.

Of course, Palin was also in the news for spending more of Republican donors' money on fancy new duds for herself, her daughters, and even baby Trig - to the tune of some 150,000 dollars (or more than Joe the Plumber's house is worth - more on this gentleman in a bit). In addition,

her celebrity stylist Amy Strozzi was the highest paid member of McCain's staff in the first 2 weeks of October, earning a nice $22,800 and handily beating out foreign policy advisor Randy Schuenemann (who only made a niggardly $12,500), or for that matter anyone else on the campaign! And this is in addition to her "regular" traveling stylist Angela Lew who made $10,000 over the same 2 weeks. Pretty classy lady, that Sarah Palin - just shows that McCain was just protecting what he really believes are her real assets.
Speaking of another classy Republican lady,Michelle Bachmann (R) of Wisconsin has been dumped by the Republican National Committee and is likely to lose her Senate seat after calling Obama "anti-American" on Chris Matthews' show on MSNBC. She, btw, has also said on TV that "not all cultures are created equal" (referring to Muslims), that Democrats are " not normal American people" and calling for a "patriotism check" of all members of Congress. Goodbye, Ms. Bachmann, and thanks for the Senate seat.