Mmm, crow

OK, I was wrong. Completely utterly wrong. I said that Sarah Palin would blithely ignore the moderator's questions and hit all her talking points. I said that the next day the press would be cooing over how she "exceeded expectations." I said that she's be seen as the clear debate winner, and McCain would go up in the polls.

The first two things happened. The second two didn't. It was obvious that the press was ready with the "Palin exceeds expectations" storyline, and in fact polled voters agreed that she did. Whether the press wants a close race (for ratings), or wants an excuse to say Obama won the final 2 debates without seeming partisan, I'm not sure. But the fact is, the American people clearly have had a little too much of faux-folksy schmaltz. So Biden cruised to a smashing post-debate poll victory, and the American people spiked the media's lame narrative like an NFL pigskin. Like a punchbowl at the frat party. Like Cloud Strife's haircut. Like something else that gets spiked. (OK, I'm not great with similies. Never have been. But who cares - Biden won!)

So now the Republicans are in last-refuge-of-scoundrels mode, vowing to forget about the issues and attack Obama's character. Which usually would mean they're admitting defeat, but in this case probably means playing up Obama's past ties to black politicians and leaders. In other words, the "character" shtick just might work this time.

So here's the electoral map (and here's another version). McCain has pulled out of Michigan. Pennsylvania, New Hampshire, and Minnesota will almost certainly break for Obama, and Colorado probably will too. McCain's got Missouri, Indiana, Nevada, and North Carolina. So it comes down to Ohio, Florida, and Virginia. Let's hope the "character" thing makes it about as far as Palin's phony charm.