Don't Panic Yet: Eliot's Theory on the Palin Bounce

Liberals everywhere are freaking out that McCain has pulled even in the polls or, in some cases, even gone ahead by a point or two. My advice is to chill out. In my marginally informed opinion, the recent changes in polling data reflect votes that already belonged to John McCain. The Evangelicals hadn't quite warmed up to him yet, but they were never going to vote for the black guy from Harvard. So it was just a matter of time before they stopped calling themselves undecideds. Palin merely sped up the process.

On the flip side, McCain has ceded the middle ground with his Palin pick and his recent campaign tactics. Independents and moderates in both parties are watching the man they once admired morph into the second coming of dubya. They're watching as he stands atop Karl Rove's SUV and urinates on the charred remains of a broken-down Straight Talk Express. Supporting McCain is no longer the morally defensible position it once was in moderate and progressive circles. In recent weeks, I think McCain's actions have cost him more votes than he's gained by placating the Christianist base. Time will tell. Meanwhile, stop panicking. Take a few deep breathes. Wait for Palin to unravel (she will). Wait for the debates.