Stunt Man

You know, I gave McCain too much credit, calling him an antagonist rather than a leader. In fact, he's actually a stunt man, lurching from one massive, insanely risky, and highly self-dramatizing performance to the next. Hurricane's coming .... cancel the convention! Time to select my VP ... pick the hockey mom who has only been outside the US once! Wall Street is in crisis ... no, the fundamentals of our economy are strong!  Woops, did I say that? I meant: fire the chairman of the SEC!  Losing momentum because I'm not perceived as competent on the economy ... cancel the debates!  Suspend the campaign!  It's a joke, really.

I can't believe this is playing well in middle America.  Certainly, the poll moves for Obama in recent days suggest that the combination of McCain pinballing his way through this economic crisis and the unravelling of the myth of Sarah Palin (vis the pathetic Katie Couric interview, including this cringe-worthy exchange on the Alaska-is-close-to-Russia meme) is collectively lifting the democratic candidate to new heights, particularly in the key battleground states. Sending his bullet-headed attack dog, Steve Schmidt, out to snarl at the New York Times every day may work with the black helicopter crowd, but is it working on Main Street?

McCain is increasingly reminiscent of that crazy old dude at the home, who storms out the front door in his underwear, shouting, "You can't tell me what to do," at the nurses.