It's all about timing

on the part of the wurlitzer, though. seriously, shy- out here no one is talking about mcstain or chimpy's warlust. the Little People are ready for a brand change, and it will take a nazi-like effort of propaganda to convince them otherwise. i just can't see mcbush becoming anything that people will be excited about, that's the problem. they can trash hilbama all they want; people are used to that and at this point can turn off the 'fear and vote republican' emotion chip.

in a fair election, it would be a 'sea change' kind of margin. even with the effort you describe, i still think dems will do very, very well in the fall, or at least show a statistical shift that wonks will be discussing for a long time afterwards.

Big mistake to underestimate the forces that align against either Hillary or Barry. Between misogyny/racism, The Lie Machine and (tinfoil hat time) the very real possibility of some sort of horrific event (terrorist for real or not) that the VRWC/MSM will blame on the Dems, I do not think this election will be a cakewalk. Bigots don't vote with their heads, nor do frightened people.

Every vote will count. Sitting it out or throwing a vote away will be acts of folly, and only enable McCain. Right this moment McCain is even in the polls with both of the Dems; if tarnish of the Republican brand were the deciding factor, he should be well behind - and he is not. Winning the White House is going to require a full-court press, 24/7 right through the election, and there is real danger that McCain will prevail.

... then that is what will be done. It's not like these people aren't well funded, after all.

And this is one reason I am so very, very encouraged by Hillary's win, because nobody paid any attention to our famously free press when they tried to run her out of the race. So these channels have very, very little credibility.

Of course, the genius of the Unity meme is that it's malleable enough to merge seamlessly with almost any propaganda. That is also the problem with it....

[x] Any (D) in the general. [ ] Any mullah-sucking billionaire-teabagging torture-loving pus-encrusted spawn of Cthulhu, bless his (R) heart.

-- by McCain's speech last night.

He's horrible. A little tonguetied all the time, insincere sounding, blinking continuously like he's wearing the world's worst contact lenses. And as he was going offstage he looked like he was about to keel.

Call me Pollyanna, but I don't see how the media can pull it out for him -- they'll have to do some serious "me or your lying eyes" work.

And independent groups today started anti-McCain ads. Via Marc Ambinder:

The key will be to define McCain very early on and to undo his reputation as a straight talking maverick. Many Americans don't realize that McCain isn't really different than other Republicans. That needs to change. And these ads appear to be a step in the right direction.

As for Clinton, I've said all along that she's a media anti-toxin. That she's immune to the poisonous media and I think last night was another step in proving my theory. The press lost its credibility about the Clintons around 1998 and I don't think most people listen to the press anymore when it comes to the Clintons. And so her greatest strength may be that it doesn't matter what the press says about her. I think Obama's rising had to do with his positive press coverage and his falling has to do with some cracks in that coverage. I've seen no indication it matters a whit what they say about Clinton. In fact, even as Obama got harsher coverage, she still didn't get good coverage.

One of the real benefits, the real potential for "change" if Clinton wins is that her victory itself completely undermines the press, she doesn't have to do anything. And that, IMO, is a necessary prerequisite for any other kind of change we want to make in this country. As long as Tweety and Pumpkinhead are opinion makers, we're all screwed, even if this year they happen to end up backing a democrat (although I don't think they will, they'll take him down for their one true love McCain).

My Clinton as media anti-toxin theory also explains Clinton Derangement Syndrome. The last thing any commentator or opinion maker wants is to have his or her opinion not matter. That's true whether he's Tweety or Kos, Pumpkinhead or Aravosis. But if your target is immune, then you must become more virulent in an attempt to overcome the immunity. Most recently, for example, Clinton showed her immunity by winning Texas and Ohio. The anger over this - over the fact that they can't seem to influence enough people about the need to defeat her - will spur more virulent attacks in an effort to prove themselves potent as opposed to impotent. What tends to work in Clinton's favor is that these efforts get more and more ridiculous and then undermine the very point these guys are trying to make and so she becomes even more immune.