Counterpoint

Gail Collins is having none of the doomsaying.

And there is reason to believe that Palin is not quite the electoral catnip that the Republicans (and I) seem to think she is. But there's no questions she's helping McCain - mostly by keeping the coverage away from substantive issues. There's a reason Republicans want this: voters who say the issues are the most important factor for them (as opposed to the candidates' personalities) favor Obama about 60-40 (can't find a link right now but trust me - just saw a poll on this). In the face of that kind of data, the last thing the Republicans want is any discussion of substance.

This election is the ultimate test of the strength of the United States' dwindling reality-based community. It is just extraordinary that the Republics are ahead while carrying the twin burdens of a very unpopular incumbent and hard economic times. But they've figured out that the US has a media and political culture in which reality is no barrier to success (to political success that is, the Bush administration is proof that reality remains a barrier to successful management). So it is possible to run a campaign dominated by easily refutable blatant lies. On the rare occasions you get challenged, you just deny that you denied reality. They intuitively know a deep and dark truth: if you put enough effort into spreading falsehoods, people start to believe the lie.

So Gail Collins can make fun of me all she wants. I still think McCain is going to win.

Sadly, the Onion gets it better than the real media.