And down the backstretch we come...

The 2008 election is moving down the backstretch and into turn three, with Obama maintaining a 2-3 point average lead in the polls. This number, often quoted, seems a little silly to me, considering the fact that we award electoral votes on a state by state all or nothing (at least mostly) basis. The more significant number is 264, which according to pollster.com is the current electoral votes from states in which Obama has a quantifiable lead. This means that Obama would only need six additional e-votes to take the prize, which given the resource depth of the campaign should be doable. I personally think Colorado is going to be a bellwether state...

This portion of the campaign tends to really bore me, given the disproportionate amount of media coverage of the VP "race." The NYT offers an example of this type of coverage in a piece related to both candidates potential VP selections. I admit to some armchair punditry on the issue (I'm feeling Bayh and Pawlenty), but am amazed that the media covers claptrap from pundits on the issue, as if it were news...

Some Republicans said that Mr. McCain could still choose Mr. Ridge and get around the problem with social conservatives by assuring them that the vice-presidential candidate would support the position of the presidential candidate and the party, no matter his personal views.

Such a formulation would be unlikely to satisfy Rush Limbaugh, the conservative radio talk show host and longtime McCain nemesis, who on Tuesday sounded a siren for his listeners. “If he picks a pro-choice running mate, it’s not going to be pretty,” Mr. Limbaugh warned, adding that Mr. McCain would have “effectively destroyed the Republican Party and pushed the conservative movement into the bleachers.”

I have to question the intelligence (not the first time) of Mr. Limbaugh on this issue. Is it really possible to "destroy" the Republican Party by nominating a somewhat pro-choice candidate as VP? Or, is it more likely that the GOP could begin it's migration into the 21st century of acceptance of the rights of others not to be coerced into the action deemed appropriate by those in power.... Well, maybe that logic would destroy the GOP.