Keep the Faith

I shall make no predictions of a momentous come-from-behind-win by John McCain.

And yet, I'm am more optimistic than I've been for any time in weeks. My optimism may yet be dashed against the rock shores of an Obama victory, but I'm going to go into this final weekend before the election with a smile on my face and cheer in my heart. It does no good to do otherwise.

We are told that George Bush is a horrible albatross hung around the neck of the G.O.P. And yet, his approval ratings are higher than the approval rating of the Democrat-controlled Senate of which Obama is a de facto--if not de jure--leader.

We are told that the current economic crisis in the financial sector requires government intervention and the type of regulation that an Obama Presidency will bring. And yet the American people seem ambivalent at best, and downright hostile to, at worst, the government bailout of "Wall Street".

We are told that the young are overwhelmingly supporting Senator Obama, and yet in the poll which was most accurate in 2004, over the last 19 days (10/13 to 10/31)Senator McCain has led in this age cohort as many times as Senator Obama (9 for McCain, 9 for Obama, 1 tie).

We've been told for weeks and months that an Obama presidency is inevitable. A year ago, we were told that a Hillary Clinton term was inevitable. Inevitabilities can fall short.

We may not win, but we shall go down swinging. Don't give up. Keep the faith. The only poll that matters is on Tuesday.