McCain narrowing gap

Ever since the last debate and the Joe the Plumber episode, McCain has been narrowing the gap between himself and Barack Obama; top major pollsters, John Zogby and Gallup, now put the race at only +3 for Obama, well within the margin of error.

I’m never a big believer in polls, but traditional wisdom is that, at this point, if the Democrat candidate isn’t up by double-digits, they are running a campaign that is in trouble, since the late swing traditionally goes toward the more conservative candidate in the race. McCain, due in large part to running mate Sarah Palin, just barely qualifies.

Of course, I still believe most of these polls oversample Democrats, so the danger for Obama could be even more significant than is believed. But ultimately, the only poll that counts in the national vote in November.

See you all at the polls, and on the screen of a Sony Vaio! Happy voting, America!

Powell defects GOP, endorses Obama

Former Gen. and former GOP Secretary of State Colin Powell defected from the GOP for good this past weekend, endorsing Barack Obama for president. While not exactly a slim shots spokesperson, Powell’s alliance with the GOP has always been tenuous at best; he cozied up to the Clintons without changing his party alliance in the 1990s, yet consented to serve at W’s Secretary of State during Bush’s first term.

Now, all such alliances with the GOP are null and void as the wishy-washy Powell has endorsed a candidate who, in the last session of Congress, compiled the most liberal voting record in the US Senate. Apparently ideology has little impact on Powell, who has over the years become more addicted to the beltway spotlight than to a particular political ideology.

Oh well. Maybe now the spotlight can shine on other deserving, and far more loyal, members of the GOP.

Last debate may ride on “Joe the plumber”

John McCain hung all his November chances against Barack Obama on Samuel “Joe the Plumber” Wurzelbacher last week in the final presidential debate before the November presidential election. Joe the Plumber is the person who questioned Obama at a campaign rally about the effect Obama’s tax policies would have on him if he buys out the business he currently works for.

Obama’s response at the time was that, “we want to spread the wealth around,” a reply that didn’t exactly strike many as a pro-capitalism statement. Since the debate, the mainstream media has begun an all-out assault on Wurzelbacher, researching and publicizing his flaws and failings more thoroughly than they’ve dissected either candidate this political season.

During an appearance on Fox News over the weekend, Wurzelbacher said, “Hopefully they’ll have me to thank for it as far as telling people to get out and find their own answers. That’s where I hope they go with it.”

That’s a bit more ambitious, it seems, than trading Thanksgiving recipes.

Could SAG strike have political fallout?

SAG delayed a potential strike authorization vote this weekend by deciding to request a Federal mediator to intervene in the negotiations between the major actors’ union and Hollywood producers, represented by AMPTP. Almost a year after a writer’s strike ground Hollywood to a halt for about 100 days, ruining the TV seasons of most shows, SAG now seems bent on producing the sequel to that strike.

I hate to sound like someone who sides only with the producers, but AMPTP has a point when they say that the terms under which they settled labor agreements with the WGA, DGA and AFTRA earlier this year were made under better financial conditions in the economy, so expecting a deal better than those is a position that simply doesn’t make sense for SAG to demand.

Still, if a Federal negotiator gets involved, don’t be surprised if the threat of a second Hollywood strike in less than a year has major political fallout, especially in an election year; not only in the state of California, but also potentially at the Federal level. Could this be the Democrats’ October surprise? Don’t bet a lot of Starbucks coffee against it.