The Attacks Keep Comin'

Wow, the wheels must really be coming off the Obamessiah's campaign, because the Left is getting farther and farther out there in their attacks on McCain-Palin. Take, for instance, Roger Ebert (yes, the movie reviewer guy):

And how can you be her age and never have gone to Europe? My dad had died, my mom was working as a book-keeper and I had a job at the local newspaper when, at 19, I scraped together $240 for a charter flight to Europe. I had Arthur Frommer's $5 a Day under my arm, started in London, even rented a Vespa and drove in the traffic of Rome. A few years later, I was able to send my mom, along with the $15 a Day book.

You don't need to be a pointy-headed elitist to travel abroad. You need curiosity and a hunger to see the world. What kind of a person (who has the money) arrives at the age of 44 and has only been out of the country once, on an official tour to Iraq? Sarah Palin's travel record is that of a hopeless provincial.

Palin is a shallow, chirpy person with those vaguely alarming eyeglasses. Now her fans all want a pair. Remember back when women wore glasses that departed their ears in plastic swoops and swirls? My theory is, anyone who wears glasses that look weird is telling me something I don't want to know.

Nice and respectful, don't you think? But it gets better...

The MTV awards sank to a new low by allowing British comedian Russel Brand to host, and he took the opportunity to openly insult Bush, Palin, Palin's daughter, and Palin's soon-to-be-son-in-law, as well as Republicans in general:

At least Ebert is competent at what he does; the Brit is just a buffoon. And, I have to be honest, I don't think that most Americans appreciate a foreigner coming over here and insulting our President, even if they don't always agree with that President.

Still, these are just guys in the media, right? Big deal, what's the problem? Okay, then how about someone who's a little more of a grownup, like Wendy Doniger, Professor of the History of Religions at University of Chicago’s Divinity School, who kindly said:

Her greatest hypocrisy is in her pretense that she is a woman.

This is not only insulting, it is complete nonsense, and just plain stupid. Moving on, what about someone a little more political? South Carolina Democratic chairwoman Carol Fowler said this:

John McCain [has] chosen a running mate whose primary qualification seems to be that she hasn’t had an abortion.

Classy. She later apologized, but it's when they speak candidly that you really find out what Democrats think. Here are some comments from Democrat Rep. Steve Cohen of Tennessee on the floor of the House:

I'm not sure where he studied theology, but I think most people will recognize complete idiocy when they hear it.

Now, why do I share these screwball statements? To illustrate that the Democrat Left is truly losing its control. They can feel the election -- what used to be a slam dunk -- slipping through their fingers. Oh, don't get me wrong, it's still a long road until November, and many things will likely shift momentum back and forth between now and then...but they're getting more and more desperate to not only fight back (cue the wacky insults), but also to assert ever more strongly that they're really doing just fine.

For instance, McCain and Palin attended a rally in Virginia that attracted over 20,000 people who stood in lengthy lines for hours. Coverage of this kind of turnout was usually splashed about for the Obamessiah, but it somehow got missed by almost everyone. The Washington Post did cover the story, but check out these facts from that story:

Number of paragraphs in the Washington Post story: 14

Number of paragraphs about pro-Obama protesters: 8

Number of McCain-Palin supporters present: 23,000

Number of Obama protesters: about 30

You do the math.

Naw, the media isn't biased, are they? You can practically hear the Post begging readers to move along...there's nothing to see here...

All this is especially interesting given that the Democrat party has sent up a clear red flag of political distress:

The latest Washington Post/ABC Poll shows John McCain taking a 12-point lead over Barack Obama among white women, a reversal of Mr. Obama's eight-point lead last month.

It's no surprise, then, that Democrats have airdropped a mini-army of 30 lawyers, investigators and opposition researchers into Anchorage, the state capital Juneau and Mrs. Palin's hometown of Wasilla to dig into her record and background.

Good luck with that - she has a favorable rating of over 80% in her home state.

Nevertheless, all this and much more has Democrats beginning to express buyer's remorse with the Obamessiah:

Polls showing John McCain tied or even ahead of Barack Obama are stirring angst and second-guessing among some of the Democratic Party’s most experienced operatives, who worry that Obama squandered opportunities over the summer and may still be underestimating his challenges this fall.

“It’s more than an increased anxiety,” said Doug Schoen, who worked as one of Bill Clinton’s lead pollsters during his 1996 reelection and has worked for both Democrats and independents in recent years. “It’s a palpable frustration. Deep-seated unease in the sense that the message has gotten away from them.”

Joe Trippi, a consultant behind Howard Dean’s flash-in-the-pan presidential campaign in 2004 and John Edwards’ race in 2008, said the Obama campaign was slow to recognize how the selection of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin as McCain’s running mate would change the dynamic of the race.

A major Democratic fundraiser described it a good bit more starkly after digesting the polls of recent days: “I’m so depressed. It’s happening again. It’s a nightmare.”

Adding to Democratic restlessness, McCain has largely neutralized some issue advantages that have long favored Democrats.

This week’s USA Today/Gallup poll reported a split on which candidate “can better handle the economy”; 48 percent chose Obama while 45 percent said McCain. In late August, Obama had a 16-point edge on the issue.

Also this week, an ABC News/Washington Post poll reported that when voters are asked “who can bring about needed change to Washington,” McCain still trails Obama by 12 points. But in June, McCain trailed by 32 points.

That shift in the public’s perception of the issues, in Democratic pollster Celinda Lake’s words, “tremendously concerns me.”

Yes, things have certainly gotten interesting. Like I said, much remains to be said and done, but make no mistake that the Left is desperate, and in their desperation they are likely to continue making gaffes, insults, and mistakes.

It'll be fun to watch.

There's my two cents.