Had an incredible time in Columbus this weekend for the Penn St. - Ohio St. game and, as you can see, terrific seats. Although the game did not go as Buckeye fans would have hoped, it was as a good, hard-fought game and came down to which team would make a mistake to turn the game.I have to give it to PSU, which committed zero turnovers and zero penalties in the game. They capitalized on the big turnover and that was the difference. Now it looks like PSU will most likely end the season undefeated and will have to see if the SEC and Big 12 Goliaths knock themselves out in order to get a shot at the national championship. They will definitely need some help...
On the political front, if signage, bumper stickers, and commercials are any indication, McCain is not playing too well in the Columbus metropolitan area. The city has become more cosmopolitan in recent years so it has attracted a larger population of younger professionals, including techies, so that demo plays right into the Obama message. It also doesn't hurt to have 60K students at a university with Lib faculty. Once you get outside of Columbus into rural Eastern Ohio, it was definitely "McCain Country", as was Western Pennsylvania, West Virginia, and Western Maryland.
With eight days to go, the McCain campaign continues to look more and more than Bob Dole's failed attempt at the White House in 1996. There is simply no "there" there -- no new ideas, no "energize the troops" speeches, etc.
Sadly, I continue to hear stories of independent and GOP Bush supporters in 2000 and 2004 who are just tired of Bush and the Republicans and tie McCain to that group. Those people are looking at Bob Barr or, in some cases, voting for The Messiah. Go figure....
For all of McCain's faults, it is simply a misinterpretation to lump him as a Republican who walked in step with Bush and the GOP-controlled Senate over the past eight years.
As Conservatives, in seems like only yesterday that we were all bashing McCain for "splitting" from the party when he sided with Sen. Kennedy on immigration. At the time, some pundits, however farcical, even called for him to switch parties. Yet now, Obama and his media machine continue to pound away in speeches, advertisements, and literature the Bush/McCain connection. So far they have been successful. Sadly, McCain and his camp waited too long to publicly distance themselves from Bush. They are only now working at a fevered pitch to make that separation. With just over a week to go, it may be too little, too late.
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