please post the troll ratings here!!

The polls are closing because the only 'character assassination' that's been going on for the last couple months hase been directed at Obama.  

I'm eager to see how President Kerry's second term goes.

I mean, I'm all for not using stupid nicknames for McCain and sticking to the issues, but I doubt we have that much affect on the polls.

The "tightening of the polls" that everyone is so worried about is pretty natural for a race of this nature: I'd attribute it more to the fact that Obama is playing chess while McCain is playing checkers.  McCain goes for the big flashy short-term attacks, while Obama is over there setting up the endgame.  

The media, who sees Obama as the front-runner, wants the ratings gold of keeping the race tight, so they under-report McCain's gaffes.  It's not a conscious decision on "the media's" part (even with modern conglomeratization of the news networks, the entire media is not a monolithic entity), they just run whatever they think will be a more popular news story at any given time; Obama is orders of magnitude more photogenic and is a fresher news story than a candidate whose biggest cultural recommendation happened in the 70's.

In short, we are an echo chamber and don't have the kind of power to affect the race in the way you're talking about.  Even O'Reilly's attacks on us and Kos are relatively toothless, because pictures of a website are pretty boring, and he sounds like a blowhard even to his own fans when he's on that drivel.  What we, as the netroots, DO have power over is the enthusiasm of Obama's supporters and the ability to make sure that the under-reported stories get dispersed despite the major media's reluctance.

If we're responsible for the race tightening, it's because we're not out there cheering our guy on or because we're getting apathetic and not fighting the fight for getting the truth known as hard as we should be.

No troll rating just a comment that you may be wrong. Obama has always reminded  that McCain is a good man, a war hero a POW that loves his country. So he sung his praise as Hillary did.

But McCain started the character assault so at some point you have to say enough. The average American voter is an idiot and unless you paint the guy as out of touch, doesn't get it, is no more than a Noun - verb - POW. ( this last one he seems to be doing all by himself) Unfortunately the average American voter wouldn't know a policy if it fell on them. If it was just policy Obama would be way ahead.

Sorry, but I wouldn't hire you for my campaign.  McCain was a POW over 30 years ago; his corrupt nature since then is fair game.  Your historical comparison is also completely off - Bush owned the recession that was occurring at that time; he had a track record in office against which to run.  McCain is not an incumbent and can thus run solely on character.  Bush also didn't campaign as a war hero, that was a minor detail in his campaign.

Seven, this isn't cause and effect here.

"Do you know why the polls are closing ?"

It because you, dear progressive reader, make silly character assassinations on Sen. McCain.  And because Sen. Obama's campaign appears to be suffering from the spillover effects."

That's irrational. Some small group of folks on a blog throw some dirt, and SUDDENLY the polls in Ohio dip?

Note to anyone...
How many hours of your fuckin precious time have you donated to the Obama Campaign..
How many hours do you intend to pony up? Before November?

No snark...
Maybe McCain's economic guru Gramm was kinda right when he called us "a nation of whiners"

a preview of McCain in the debates...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hnb2IrsU1 Cg

And I still, somewhere deep inside me, hold some small reserve of respect for the man.

The candidate?  None whatsoever.  He's sold out hard and cheap.

ya know..I believe you are trying to make enough points to get an "I was a POW so get off my lawn"
coffee mug

http://www.johnmccain.com/ActionCenter/B logInteract/BlogInteract.aspx

Take this back with you...
http://www.military.com/opinion/0,15202, 164859_1,00.html

"I am referring to the constant streams of "McSame" and "McBush", and "100 years of war with Islam" and "too old", and "he is mean to women", and "out of touch" etc. etc. "

Dude, its not character assasination when it's true, we're merely pointing out observations of his consistent behavior in this fashion.

McBush means he votes in line with Bush, the reason for our economic downturn.  we just want to remind people that McBush is not going to be any different thatn Bush.  And he won't, you kow why?  BEdause the same people that pulled Bush's strings will pull McCain's strings becasue a) McCain doesn't know shit about the economy, b) McCain has surrounded himself with lobbyists  whose goals are not in our best interests.

It's fair game because it's true.  It'd be fair game even if it weren't true, but since we're not Rovian Republicans, we don't throw out baseless bullshit.

You have the burden of proof on your claims that progressive blog commenters are swaying voters to McCain, so please provide some polling data to back that up, otherwise you are just speculating.  

Reporter- "Hey John, How many fingers am I holding up?"

McCain - "Well, um, you see if thumbs...I'll have my staff get back to you."

Can we call this one "SenilityGate?"

Why is he a war hero for getting shot down?  Serious question?

Denton and Stockdale were awarded the Medal of Honor in captivity.  Those dudes are heroes!

It's not a question of what's "fair game" or "off-limits" or whatever, just a question of what's smart and likely to work.  I happen to believe that going after McCain's war/POW record is a bad idea, just because it's likely to backfire.  The sad truth is that, while it worked with Kerry, it won't with McCain--any focus that history gets will work to his benefit because it reinforces public perceptions of him.  Kerry was a war hero but he wasn't tortured for his country.  It's not fair that Repubs get free passes on war stuff, but it's reality.

Same goes for nicknames, I think.  If you're trying to convince people not to vote for McCain, calling him some sophomoric nickname won't help.  McLame?  McBush?  All that shit does is rah-rah up the base who's already gonna vote against him.  It doesn't convince those who need convincing.  It feels good but doesn't help.

Lines of attack that will and do work, I think, involve his judgment and his recent selling out of his principles.  Keating Five.  The Bush tax cuts.  War-mongering with Iran.  100 years in Iraq.  More Scalias and Alitos.  Out-of-touch re: $5 million makes you rich and seven homes is normal.  Subtle reminders that the dude's old and gets confused (but not blatant enough to piss off AARP voters).  THE WAR. THE WAR. THE WAR.

While I think it's a bad idea to go after McCain's war/POW record itself, I do think it's smart to attack his continued reliance on it to deflect all other questions.  Like how he gets called on shit and responds, "but I was a POW!"

I think there's a smart way to undermine McCain's reputation--deserved or not--for being a principled maverick by acknowledging it, and then contrasting. Like that MoveOn ad that expressed disappointment at his prevaricating.  Or Tommy Vietor's statements about how McCain dishonors his own legacy by using it as a crutch.  "John, we know you served your country well, but you're dishonoring that service by using it to deflect all questions on your credibility!"  "John, you were a maverick back in the Nineties, why did you sell your soul to the extreme wing of your party?"  Etc.

That way you draw the contrast between what he once was/could have been/paints himself as, and who he has become/really is/always was.

Your argument is partially true, but it has nothing to do with character. Truth is, even though certain elements of the Democratic wing are by far the masters of political satire (Daily Show, duh), the official Democratic platform is MUCH, MUCH worse at deadpan folksy jokes and snark than the Republicans.

If we can ever overcome our desire to make stupid puns like McSame or Betray-Us, we will gain SO much ground. If the Democrats can learn how to make fun of the Republicans without trying so hard, they will be much more popular guests on the talk shows. It's why Biden is successful, and Hillary to a lesser extent. Obama is pretty good at the deadpan, too, but he gets held back a lot of the time and it never gets as much coverage as McCain.

I just wanted to add one more thing: in the 1992 election, George Bush was hit - pretty hard - because he showed up at a grocery store and had no idea what the price of a gallon of milk was at that time.  It showed that he was clueless as to the lives of ordinary Americans and deaf to their economic problems.  In some ways, today's line of attack is the spiritual successor of that development.