"It just COULDN'T be!"
The clincher:
"Throughout the campaign we have kept emphasizing the so-called fundamentals. Consumer confidence at a low. Bush's approval ratings right down there with those of Nixon and Carter. Nine out of 10 Americans convinced the nation is on the wrong track.
But you know what? This is still a pretty conservative country, and Obama is further to the left than any other presidential nominee in history. His associations with Bill Ayers and Jeremiah Wright, his determination to get out of Iraq just as fast as he can, his plans to nationalize health care--we love that stuff in the newsroom, but when the American people step into the voting booths, it might not sit right. America, conservative; Obama, liberal. That's fundamental too.
Am I saying McCain will win? No way. I'm just admitting we're nervous--and really, really tired of all this. For us in the mainstream media, the campaign isn't about choosing a president. It's about us. Coming out of the Democratic convention, Obama looked unbeatable. Now? Nobody knows. You try having your worldview validated for weeks and then suddenly placed in doubt.
One last thing. If this weekend the polls start breaking for McCain, don't expect us to keep up with the story. We're slow to see what we don't want to see. And if we had to admit that McCain was doing better than we expected, we'd have to offer some reasons. Just look at what Howard Fineman found himself writing for Newsweek a couple of days ago. "Why hasn't Obama run away with this? Because McCain has succeeded … in raising the hoary specter of 'tax-and-spend' liberals."
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