September 2012

In the past twelve days, there have been 82 published election polls. Eighty-two. National, state-by-state and some partisan polls. And that’s just the presidential surveys. And we stopped counting on Thursday.

Taken together, they tell of a good week for President Obama. If politics is indeed all about the horse race, then the candidates are rounding the far curve and heading for the home stretch that will take them to November 6.

(And, yes, I do hate sport metaphors, but this one proved difficult to resist.)

ST LOUIS -- I haven't been to the circus in awhile, but this election year has provided me with top flight seats from which to view political high wire acts.

It is always perilous for anyone running for commander in chief to get out in front of the man who already has the job. For Mitt Romney, this week has been a special test.

Fresh off a pair of political conventions that were designed to blast the candidates into the fall campaign with a burst of enthusiasm, the nominees were reminded that the best-laid plans often fall victim to world events.

CHARLOTTE -- I am typing this while sitting in a darkened arena. From my vantage point high above the convention floor, thousands of happy Democrats are cheering a video collage of Barack Obama's campaign and Presidency. In this version of pro-Obama utopia, the hits fly by -- the misses not so much. We watch Sarah Palin dismiss the President's background as a community organizer, and immediately cut to video of then-candidate Obama brushing off his shoulder Jay Z-style and singing a little Al Green. Oh, and then he orders a hit on Osama bin Laden.