It sure wasn't supposed to be like this!!

While I might have timed it a bit differently (had I realized that it would conflict with last week's proceedings in St. Paul), my time away from the blogger's desk was restorative. My wife and I took our repose on Marco Island - threading the needle between tropical storms Gustav and Hanna - and it was our first vacation as a couple since the birth of our second daughter earlier this year. In any event, I plead your indulgence for my absence.

My sabbatical apparently provided rejuvenation to John McCain as well. Judging by Sunday's polling, McCain is either tied with (Rasmussen) or ahead of (Gallup) Barack Obama, with Gallup commenting that "McCain has outpolled Obama on both Friday and Saturday, and is receiving a convention bounce." Whether by providence or design, last week's convention had the effect of putting BarackObiden (or JoBama) - and liberals more generally - on defense across several fronts. For starters, the Democratic Duo must now explain how their absolute lack of executive experience will allow for any efficacy in the role of Chief Executive.

Additionally, progressives now must expound on how "Broccoli Obama" will simultaneously cut taxes and raise them (although he now says that he would consider a delay in rescinding the Bush tax cuts in the case of a recession - a position that begs more questions than I have the stamina to ask), encourage reforms in Washington, D.C. that he never stood up for in Springfield, IL and for the piece de resistance, "reform bankruptcy laws" that were enacted in large measure at the behest of the man that he put at the bottom of the ticket.

And for their part, feministas must account for the overt sexism evinced in their naysaying of Sarah Palin (as best evidenced by Sally Quinn here and here.)

I would like to hear what women think of her priorities. Do they believe that her first priority is as a mother or as a governor? Will her first priority be as a mother or as a Vice President or a President?.... John McCain is a 72-year-old cancer survivor. As Vice President, Palin could ascend to the highest office in the land at any moment. Do women believe she should relegate her job to second place or her children to second place? Does she have to make such a choice? Every woman, and particularly every woman who works, including me, understands that the conflicts and the guilt are always there in a way that they are not for men.

I would like to know what women think of Sarah Palin's judgment in accepting the role as McCain's running mate, knowing the pain and humiliation the publicity would cause her daughter, the boyfriend and the soon-to-be-born grandchild. (By the way, this is not about whether mothers should work. We answered that question a long time ago. Of course they should and most of them have to. This is about this particular woman with her particular family situation putting herself in a position to be the commander in chief of the most powerful country in the world.)

I do wonder if Ms. Quinn believes that instead of running for the Senate, Hillary Clinton should have remained a private citizen, thereby avoiding the risk of any "pain and humiliation" that Chelsea might feel upon a rehash of her father's marital misconduct. I would also submit to Ms. Quinn that if "the phone rings at three in the morning and one of her children is really sick", Ms. Palin will do what millions of women - to include Ms. Quinn, I'm sure - have done in that situation: namely, she will rely on the domestic help (which I suspect would be abundant at the Naval Observatory.)

The MSM covered itself in something other than glory last week as well. After contorting herself and her program to get Obama into the spotlight, Her Holiness Oprah of the Church of Winfrey declared Palin persona non grata. And Us Weekly went into attack mode with a fairly scandalous and misleading cover, and has since continued its search for dirt on the Palins (see here and here.) Quite understandably, Ms. Palin was unstinting in her critique of the fourth estate. (In the wake of Hurricane Sarah, media types would be well served in explaining how picking on a 5 month-old with Down's Syndrome or a pregnant teenager makes for good journalism.)

All that withstanding, Republicans can remain encouraged. It is now up to Obama and the Democrats to lick their wounds and figure out what rabbit they will pull out of their [top hat]. With his VP pick solidified, the time for grandiloquent speechifying long passed and the debates looming, Obama has little left up his sleeve to sway undecideds and keep his followers excited until November. All signs, to include ones we might expect such as party identification (and others we wouldn't expect at all), continue to point to a narrow victory for John McCain.

It sure wasn't supposed to be like this!!

Update #1: I neglected to make note of the latest Zogby poll showing McCain up by 4 points over Obama (48.8 percent vs. 45.7 percent.)

Update #2: USAToday now has McCain at 50 percent to 46 percent among registered voters, and 54 percent to 44 percent "among those seen as most likely to vote."