Andrew Sullivan posts this not terribly surprising bit of news about the mood in the John McCain camp:

“While the Old Guard are now calmly re-arranging the deck chairs on the Titanic, the younger staffers involved in the RNC/John McCain campaign are just collecting a paycheck and going through the motions. The McCain campaign is merely a resume-builder for them. None of these young staffers really believes in John McCain and none really expects him to win, and the honest ones don't mind saying so -- privately. Most importantly, none of the Beltway conservatives, young or old, can give you a conservative argument in favor of McCain's election other than (a) "Obama would be worse" and (b) "What about judges? ... The GOP is already psychologically defeated. John McCain's campaign is a symptom, not a cause, of this mindset.”

This confirms that the election is Obama's to lose. So why do Democrats act like it's 2002 and they need to hurry and meet the GOP in the center? As I noted once, a potentially historic realignment may occur in Congress yet Obama's worried about looking too leftist? Over drinks this Saturday my clever friend Andy would not answer the question, only stooping to mutter that Obama's compromise on, say, the FISA bill was "morally" reprehensible but "politically" brilliant, which is, I suppose, shorthand for "necessary."