Though he lost, expect McCain +1-2 in the polls next week

[JCMach1]

because of his base... He played to them in the debate tonight.

Take heart though, by doing this he is actually playing defense in the red states he needs.

[grantcart]

1. he maxed out his base but even if you are right it just means that the red states go redder

and Obama picks up more states

[JCMach1]

2. Exactly, but I sure know there will be some DU hand-wringing

in a few days...

[grantcart]

3. well without a little hissy fit it wouldn't be GDP lol

[OmahaBlueDog]

4. They need the base to show for the down-ticket races

If they don't show -- suddenly seats like McConnell's and the Hagel seat that is expected to go to Johanns come into play.

They also are going after the 2006 freshman class in the House with vigor.

[4lbs]

5. Obama won't get lower than 50% and McCain won't be higher than 43%

This turkey (McCain) is just about cooked. Time for an early November Thanksgiving treat.

[rebel with a cause]

6. Let us hope and pray,

Even athiest can manage a prayer to the non existant god of their choice in this case. ;)

I want this thing to end well, and I want the repubs out of power. I want to end my life not having to worry about this stuff, it is bad enough having to worry about my kids personal life without having the fate of this country out there too.

[fujiyama]

7. This will likely be the first election since Bush Sr.

for any candidate to receive over 51% of the vote. McCain's numbers will climb as undecideds make up their mind (and I think most undecideds were GOP leaning anyway at this point) and may end up all the way at 47%-48% in the polls, but I really think that's his ceiling and is likely stretching it. I don't think Barr and Nader combined will get more than 2% in the end.

Ultimately, I'm thinking Obama will win with 51%-52% of the popular vote. In modern terms, this is a landslide considering the closeness of the last two elections and how polarized the electorate generally is. I'm mainly hoping for an EV of over 300 votes - and which doesn't hinge on one swing state. That's very unlikely to happen considering McCain and the GOP are being driven out of more and more blue swing states, being forced to campaign in formerly safe GOP territory.

[nolabels]

8. I wouldn't be too sure about anything

If the last two weeks were any indicator how the next 20 days turn out we may all need a dose of smelling salts