The Almost-Over Gabfest
Listen to Slate's review of the week in politics.
Updated Friday, Oct. 31, 2008, at 10:41 AM ET
Emily Bazelon, John Dickerson, and David Plotz talk politics. This week, it's all about the last week of the presidential campaign—with a shout-out to the Philadelphia Phillies.
Here are links to some of the articles and other items mentioned in the show:
John writes this week about a sense of hopefulness that has come over many of the people working for the McCain campaign.
Emily attempts to correct John's pronunciation of the word dour.
Emily suggests that John McCain is getting some traction with his campaign's latest effort, which is to cast Barak Obama as a socialist who wants to redistribute wealth in the country.
John talks about the size of the crowds at campaign rallies for Obama compared with those for McCain.
The gang also discusses whether attacks on Obama's character will appeal to undecided voters. John points out that undecided voters typically vote for the challenger in a presidential race, which should mean Obama, since the Republicans currently hold the White House. One factor in McCain's favor is that during the primaries, the undecided voters favored Hillary Clinton over Obama.
John says 10,000 Elvis fans can't be wrong.
John says the optimism in the McCain camp is likely misguided, because there are too many data points favoring Obama—so many red states seem to be leaning toward the Democrat or are considered likely wins for Obama. He says Obama's early strategy of challenging McCain across the country, rather than focusing on primarily Democratic states, is now paying off.
Emily Bazelon is a Slate senior editor and writes about law, family, and kids. She's working on a book about bullying.
John Dickerson is Slate's chief political correspondent and author of On Her Trail. He can be reached at slatepolitics@gmail.com. Read his series on Risk. Follow him on Twitter.
David Plotz is the Editor of Slate. He's the author of The Genius Factory: The Curious History of the Nobel Prize Sperm Bank and Good Book. He appears on Slate's Political Gabfest.


