I have not done a diary in seven years. However, with all the panic and freakouts as of late, I feel compelled to once again venture into the diarying waters. My message is simply this: There is no need to freak out. I'm not being "delusional" as some of the pearl-clutching "realists" would say. I am looking at the facts as they are. More below the orange squiggle.
Let us look at the facts as they stand now:
1) Obama did not bring his "A" game to Denver on October 3, and it showed. Obama first experienced a modest decline, which became more precipitous as the worrywarts, Eeyores, and Debbie Downers, on DK and elsewhere, seemingly bought into the narrative the corporate media had been pushing (i.e. "This is a game-changer. ANYTHING can happen now".)
2) At the Vice Presidential debate in Danville, KY, Vice President Biden stopped the bleeding by forcefully rebutting Representative Paul Ryan's talking points, and he did it with a smile. The polls began to stabilize.
3) Five days later, the two presidential candidates met at Hofstra University in Hempstead, NY, and Obama clearly cleaned Mitt Romney's clock. Polls began to reverse in Obama's favor somewhat, with the exception of the mercurial Gallup poll.
Yet what do I see here on DK, a lot of people having the Prez's back, to be sure ... but also a lot of Chicken Littles screaming that the sky is falling. Let me be clear ... the sky is not falling. There is one bad poll for Obama, and it is clearly an outlier. Obama and his team have anticipated that the election will be close all this time. I'm sure they liked last month's numbers. I'm equally sure that they believed they would not hold. They know that there's a segment of the population that is willfully ignorant of this President's accomplishments for whatever reason. Obama is holding up very well in the swing states, including that all-important state of Ohio. That, including Iowa, Wisconsin, and Nevada, will give the President a victory. What is more, it's become clear that the president of the Suffolk poll was talking through his hat when he said that Florida, Virginia, and North Carolina were now clearly going red. While that may be the case with NC, it's become clear that FL and VA are tossups again. Not good news for Team Romney. I believe that the President's ground game and GOTV efforts are vastly superior to those of Mitt Romney. It is all a matter of getting out the vote.
I am reminded of what King George VI said during the dark days of the London Blitz. His sage words still resonate today: "Keep Calm and Carry On." This is what we need to do, maintain our composure and get out that vote!