The Black Dog Republicans

We've always had Yellow Dog Democrats from the South and some of Pelosi's puppies say they're Blue Dog Democrats. But now we have Black Dog Republicans.

Their constant companions are depression and melancholy, the moods that often descended on Winston Churchill. He labeled them his "black dog."

There are two reasons the Black Dog Republicans fell prey to a depression equal to Churchill's. First is the constant chatter of the media, the Republican elite, and the Cassandra Republicans who are just as sure that John McCain will lose the election as they are that Sarah Palin is his ruination. The second is that a lot of people are simply so angry at the Bush administration that otherwise sensible people are transferring their anger to John McCain or falling for Barack's baloney.

Can we all please stop whining?

To paraphrase our greatest secretary of war, you go to the polls with the candidates you have, not necessarily the candidates you want. And, though this is heresy in Washington, let's please remember that neither pundits nor pollsters elect presidents: voters do. John McCain and Sarah Palin could yet win on November 4.

And that chance is apparently pretty good, according to the new AP-GfK poll that showed them only one point behind the Obama-Biden combo. After the last debate and the "Joe the Plumber" episode, it's enough to return my thinking to mid-July when Republicans were suddenly 5 points ahead in the Gallup generic congressional preference poll. As I wrote then, Republicans could actually gain - not lose - strength in the House and Senate.

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