AND NOW THE HARD PART – AT 8:18 A.M. ET:  The election is two weeks from today.  You ain't seen nothin' yet.  In the swing states there'll be wall-to-wall ads and personal appearances.  In the non-swing states, like my New York, we get zilch. 

New Yorkers would vote for Obama if he were Attila the Hun.  In fact, you'd see ATTILA/BIDEN 2012 buttons.

But the swing states can still swing.  Michael Barone (see our first post today) believes Romney is likely to win.  I agree, but it is very close, and there can be reversals.  Scott Rasmussen still rates the race "too close to call."  From now on, we'll be focusing on the electoral college, and especially the swingiest state of Ohio.

We're encouraged by the fact that virtually all movement we see is toward Romney.  I don't see any toward Obama.  The key question:  Is it enough? 

We'll also look for surprises, like a come-from-behind win for Mitt in Pennsylvania.  And we'll look for an expected October surprise from the Obamans. 

Romney and Ryan must campaign as if they're 20 points behind, and I'd like to see Ryan concentrate on his home state of Wisconsin, if the statistics people say there's a reasonable chance of victory there.  Romney must avoid gaffes.  He must be presidential.  If a last-minute smear comes up, he must handle it like a president, not like a candidate.  That is the way we want people to see him.

In two weeks we will either bring this country back from the abyss, or look deeper into it.

October 23, 2012