This election ain't a track meet--it's a marathon
Update (9/8/04 2:06 p.m.): Check out William Saletan's piece on Slate.com regarding the latest polling numbers. Worthwhile reading--also be sure to start your day off right with Slate's Daily Papers digest (which I cannot link to, unfortunately).

John Kerry’s said it several times that I can remember, and I’m sure George W. has spit it out himself one way or another: The upcoming presidential election seems to be the most important election of our lifetimes.  Watching as my preferred candidate looks up at the incumbent president in the polls for the first time in awhile, I feel a little dismay, maybe a hint of panic. Check out all the polls.  For too many reasons to recount here, the president we elected this November could have a profound effect on many aspects of our lives—and depending on who wins, it could be a very long four years before we get another chance to choose.  Polls or not, I don’t think this race is close to over.  To agree with the somewhat obvious observations of many pundits, how many people wrote off John Kerry just a week prior to the Iowa caucuses last spring?  To handicap this tight race at this point in time, just days after the balloons dropped at the RNC, would be as foolish as betting the farm on a Red Sox taking home shiny new World Series rings this November.  A lesson I’ve learned time and time again (ironically, often attributed to a former New York Yankee in one form or another): It ain’t over till it’s over.

I’m not at all surprised at the recent Bush spike in the polls.  The race is too close for him to not make at least one big push this summer.  Bush spent private donations freely throughout the month of August while Kerry had to conserve his government-provided $75 million check for the fall race. MSNBC.  The Swift Boat Veterans for Truth fired off the first of what will likely be several predictable character assassination attempts on Kerry.  And the dog and pony show that was the RNC did an admirable job of scaring the living crap out of average Americans, leading people to the untenable conclusion that a vote for anybody but Bush was akin to laying out a welcome mat for Islamic terrorists to take aim at all we hold dear.  Bush made a strong push, and eked out a slight lead—not even outside the margin of error in polls of registered as opposed to likely voters—in the immediate wake of his convention. 

What could Kerry have done to resist the August Bush Push?  Squander his bankroll to push back at Bush at a time when he was getting much free and relatively favorable publicity?  Respond to manifestly unreliable accusations regarding his war record from a GOP-funded fringe group as if they had even a sliver of truth to them?  In retrospect, Kerry may have been best served by what he did—sitting on the sidelines, biding his time and preparing a counterattack on his own terms.

The gloves are off now (if they were ever on), and both sides are spoiling for a fight to the finish.  The words of the inimitable Ice Cube ring true when it comes to this election: This election ain’t a track meet, it’s a marathon.  Swing voters will still be swung and there’s a little more than sixty days left to do it.  I’m not hitting the panic button just yet; hopefully, the recent Bush Push wasn’t a surprise to Kerry, rather a well anticipated effort by Bush accounted for in Kerry’s strategy for the stretch run.