.... in the Pittsburgh election-eve rally ongoing as I type:
1) Michelle Obama, comparing her husband to his crucial Pennsylvania supporter, Sen. Bob Casey. "They both have households full of bright, beautiful young girls." Fine; charming. "And they both married brilliant, accomplished, and beautiful women." What??? The husband says "I married up." The wife doesn't make that point.
2) Barack himself, talking about his new approach to politics, points out that he discussed energy efficiency in front of an auto-industry audience in Detroit, discussed progressive taxation in front of fat cats on Wall Street, and generally believed in telling truths the hard but honest way. I was waiting to hear how he'd work in "and I discussed the biases of small-town Pennsylvania losers before rich donors in the Bay Area." But he just kind of slid to a different topic. Probably wiser not to have started down this rhetorical road to begin with -- not in the Keystone State. (Addendum: not meaning to hype the importance of "bittergate" here, just saying this is a rare instance of Obama not addressing a "Hey, wait a minute" point that would be on many Pennsylvania listeners' minds.)
I blame the fatigue (a theme close to my heart these days). Get out the vote, Pennsylvanians! And let these candidates get some sleep.
