It's not too early to analyze the election even though it's the day before

So yeah, it's only Monday, but here's a chance fto start overanalyzing what the candidates (depending on who you think will win) did right and did wrong. And if it turns out we're wrong Tuesday ... oh well ...

Here's my take: I think McCain blew it from the get-go. He threw his political history as a "maverick" into the trash by pandering to the right and letting the Republican Party get down and dirty with Wright, Ayers and everything else they tried to dredge up. The people weren't listening, but they kept on it anyway. If he'd have been more genial and less attack dog, a little more self-deprecating and relaxed and less looking so serious (Dole's big mistake), he might have had a chance. Palin, however, was the big nail in the coffin, as was the economic meltdown.

Obama had a plan from before the convention and stuck with it. Even when the polls showed him down, he never panicked (though many of us did). He knew his target audience. He knew young people would support him overwhelmingly. He knew minorities would. He had to convince the white middle class voters. And he did that by staying calm and being the voice of reason. Of course, the economic crisis certainly helped. I think, though, he would have pulled through regardless. His hammering of the "CHANGE" litany got through. Also, his prompt response to the slurs helped a lot. He made Jerome Corsi's book irrelevant and punchless by responding to it quickly and forcefully. If he made any mistakes, it was not completely supporting Jeremiah Wright, who, IMO, did nothing wrong. And his decision not to take public financing may have repercussions for him and other Dems in the future. (Great opinion piece in the SF Chronicle yesterday about that at this link: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.c ... 01&sc=1000.)

There I said it.