Measuring the Curtains?

When I was out with Obama, I did not see lassitude. And haven't the two debates helped him show he's "up to the job"?

Yet another poll brings him good news:

"A new USA TODAY/Gallup Poll showed that viewers of the second presidential debate have more confidence that Obama can handle the economy. By a more than a 2-to-1 margin, however, debate viewers have less confidence that McCain can deal with the nation's economic problems.

"The poll of 735 debate viewers taken Wednesday, a day after the candidates faced off in Nashville, also showed the debate helped boost confidence in Obama's ability to address defense and foreign policy issues, 33% vs. 27%. McCain, meanwhile, lost ground: 30% now have less confidence in him to handle these issues, which are usually a strong point for the former Navy pilot."

Joe Klein sees a broader reason for Obama's recent success:

"If Barack Obama is elected president of the United States on Nov. 4 -- a prospect that is beginning to seem likely now -- it may turn out that he closed the deal with a simple answer to a not-so-simple question posed by Tom Brokaw in the second presidential debate: 'Is health care in America a privilege, a right or a responsibility?' . . .

"In a collapsing economy, government regulation -- forcing insurers to cover everyone at reasonable rates -- sounds more comforting than stultifying.

"The desire for more government activism is true across the board. All of a sudden, government-provided infrastructure programs -- and that's what most of McCain's despised 'earmarks' are -- don't sound like such a waste of money, especially if they are married to alternative energy sources and conservation (which is why Obama talks constantly about 'retrofitting' buildings to conserve energy). All of a sudden, boring bureaucracies like the Securities and Exchange Commission, which have been undermined and underfunded by Republicans, become a crucial bulwark against the rampaging free-market anarchists on Wall Street."

With apologies to Bill Clinton, The Era of Big Government is Back? Or just better-run government?

And speaking of Bubba, the Boston Globe observes:

"Barack Obama likes to draw inspiration from Abraham Lincoln and Martin Luther King Jr., but his apparent role model of late is someone a bit more contemporary: Bill Clinton.

"With the economy in crisis and Election Day in sight, Obama can't say enough about the Clinton epoch -- the job growth, the budget surpluses, the broad prosperity -- and often lauds the former president's economic stewardship as a model.