The Big Show

The lone GOP supporter, deputy managing editor Rachael Larimore: "This is a difficult election for me. But voting for John McCain is an easy choice. He's a man I admire, I agree with many of his policy positions, and, since I am a moderate but loyal Republican, I feel a kind of kinship with him."

The Sarah Palin debate rages on, particularly among women, such as Salon's Joan Walsh:

"Both of the following observations are true:

"A) Palin is a nasty and very skilled political opportunist who is giving as good as she's getting, smacking Barack Obama, Joe Biden and now McCain (his staff, anyway) with savage glee. and

"B) She's being scapegoated in a personal way that seems sadly familiar for female candidates, in very sexist terms: First 'diva,' then 'whack job;' next she'll be Glenn Close in 'Fatal Attraction.' Oops, sorry, that was Hillary Clinton . . .

"Still, it's hard not to notice that a woman is being blamed and shamed yet again, when the real screw-up here is McCain himself, who presided over possibly the worst V.P. pick in modern history."

Conservative Danielle Crittenden challenges the notion that Palin's critics are elitists:

"In fact, not only did I NOT go to Harvard, I have no education to speak of. Not beyond high school anyway (and it was one of those large, urban high schools from which many of the most successful graduates went on to become garage mechanics) . . .

"Maybe it's because of my background that I've been wary of Palin from the get-go -- and more than taken aback by those who insist the only reason a conservative could oppose her would be because of intellectual snobbery.

"Don't get me wrong: I love the idea of Sarah Palin. She conforms to an early American (and pre-feminist) ideal of womanhood: rifle on one hip, baby on the other. I love her modern incarnation of this ideal, complete with Sex-in-the-Tundra wardrobe and kick-ass Jimmy Choos (even if they are paid for by the RNC). I love the idea she represents 'common sense' over fancy-pants theorizing. I love -- and certainly identify with -- her real world, 'out there' experience over her opponents' closed-off years in Washington. Truly, there are few women I'd rather share a beer with.

"The problem is that the reality of Sarah Palin does not match the idea of Sarah Palin. It's as plain as day -- glaringly obvious! -- that she's unfit for the job she's running for. We wouldn't expect the best darn regional car saleswoman to be appointed the next vice president of General Motors. We wouldn't fly in a commercial plane piloted by someone with a Cessna license because we trusted her gut. We wouldn't follow a woman into battle because she's a crack shot at moose hunting. Why is it unreasonable -- or snobbish! -- to have expected a better choice from our party for the next potential leader of the free world?"

Just in case you thought being on the trail was glamorous:

"After the longest, most sustained campaign on record, political reporters are running on little more than the scant sustenance of yet another slice of pizza. Some are running out of energy; others are running out of ideas. 'The one conversation I keep having with reporters is, 'What the hell do we write about? What are the interesting stories left to cover in this election?' ' says The New Yorker's Ryan Lizza. 'There are a lot of people scratching their heads trying to find a new angle at the end.'

"Others, like soldiers who have served one tour too many, are slowly losing touch with the world outside the candidate's orbit. [The NYT's Matt] Bai, who is married to a Fox producer, has seen the strains of life on the road. 'You lose contact with the outside world,' says Bai. 'You call your spouse at home and talk about the trail and the person at home just doesn't get it or care, because it's the same story over and over again. It's murder on relationships.' Every four years, Bai says, there's at least one divorce or break-up. 'It's just not a normal human experience.' "

We're collateral damage. Except that nobody forces us to do this.