Ellington

There's a great Alternet story by Joshua Holland that might hit the spot for those of you (us) cringing over small movements in the national polls this election cycle. It may not completely settle your racing heart -- nothing will until there's an election (followed by a scandal, a recount and hand-ringing over the failures of our electronic voting system) -- but there's a money quote or two worth reading:

The bigger picture is this: For about 10 days during the past 10 months -- after Sarah Palin's introduction to the country but before Americans got a good look at her beliefs -- McCain inched ahead of Obama in the national head-to-heads. Now, the tide appears to be turning back in Obama's favor: As the electorate has gotten enough of a look at Palin to distrust her, her once-high approval numbers have taken a nosedive.

Even though things have actually stayed pretty close the even-keel over many, many months, the truth is that there's not much we can really know. We're going to have to wait for -- and, if you elect to do so, volunteer and donate money in the interest of helping campaigns affect -- the voting and the results.

More to the point, the significance of those head-to-head polls -- the yardstick featured in so much political reporting -- is completely overblown. The reality is that nobody knows what's going to happen in November.