McCain Looks Like He'll Be Needing a Game-Changing Stunt, Soon . . . .

As his Captain Economy act flopped.

Looks like the Thrilla in St. Louis is going to happen, but at this point it is still hours away. 11 or so? She can still "Call in Sick," or get called back to Alaska to personally manage some moose migration crisis.

Granted, I still am leery of making any solid predictions, so I am just spinning scenarios here. As said in the title line, McCain really need a new stunt. Not only his, but Palin's poll numbers are behaving like Canadian Geese, heading south for the winter. So is the debate going to be enough of a game changer? Could that Horrid Woman do that well that she bounces, and brings the ticket up? Not likely. Depending on who's expectation estimate you are going off of, she may meet or exceed. But a clear domination? I don't think so.

But what does a decent performance provide for McCain. A decent performance makes her dismissal from the ticket, and the covering lie for it, more likely than if she tanks.

Stay with me here. If that Horrid Woman tanks badly, no one will believe McCain's reason unless he admits it was not working out as well as he hoped, some sort of honest statement. Granted, the lies from the McCain camp have gone past Rovian, and now resemble John Lovitz' Pathological Liar, but still. If they want to change the game they should not do something that really is going to make them look worse.

But if she does ok? It looks less like she is being sacrificed. And to echo that NYT blogger, she is being sacrificed already; most folk have not figured that out yet.

But anyway, I am not predicting, I am just using my analytical imagination here.