Tick, Tick, Tick

After all these many months, the moment of truth is fast approaching. After all the speeches, debates, ads and flyers, the candidates basically wait for the next 36 hours. There's not much more they can do. Even those of us who've worked from inside or outside campaigns have only a few things we can do. All the phone calls, yard signs, blog posts, google bombs, and conversations with acquaintances and strangers are pretty much over. Aside from last minute "Do you need a ride to the polls?" or a chance encounter, it's up to everyone else now. Yet, we still have the most important thing left to do, the actual vote.

This weekend, some national polls came out that were less-than-encouraging, none less-so than the results of the Pew Research Council's generic ballot, which showed the once-gigantic Democratic advantage having shriveled to a mere four points among likely voters. All races and polls tighten as the election nears, so some of this was expected, but such a precipitous drop (though still a lead) is disheartening. The Democratic wave that seemed only a week ago inevitable might now be just a figment. Or, as I certainly hope, simply a statistical outlier come along at the scariest moment. Of course, the latest Fox poll shows the Dems leading by 13%, 49-36, so it's possible that the Pew result is unduly pessimistic (if a poll can be pessimistic in itself). I'll be rooting --- more like hoping and praying --- for substantial Democratic gains in the House, Senate and various Governor's Mansions (or corner offices in our commonwealth's case).

We should be around for most of the afternoon and evening tomorrow with updates national and local and a post-mortem or two on Wednesday. Please feel free to join us tomorrow or let us know in the comments what you'll be doing.