There's so much gloom and doom here that I thought I'd break the mood.  Look at the map in the upper left corner.  Pre-unity, Obama has the lead and this is without MI and WI.  

OK now, put yourself into McCain's camp.  What's his plan to win the election.  As I see it, his only hope is to flip NH and OH from that map and then play defense in Michigan, Wisconsin, Virgina, the Carolinas, Nevada, Nebraska's extra electoral votes, and maybe Georgia and Alaska if Barr plays a role.

The good scenario for McCain, barring some collapse, is squeaking out a 272/268 victory, and that assumes pretty much everything goes his way.  It's not over by any means, but we're in a good position now.  I won't say we should relax, but try not to freak out too much in the next few months.  Use that energy to fight some more and we could break 300.

Like most of you, my reaction to the ending of the same sex marriage ban was mixed.  Most of me was excited than an obvious case of discrimination was struck down.  A small part of me was still worried about November.  We've already seen the God and guns; here comes the gay issue.

Of course, even if this meant President McCain, I couldn't say this ruling was wrong.  You can't keep oppressing a minority out of fear of the voters.  In that case you won't stand for anything other than winning.  Fortunately though, I think this time, it's not going to be that big of a deal.  Follow me below the fold for the reasoning.

The excerpt below is posted with the full knowledge and permission, even encouragement, of the author, who wants his essays to be read by as many people as possible.

From The Hill's Pundits Blog:

Al Gore, Live Earth Concert, and the Coming Surge of American Optimism

Brent Budowsky

On July 7, 2008, Al Gore and a galaxy of entertainment superstars, a worldwide army of idealists, and 2 billion concerned citizens from seven continents will take a stand on global warming that will advance a new political era of optimism and hope...

Sooner than people realize, Americans are going to be astonished and amazed at the rekindling of American optimism and the can-do attitude that good people who care passionately can make a difference.

MORE MORE MORE

I know that the Dems' capitulation on Iraq is still a source of intense anger among progressives. There have been many Kossacks who are threatening to stop supporting Democratic candidates and others who have decided that this failure is undeniable proof that our political system is broken.

In the past few days, I've spent a good amount of time defending a diarist who was trollrated for ripping on John Kerry and venting my anger at Nicholas Kristof for his support of our Chinese trade policies (for which I was, somewhat justifiably, also trollrated).

In any case, despite my continued anger/frustration, I'd like to make an optimistic argument that this Iraq betrayal will be good for the progressive movement, and ultimately, good for America. Netroots activists are being reminded of their shared values and are being forced to confront several inconvienient truths about the state of the progressive movement and the America's political system. I GENUINELY believe that this setback is GOOD for our movement, and I break it all down below the flip.

It's best to fight a battle, such as global warming, on multiple fronts.

While many have been following the rise of global warming activism on the left, for a long time now I've been hoping and praying for a similar rise on the right.  Why?  Once both ends of the political spectrum begin to act, things will really happen.  (Example: the 90-something-to-1 FDA vote in the senate today.)  It's tough to get a risk-averse politician to spend political capital.  Solution: get the value of that capital down to zero.

If we can get the GOP on board, our struggle is over.

Follow me below for a recap of this "Fight on the Right" --- and some absolutely mindblowing breaking news.  Trust me: your jaw will smash your space bar.

(Oh, and dire warning to all you pessimists out there: this is a ROSY, OPTIMISTIC DIARY!)

Cross-posted at dailykos.