Change ... his Depends

It's heartening to see that voters aren't as dumb as we sometimes think (despite those women rushing out to buy $500 Sara 'Weatherchick' Palin-style glasses). How shallow. But so is she.

Seems most voters have figured John McSame out after all:

Despite an intense effort to distance himself from the way his party has done business in Washington, Senator John McCain is seen by voters as far less likely to bring change to Washington than Senator Barack Obama. He is widely viewed as a “typical Republican” who would continue or expand President Bush’s policies, according to the latest New York Times/CBS News poll.

The voters even have seemed to cool to the weather chick's temporary popularity:

Polls taken after the Republican convention suggested that Mr. McCain had enjoyed a surge of support — particularly among white women after his selection of Gov. Sarah Palin of Alaska as his running mate — but the latest poll indicates “the Palin effect” was, at least so far, a limited burst of interest.

All in all, it's pretty heartening:

Among other groups, Mr. Obama had a slight edge among independents, and a 16-percentage-point lead among voters ages 18 to 44. Mr. McCain was leading by 17 points among white men and by the same margin among voters 65 and over. Before the convention, voters 65 and older were closely divided. In the latest poll, middle-age voters, 45 to 64, were almost evenly divided between the two.

The Weatherchick isn't giving the GOP the boost it fantasized about.

This poll found evidence of concern about Ms. Palin’s qualifications to be president, particularly compared with Senator Joseph R. Biden Jr. of Delaware, Mr. Obama’s running mate. More than 6 in 10 said they would be concerned if Mr. McCain could not finish his term and Ms. Palin had to take over. In contrast, two-thirds of voters surveyed said Mr. Biden would be qualified to take over for Mr. Obama, a figure that cut across party lines. And 75 percent said they thought Mr. McCain had picked Ms. Palin more to help him win the election than because he thought that she was well qualified to be president. ...

Of course, the GOP will claim that the poll is skewed because it says NYT on it. That's the way the GOP works; can't contradict the message, blame the messenger.

To put it another way: 'As a Republican, I only believe those news reports which affirm my already formed predjudices.'

And so it goes.