G. Frink's

Sen. John McCain visited North Carolina today in an attempt to stop a Democratic landslide which could sweep down the Republican ticket, not with the force of the Nixon surge which in 1972 washed Jesse Helms into the U.S. Senate over Nick Galifianakis, but with destructive effects nonetheless.

McCain certainly didn't expect to reboot his campaign with the "I'm not quitting" speech he gave in Wilmington, the principal port city of a state which hasn't been carried by a Democratic presidential candidate since Jimmy Carter in 1976.

Even his tone of voice suggested that he knew a winning Republican ticket would have North Carolina cold in the bag. Yet like several other states a winning Republican presidential ticket would have in the bag by now, North Carolina is a tossup, with for example Rasmussen reporting a one point lead for Obama and Civitas reporting a five point Obama lead.

Nationally, the Washington Post/ABC News poll tells the story straight today. It found Obama up by 10 points and gaining while McCain's approval ratings slide. Similarly, a Democracy Corps battleground state poll reported Friday that a substantial majority of battleground state voters believe Obama is an effective leader who is concerned about their needs.

I agree with Nate silver's suggestion that McCain may pull some new political stunts before the polls close on Nov. 4. The McCain team may come up with something in time for Wednesday night's debate. But the available evidence suggests that no rabbits came out of the McCain hat today because he and his staff couldn't create one they agreed would hop.

So the team came out head down, hat off, with:

Despite signals that Senator John McCain would have new prescriptions for the economic crisis after a weekend of meetings, his campaign said Sunday that Mr. McCain, the Republican presidential nominee, would not have any more proposals this week unless developments call for some.

That doesn't mean the race is over. It isn't. It means Sen. Barack Obama has to stay on target, as he did today with his Toledo, Ohio, speech on the economy in which he said:

I'm proposing a number of steps that we should take immediately to stabilize our financial system, provide relief to families and communities, and help struggling homeowners. It's a plan that begins with one word that's on everyone's mind, and it's easy to spell: J-O-B-S.

He isn't trying to terrify us, as the McCain campaign has and continues to.

Obama is offering well thought out solutions to a nation which I believe is hungry for them, and to people a majority of whom have concluded that he genuinely cares about their needs.