You Heard It Here First

Obama is taking home 400 electoral votes. To put that in perspective, the only Democrat to hit that number since WWII was LBJ in 1964.

What leads me to say something so preposterous? Well, look at the state of the McCain campaign. The latest NBC poll has him down ten points nationally … and that’s not entirely out of line with other polls. Even worse, the leading drag on the ticket isn’t the current president, but the running mate he himself chose. McCain essentially ended his campaign to win Colorado, Iowa, and New Mexico — meaning that for any mathematical chance of victory, he needs to shock the world and win Pennsylvania, where he is trailing by double digits.

National polls and the increasing insanity of Republican partisans — like Rep. Michelle Bachman pining for the good ol’ days of the House Un-American Activities Committee and Sen. Mel Martinez comparing Obama’s economic policy to Castro’s Cuba, let alone McCain himself taking a blatantly obvious remark by Biden and turning it into a threat to America — indicate that there is a massive Obama landslide forming, the magnitude of which has not yet been properly appreciated.

At this point, 400 electoral votes sounds admittedly crazy; that number would mean that Obama will win not only all current battleground states, but states on the margin that seem quite decisively Republican. With a national landslide of this scope, however, I think Democratic victories in states like Montana and Georgia are eminently plausible, especially as trends in favor of Obama appear to be self-reinforcing and GOP voters become more likely to abandon a candidate that they weren’t particularly enthusiastic about to start with.

President-Elect Obama (let’s just cut to the chase here), backed by a 60-member Senate caucus, will have the power to mold the world as he sees fit … WITH HIS MIND. Or something. But seriously, folks, if you like the Democratic platform, America is gonna get a lot better for you. Unless, of course, our form of government is fatally flawed and will destroy us all. Just file that thought away.

And finally: Contemplate the speed at which change typically occurs in human history, then consider that it will have been a mere 55 years — far shorter than the average lifetime — between Brown v. Board and the ascendancy of an African-American to the presidency. Holy smokes. What the hell will my generation live to see?