Andy McCarthy does his part for the enthusiasm gap:
McCain is McCain. I doubt anyone at National Review has been more critical of him or is less enthusiastic about a McCain presidency than I am.* He is a big-government centrist who is more left than right on countless important issues. He became our nominee out of a crowded field no candidate dominated because of early support from Democrats and independents (i.e., non-Republicans) as well as some influential pundits who told us that only someone like McCain — a reach-across-the-aisle moderate — could win in what they assured us was a Democrat year. Now, predictably, many of those same folks have abandoned McCain for Obama, and McCain's only chance to eek out a win is to convince the very conservatives he's been jabbing all these years. In effect, McCain's Lefty-light has made beating Obama much more difficult because his many maverick forays make it hard for us to get traction on subjects like ACORN, Khalidi, speech-suppression, immigration, enhanced due-process for terrorists, etc. A real conservative could have made a much more compelling fight on the issues than McCain has.
The post, in which noted illogician McCarthy argues that McCain's substantial ties to Rashid Khalidi make it all the more important that Barack Obama be flogged for his, is worth reading in its entirety.
--Christopher Orr