Like many people on this site, I started following Nate Silver's postings when he was writing diaries as "Poblano" on DailyKos.  Though I supported a different primary candidate than him, I greatly appreciated his analyses and writings.

I was therefore quite pleased when he started FiveThirtyEight.com and, like many of you, followed that multiple times a day during the presidential campaign.

Anyway, I just wanted to share with people there is a great article on Nate in the New York Times today.

Sorry for such a short diary, but you will want to check this out.  Be sure to roam a bit with your mouse and roll-over and click in interesting places:
http://www.palinaspresident.us/

If the election were held today, there's a good chance that Barack Obama would narrowly lose the popular vote but win the electoral college.  Three events that took place during the nominating contest could help put him over the topic.

First is the prolonged campaigning in Iowa.  Iowans throughout the state got to know Obama up close for months and they like him.  Chalk up Iowa in the likely Obama column.

Evangelicals are going crazy for Sarah Palin.  Could they be wrong?

In spite of her supposed support for creationism in schools, she was quoted as actively opposing any attempt to force it into the curriculum, only saying that it should be discussed if brought up.  Likewise, though opposing gay marriage (like every politician, Republican and Democratic), she vetoed legislation that would have taken benefits away from gays.  Yes, she gave a comment that it was because of a technicality, but perhaps that was just an excuse.

In recent years, Markos Moulitsas and other netroots activists have been pushing a Western strategy.  They believe that if the Democratic party makes a serious play for more Western states -- and adopts the gun-lenient, pro-libertarian policies that puts these states in play -- we can forego having to win over states in the South.

Interestingly, and perhaps unintentionally, John McCain may be the one who has adopted this strategy.

There is a fascinating article by  Howard Fineman on Sarah Palin's connection to the exurban communities of the western states.  As described by Fineman (and others), the "exurbs" are the just settled fringes of places like Las Vegas, Albuquerque, Colorado Springs, and Anchorage, where the streets end in desert or forest or mountain foothills.  Due to the low-price homes and the distance from inner cities, it as close to "Leave it to Beaver" as American these days.
 

Ambinder suggests there is a buzz in Denver that McCain might pick former eBay CEO Meg Whitman as VP:
http://marcambinder.theatlantic.com/arch ives/2008/08/mccainwhitman_buzz_in_denve r.php

That's a bit scary to me.  He could make an appeal for women voters and moderates, try to demonstrate strength on business/economic matters, try to show that the Republican Party is forward-looking and innovative, etc.

Apparently, Whitman's stance on abortion is unclear, and that's one potential minefield for McCain.

Thoughts on a Whitman pick?

A centerpiece of my campaign has been changing the old way of doing politics in Washington, and creating new ways that divest more power to the people.  And I have decided to put that approach into practice in selection of our party's Vice Presidential candidate.

We have had one of the most extraordinary nominating contests in the country.  Some 36 million people have turned out for Democratic primaries and caucuses, more than ever before in our country's history.  And they have chosen delegates from cities, towns, and rural areas across this land.

I believe that our country, and our party, work best when the people have a chance to exercise their power.

A recent diary takes the left to task for not sharply enough attacking Russia's incursion into Georgia.  I would suggest that Russia's attack on Georgia is at least as defensible as the NATO attack on Serbia of 1999, which the left largely supported.

Consider the following: