The good news is that the race is tightening in the battleground states. McCain looks to be ahead by a nose in Florida, Ohio and Missouri look like toss-ups, and in most of the key states, McCain seems to be gaining.

The bad news is that McCain isn't on pace to win any states that Kerry won in 2004, he looks highly likely to lose New Hampshire & Iowa, and he looks to be losing by a small margin in Colorado, Virginia, North Carolina, & Nevada -- all of which he needs to win if he wants to come out on top.

In other words, it's closer than it looks in some of the national polls, but close only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades. There's not much to be said about losing a "close election" other than "He should have done more to try to win." McCain should take that message to heart and try to step up the pace between now and the end of the campaign.