As the McCain campaign

continues to unravel, it underscores a point I tried to make throughout the primaries: it's difficult to maintain a facade of efficiency and control when you are losing and under fire. A losing campaign, like a losing sports team, is simply viewed in a different light -- people look for things to pick at. A frustrated communique that might be ignored if sent by a competitive campaign is released and ridiculed when sent by a losing one. Watch a baseball or football game, and notice how the announcers begin heaping praise on the winning team, and that's something like what you see going on with Obama-McCain now. That isn't a good thing -- politics isn't sports, and political commentary, because the stakes are so high, ought to be held to a higher standard. And in a sporting contest, unlike in politics, the announcers, whatever their enthusiasm or skill, can't influence the outcome.