"A thing of beauty is a joy forever," John Keats wrote. So let me show you a beautiful thing, and let's hope the trend continues until November 4. It is a concensus of Palin's numbers in recent polls:

......Approve... Disapprove... No Opinion...difference
9/11: 52.............. 35............... 13.............. +17
9/12: 51.............. 37............... 12.............. +14
9/13: 49............. 40............... 11............... +9
9/14: 47............. 42............... 11............... +5
9/15: 47............. 43............... 10.............. +4
9/16: 45............. 44............... 11............... +1
9/17: 44............. 45............... 11............... -1
9/18: 42............ 46............... 11................ -4

Maybe I'm not being overly optimistic by hoping that Americans are coming to their senses.

One of the many arguments I've had with my Republican neighbor over the past week concerns which party has the smarter candidates. He very much resented (even called it elitist) my pointing out that McCain finished #894 in his Naval Academy Class of 899, and that Palin had trouble cobbling together a 4 year degree in journalism from the 5 different colleges she attended (making a D in macroeconomics, by the way); whereas, Obama graduated magna cum laude from Harvard Law School, and Biden has a JD from Syracuse University College of Law, and a BA in History/Political Science from the University of Delaware.

Now who, in a sober frame of mind, could argue that McCain and Palin are smart enough to be trusted with the future of our nation?