Falling skies

As usual, the horse race view of presidential elections is in full flower among the pundit class.   They breathlessly dissect each new poll showing The Donald either closing the gap or actually leading Hillary.   As has been proven over the last 50 years, polls taken 167 days out from the election are little better than reading the entrails of some sacrificial animal, but the talking heads need something to justify their continued relevance.   A cursory look at the present state of the race would show the Democrats still jousting in the primary with Bernie hoping some scandal will force Hillary from the race and he will be the White Knight beneficiary of the party.  That's about his only hope at this point, however his continued attacks on the leader are damaging in the short term.  Meanwhile, Trump is the presumptive nominee of the Republicans.  He continues to attack virtually everyone who is not white.  His latest target, the Latina governor of New Mexico shows how he will be unable to  "pivot" as the general election campaign starts.  His uncensored ID will not allow civility and his dredging up of every Clinton scandal will be amusing, but not very effective.  Another thing the pundits have not allowed for is the formidable campaign skills President Obama will deploy in Hillary's favor.   This will be the first time a 2nd term president with over 50% favorability will actively campaign for his party's nominee.  Oh and yes, Bernie will come around and try to convince the Bernie or Bust crowd to vote for the lesser of two evils.