Three Up; Three Down

THREE UP
By many accounts, including our own, John McCain had been running a profoundly uninspiring campaign. But backed by some clever campaign ads — the celebrity swipe featuring Paris Hilton excluded — and growing angst over energy and Barack Obama’s credentials, McCain surged ahead in presidential polls among likely voters and was tied or narrowly trailing among registered voters. Tell Michelle not to measure the Oval Office drapes just yet.
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While other events of its kind have struggled in recent years, the Augusta County Fair continues to thrive, featuring an array of family entertainment, the traditional livestock shows, motocross racing and plenty of good food. Congrats to fair organizers on another good year.
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Big ups for a trend to which we hope to grow accustomed: falling gas prices. After reaching $4 a gallon in the Valley, prices had slipped to as low as $3.61 a gallon at this writing. We don’t expect to see prices slip below $3 a gallon again, but at least they’re edging in the right direction. Count it among the signs that the economic downturn might be easing.

THREE DOWN
Politicians are remarkable in their obtuseness. Nancy Pelosi and Democrats offer this week’s example. With more Americans calling for expanded drilling, Dems at every level have been rolling out plans to turn to renewables in 10 years. Most of these ideas are of pipe-dream variety, and Americans know it. As a result, the blue crowd is stumbling on an issue that, at the moment, matters more to voters than any other.
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Count the International Olympic Committee among the gullible who believed that the Games could alter life in China. Predictably, on the day the Olympics opened, the government locked dissidents across the country in their homes to keep free speech from defiling Beijing’s big moment. The effort proved the limits of the Games and logic at the IOC.
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Welcome to Rome. Brett Favre, the former Green Bay Packers quarterback whose narcissism has become almost as remarkable as his penchant for throwing into coverage, was given the red-carpet treatment Friday in New York. Mayor Michael Bloomberg welcomed the veteran star, who arrived in the Big Apple after being traded to the Jets. Enough already. Favre is just a football player, not a dignitary. Let’s see how welcome he feels after the Jets start 1-2.