MORNING READ

With three weeks to go before the election, John McCain finds himself behind Barack Obama in every national poll, including the latest survey by The Washington Post and ABC News. Many Americans just don’t like McCain anymore, so his late attempts to reshape the campaign won’t work, according to liberal bloggers. But Democrats looking past the election may be getting ahead of themselves, according to conservative bloggers.

The Washington Post/ABC News poll shows Obama with a 53 percent to 43 percent lead. The survey also shows Obama as the stronger candidate when it comes to two areas where McCain needs to win: tax policy and leadership, notes TalkingPointsMemo’s Josh Marshall. McCain’s favorability ratings, once around 60 percent, have dropped to 52 percent because of his negative attacks, notes Firedoglake’s Attaturk.

The Drudge Report’s Monday morning headline asks if McCain is “ready for a comeback.” But there’s little evidence that McCain’s campaign is on the upswing, so any comeback suggestions may be part of an effort to spin the media into giving the Republican positive coverage, writes FiveThirtyEight’s Nate Silver. New York Times columnist William Kristol’s suggestion that McCain “junk” his campaign and run as “a cheerful, open and accessible candidate” would only feed into the notion that McCain is erratic, writes TalkLeft’s TChris. And while McCain’s aides have talked about new economic prescriptions, the campaign isn’t ready to propose any, writes Marshall.

Democrats, however, are giving Americans cause to think again about voting for them by planning a post-election lame-duck session to consider another expensive stimulus bill, writes The Corner’s Kathryn Jean Lopez. A veteran Democrat’s predictions of Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) as a Supreme Court justice and Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) as Secretary of State in an Obama administration should also give Americans some pause, writes Townhall’s Carol Platt Liebau.

FROM THE BLOGS:
Lapping Him – Josh Marshall, TalkingPointsMemo
People No Longer Like Him – Attaturk, Firedoglake
Drudge Priming McCain ‘Reboot’ Narrative? – N. Silver, 538
Kristol Tells McCain to Junk His Campaign – TChris, TalkLeft
Just Totally Falling Apart – Josh Marshall, TalkingPointsMemo
A View From The Ground – Karen Tumulty, Swampland
Getting Ahead of Themselves – Kathryn Jean Lopez, The Corner
Not A Pretty Picture – Carol Platt Liebau, Townhall.com
Not Even Close to Over – Carol Platt Liebau, Townhall.com

OTHER NEWS SOURCES:
Obama Up By 10 Points as McCain Favorability Ratings Fall – Wash. Post
Adviser Says McCain Has Tax Cuts In Mind – Wall Street Journal
No New Economic Proposal Expected from McCain – New York Times
History Suggests McCain Faces Uphill Battle – New York Times