THE OPTIMAL PROGRESSIVE ENVIRONMENT:

Gordon Brown Suffers Humiliating Anniversary Defeat<, 6/26/08/a> (Reuters)

British Prime Minister Gordon Brown has suffered a humiliating defeat in a mid-term election for a vacant parliamentary seat, the latest setback coming exactly a year after he took power.

Obama Lead Tight Over McCain (JAY NEWTON-SMALL, 6/26/08, TIME)

Illinois Senator Barack Obama enters the General Election with a tight lead, 43% to 38%, over Arizona Senator John McCain, according to a new TIME Magazine poll of registered voters. The poll shows Obama gaining only a slight bounce from Hillary Clinton's departure from the campaign early this month.

When undecided voters leaning towards Obama and McCain are accounted for, the race narrows to a mere 4 percentage points, barely above the poll's 3.5% margin of error. Thirty percent of those who remain undecided said they lean towards McCain, 20% said they were leaning toward Obama with 46% citing no preference.

Divergence from the Third Way is political suicide.

Posted by Orrin Judd at June 27, 2008 8:18 AM