Why not expect a blowout?

From the Huffington Post:

In the first sign that voters are coalescing around Barack Obama as the Democratic nominee, two daily tracking polls notice a widening of the gap over his Republican rival John McCain. Both Gallup and Rasmussen now have Obama holding a gap of 6% over McCain.

The article then notes that one of Obama's supposed weaknesses, women voters — not so much. He's leading McCain and is doing better than Kerry did four years ago. Of course it's early and a lot can and will change, but what's wrong with expecting Obama to prove to be a superior candidate and win a big victory? A couple of reasons to take this approach:

1. This is the right year. If we put it in terms of brands, Obama's got what the public wants to buy. GOP voters kind of got stuck with McCain. Their field was incredibly weak, with the strongest challenger an evangelical preacher for whom even too many modern Republicans could not consider voting. Obama, on the other hand, overcame the Clinton brand with his message of change and the promise that what Americans hoped for is, indeed, possible. There's no reason to think that with things growing as dim as they are that Americans will not desire both the change from the Bush agenda and a change from the ugly, grim outlook that agenda has engendered.
2. This is the right organization. Pundits remain in awe of what the Obama-Axelrod-Plouffe machine did in 2008. There was scarcely a wrong stop in the entire campaign. They scoped out Iowa perfectly, were positioned for a 50-state primary, infilitrated the social networks, brought in volunteers and then paid staff in places that had not seen a real Democrat work for the presidency since FDR, and raised money as if it really did grow on trees. They began work on the general election well before the primary was decided: anyone who paid attention to Obama's stump speeches heard him campaign against McCain for months now. These guys are not only good; they are the best. Ever.
3. This is the right candidate. Whatever challenge or obstacle Obama has come up against in this campaign, his response has been almost perfect. The Rev Wright mess, and especially as the media turned it into an absolute circus, could have annihilated him. Instead he responded with one of the greatest speeches heard in several generations. Obama's understanding of the right thing to do, whether politically or morally, is spot-on, time after time. He's no fluke: he's a man who knows himself and knows what he needs to do on his own terms. And in 2008, Obama's terms are what much of America seems to want as well.

Notice there's nothing said there about inevitability. Even a blow-out has to be earned. But when I live up Obama's strengths against McCain's weaknesses — and vice-versa — I find it hard to see McCain going anywhere but backwards over the next 4-1/2 months. Of course the 527s will crank out swiftboatery as never before, and the racist garbage will flow, but voters will, I think, opt for the smart guy who seems to have a knack for doing things the right and makes them feel like America might actually have a chance to fix what Bush broke.

Winning a blow-out is not just a fanciful wish, either; it's a vital goal we need to aim at to help the "down-ticket" races: Congress, governorships, state-wide races and so on. There's also an anti-gay marriage ban in California that must be stopped (even Arnold says so). And the number one tool Dems have going for them in these contests is Barack Obama's coattails. Bill Clinton may have won the presidency twice, but he did so without winning a majority vote and with no coattails. As a result, the Republicans gained the Congress and the nation drifted hard to the right at all levels.

The more overwhelming Obama's victory, the more likely the energy behind that victory will translate into votes for Democratic candidates at all levels. That means that not only would Obama have the Oval Office, but potentially a strong Congress as his ally — and Democrats (and moderate Republicans in some cases) would be adding their voices and actions to the same progressive platform being promulgated at the national level. Change could be strong and deep, involving national issues and also state and local. That's what a blow-out can mean: the opportunity to transform American politics immediately and bring about the change we hope for in an Obama presidency.

Plus it would feel so damn good to kick a bit of Republican heiny.