As Matt Y. notes, the NYT/CBS News poll out today showing that 81 percent (!) of Americans polled think the country is on the wrong track is extraordinarily bad news for John McCain:

McCain desperately needs the support of the 15-25 percent of dead-enders who think Bush is a good president.

Absolutely. McCain can never be the credible candidate of change, coming as he does from a party that is widely seen, and rightly so, as responsible for the current malaise. But not just that; a Huckabee could have been seen and sold as a change agent. On what policy does McCain represent a significant departure from Teh Leader? His campaign message seems to boil down to: Vote for me, I’ll give you  more of the same, but now with 25 percent more competency! And that’s why, regardless of what the polls say now, regardless of how Democrats are trying to destroy their own chances, I just have a hard time McCain win this. People just don’t want to go down the dead enders’ road any longer.