Pundits' 7 Worst Campaign Blunders

Pundits make mistakes. And Salon has tallied the biggest whoppers of the presidential campaign:

1. The “Palin bounce”—It fizzled and the Alaska governor has the highest negative approval ratings of a VP candidate in history.
2. “Sergeant” Schmidt will right the USS McCain—Steve Schmidt’s strategy of daily news-cycle ready attacks sacrificed long-term ideological coherency, and made voters see McCain as overly negative.

3. Oil prices will dominate the election—Oil’s now back to $70 a barrel, and “Brooding about a $100 fill-up seems so overwrought two months later with a financial system in tatters.”
4. Obama should’ve taken public financing—$150 million in September vs. $84 million for the whole general election… What was he thinking?
5. Obama was arrogant to contest red states—Virginia and Indiana lean blue, while McCain is forced to spend money defending former GOP strongholds.
6. Congressmen will fear being associated with the “liberal” Obama—instead, it's GOP candidates distancing themselves from McCain.
7. Hillary supporters will never vote Obama—Clinton-loving independents are still up for grabs, but most actual Democrats "have (surprise!) returned to the fold."