As the nation declines, so goes Obama

First, the independents are continuing to drain away -- now below 40% for the first time.

But what's worse is that the well-heeled are starting to feel that maybe this isn't fun anymore -- here they are gathered at the Aspen Ideas Festival, listening to the likes of Harvard historian Niall Ferguson say things like:

“The critical point is if your policy says you’re going run a trillion-dollar deficit for the rest of time, you’re riding for a fall…Then it really is goodbye.” A dashing Brit, Ferguson added: “Can I say that, having grown up in a declining empire, I do not recommend it. It’s just not a lot of fun actually—decline.”

And the final, terrible omen must be the interview with Barbra Streisand & consort who were listening to all this: '“Depressing, but fantastic,” Streisand told me afterward, rendering her verdict on the session. “So exciting. Wonderful!”'

I mean, you can lose the independents, you can lose the academics -- but once you've lost the airheads of the entertainment industry, really,  it's pretty much over, isn't it?