Confession time — ever since the Hillary vs. Barack primaries this past spring, I’ve been a fan of the Daily Kos website. Some of the writers there are even more left-leaning than ME, but the one I really enjoy reading is the site’s founder, Markos Moulitsas Zúniga (a.k.a. Kos). He does the numbers like no one else.

And today, he’s helping prove the theory I’ve been sharing with whoever may be close enough to hear me expound on it — that the McCain “bounce” after his pick of Mrs. Alaska is the last gasp of his fading campaign:

None of this should suggest that Palin has been a bad pick for McCain. His campaign would be dead in the water right now had he chosen Romney, Pawlenty or Lieberman. If nothing else, Palin has reengaged the Christian Right, and their grassroots capabilities can never be underestimated. She has brought back the GOP base. But it was still a hail mary pass, and now we get to see, as her record is fully aired, her initial popularity ebb away.

Go check out the numbers and details in the rest of the article at his excellent site: Palin’s rapid fade.

And check out the approval ratings of both the presidential candidates and the veeps. That says a lot, I think.

Edited to Add: Thanks to fellow writer Jan, here’s an excellent site for keeping up with the polls: Pollster.com.