Now that Foleygate has, at least, for the moment, died down a bit and we enter the final month of the campaign, it's probably worth pointing out that there is one issue that remains the single most important both substantively and politically: the ongoing strategic and moral disaster in Iraq.

Conservatives like to point out that the "liberal elite" are disconnected from the military, and the fact is that in a lot of ways that's largely true. For that reason, I think it's easy for said elite to overlook just how important Iraq is to voters around the country. Polling data shows it's weighing heavily on voters minds, and this article in the Times ($elect) gives a pretty good flavor of why.