I think Carl’s playing a balancing act - throwing enough bones at McCain supporters to keep them energized and determined, but lulling Democrats into complacency.
I think there will be a point in the next few days where O faces the stark truth that the strategy of appearing invincible has failed and he’ll started scaring his supporters to get them to the polls. We’ll probably see some equivalent of the James Byrd dragging death ad deployed against McCain. He’ll have no choice.