A story by Chuck Raasch of Gannett News Service found on the website of the Detroit Free Press is but the latest example of the old media's slow recognition that their guy is slipping.  Mr. Raasch claims that voters waited until the debates between President Carter and Ronald Reagan in 1980 to decide that the latter was "up to the job," and are again holding out a final decision on Sen. Barack Obama -- until after he debates Sen. John McCain.

Perhaps. But had Carter ever challenged Reagan to a series of Lincoln-Douglas style debates as McCain has Obama, does anyone think Reagan would have fled like a frightened squirrel?   Pieces like this neatly demonstrate the unprofessionalism that has eroded the mainstream media for decades. Disguised as an analysis, the story presents the false assumptions of the writer regarding Reagan's rise, ignores his years of experience in governance and making his views plain in an effort to present Obama as palatable to those of us who saw in Reagan the best in America.   Nice try, Chuck, but it's not happening.