Some of the most interesting polling numbers I've ran across lately have come from an 8/5 Rasmussen survey. They asked 'who do you trust more' between McCain and Obama on a number of issues. A sampling of the results:
Who do you trust more on national security?
John McCain 52%
Barack Obama 40%
Who do you trust more on the War in Iraq?
John McCain 51%
Barack Obama 39%
Who do you trust more on immigration?
John McCain 45%
Barack Obama 36%
Who do you trust more on energy issues?
John McCain 46%
Barack Obama 42%
Who do you trust more on the economy?
John McCain 45%
Barack Obama 45%
Who do you trust more on taxes?
John McCain 47%
Barack Obama 40%
Who do you trust more to balance the federal budget?
John McCain 43%
Barack Obama 40%
Who do you trust more on social security?
John McCain 44%
Barack Obama 38%
Clearly, McCain is performing at a level far beyond what many would have expected just a short 3 weeks ago. Obama's Invincibility Tour '08 ran through Europe in a fashion many pundits expected to make victory that much more unreachable for McCain. But look at Obama now. Yep, some national polls show Obama still in the lead...some don't. But more important than any national poll are the state polls...and there McCain is looking better than ever.
McCain's recent endeavours have shown a clear and consistent strategy to chip away at Obama's popularity. With an understanding that the voters needed for a GOP victory are those who need reassured McCain isn't the next George Bush, the McCain campaign has done a great job of late hitting Obama where it hurts...his celebrity.
Obama clearly has needed to do something to stop the bleeding. Perhaps he thought unveiling an energy policy that sums up to yelling "free money for everyone!" would do the trick. Clearly, it hasn't.
The presumptive Democratic nominee missed his chance yesterday. Sen. Evan Bayh of Indiana hosted Obama throughout the day. Bayh is someone the Obama campaign has leaked to the media as a likely contender for the Vice Presidency. From what I've seen, the subsequent reviews of Bayh were for the most part very positive. His selection would not break the most important rule of selecting a Vice President: Don't pick someone who will hurt you.
Obama could have made the safe pick yesterday and provided himself a slew of positive media coverage for the rest of the week leading up to the Olympic media slowdown. Now, it's too late. McCain will go into the next 16 days of the Olympics with the momentum.
And Obama has no one but himself to blame.
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