Polls Show Tightening Race as Conventions Loom

National polls show John McCain and Barack Obama on nearly even footing as they prepare to announce their running mates and attend their respective conventions in the next two weeks. The tightening race suggests McCain’s heightened attacks and steady succession of campaign ads have poked holes in Obama’s image. The overseas conflict between Russia and Georgia also may have served to highlight McCain’s foreign policy credentials. Surveys consistently show McCain holding Obama to a narrow lead since Obama returned from his high-profile trip abroad last month. McCain has been unable to seize the lead from his Democratic rival, but his performance in the surveys challenges the assumption that President Bush’s low approval ratings make Obama the odds-on favorite in November. The Gallup daily tracking poll, for instance — which averages the last three days of polling on a rolling basis — has shown an increasingly competitive race over the past five days. Obama ... (link)