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Surge?
Oliver Willis —
Obama leads McCain by 53-39 in the latest CBS/New York Times poll.
After several weeks in which the McCain campaign unleashed a series of harsh political attacks on Mr. Obama, trying to tie him to a former 1960s radical, among other things, the poll found that voters see Mr. McCain as waging a more negative campaign than Mr. Obama. Six in 10 of those surveyed said that Mr. McCain had spent more time attacking Mr. Obama than explaining what he would do as president; by the same margin voters said Mr. Obama was spending more of his time explaining than ...
More Ayers on Wednesday Night?
44 —
... he launched his political career in Bill Ayers' living room." The Obama ads directly take on that charge, and others. One of Obama's TV ad shows an exterior shot of a Ramada Inn and a narrator, with a weary-sounding tisk-tisk, says Obama started his "first campaign here, not in anyone's living room." "John McCain admits if the election is about the economy, he's going to lose," the television ad says. The controversy over Ayers appears to have had little negative impact on Obama. In a just released NYT-CBS News poll , nearly two-thirds of respondents said they had already ...
Joel Mowbray reports: McCain in Manhattan
Power Line —
... While the event itself was a definite success -- one unofficial count being discussed was $9 million raised -- money alone can't save McCain now. Going on the attack the past week or two doesn't appear to have dented Obama, and the tactic could have even have backfired. ...
10/15 Daily Kos R2K Tracking Poll: Obama 52, McCain 41
Daily Kos —
... said she made them more likely to vote for McCain. In September, however, Palin drew more voters in than she put off. Almost half of voters said she was not qualified to be president, while 43% said she was. In contrast, 76% said Democratic vice presidential nominee Joe Biden was qualified. Palin is the least popular of the four campaign principals, with 43% of voters expressing a "positive" impression of her. Nor are the Ayers attacks working. From the NY Times version: After several weeks in which the McCain campaign sought ...
The Note: McCain Losing Traction, Options as Final Debate Looms
Political Radar —
Previous | Main The Note: McCain Losing Traction, Options as Final Debate Looms October 15, 2008 8:40 AM ABC News' Rick Klein reports in Wednesday's Note: HEMPSTEAD, N.Y. -- This night, at least, they won’t be far apart. As the big shots gather for one final time in the longest time that’s been the 2008 campaign, cue the careless talk over which strangers will make an appearance: Bill Ayers? Tony Rezko? The John McCain that Sarah Palin has been hoping for? The Barack Obama that Hillary Clinton had been hoping for? But you may be right that there’s a bigger question forming a storm front over Long Island Wednesday: Does any of ...
What to Watch for During the Final Debate
The Caucus —
... on Long Island, is set to cover domestic and economic policy and will be moderated by Bob Schieffer of CBS News. This is the season finale of an exhaustive 50-part miniseries that began in April 2007, when both Mr. McCain and Senator Barack Obama lagged in their respective packs and did little to distinguish themselves on the debate stage. Now, with less than three weeks until Election Day, Mr. McCain is trailing Mr. Obama in the national polls, and his multiyear quest to become president is coming down to the wire. If he is going to change the dynamic of the race, watch ...
The Early Word: The Cost of Going Negative
The Caucus —
Just hours away from the third and final presidential debate and less than three weeks from Election Day, a New York Times/CBS News polls finds that the increasingly negative tone of the campaign waged by Senator John McCain appears to be resonating with voters — but not in the way the Republican nominee hoped. The Times’s Michael Cooper and Megan Thee sum up the results of the new poll ...
Ads Backfiring, McCain Goes Negative On Self
ScrappleFace —
(2008-10-15) — With his focus on Barack Obama’s association with a domestic terrorist producing plummeting polling numbers for John McCain, the Republican nominee’s campaign plans to turn the tide with a new strategy, including zingers at tonight’s debate and new ads that slam Sen. John McCain.
“People — especially undecided voters — feel compassion for victims,” said one unnamed McCain campaign strategist, “Our attacks on Obama, rather than stirring concerns about the people who have shaped his thinking, have generated sympathy for him. To make those polls turn ...
Abnormal Rhythms
Hotline On Call Part Deux —
... With polls out today showing that after weeks of hammering Barack Obama for ties to 1960s radical Bill Ayers and his GOP surrogates' use of the Democratic nominee's middle name to raise concerns about his heritage, McCain has fallen in the polls. He trails Obama by 14 percentage points, according to a New York Times/CBS News survey out today. Perhaps more problematic, McCain is identified by 6 of 10 voters for spending "more time attacking Mr. Obama than explaining what he would do as president." ...
Open Caucus: Seeking Answers on the Economy
The Caucus —
If there is one issue that members of our online roundtable of voters want the candidates to address in their third and final presidential debate tonight, it’s the economy. And they’re asking for specifics. Even those who have settled on a candidate want to hear more about how either Senator John McCain or Barack Obama would help America out of the economic quicksand and, if elected, prevent similar crises from occurring. Some members of the group — like many Americans ...
Expectations - The Final Debate
Daily Kos —
John McCain is trailing in every poll outside the margin of error (even his campaign acknowledges that), and he needs to change the trajectory of this race. Conventional wisdom says that John McCain should take the kid gloves off and put the boxing gloves on and go for a knockout without shooting himself in the foot, while attacking Obama on character, but without going negative while making this debate a game-changer. No one, not even fringe Presidential contender Pat Buchanan, has explained how a man with limited communication skills can possibly do all that. Bad favorable/unfavorable ratings make it harder for McCain ...
Race, Wedge Issues Fall Flat For GOP
Politics on HuffingtonPost.com —
Assaults on Obama from the right have been unrelenting, including charges that he "pals around with terrorists"; that he is a lockstep liberal bound by the orthodoxies of the left; that his party caused the economic crisis by requiring banks to give subprime mortgages to "unqualified minorities"; that he is a closet Muslim or Muslim sympathizer who will sell out Israel; that he would accept defeat in Iraq in order to court the antiwar vote; and so forth.
One of the toughest punches was thrown by McCain running mate Sarah Palin when she told a crowd in Clearwater, Florida: "This [Obama] is not a man who sees America the way you and I ...
In 2008, GOP's Wedge Issues Fall Flat
The Huffington Post | Full News Feed —
Assaults on Obama from the right have been unrelenting, including charges that he "pals around with terrorists"; that he is a lockstep liberal bound by the orthodoxies of the left; that his party caused the economic crisis by requiring banks to give subprime mortgages to "unqualified minorities"; that he is a closet Muslim or Muslim sympathizer who will sell out Israel; that he would accept defeat in Iraq in order to court the antiwar vote; and so forth.
One of the toughest punches was thrown by McCain running mate Sarah Palin when she told a crowd in Clearwater, Florida: "This [Obama] is not a man who sees America the way you and I ...
Today in The Nation: Politics Police
The Nation: Top Stories —
Everyone can hear it now. This Internet-driven, hyperactive presidential race is forcing accountability on two of the oldest tricks in politics: dog whistles and secret smears. With a "dog whistle," politicians use code words to signal unpopular stances to one target audience, while avoiding a backlash because the reference is lost on others. Many people miss President Bush's layered language for evangelicals, from hinting that legal abortion is like slavery ...
