So, consider this a mix and match post with some tidbits of interest.
Polls:
Let me start with Gallup showing a majority of support for John McCain by veterans... no big surprise there.
Gallup finds that registered voters who have served in the U.S. military solidly back McCain over Obama, 56% to 34%.
Next the new L.A. Times/Bloomberg poll shows the race has tightened considerably between John Mccain and Barack Obama, with a two percent, within the margin or error, lead for Obama.
More startling though as the Top of the Ticket explains:
The new, just-released poll not only shows the race between the two dramatically tightening -- into a virtual dead heat, with Obama leading in the head-to-head by only 2 percentage points -- but it also identifies a distinct McCain asset: a huge advantage on the question of experience.
The survey of almost 1,250 registered voters showed that the vast majority have no doubt McCain is qualified for the White House. Asked if the Republican had the right experience to be president, 80% said yes (with only 14% saying no).
By contrast, close to a majority -- 48% -- said Obama lacks the experience for the job (with 44% saying yes).
The findings indicate that the McCain camp's controversial advertising thrust of late -- depicting Obama as a mere "celebrity" who isn't "ready to lead" -- has paid dividends.
More:
The new poll found that 84% judged McCain strongly patriotic, while just 55% said that of Obama. Only 9% said they have questions about McCain's patriotism; 35% expressed doubts about Obama's.
The survey posed a number of questions about the potential impact of race on the presidential race, which The Times' Michael Finnegan explores elsewhere on LATimes.com.
The poll's match-up numbers are these: Obama, 45%; McCain 43%. By comparison, the June numbers were Obama, 49%; McCain, 37% (in each case, the margin of error is plus-or-minus 3 percentage points).
Also interesting is that Nader seems to be taking more from Obama than Barr is from McCain when their names are added into the mix:
When Ralph Nader and Bob Barr are added to the mixed, the race tightens even more. The results in the four-way contest: Obama, 42%; McCain, 41%; Nader, 4%; Barr, 1%.
In June, the four-way race had slightly expanded Obama's lead. Those figures were Obama, 48%; McCain 33%; Nader, 4%; Barr, 3%.
Obama still has the enthusiasm gap but with the examples I am going to show you below, you will see that even that is fading fast.
Read the other LA Times article about that poll also.
One more poll, then I will get to the meat and potatoes of this post.... Obama's squandering what should have have been a easy win in November to some supporters already declaring that he has lost. (More on that after the Quinnipiac poll)
Quinnipiac poll:
American likely voters say 55 - 27 percent that Arizona Sen. John McCain is better qualified than Illinois Sen. Barack Obama to deal with Russia and now trails the Democrat 47 - 42 percent, according to a Quinnipiac University national poll released today.
This compares to a 50 - 41 percent Sen. Obama lead in a July 15 poll by the independent Quinnipiac (KWIN-uh-pe-ack) University.
In this latest survey, Democrats say 48 - 31 percent that Obama is better qualified to deal with Russia, while Sen. McCain is seen as better by Republicans 86 - 5 percent and independent voters 55 - 24 percent.
(Waiting for some off the wall liberal to suggest McCain conspired with Russia for just this purpose- twilight zone music plays here)
Now....on to the good news for conservatives and the bad news for Obama and his supporters.
First off that concept of unity is shot to hell, my previous post shows Clinton supporters and Obama supporters still going at it like you wouldn't believe.
Crawling around the lefty sites I am seeing a pattern start to emerge....my first example to show you what I mean is Steve Soto from the Left Coaster who declares that Obama has already lost the election.
Kerry at least lost his race in August, after the convention, whereas Obama lost this race in June and July, because he had a Sally Field-esque "You like me" moment over and over again. He believed the hype from his own Stepford cult about a new kind of politics, assumed he didn't need to define his opponent because it was beneath him, and gutted the ability of the Democratic Party and its infrastructure to hold McCain accountable.
And them he took a victory lap tour overseas to get photo ops while McCain began to define him here at home, by trying out attack lines until some of them got traction. And then in typical GOP fashion, McCain found the ones that worked, hammered them over and over again, and turned Obama into a boring and iffy choice against a guy who should be ten points behind by now.
Sorry, but that's how I feel. I'm bored by the Obama hype and see nothing now in his candidacy other than the fact he isn't McCain. The Supreme Court is enough to make us vote for him, but my feeling now is that Obama lost this race already, and it isn't the fault of bloggers (who he disdains and doesn't need), but rather himself and all the fawning Democratic Party lackeys who fell in behind him as he led them over the cliff.
Wow...harsh dude!!
Talk Left isn't exactly overly excited either as the ending of their post speaking about polls and reactions, shows this comment:
I doubt putting G-d on their side and adding a Joe Biden or Evan Bayh type to the ticket is going to bring it home for the Democrats. How sad it will be if the operative word for the 2008 campaign turns out to be "squandered."
Talk Left led me to AmericaBlog where they are showing frustration and harsh criticism for how Obama has been handling his campaign as well.
Joe and I know a lot of people in politics. A lot of them are very smart. They're not the people you hate, the Cokie Roberts' and the Mrs. Greenspan's of the world. They're the kind of people you like and you trust. And those people are now telling us that they fear we're going to lose the election. What Josh said today, and what Josh has written between the lines of a lot of posts on his blog of late, is something we're hearing a lot of from a lot of people. There is an incredible discontent out there with the way this campaign is being run. The fact that the discontent isn't being recognized, isn't being assuaged, is disturbing. People aren't worried about the election, they're becoming despondent about it. They're not motivated to work twice as hard, they instead feel as if they've had the wind knocked out of them. This is far beyond a healthy skepticism as to whether Obama can win. While Obama's attacks today on McCain are heartening, we need to see more of it. People need to see that Barack Obama has as big of balls as John McCain and, well, Hillary Clinton.
Showing all this gives one that warm and fuzzy feeling but the bottom line is things change fast in politics and McCain needs to continue to keep Obama on the defensive, off message and pound the inexperience factor as well as the empty suit, teleprompter dependent, rhetoric speaking, empty suit meme that shows Obama for what he is.
Getting cocky just because Obama supporters are getting depressed would be a sure fire way to hand the advantage back to Obama.
Things are looking up for conservatives and the emerging pattern looks good for McCain, but make no mistake, the fight is long from over and now is the time to crush the opponent with every hammer available.
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