The Other Poll
September 25th, 2008 at 06:18am Mark Noonan
Obamaniacs like one recent poll, but they won’t like this one:
The race between Barack Obama and John McCain remains a dead heat, despite financial turmoil that has turned the nation’s attention to economic issues that tend to favor the Democratic presidential candidate, according to a new Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll…
…Mr. Hart said that Sen. McCain’s ability to tap into voter anger explains why.
A near-record 73% of voters said the nation is off on the wrong track, up six points from just last month. More people think the nation is in a “state of decline.” Nearly eight in 10 voters think the nation is in a recession and most of them think the worst of it is yet to come. And public opinion ticked down for every public figure and institution the poll asked about, including President George W. Bush, Sens. McCain and Obama and both political parties.
It makes the electorate ripe for Sen. McCain’s populist message, Mr. Hart said, recalling the classic movie, “Network,” where TV news anchor Howard Beale urges viewers to proclaim, “I’m as mad as hell and I’m not going to take this anymore.”
“John McCain has become the Howard Beale of this election,” Mr. Hart said.
The survey finds that Sen. Obama has lost ground with the independent voters who will be crucial to the outcome of the election. They now favor Sen. McCain by 13 percentage points, up from eight points two weeks ago. In early September, just after both parties’ conventions, half of independent voters had a positive image of Sen. Obama; now it’s just 39%. Independents were also less likely to say they could identify with his background and values than they were in early September.
For all of Obama’s talk of change, he is just another one in a long line of people who have been part of the problem…shovelling money at problems, working out sweetheart deals for supporters and cronies, acting as if the party will never end and no accounting would ever be rendered. Well, its being rendered now - and McCain is well placed to showcase his long-standing and indisputable record as a reformer who is unafraid to step out of the party line. Palin has this, too - and while its still a long way to November 4th, its not that long and people will start to make their choices soon…and I can’t see people really deciding that Obama - of all people - is best to reform our nation’s government.
If Obama loses, liberals will blame everyone but themselves - they’ll say its because we’re a bunch of closet racists; that we’re afraid of “the Other”; that we’re fools…it will not occur to them, if they are dealing with a President-elect McCain, that it just might have been the fact that Democrats have been so deeply tied to Big Government and Big Corporation that when one fell, the other was bound to fall with it. It may prove in 2008 that only the outsider can get in - and “outsider” doesn’t mean “not in politics long” but “not a tool for the special interests”. McCain and Palin are no tools - Obama and Biden are, and on that fact may turn the electioni.
Entry Filed under: Campaign 2008, Corruption, Democrats, Polls, Republicans
16 Comments
1. neocon | September 25th, 2008 at 8:05 am
The reason: McCain has spent the last 20 years demonstrating his bona fides as an independent, pragmatist, and bi-partisan maverick. He has consistently railed against wasteful spending and earmarks and has confronted his own party many times on tough issues, most recently leading the gang of 14.
Obama can only point to speeches he has given.
There is absolutely no comparison, and McCain dwarfs Obama in terms of accomplishments and that is what independents and the voting public are looking for.
McCain is the right man at the right time.
2. FinAid | September 25th, 2008 at 8:54 am
Wow. Fabulous post. Anyway, if any of y’all want to step back into reality, it’s this way –>
…Though considering the state of things, I’d understand perfectly if you simply stay where you are.
3. neocon | September 25th, 2008 at 8:59 am
FinAid,
Talk about fabulous posts, I think you excelled in that regard yourself. Much in the same fashion as Obama, you put a bunch of words together and said nothing.
Well done.
4. phnx | September 25th, 2008 at 9:03 am
What is curious to me is that there are polls favoring Obama in handling the economy, this despite the fact that Obama has absolutely no record in this area. McCain on the other hand is the only candidate and one of the only members of congress to have proposed greater regulation of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac (2006). This reform legislation was blocked by the Dems, while Obama’s advisors were cooking the books and looting the banks.
If this is ever made clear, Obama is finished. But since the MSM want the messiah, you can be sure they will hide the truth on this scandal until after the election.
5. hermie | September 25th, 2008 at 9:03 am
Obama came from the corrupt Chicago political machine, which has helped destroy Illinois government finances.
While in Springfield, Obama helped support the waste of taxpayer dollars, severe increases in taxes, and assisted in pushing problems in state pensions and budget shortfalls off onto future generations. He could not bring himself to defy his Chicago buddies, like Tony Rezko, who were gobbling up state funds and contracts, despite the warning signs that the state was in serious trouble, and would be exposed to economic disaster if things didn;t change.
Instead, Obama decided that being a US Senator was what he wanted to do…until after he got the job and saw that he didn’t really care for it, so he decided to run for President instead.
The people of llinois needed ‘Hope and Change’ yet Obama decided that his resume needed padding instead.
6. Retired Spook | September 25th, 2008 at 9:16 am
There are ideologues on both sides of the political spectrum, but I think, when the dust settles on November 5th, we’re going to look back and see that what the majority of voters really wanted most was leadership. No matter how you spin what little record Obama has, one would be hard-pressed to see any aspects of leadership in what he has done. Obama is the consummate follower. There is No evidence that he has EVER attached his name to any project or piece of legislation that has been at odds with the majority of legislators much less those in his own party. I’ve made that statement a number of times and no one on this board has EVER challenged it with facts.
7. hermie | September 25th, 2008 at 9:24 am
Spook, when it comes to leadership, that is a word that has NEVER been associated with Obama.
He uses ‘Judgement to Lead’ as a slogan…Never showing where he has actually lead, much less demonstrated that he has any real ablility for good judgement.
8. Retired Spook | September 25th, 2008 at 10:02 am
Hermie,
Obama is severely lacking in three major areas that I think most people would consider to be prerequisites for the Presidency: character, judgment and leadership.
One must certainly judge Obama’s character by those with whom he has associated during his adult life. Have you ever noticed that he has never identified positive roll models who have influenced the direction of his life; only people like Alinsky, Rev. Wright, Rezko and Ayers. He’s attempted to run from those relationships, or, as in the case of Alinsky, influences, when it became politically expedient to do so, but, to the best of my knowledge, he’s never said “so and so had more influence in my life than (fill in the blank).”
On judgment, one must again look at his record and associations. Now one can have good judgment and poor judgment, but I see no evidence in Obama’s adult life of much in the way of good judgment. The fact that he won’t release his undergraduate records from Columbia indicates to me that his poor judgment goes back to at least his late teens or early 20’s, something he admits to in his book. He can’t really tout his position as editor of the Harvard Law Review because he contributed nothing in the way of personal writing. He is unable to provide a list of concrete accomplishments during his time as a community organizer because much of what he did relates to funneling millions in taxpayer dollars to a slum lord, and, now-convicted felon, to build substandard public housing that now, just a few short years later, is condemned. He can’t tout his contributions to Chicago area educational initiatives because that would raise the veil of secrecy from his relationship with Ayers and reveal that funneling millions of dollars into radical, left-wing educational reforms achieved pitiful results.
In terms of leadership, see my previous comment.
There are valid reason why Obama is so often referred to as an “empty suit”. The interesting thing on this board is that the majority of Obama supporters rarely, if ever, tout ANY positive accomplishments by him. 90% of their posts are attacks on McCain or Palin or, at most, generalizations of traits that they, in their distorted view of reality, assign to Obama’s persona. How often have our resident Libs touted Obama’s judgment and character as positive attributes; yet they never give examples of his good judgment and character because they can’t.
9. Wellington | September 25th, 2008 at 10:59 am
Rick Davis.
10. Damnright | September 25th, 2008 at 11:24 am
Well,
Jim Johnson, Franklin Raines….
11. Jim Oliver | September 25th, 2008 at 11:28 am
Mark,
Please look at the internals for this poll…
It’s not McCain that’s up by 13, it’s Obama. The article that goes with the poll got it completely backwards, and so did you.
The internals are here
McCain (libs/mods/cons) 13% / 38% / 74%
Obama (libs/mods/cons) 81% / 51% / 19%
I’m not a subscriber to WSJ Online, so I can’t post a comment reqesting the retraction…Maybe you can do that for me?
I’ll give you the benefit of the doubt and allow you to post a retraction here, and a mea culpa. It’s no big deal, I make mistakes all the time, I know you’re man enough to admit yours.
12. Wellington | September 25th, 2008 at 12:00 pm
Garrison Keillor…
I’m sorry, John McCain is no Howard Beale
13. Wellington | September 25th, 2008 at 1:00 pm
Since this blog is a pipeline of talking points straight from the RNC, what’s up with this?
You’ve got to love that “reformer” meme. You’ve got to love the transparency.
Lucy…you’ve got some ’splainin to do.
14. CanadianObserver | September 25th, 2008 at 1:05 pm
12. Wellington | September 25th, 2008 at 12:00 pm
—————————————
Garrison Keillor has opined exactly what those of us on the outside looking in are thinking.
It seems mighty strange that the Republicans are running on the premise that they have indeed been grossly inept governing the country for the past 8 years and yet are asking the voters to subject themselves to another 4 years under even more Republican bunglers.
How peculiar is that?
If nothing else, American politics and politicians are wonderfully entertaining.
15. Rich | September 25th, 2008 at 1:27 pm
Gallup back to a tie today.
http://www.gallup.com/poll/110668/Gallup-Daily-Race-Back-Tie-46-Each.aspx
PRINCETON, NJ — John McCain has gained ground and is now tied with Barack Obama among registered voters in the latest Gallup Poll Daily tracking update for Sept. 22-24, with each candidate getting 46% support.
16. William of Orange | September 25th, 2008 at 1:59 pm
@Rich “Gallup back to a tie today.”
Rich, looking at the tracking graph on the Gallup site, it is interesting to note that somewhere around last Friday (19 september) the gap was +6% for Obama (50%-44%) and that it has closed to even today. This was around the time the severity of the financial crisis was coming to light. Arguably, as people began thinking about how serious this situation was, they may have turned to McCain over Obama.
I am still wondering, however, what the deal with the WSJ Obama +13% error is. I find it hard to believe that an error as glaring as that could get past the editors.