Sooner Be Blue

 

A new Washington Post-ABC News national poll now shows that Sen. Obama has taken a 9 point lead over Sen. McCain as the two head into Friday’s crucial televised foreign policy debate.

 

From the Washington Post: "Turmoil in the financial industry and growing pessimism about the economy have altered the shape of the presidential race, giving Democratic nominee Barack Obama the first clear lead of the general-election campaign over Republican John McCain, according to the latest Washington Post-ABC News national poll.

 

...More voters trust Obama to deal with the economy, and he currently has a big edge as the candidate who is more in tune with the economic problems Americans now face. He also has a double-digit advantage on handling the current problems on Wall Street, and as a result, there has been a rise in his overall support. The poll found that, among likely voters, Obama now leads McCain by 52 percent to 43 percent. Two weeks ago, in the days immediately following the Republican National Convention, the race was essentially even, with McCain at 49 percent and Obama at 47 percent. [..]"

 

 

I know, I know... these polls are only a snapshot of a moment in time. But, for me as an Obama supporter, it's good news.

 

Yet, these tracking polls have flipped twice in the last six weeks...they could very well do the same over the next few weeks. We can't say the die is cast. People tell polls what is politically correct and do the opposite in the voting booth.

 

Remember the race factor, something like 6 percent of voters who won't vote for Obama no matter what, because he stubbornly remains an Afro-American.

 

Anyway, elections are won through the Electoral College, and not by national numbers -- as Democrats were so rudely reminded of in 2000 -- so I won't be betting any money just yet.

 

But my hopes are a little higher. Come the debates, hopefully Obama will come across as a fair minded and thoughtful man...rather than a reactionary and impulsive man like McCain.

 

As for Sarah Palin:
"Over the past two weeks, the percentage of independents with favorable views of Palin dropped from 60 percent to 48 percent. Among independent women, the decline was particularly sharp, going from 65 percent to 43 percent. Her favorable rating among whites without college degrees remained largely steady, but among those with college degrees, it dropped nearly 20 percentage points."

 

I just knew when Independent women got over the excitement of a female VP selection, they would look closer and not vote against their own best interests.

 

Looks like the American people are becoming aware that Palin could *really* be a heartbeat away from sitting in the Oval Office. The next administration will have to deal with important issues like a crumbling economy, nuclear proliferation, the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, Russian belligerence, the rise of China, emerging epidemics, radical Islamism on a hundred fronts, a lifeless United Nations, healthcare, the sorry state of American schools, an energy crisis, the price of food, crumbling roads and bridges … the list is long, and Sarah Palin does not seem to have the right stuff.

 

The other day someone asked McCain why Sarah Palin can't be interviewed or host press conferences. He said, "The American people are vetting her."

 

<sigh> If only we *could* ask her questions...

 

So hunker down in the bunker, Sarah...and only open the door for people who know the Fox News secret knock.