Tag: 2008 (page 2)

A new Arizona poll finds John McCain's lead over Obama reduced to 2 points -- a statistical tie.

The same poll last month had McCain up by 7.

Today's LA Times/Bloomberg poll has Obama ahead in both Ohio and Florida.

The Washington Post reports McCain will focus on the economy in the coming week rather than national secuirty.

Does anyone care anymore what he focuses on?

Via Sentencing Law and Policy where law prof Doug Berman provides his own thoughts, Sen. John McCain has an op-ed today in the National Law Journal outlining his views of criminal justice and the role of judges.

Terrorists are not the only threat to public safety. Lax enforcement policies, judges who legislate from the bench and lack of support for law enforcement personnel all continue to force our innocent citizens behind the barred windows of their homes and allow criminals to roam free.

And now drugs are bringing waves of crime and organized gang activity to rural areas thought to be nearly immune from such problems. The federal government must both support state and local law enforcement and effectively enforce federal laws designed to root out violent crime, organized gangs and other interstate criminal activity.

[More...]

The latest Washington Post Virginia poll has Barack Obama up by 8.

As an example of the gains he has made since [the last] poll, Obama is now tied with McCain among college-educated white men, overcoming what had been an almost 30-point deficit for the Democrat.

...Part of Obama's late advantage can be traced to widespread voter unease about the economy, record low approval ratings for President Bush and a growing number of voters who have strongly negative perceptions of GOP vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin.

It appears Obama is unstoppable at this point -- so long as all his supporters remember to vote.

John McCain will campaign in Colorado Friday.

This just in: Hillary will be in Aurora (just east/southeast of Denver) to campaign for Sen. Barack Obama on Friday. Details to be announced.

Time/CNN just released a new poll:

Senator Barack Obama has held or increased his lead in four key states won by President George W. Bush in 2004 — Nevada, North Carolina, Ohio and Virginia—while losing ground to Senator John McCain in West Virginia.

Obama gained the most ground in North Carolina, where he now leads McCain among likely voters by 51% to 47%, up four percentage points from earlier this month when a similar poll showed the two tied at 49%. [More...]

The Pew Research Center released a new poll today. Shorter version: Voters have increasing doubts about John McCain's judgment, age and campaign conduct.

Currently, Obama enjoys his widest margin yet over McCain among registered voters, at 52% to 38%. When the sample of voters is narrowed to those most likely to vote, Obama leads by 53% to 39%.

On views of Obama:

More voters see him as “well-qualified” and “down-to-earth” than did so a month ago. Obama also is inspiring more confidence on several key issues, including Iraq and terrorism, than he did before the debates. Most important, Obama now leads McCain as the candidate best able to improve economic conditions by a wider margin (53% to 32%).

As for McCain: [More...]

Forget Joe the Plumber, here's Al the Shoe Salesman. Watch him calculate his tax cut under Obama and then go calculate your own.

The McCain campaign continues to deny reports that it is ceding Colorado to Barack Obama.

"We see the race tightening both internally and in public polling. We are within striking distance in the key battleground states we need to win," said Jill Hazelbaker, the McCain campaign's national communications director.

Gov. Sarah Palin is on to her next stop, leaving Alaska "First Dude" Todd Palin to campaign alone today in Glenwood Springs and Denver.

The Obama campaign, on the other hand, is in full swing. Not only is Sen. Joe Biden here today and tomorrow, but check out the other political magnets holding rallies the next few days .[More...]

We wrote up the LA Times, Washington Post, Denver Post, Chicago Tribune, Chicago Sun Times, Atlanta Journal Constitution on Friday and the Philadelphia Inquirer yesterday.

Today we have:

The New York Daily News: Overly wordy and infused with the editorial board's own position on issues and more a plea for bipartisanship. You get the picture the minute they call McCain's position "dead-on" about Iraq. So why not McCain? He's hampered by Bush and the last 8 years. [More...]

The Denver Post editorial board has endorsed Sen. Barack Obama for President. Mostly, it's the economy:

Obama's plan, while not perfect, is far superior to McCain's catastrophic ideas.

It criticizes McCain's health care tax. But the best quote is the paper's praise for Obama's community organizing work: [More...]

CNN reports:

According to CNN's latest analysis of the electoral map, only six states are up for grabs (Nevada, Colorado, Missouri, Ohio, North Carolina and Florida) and they were all won by President Bush in 2004. That means even if McCain were to go 6-for-6 in the current tossup states, he would still fall short of the 270 electoral votes needed to capture the White House.

As I noted here, CNN's John King believes McCain has to take a big blue state from Obama. McCain doesn't seem to be following King's advice. He and Palin both will be back in Colorado next week. Obama also will continue to fight for Colorado -- Sen. Joe Biden will spend two days here, his first visit since the convention.

Sen. Barack Obama has been on the "Don't get over-confident" theme all day. He told voters in New York and New Hampshire he remembers New Hampshire and the polls aren't always right.

Tonight, at what sounds like an incredible fundraising concert with Bruce Springsteen and Billy Joel, Obama took the stage at the end: [More...]