BY TAYLOR MARSH
So says the latest USA-Gallup Poll, which is likely over sampling Republicans, which is usual for Gallup. Still, it’s not comforting:
McCain leads Democrat Barack Obama by 50%-46% among registered voters, the Republican’s biggest advantage since January and a turnaround from the USA TODAY poll taken just before the convention opened in St. Paul. Then, he lagged by 7 percentage points.
Last two weeks have marked amazing political earthquakes. Hillary and Bill and the convention. Obama at Mile High Stadium. Then the pick of Sarah Palin, who went on to electrify the Republican Party and gave John McCain a boost that has O-Biden pushing back to win the advantage again. The only way to do that is to go hard negative against the Republican ticket, focusing on John McCain, something that should have been done non-stop at the convention.
The bottom line right now, as things stand after both conventions, is that McCain-Palin made the sale, as of today. Obama-Biden has not.
Time to see more of the Mile High Obama. It’s only going to get tougher from here.
But we’ve got real ammunition. On issues, McCain-Palin just don’t get it, especially when it comes to the economy. Democrats need to hit this every single day until November, adding real life empathy to real life pain. It’s just one reason why they need Hillary on the stump.
…She followed the news when John McCain introduced Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin as his vice presidential running mate, paid attention to the raging debate over her qualifications, even tuned in to watch her dramatic speech at the Republican convention.
But when it came down to an issue Heckman really cares about — sending a daughter to college on $10.50 an hour — her desire to see a woman reach the White House took a back seat to her depleted savings account.
“I wanted Hillary to win so bad, but I saw Sarah, and it just didn’t work for me,” said Heckman, taking a break in the empty courtyard of J. Paul’s restaurant in a downtown struggling to revive. “I have no retirement. Obama understands it’s the economy. He knows how we live.”
Heckman, like many others in this former coal-mining town at the western foot of the Appalachians, is the type of voter that both presidential campaigns will target in the final two months. Polls show that working-class women have emerged as one of the most critical categories of swing voters at a time when McCain and Barack Obama have galvanized their party bases but still need more votes to win.
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