Aug. 20, 2008
CBS/NYT Poll: McCain Cuts Obama's Lead
Democrat Edges Republican 45% To 42% In Poll Of Registered Voters
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McCain Closes The Gap
John McCain is closing the gap with Barack Obama in a new CBS News Poll, as interest rises in who their running mates will be. Dean Reynolds reports.
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Two weeks ago, Obama's lead over McCain was 45 percent to 39 percent. About one in four of each candidate’s supporters say they could change their minds before Election Day.
Like the CBS News poll completed earlier this month, each candidate is backed by more than three quarters of voters in his own party, with independents closely divided, narrowly favoring McCain.
Read The Complete Poll:The 2008 Campaign
McCain scores well on qualities related to experience and is seen as somewhat less likely to pander to his audience, but Obama is seen as more empathetic and is viewed as running a more positive campaign.
As has been the case all summer, Obama’s supporters are much more enthusiastic about their candidate than those who back McCain are about theirs. In this poll, twice as many Obama backers as McCain supporters say they are enthusiastic about their choice. About one in four McCain supporters say they are voting for him only because he is the Republican nominee or that their vote will be a vote against Obama.
About half of all voters (51 percent) say they have been paying a lot of attention to the campaign this year, but that doesn’t necessarily mean they are as tuned in now. Only about a third (36 percent) say they have been paying a lot of attention in the last few weeks.
According to the voters, John McCain has the stronger resume by far. Two in three say he has prepared himself well enough for the job - something fewer than half of voters say about Obama. Twice as many voters say it is very likely McCain will be an effective commander-in-chief than those who say that about Obama. And McCain has a small advantage in voters' confidence that he will make the right decisions on foreign policy.
But Obama has the edge in perceptions of his decision-making ability on the economy, which has been voters’ biggest concern this year. Sixty-five percent of registered voters are very or somewhat confident in Obama's ability to guide the economy, while 54 percent feel the same way about McCain. Additionally, 52 percent of voters think Obama would improve the U.S.'s image abroad, compared to 24 percent for McCain.
Voters are more likely to say Obama cares about their needs and problems, an advantage Democratic candidates have historically held. Forty-five percent of voters say Obama has strong religious beliefs, while 35 percent say the same of McCain.
A majority of voters say McCain is spending more time attacking Obama than explaining what he would do as president. Obama, by better than two to one, is viewed as running a positive campaign.
Though controversies related to race have sparked up throughout the campaign, only eight percent of voters say McCain has brought up the issue unfairly, 12 percent say that about Obama and 11 percent say they both have done so.
When asked to name something they liked about McCain, regardless of how they intend to vote, experience was at the top of voters' lists, mentioned by 14 percent. That was followed by his military service (13 percent), integrity (7 percent), and being a “straight talker” (4 percent).
As for Obama, voters say they like that he will bring change (10 percent), is inspirational (9 percent), is a good speaker and a fresh face (7 percent each), has integrity (5 percent) and is young and intelligent (4 percent each).
Twenty-one percent of voters offered that they liked “nothing” about each of the presumptive nominees.
Even after months of campaigning, voters are unsure what either candidate will do as president. Fifty-five percent say that Obama has not made it clear what he will do as president and 51 percent say the same of McCain. When asked if the candidates have given the issue the voter cares most about enough of a priority, 61 percent say “no.”
This poll was conducted among a random sample of 1,012 adults nationwide, including 869 registered voters, interviewed by telephone August 15-19, 2008. Phone numbers were dialed from RDD samples of both standard land-lines and cell phones. The error due to sampling for results based on the entire sample and for registered voters could be plus or minus three percentage points. The error for subgroups is higher.
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The truth is neither of these two candidates will change anything meaningful in government by themselves because they''ll still have to work with or against the other two branches of government, Congress and the Courts. And then of course there''s the 4th branch of government, Big Business and Lobbyists, who have already bought their place at the head of the table long ago.
Wake up America! You no longer own your own country.
Anyone else agree?
Anybody have a clue as to who does the most accurate polling?? It''s all over the place!
watch video of McCain talking about his failed first marrige at http://www.mccanes.com
Note how many of the liberal idiots that post on here talk about how old he is, or that the voters are ''sheeple''.
Pathetic, simply pathetic.
Dems woulda done better to have nominated ...
I can''t think of one. But I can''t think of one for Obama either. I''m out this time around. I''m too busy trying to earn enough to pay the taxes for illegal entitlements, anchor babies and section 8 housing. Add to that the cost of free medical care, free lunches and the money Villaraigosa just sent to Jalisco, Mexico for their library.
When the young leader spoke eloquently and passionately and denounced the old system, the press fell in love with him. They never questioned who his friends were or what he really believed in.
When he said he would help the farmers and the poor and bring free medical care and education to all, everyone followed.
When he said he would bring justice and equality to all, everyone said, "Praise the Lord."
And when the young leader said, "I will be for change and I''ll bring you change"; everyone yelled, "Viva Fidel!"
By the time the change was complete, more than a million people had taken to boats, rafts, and inner tubes. You can call those who made it ashore anywhere else in the world the most fortunate Cubans alive. Luckily, we would never fall in America for a young, charismatic leader who promised change without asking him the hard questions and without learning where he really came from...
It seems almost churlish to look at some actual facts.
No presidential candidate was breaking the 50 percent mark in mid-August polls in 2004 or 2000. Obama''s average lead of three to four points is marginally larger than both John Kerry''s and Al Gore''s leads then (each was winning by one point in Gallup surveys). Obama is also ahead of Ronald Reagan in mid-August 1980 (40 percent to Jimmy Carter''s 46). At Pollster.com, which aggregates polls and gauges the electoral count, Obama as of Friday stood at 284 electoral votes, McCain at 169. That means McCain could win all 85 electoral votes in current toss-up states and still lose the election.
In 2004, the Canadian papers summed it up:
"How Could 100 Million People be so Stupid"
If they do it again, then America will deserve what they get.
Let''s see, in the last 40 years or so they''ve voted for:
Nixon......TWICE
Reagan.....TWICE
GW Bush....TWICE
I think that pretty much answers the question.
The presumptive Democratic nominee Barack Obama leads John McCain by 24 percentage points among California voters, coming in at 54 percent to 30 percent.
Obama''s lead over McCain has doubled since the first time Field pollsters compared the two candidates in March of 2007. Notably, the poll found that the Illinois senator had consolidated the support of those who voted for Hillary Clinton in the Democratic primary in February.
"That''s certainly a big deal," said Mark DiCamillo, director of the Field Poll.
Obama''s lead means California - with its coveted 55 electoral votes - is virtually locked-in as a blue state come the November election.
Obama Leads McCain in Battleground States Among Single Women
Poll: Obama Leads McCain 61-29 Among Unmarried Women Voters in Key States
http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/Vote2008/story?id=5416899
Of course, the Liberals will pull something out of their collective arse to explain that it doesn''t mean anything if McCain is ahead, but if Obama is ahead it is sunshine a flowers all over the world.
Liberals, truly the most brainwashed bunch of lemmings civilization has ever seen.
Of course, the Liberals will pull something out of their collective arse to explain that it doesn''t mean anything if McCain is ahead, but if Obama is ahead it is sunshine a flowers all over the world.
Liberals, truly the most brainwashed bunch of lemmings civilization has ever seen.
Posted by noloyalisti at 06:47 PM : Aug 20, 2008
Americans wanted 10 years of Roseanne on TV. I guess Americans like a little self inflicted pain!
It''s bad enough to begin with that an electoral college rather than the popular vote elects the president. but we can''t even get an accurate vote count because our electoral system is run by 50 individual state parties who have largely farmed out our elections to volunteers at voting sites and big business who sell electronic voting machines with no paper trail or auditing.
And the campaign season has stretched out to a year and a half of wasteful travel and campaigning all to generate more fodder for news media and jobs for political consultants.
What a circus full of clowns this whole electoral process has become!
Day late and a poll short.
Now isn''t that convenient. the libs cheer the polls while ahead, and now they are insigificant.
Heh-heh
On the other hand, I believe I see a trend here. The more Obama opens his mouth, the more folks find out what he is about, and the more they run away from him.
Dems woulda been better nominating...
Who are you tring to convince with the smack talk, Obama supporters or yourself?
I don''t think you''re convincing either.
If Americans are dumb enough to vote for another 4 years of Bush''s disastrous policies, they deserve what they get.
Of course, the Liberals will pull something out of their collective arse to explain that it doesn''''t mean anything if McCain is ahead, but if Obama is ahead it is sunshine a flowers all over the world.
Liberals, truly the most brainwashed bunch of lemmings civilization has ever seen.
It doesn''t save its money, but instead spends on credit. That''s true of the people AND the government. If it were a business, it would have been bankrupt long ago.
It spouts rhetoric about free market economics but subsidizes all of its major industries.
It spends more on military than the next 10 industrialized nations COMBINED.
The chief export of the US is no longer anything valuable, it''s debt (mortgage-backed securities) and WAR.
Posted by b48151 at 06:53 PM : Aug 20, 2008
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b48151;
Because of people like you, the terrorists have already won.
Thanks to the Bush administration being able to manipulate cowards like you, a hand full of terrorists with box knives has, perhaps, mortally wounded America.
The main question that will be asked is, "John McCain loves money and powerful industries like Big Oil, but why does he hate American democracy and the American people so badly?
It doesn''t matter whether it''s true, which it is, it is simply a counter to the lies his campaign is vomiting on television day after day.
Posted by mr2258 at 07:16 PM : Aug 20, 2008
What! An armed take over?
Picture Hillary all Rambo-ed up with an M-16 mowing down Obama supported while giving us her best war cry.
Hey! The DNC convention may be worth watching after all!
A shame, really.
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