Obama's path to presidency is far from clear

[Kablooie]

Source: Los Angeles Times

Fresh polls show that he has been unable to convert weeks of extensive media coverage into a widened lead. And some prominent Democrats whose support could boost his campaign are still not enthusiastic about his candidacy.

Many voters still seem to be puzzling over who Obama is, even after a race that has lasted a year and a half. By 58% to 47%, voters identity more with the values and background of McCain, the presumptive Republican nominee, than with Obama, according to a newly released Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll.

At a time when nearly three-quarters of Americans believe the nation is on the wrong track, the political climate would suggest that McCain, whose party controls the White House, might lag by large margins. Yet a national Fox News poll released Thursday showed that Obama's 4-point lead over McCain in June had shrunk to a single point. The new Journal/NBC poll showed Obama leading by 6 points, unchanged from the month before.

"The fact that Obama is out of touch with voters . . . is certainly something we'll continue to reiterate," said Alex Conant, a spokesman for the Republican National Committee. "To the extent that he's acting as if he's already president when the election is over 100 days away and everyone expects it will be a very close race raises questions about how in touch he is."


Read more: http://www.latimes.com/news/politics/la-na-challenges25-2008jul25,0,1054470.story

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What the hell!?
This from the LA Times?

It should remind you, don't be complacent.
Don't assume we will win automatically.
There is still a large group of Americans that will fight to destroy Obama.

[mucifer]

1. It's true the polls should look much different. The press is winning this one.

We gotta do something about it.

[moose65]

2. Horserace, horse hockey!

The media HAS to do this. They have to prop Grampa up so he doesn't slide out of his recliner and hit the floor. There would be no story, and no ratings, without this crap. It makes no sense to me at all. How can 58% of the voters possibly identify more with McCain? Oh, I see... it's the WSJ poll! And they quote a friggin Fox News poll? Sheesh!

[comtec]

3. It seems to me they are using Obama's number for Mclame

but that's just me :tinfoilhat:

[aaroh]

4. fox news poll? .....case closed.

[Triana]

5. Wall St. Journal poll eh? Consider the source of that one and...

...let me know when McSame draws crowds of US voters like Obama did in Oregon - THEN tell me who's out of touch.

So - maintaining a steady 6-point lead is BAD? How?

They can "reiterate" all they want (tell the old lie so often that it "becomes the truth") but the truth is - it's not Obama who's out of touch - and they just can't STAND that.

[elkston]

6. How much longer can they cover up racism with "learning more about Obama" ... n/t

I'm really getting tired of all this "Oh, he has to introduce himself to people. They are still figuring him out".

I wish I could just time warp to 2 weeks before the election, see what the poll numbers are like, and THEN see what can say about things being close.

[high density]

7. Olbermann showed numbers from this poll...

...which had Obama garnering more "he's in the mainstream" agreement from poll respondents than McSame. I suspect this poll from WSJ/NBC asked so many questions that they got conflicting responses depending on the wording of the question. Now the media is free to pick and choose which statistic props up their "close race" script the best.

[TexasObserver]

8. The WSJ needed some polls showing movement, and Quinnipac delivered.

The polling firms are BUSINESSES. Most of them whore themselves every month of every year. Whoring during elections is not new to them. They do it every month.

I don't believe this latest spate of polls at all. You can make a poll say just about anything you want, all by the methodology you choose, the people you poll, the weighting you employ, the time of the day and time of the week you poll, and whether you only use landlines. It's easy to create a poll heavy with old people, for example. That will tip any poll McCain's direction.

[karynnj]

9. The LA Times was bought by the Chicago Tribune company

sometime after 2004. It has moved progressively to the right.

Look at the examples used. Prominent Democrats not happy with Obama boils down to a well known Clinton supporter, who I think was with them since Arkansas days and who did the "Man from Hope" video. That she says this trip was unneeded ignores that HRC and WJC spent months saying that Obama was not experienced on foreign policy. The fact is that this trip showed Obama as a potential President talking very confidently in both the troubled middle east and Europe. Kerry's comment that it so exciting to see an American leader go to a foreign country and be cheered on is a better Democratic reaction. It would have been her reaction had this been HRC going over there as the presumptive nominee. As to "issues important to us", international relations? Concluding the Iraq war? - not important? What is more important? Her invitation to sleep in the Lincoln bedroom and again have the ear of the President?

As to finding someone who thought he should instead have been at the Lance Armstrong event, the media always finds these people. I would think that their respective health plans might be more significant.

[SemiCharmedQuark]

10. Oh wow. A republican was troubled by Obama' s trip overseas

Jones, a 40-year-old Republican from Aledo, Texas, said she was troubled by the duration and scale of Obama's overseas trip. "I think we have a lot of things going on with our children -- many different things going on here in the United States that need our attention."



What a garbage bit of "journalism"