The Wall Street meltdown has caused a mini-meltdown of sorts for John McCain’s presidential campaign. The latest Washington Post-ABC poll shows Obama with the first substantial lead of the entire election cycle:
…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.
As a point of comparison, neither of the last two Democratic nominees — John F. Kerry in 2004 or Al Gore in 2000 — recorded support above 50 percent in a pre-election poll by the Post and ABC News…
All I can say is that if the Bush Administration doesn’t get this bailout right (and it seems almost impossible that it will given the outlines of it I’ve read and the derision with which many economists are greeting it), the level of anger among the American populace will rise significantly. McCain might become a symbol of Republican-Wall Street cronyism and self-dealing just as Michael Brown and George Bush did after the failure of federal policy regarding Hurricane Katrina.
Similarly, this finding from the poll is pretty astonishing:
McCain’s advantages on national security issues have also been blunted. Two weeks ago, when those surveyed were asked who they trusted to deal with a major unexpected crisis, McCain led 54 percent to 37 percent. That lead is gone.
Similarly, McCain’s once-sizable advantage in dealing with the battle against terrorism has all but disappeared.
A Republican presidential candidate who does not “own” these two issues is a dead duck I’d say.
The poll also contained good news about a decline in Sarah Palin’s popularity among voters:
The survey also found that the strong initial public reaction to Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, McCain’s running mate, has cooled somewhat. Overall, her unfavorable rating has gone up by 10 points in the past two weeks, from 28 percent to 38 percent.
I’ve been waiting for the time when Americans would wake up to the fraud that is Sarah Palin.
Thanks to Douglas Remington for alerting me to this story.
