This is a historic moment...
Barack Obama has cleared 50% in the right leaning weighted poll of Rasmussen
The Rasmussen Reports daily Presidential Tracking Poll for Tuesday shows Barack Obama attracting 48% of the vote while John McCain earns 43%. When "leaners" are included, it’s Obama 51%, McCain 45%. This is the highest level of support enjoyed by Obama at any point in Election 2008.
Obama has strengthened his support among Democrats and now attracts the vote from 85% of those within his party. Eighty-six percent (86%) of Republicans support McCain.
Obama is now viewed favorably by 58% of the nation’s voters, McCain by 55%.
Polling released earlier today showed that the number of Republicans in the country increased slightly during August, but Democrats still have a nearly six point advantage.
Meanwhile, Hotline shows clear motion towards Barack Obama
Obama: 48 (44)
McCain: 39 (40)
One reason may be because McCain's campaign has decided to "Flush the Toilet" on Palin
Mr. McCain’s campaign, which has shown itself adept at handling the news media, tried to influence coverage of the disclosure by releasing it as Hurricane Gustav was slamming into the Gulf Coast. (The Palin news was not mentioned on the “CBS Evening News” until 15 minutes into the newscast). It was also by every appearance tucked into a series of problematic tidbits released about Ms. Palin’s past, including news that her husband, Todd, was arrested for driving while impaired in 1986.
“We are going to flush the toilet,” said Tucker Eskew, who is a senior adviser to Ms. Palin, describing the campaign’s plans for Labor Day, when much of the nation was busy with family and social activities.
I guess that makes Steve Schmidt a lying sack of schmuck...
McCain's campaign manager, Steve Schmidt, yesterday lashed out at what he deemed ``offensive'' and ``demeaning'' coverage and questions from reporters after McCain's running mate, Alaska Governor Sarah Palin, confirmed her 17-year-old daughter is pregnant.
``It used to be that a lot of those smears and the crap on the Internet stayed out of the newsrooms of serious journalists,'' Schmidt said at the Republican National Convention in St. Paul, Minnesota.
LIAR!!! Your oppo dump was planned to get buried during a Hurricane... don't think the media didn't notice.
And FYI, as for the convention helping, don't hold your breath...
Lieberman, Thompson are expected to speak during the primetime 10 pm ET hour. President Bush will likely speak by satellite around 9:30 pm ET.
Organizers say they haven’t made a decision on when keynoter Giuliani — who was scheduled for Tuesday — will speak. Palin, who is scheduled for Wednesday, may get pushed back to Thursday.
Will Palin get Primetime? Or will McCain ceed his Primetime? Could you imagine them both trying to talk Thursday? Failure in wait!
UPDATE: Gallup is now showing
Obama: 50% (49%)
McCain: 42% (43%)
Gallup Poll Daily tracking from Aug. 30 through Sept. 1, finds Barack Obama leading the race for president with his highest share of support to date. Fully half of national registered voters now favor Obama for president, while 42% back John McCain.
Prior to now, no more than 49% of registered voters supported Obama for president in Gallup Poll Daily tracking.
At 8%, the percentage of undecided voters is slightly lower than the 9% to 11% figures seen for most of August, and this is the lowest this figure has been since early June. This, in part, reflects movement of voters toward Obama over the course of the Democratic National Convention, a lead which has been sustained in subsequent days.
Undecideds are choosing... given the choice of McCain/Palin vs. Obama/Biden, it's no wonder which way this thing is going.
ARG had to join the fun...
Obama/Biden: 49%
McCain/Palin: 43%
Undecided: 8%
Barack Obama leads John McCain 88% to 5% among self-described Democrats (37% of likely voters). McCain leads Obama 83% to 11% among self-described Republicans (34% of likely voters). And Obama leads McCain 45% to 43% among self-described independent voters (29% of likely voters).
I think they're underweighting party ID. If Obama gets 88% of Democrats it's game set match...