Political Wire has a blurb about a new Time Poll showing Barack Obama at 50% and John McCain at 43%
http://politicalwire.com/
http://www.time.com/...
Key findings from both links below the fold
Barack Obama is gaining with women again after a small defection right after the republican veep, Sarah Palin, was announced. But, her performance in interviews and reports about her extreme rightwing views.
Women are coming back to the democratic nominee.
But, the most important finding, I think, is this one:
No Democrat has crossed the 50% threshold in the general election since before Ronald Reagan was elected, let alone done so a month before the election.
I find this the most important because of the hold of Reagan 20 years after the end of his reign. His large shadow has held the country in the conservative spell for two decades. Even during the Clinton years, it was a constant fight with conservative ideas and it kept Clinton's numbers low in the polls even during his re-election campaign.
So, while there has been all this talk of race in this election, the fact that Barack Obama has broken through the Reagan curse and a democrat has broken the 50% threshold for the first time since before 1980 (28 years!) and a month out is huge news!
Some key highlights from the poll:
In a stark indication of just how much the political landscape has changed over the last four years, white women now favor Obama by three points, 48%-45%; in 2004, George W. Bush won the same demographic by 11 points against John Kerry. Where Bush carried married women by 15 points in that election, 57%-42%, Obama now leads by 6 points, 50%-44%, a 21-point shift.
Bush himself fares terribly in the poll. His approval rating is 23%, the lowest number ever found by Abt/SRBI, the company that conducted the poll for Time; 73% of respondents disapprove of his performance as President. Only 26% approve of his handling of the current financial crisis.
Bush's low approval ratings, historic lows, is more indications of the failure of conservatism as a ideology. Especially with the economy, which is the main reason for Obama breaking through the 50% level.
While this is certainly good news, remember we have a full month to go and cannot get lax. Do not let your guard down and make sure everyone you know that is voting for Obama does so.
No excuses.
Vote.