In the just-posted NY Times story on the latest NYT/CBS Poll:
Mr. Obama’s favorability is the highest for a presidential candidate running for a first term in the last 28 years of Times/CBS polls.
This would include Reagan (1980) and Clinton (1992).
And while Obama's favorable/unfavorable is at 53/33, McCain's ratings are swooshing down the karmic toilet bowl:
...as voters have gotten to know Senator John McCain, they have not warmed, with only 36 percent of voters saying they view him favorably while 45 percent view him unfavorably.
Extra-delicious bonus:
Mrs. Palin’s negative rating is the highest for a vice-presidential candidate as measured by The Times and CBS News. Even Dan Quayle, with whom Mrs. Palin is often compared because of her age and inexperience on the national scene, was not viewed as negatively in the 1988 campaign.
And the internals:
Among the voters who said their opinion of Mr. Obama had improved, many cited his debate performance, saying they liked his calm demeanor and the way he had handled the attacks on him from the McCain campaign.
Of those who said their opinion of Mr. McCain had been tarnished, many cited his attacks on his opponent, the choice of Ms. Palin as his running mate and his debate performance.
On a personal note: I'm pretty sure this will come as no surprise to the McCain camp. Campaigns that stand a legitimate chance of victory generally try to increase their appeal in the closing weeks. The tenor of McCain's campaign the last week has made it pretty clear to me that they're focused on reducing the size of Obama's blowout, and maybe helping the down ticket by getting out as much of the base as possible.