Obama takes poll lead in key states

[dtotire]

Obama takes poll lead in key states
October 1, 2008 - 7:10am


Recently trailing or tied, Democrat Barack Obama now leads Republican John McCain in a trio of the most critical, vote-rich states five weeks before the election, according to presidential poll results released Wednesday.

The Democrat's support jumped to 50 percent or above in Ohio, Florida and Pennsylvania in Quinnipiac University surveys taken during the weekend — after the opening presidential debate and during Monday's dramatic stock market plunge as the House rejected a $700 billion financial bailout plan.

Combined, these states offer 68 of the 270 electoral votes needed for victory on Election Day, Nov. 4.
Pollsters attributed Obama's improved standing to the public's general approval of his debate performance, antipathy toward GOP vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin and heightened confidence in the Illinois senator's ability to handle the economic crisis.
The fresh polling is the latest troublesome turn for McCain, the Arizona senator who is trying to regain control of the campaign conversation amid increasingly difficult circumstances for Republicans. It comes on the eve of a debate between Palin and her Democratic counterpart, Joe Biden, and as the financial crisis shapes the presidential race in unpredictable ways.
For now and probably for the next month, the race will be entirely about who can best handle an economy in peril.

The war in Iraq, national security and foreign policy issues — McCain's strengths — have largely fallen by the wayside as each campaign tries to chart a course to the presidency in extraordinarily choppy economic waters.


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[trotsky]

1. Wow.

The new surveys show Obama leading McCain in Florida 51 percent to 43 percent, in Ohio 50 percent to 42 percent and in Pennsylvania 54 percent to 39 percent.

McCain has absolutely zero chance if we win only two of those three.

[stoge18]

2. anecdote from Pennsylvania

I live in the Northwest corner of Pennsylvania. This is rural, gun-loving, gay-hating, Bible-thumping McSame country. Seriously, most mornings when I leave my home, the smell of cow and pig shit is the air (from farms, not repugs. the repugs DO stink, but it's a much more offensive odar than cow / pig shit). Anyhow..... For weeks I've been trying to get an Obama sign to plant in my yard. The local campaign office (yes, we have one) gets 25 every Monday morning and runs out within an hour of receiving them.

I see lots of McCain signs, though. Especially on the Route 8 corridor between Union City and Titusville. If you've ever been on that stretch of road, you, like me, would probably be apt to say, "Let's get the hell outta here. McSame can have this little slice of Heaven."