Why McCain is still in it--Today's LA Times...

[CaliforniaPeggy]

Statistics say Obama should win, but the Democrat will have a hard time uniting his diverse party.

By Nate Silver
August 4, 2008

Barack Obama seems to enjoy some enormous advantages over John McCain in their pursuit of the White House. Polls show that more than eight out of 10 Americans think the country is headed in the wrong direction. The Republican brand is in tatters because of the Iraq war and the economic slowdown. And Obama is on pace to raise more money than any presidential candidate in history.

But since clinching the Democratic nomination June 3, Obama has consistently held only a four-percentage-point lead, on average, over McCain in national polls. The website Pollster.com lists 72 such polls conducted since June 3, and in only four of them -- including the Los Angeles Times/Bloomberg poll in June -- does the presumptive Democratic nominee have a lead of 10 or more points.

That's led some reporters to conclude that Obama is underachieving. "Why is he not doing better?" Adam Nagourney of the New York Times recently asked. "Why hasn't Obama closed the deal?" echoed columnist Linda Chavez in the New York Post.

This perception chiefly exists because of the Democrats' substantial advantages in party affiliation. Across several different polls asking registered voters to identify which party they align with, Democrats have about a 10-point edge. Democrats also maintain about a 12-point edge in polls that ask whether respondents intend to vote for the Democrat or the Republican in their local race for Congress. These numbers represent a significant improvement for Democrats from 2004, when the electorate was more or less evenly split between the two parties. In comparison with these double-digit advantages, Obama seems to be underperforming.

More at link:
http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/la-oe-silver4-2008aug04,0,1279703.story

[PATRICK]

1. The same successgul strategy

HRC spun to keep her campaign alive while shifting the focus on the guy who couldn't knock her out. Maybe they could toss Mark Penn a few mill to show how you get out of the meme he created. This is not to knock Hillary's campaign, but the press is cooperating once again in any tactic(without calling it out) to hurt Obama.

[cwydro]

2. I don't know what to think...

I am worried about this election.

I really am.

[SammyWinstonJack]

3. Aren't we all?

:shrug:

[Imagevision]

4. Bush has been uneffective on doing anything about foreclosures!