Attack Blowback

[FVZA_Colonel]

http://blogs.abcnews.com/thenumbers/2008/10/attack-blowback.html

Attack Blowback
October 12, 2008 6:02 PM

The McCain campaign’s more aggressive tone is prompting pushback from the public: Registered voters by a broad margin now believe John McCain is more focused on attacking his opponent than on addressing the issues in the 2008 presidential election.

Barack Obama, by contrast, is perceived even more widely as sticking to the issues, this new ABC News/Washington Post poll finds – a striking point of differentiation between the two. More differences will be reported in the full release of this ABC/Post poll on ABCNews.com at 12:01 a.m. and Good Morning America on Monday morning.

While McCain’s image as the more negative of the two is not new, it’s sharpened considerably, coinciding with his campaign’s more pointed criticisms of Obama in the last few weeks, including Sarah Palin's accusation that Obama’s been "palling around with terrorists."

Registered voters by a 24-point margin, 59-35 percent, now say McCain is more focused on attacking his opponent rather than addressing the issues. That’s grown from a roughly even 48-45 percent split on this question in late August.

[gateley]

1. Obama's strategy has paid off, despite our cries/demands/instructions

for him to 'go after' McCain/Palin. Bottom line, people are worried about their future and security. What comfort or encouragement does a presidential candidate offer whose focus is on tearing down his opponent, rather than addressing the issues?