www.meidling-forum.at

[Eberndorfer]

Obama Rebounds in Polls as Economic Crisis Bites!

White House hope ful Barack Obama reversed a Republican surge and bounded into the lead on Thursday in national polls swayed by the financial crisis and signs that Sarah Palin’s star may be dimming.

The Democratic candidate, who has been lacerating McCain over his capacity to rescue the US economy, led 49 to 45 per cent in a new poll of likely voters nationwide by Quinnipiac University.

In a CBS/New York Times survey, Obama was up by 48 per cent to 43 per cent, with the race apparently reverting to the narrow Democratic ascendency seen before two presidential nominating conventions.

The trend was confirmed in Gallup’s daily tracking poll, which had Obama ahead 48 to 44 per cent, the first time in two weeks that the Illinois senator had a lead beyond the statistical margin of error.

A Pew Research poll out Thursday had Obama on 46 percent and McCain on 44 per cent, while Rasmussen’s daily poll had the contest at a 48 per cent tie nationwide ahead of the November 4 election, but again the trend was towards Obama, who had trailed by three points just three days ago.

Obama’s momentum set the stage for the first of three one-on-one presidential debates with McCain, which begin next week and may represent the last chance for one of the candidates to cement a lead in the tight race.

McCain’s selection of Alaska Governor Sarah Palin as his vice presidential running mate electrified the conservative base and pushed the Republican into the lead in polls, spreading panic among some Democrats.

But Palin’s momentum seems to be diminishing.

“Senator Obama is right back where he was before the so-called convention bounces with a four-point lead,” said Maurice Carroll, director of the Quinnipiac University polling institute.

“The Democratic discombobulation after the selection of Governor Palin as GOP running mate seems to be steadying.” With economic turmoil ricocheting around the world, the Quinnipiac survey suggested that economic arguments may be swaying support towards Obama.

In the poll, 51 per cent said that McCain’s proposed tax cut will help the rich while only nine per cent say it will aid the middle class.

Thirty-three per cent say Obama’s tax plans will help the middle class and only nine per cent say it will benefit the rich.

The Quinnipiac poll showed that Obama led 54-40 per cent among women voters, the key demographic which Palin is targeting for Republicans.

He had a 91 per cent lead among African-Americans and was the favourite of young voters.

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