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McCain's Negative Campaigning is Backfiring Big Time

Posted by Steve Benen, Washington Monthly at 6:58 AM on October 15, 2008.


New polls show that people care a lot more about the economy then political attacks.

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In recent weeks, the McCain campaign has gone to considerable lengths to change the subject of the campaign away from the economy and towards guilt-by-association attacks. It now appears McCain badly miscalculated, and misjudged the public's expectations.


The McCain campaign's recent angry tone and sharply personal attacks on Senator Barack Obama appear to have backfired and tarnished Senator John McCain more than their intended target, the latest New York Times/CBS News poll has found.


After several weeks in which the McCain campaign unleashed a series of strong political attacks on Mr. Obama, trying to tie him to a former 1960s radical, among other things, the poll found that more voters see Mr. McCain as waging a negative campaign than Mr. Obama. Six in 10 voters surveyed said that Mr. McCain had spent more time attacking Mr. Obama than explaining what he would do as president; by about the same number, voters said Mr. Obama was spending more of his time explaining than attacking.

Over all, the poll found that if the election were held today, 53 percent of those determined to be probable voters said they would vote for Mr. Obama and 39 percent said they would vote for Mr. McCain.





McCain's favorability rating has dropped to 41%, while, Obama's has risen to 50%, the highest ever in a CBS/NYT poll. What's more, 69% said Obama has the right kind of temperament and personality to be president, which is 16 points higher than McCain's number on the same question.


It wasn't too long ago that a McCain campaign staffer told a reporter that the Republicans would lose if they focused on the economy. The campaign got it backwards.



Independent voters, in particular, have fled from McCain. Whereas the last CBS/New York Times poll showed McCain leading Obama among independents by a healthy margin, the new results show a huge swing to the Democrat, who now leads McCain among independents by 18 points, 51% to 33%.



Eric Kleefeld went through the poll's internals and found another interesting tidbit: "More registered voters think John McCain would raise their taxes than think Barack Obama would, a sign that the Obama campaign's constant assault on McCain's health plan -- and its taxation of health benefits -- has been paying off."



This is quite a surprise. The poll found that a 46% plurality believes Obama would raise their taxes, while a 51% majority believes McCain would raise their taxes.



Maybe it's the healthcare pushback, or perhaps voters are just convinced that their taxes will have to go up no matter who wins. Either way, this was a lynchpin of the McCain/Palin strategy, and the message isn't connecting.

Digg!

Tagged as: obama, mccain, negative campaign


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Barak Obama is
Posted by: lively56 on Oct 15, 2008 8:54 AM   
Current rating: 5    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
a Presidential statesman, without a doubt. Let them hate spewing war mongers dig their own graves.

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Running On Empty
Posted by: jimswanson on Oct 16, 2008 1:56 PM   
Current rating: 5    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
James A. Swanson, Los Altos, California
www.bushleagueofnations.com [For FREE downloads of ENTIRE book.]

It’s difficult to find a single thing that John McCain and his GOP have done competently over the last eight years—other than reward the Super Rich.

From presiding over 9/11 and not killing Bin Laden, to legitimizing Al Qaeda, to bungling the just war in Afghanistan, to the illegal and unjust war in Iraq, to record spending, to unprecedented corruption, to humongous multiple deficits, to bankrupting America, to turning 401(k)s into 201(k)s, to creating a worldwide financial meltdown, and to shafting countless generations of the unborn—rigged GOP structures are plainly visible.

So let’s turn the spotlight away from the serial war criminals, incompetents and felons in the Bush regime and McCain’s GOP and go after Obama, someone who at worst deserves a parking citation.

Here’s a valuable free weapon for American patriots who are fighting to take back our country. You can download for free, "The Bush League of Nations: The Coalition of the Unwilling, the Bullied and the Bribed—the GOP’s War on Iraq and America," by James A. Swanson (2008, 448 pages). www.bushleagueofnations.com.

If you are so inclined, please spread the word. Let others know of this powerful free resource.

I ask for nothing in return, except that you consider using my book to help kick out America’s worst president and worst political party ever.

Jim Swanson, Los Altos, CA
www.bushleagueofnations.com

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