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Talk of new momentum for the McCain/Palin ticket must be making the Democratic party crazy. A report from WaPo credits McCain’s VP selection of Alaska Governor Sarah Palin for VP as causing a 20 point swing in support from white women from the Dems to the GOP.

Much of the shift toward McCain stems from gains among white women, voters his team hoped to sway with the pick of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin as his vice presidential candidate. White women shifted from an eight-point pre-convention edge for Obama to a 12-point McCain advantage now.

After being punked by the DNC with no offer of joining the Obama ticket, Hillary Clinton is probably secretly rooting for Sarah. But with scant hope of reaching the White House any time soon the Clinton clan is saying what needs to said for their remaining options in 2012 or beyond. With the GOP urging Joe Lieberman to make the party switch official, the Clinton’s might wish they could do the same and remain politically viable.

On ABC’s evening news Charlie Gibson and George Stephanopoulos discussed the difference in voter selection based on campaign issues and personal attributes of the candidates noting that in 2000 Al Gore was winning on issues while George Bush was winning on personal attributes. They are saying that this election is beginning to look that way for the two tickets with McCain/Palin winning on personal attributes vs Obama/Biden on issues If you are successful in talking to voters about the issues it may only be due to persuasion of campaign rhetoric which may not translate into the results desired post election. But if a person is seen as having the right stuff or presonal attributes the chances are better your voice will be heard and acted upon after the votes are cast and that candidate wins.

Overall, four in 10 voters in the new poll said Obama has done enough to explain the “change” he promises; that is down six points from before the Democratic convention, during which he set out his ideas before more than 84,000 people in Denver and a television audience of nearly 40 million.

McCain also gained ground on other key issues and candidate attributes tested in the poll, and although Obama still boasts more enthusiastic supporters, the senator from Arizona has narrowed the gap.

Its not so much that in the days following the RNC the McCain/Palin ticket has soared in the polls or are enjoying the convention bounce but they are gaining in metrics that quantify the terrific outpouring of support for the newcomer Sarah Palin and the classic veteran who never quits, John McCain. Perhaps the emptiness of Obama’s campaign rhetoric and the rookie choice of Joe Biden simply to shore up foreign policy for the top of the Dems ticket demonstrates how easily the Greek columns can crumble with little substance for support and the refusal to answer questions about character. Personal attributes are indeed significant to voters.

Items that McCain leads on in the recent poll include handling an unexpected crisis, more trusted on international affairs and the war in Iraq. He has narrowed or eliminated Obama’s lead on the economy, energy and social issues and now is in front as the stronger leader and always held the lead on voter opinion as the stronger commander-in-chief. About the only issue on which the two tickets are even in this poll is taxes. The only puzzling result from the poll. Unless voters have decided no matter who is in office the tax situation will remain bleak.

The reason the McCain/Palin ticket makes more sense based on the rankings in this poll and their advantage on personal attributes goes to the role of the White House in politics. The issues are certainly important and one must have a position on them. But voters sometimes seem to forget that there is a Congress. And the position of any Presidential Adminstration on the issues does not guarantee those positions will result in solutions for the public. But personal attributes can give voters confidence that regardless of the situation those with the right stuff will choose wisely among the available options at the time and serve the public interest.

A reminder again of an example from Senator McCain is the failed McCain/Kennedy amnesty initiative. Many disagreed with McCain’s position on amnesty and after the measure failed miserably in Congress last summer Senator McCain said he, ‘learned his lesson’ on that issue. He may still hold that position which almost terminated his campaign for the Presidency but understands the public was largely opposed to allowing the government to ignore the rule of law on illegal immigration.

It is unlikely that the rhetoric of Senator Barack Obama or Senator Joe Biden would have them admit they are wrong on an issue. The political choices of far left liberals do not allow for dissent. The kook fringe organizations dictate policy and agenda to the Democratic party with swift and unmerciful punishment for those who stray from their doctrine. Without the endorsement of those liberal policymakers Obama/Biden would not have a chance to be nominated. They must carry that flag rather than the real one which may suggest why Obama did not wear the pin or place his hand over his heart during the National Anthem.

The right stuff does not reside in the DNC ticket of Obama/Biden.

Stanford Matthews
MoreWhat.com

This entry was posted on Wednesday, September 10th, 2008 at 5:05 am and is filed under Public Affairs, wordpress, Politics, campaign, election, Biden, McCain, GOP, Democrats, Clinton, obama, Opinion, Gov Sarah Palin. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.