New Media and the Presidential Campaign - The Aspen Institute

Media in Campaign:




McCain's Poll Vault
By Jonathan Capehart - Washington Post - September 8, 2008
In July, I was on a panel at the Aspen Ideas Festival on the media and the 2008 presidential campaign. There was a bit of happy talk about Sen. Barack Obama and the campaign he'd run thus far, which rankled a few folks under the tent at the Aspen Meadows Resort. One asked if there was anything nice any of us could say about the Republican nominee for president. I leaned over to the moderator and said, "I'll take that one."

For those of you thirsty for some good news about John McCain, I said, here you go. Citing a May Washington Post-ABC News poll, I pointed out that 82 percent of respondents felt the nation was going in the wrong direction. I noted that the conventional wisdom among Democrats and Republicans alike, both inside and outside the Washington Beltway, was that the Democrats would expand their majorities in the House and the Senate. And I said that voters overwhelmingly favored Democrats over the GOP when asked who they trusted to address the war in Iraq, the economy and a whole host of other issues. Then came the good news for McCain: despite this tidal wave of bad news for Republicans, he was in a statistical dead-heat with Obama. I warned the Obama supporters to pay attention to this, especially since the senator from Illinois lost nine of the final 14 contests, including Pennsylvania, Ohio and Indiana, and was having a hard time winning over supporters of Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton.

Two months later, the situation is a tad more dire. Three polls out today spell trouble for Team Obama. While a CNN/Opinion Research Corporation poll has Obama and McCain tied at 48 percent, a USA Today/Gallup survey has McCain besting Obama 50-46 among registered voters. And a Washington Post/ABC News poll shows McCain leading among white women, 53-41.

This could be the traditional convention bounce for McCain. After all, these polls were done over the weekend, just after the Republican convention disbanded in St. Paul. Or it could be that McCain's pick of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin as his running mate was the spark that the conservative base of the party, and white women, needed to finally show McCain some love. Or these numbers could represent growing resistance to Obama. Whatever the reason, Obama better figure out a way to turn those ugly numbers around lest he be the losing Democrat in a year of expected gains.

Some of the McCain Greenscreen Videos:
Make McCain Exciting Challenge: McCain on Jeopardy


Make McCain Exciting: McCain hosts the Colbert Report:


Make McCain Exciting - Cavewomen Catfighting:


McCaMake John McCain Exciting: Dinosaurs Fighting:


Make McCain Exciting: Wizard of Oz edition:


Make McCain Exciting: Blue Suede Shoes edition:


Make McCain Exciting: The Emperor edition:


See all forty Greenscreen Colbert challenge videos.