Obama's Sticky NumbersAre the subject over
at Politico.
In the two months since Barack Obama captured the Democratic nomination, he has hit a ceiling in public opinion, proving unable to make significant gains with any segment of the national electorate.
While Obama still leads in most matchups with John McCain, the Illinois senator’s apparent stall in the polls is a sobering reminder to Democrats intoxicated with his campaign’s promises to expand the electoral map beyond the boundaries that have constrained other recent party nominees.
There is a word for candidates who say they're going to bring lots of new voters to the polls: Losers.
Really though, the issue here is quite plain. Obama can't close the deal. He's foolishly been trying to run out the clock with three months left before the election. The whole bit with him refusing to the townhall-type meetings and insisting that three debates would be plenty is a classic tactic of the candidate with an unassailable lead.
But Obama doesn't have that. Indeed, his numbers at InTrade have slipped quite substantially over the last couple of weeks as folks over there have finally accepted that he's not going to pull away and win this thing easily.
McCain's still got some work to do himself. But the good news is that Obamania, like all fads, is starting to wear thin.
