For Barack Obama and John McCain, It’s the Economy, Stupid
This year, the economic crisis takes center stage in the presidential election
Ahead or surging. Still, as the crisis intensified, Obama moved ahead of McCain nationally, with the Post/ABC poll giving Obama a 50 to 46 percent lead among likely voters. More important, Obama is now ahead or surging in most of the key swing states. For example, polls show that he leads or is competitive in the megastates of Florida, Michigan, Ohio, and Pennsylvania, and in the smaller but crucial states of Colorado, Missouri, and Virginia.
Bill Clinton, then governor of Arkansas, enjoyed a similar pro-challenger dynamic in 1992 when he ran against President George H.W. Bush, the current president's father. Americans wanted change, and a serious economic downturn pushed them into Clinton's corner despite their doubts about his lack of national-security experience. Through it all, Clinton's internal campaign motto was, "It's the economy, stupid." Obama advisers say the same scenario seems to be playing out today. At least, they hope so. A senior Obama strategist adds that McCain and the Republicans are in a very difficult position with only a month left before Election Day. "They have to stop the trajectory," he says, and that won't be easy.
As a final gambit, Obama is borrowing a page from Ronald Reagan's playbook. In his debate with incum-bent Democrat Jimmy Carter in 1980, Reagan asked Americans if they were better off than they were four years earlier. Largely because of the sour economy, most voters said no, and Reagan won in a late-breaking landslide. Obama is asking a similar question today, and hoping for the same result.
The Swing States
Candidates Battle for Florida Voters
Obama Pulls Ahead of McCain in Michigan
Candidates Battle for Votes in Ohio
Reader Comments
McCain is to old to be prez.
McCain is to old, he is seventy-two and served in the Veitnemase war, sure he has exspirience in a fight but he is going to die in office and you know what that maens SARAH PALIN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!Will be prez. And come on She is a load of
why
i think that this is some real mickeymouse bs cause u really don't know how to beleive because they all lie!
Look at political history
I can't see why everyone is up on Obama. What experience does he have? Look back, who has been basically in charge for the last two years? The Democrats. So you can't blame Bush for everything. Look back to the Clinton administration and you will find where FannieMae/FreddieMac started causing trouble. Look at 2005 when McCain and other Republicans were trying to do something about the 2 FM's. Where were the Democrats? Taking a vacation, sticking their heads in the sand, or whatever, just like they did recently when the oil drilling situation came up. They definitely weren't taking care of business. A lot of our economical situation started before Bush even took office. So, Dem's get your representatives heads out of the sand and make them work for their pay. Clean your own house first. What's Hilary Clinton out campaigning for Obama when she should be in Washington earning her money. I'm not paying her to campaign. I am proud to say that there is only one Democrat in Washington that I voted for. I want a President that will appoint Judges that interpret law and not make law, like those radical idiots in California. I dread getting a Judge appointed by Obama. That Judge will probably be more radical than the idiots in California.
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