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The Note: Palin Mania Shakes up Race
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ShareSeptember 08, 2008 8:40 AM
ABC News' Rick Klein reports in Monday's Note:
Congratulations, Sen. John McCain: The race is no longer solely about Sen. Barack Obama. (Which is not the same as saying it’s about you.)
There, on the cover of Time, Newsweek, and People -- and US Weekly and the National Enquirer -- is the woman McCain vaulted from obscurity to celebrity without a pass through the stages of political curiosity (not that the press corps isn’t curious).
Just about by herself -- with her record still a mystery, and almost without answering a single question -- Gov. Sarah Palin has deposited the ticket in the lead.
Already -- and most importantly -- she has shaken the stubborn narrative of the race. (Could it be that a country that wants a fresh approach was really waiting for a fresh face to promise it?)
“McCain leads Democrat Barack Obama by 50%-46% among registered voters, the Republican's biggest advantage since January and a turnaround from the USA TODAY poll taken just before the convention opened in St. Paul. Then, he lagged by 7 percentage points,” per USA Today’s Susan Page.
Read the rest of The Note -- and get all the latest on the 2008 election, Congress, the White House and the wide world of politics every day -- from Rick Klein by bookmarking this link.
The lead stretches to 10 points among likely voters. And this is supposed to be Obama’s trump card: “Before the convention, Republicans by 47%-39% were less enthusiastic than usual about voting,” Page writes. “Now, they are more enthusiastic by 60%-24%, a sweeping change that narrows a key Democratic advantage. Democrats report being more enthusiastic by 67%-19%.”
The Real Clear Politics polling average reads “McCain +1.0” -- anyone remember the last time those letters were red?
Team McCain starts the week trying to take Obama’s “change.” New ad out Monday morning (a fact-checker’s delight): “The original mavericks. He fights pork barrel spending. She stopped the Bridge to Nowhere. He took on the drug industry. She took on big oil. He battled Republicans and reformed Washington. She battled Republicans and reformed Alaska. They’ll make history. They’ll change Washington. McCain. Palin. Real change.”
Palin, R-Alaska, has done many things for McCain in the 10 days since she announced her presence with a rifle shot across red-and-purple America: energize the base, prime the pump of GOP fundraising, inject youth into a tired party, challenge the mainstream media to understand precisely what her candidacy means.
What it means is something real: “Palin's debut has invigorated the Republican base here in the Hampton Roads region of Virginia, a battleground area in a top swing state, and one where GOP turnout depends heavily on evangelical Christians such as the Goodes, along with the many military families clustered around the Norfolk and Portsmouth bases,” Alec MacGillis writes in The Washington Post.
Continue reading today's Note by clicking HERE.
ABC News' Hope Ditto contributed to this report.
September 8, 2008 in Biden, Joe, Clinton, Hillary, McCain, John, Obama, Barack, Palin, Sarah, Vote 2008: Democrats, Vote 2008: Republicans, Washington | Permalink | User Comments (237)
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I am so excited about Palin!
Thank you McCain!
Dem for Palin/McCain
Posted by: Paul | Sep 8, 2008 8:57:26 AM
Obama needs to go after her. Enough of the nice stuff.
Posted by: Reason | Sep 8, 2008 9:01:22 AM
The more the left-wing attacks Palin, the more determined I am to vote for her. What hypocrits - champion women's rights, and then put your liberal bloggers out there to suggest she can't handle the job of VP and raise four children. Lies, lies, lies, and I know the Obama campaign is behind this garbage.
Posted by: Carrie | Sep 8, 2008 9:03:03 AM
Obama should get a bump in Michigan now that he admitted his true faith is muslim.
Posted by: geevill | Sep 8, 2008 9:03:40 AM
McCain, Palin and the Republican Party are exploiting two unfortunate events in Palin's family:
1. Palin's 5 months old son with Dawn syndrom
2. Palin's 17 years-old pregnant daugther
All of that for political gains. God save America from McPalin.
Posted by: BKMC | Sep 8, 2008 9:07:48 AM
The left-wing is attacking Sarah Palin so visciously because they realize that a certain percentage of female Democrats will cross over to vote for Palin simply because they want to see the glass ceiling shattered or because they are enraged at Obama for not taking Hillary as VP. My wife and two married daughters are doing exactly that, including contributing to the McCain campaign. This is the first election in my memory in which some women Democrats worked to actively defeat their own party. There's anger out there among some womemn . .
Posted by: Robert Leighton, Chicago | Sep 8, 2008 9:08:16 AM
I am so excited about Palin!
Thank you McCain!
Dem for Palin/McCain
Posted by: Paul | Sep 8, 2008 8:57:26 AM
Here's a tissue to wipe the drool off of your face.
Posted by: J | Sep 8, 2008 9:08:17 AM
McCain/Palin:
Grumpy Old Man/Right Wing Nut Job
Yeah, I feel safe.
Posted by: mark | Sep 8, 2008 9:09:04 AM
The new Palin McCain ad is AWSOME!!!!
I am so excited, McCain and Palin are the real change that Washington needs!
Dem for McCain/Palin
Posted by: Eian | Sep 8, 2008 9:09:17 AM
Posted by: outtahere | Sep 8, 2008 9:11:41 AM
The left-wing is attacking Sarah Palin so visciously because they realize that a certain percentage of female Democrats will cross over to vote for Palin simply because they want to see the glass ceiling shattered or because they are enraged at Obama for not taking Hillary as VP. My wife and two married daughters are doing exactly that, including contributing to the McCain campaign. This is the first election in my memory in which some women Democrats worked to actively defeat their own party. There's anger out there among some womemn . .
Posted by: Robert Leighton, Chicago
What vicious attacks? She's been on the National scene for a little over a week. Do you call delving into her record attacks. I don't agree that the kids are brought into the political stuff on either side.
Posted by: J | Sep 8, 2008 9:12:13 AM
Obama has nothing new to offer. He'd better come up with something in a hurry because it will only get worse for him if he doesn't.
Posted by: dl | Sep 8, 2008 9:13:18 AM
McSame spent 26 years in the senate, that does not mean change, it seems that the republicans are exploiting Palin's son disability and her unfortunate daughter' s pregancy for political gains. Palin is a strong dose of WBush-Cheney who has no experience, no direction and no understanding of national or international issues.
Posted by: BKMC | Sep 8, 2008 9:13:28 AM
The new Palin McCain ad is AWSOME!!!!
I am so excited, McCain and Palin are the real change that Washington needs!
Dem for McCain/Palin
How long has McCain been a Senator? Has he changed anything. I am thinking the answer is no. As for Caribou Barbie, enough said.
Posted by: J | Sep 8, 2008 9:14:50 AM
I was a Clinton supporter but now I am thrilled to vote for Palin and McCain.
I was clear from the beginning that Obama was all talk and no substance. It is great to have some real change makers to vote for in McCain and Palin.
Obama proved his lack of judgment when he voted against the surge and then again when he picked Biden over Clinton. Obama/Clinton would have been unbeatable but Obama's arrogance got in the way.
I am so glad that McCain picked Palin.
I am so excited about election day!
Posted by: Josie & Bill | Sep 8, 2008 9:15:27 AM
Mark - you're so right. Anyone who can equate the McCain/Palin ticket as "change" has a case of foggybrain. This country is headed for the worst fall we've ever seen. People who accuse Obama of being the most liberal senator ever are confusing liberal with progressive. Progressive = progress, which seems to be something the american people don't want. Unbelievable!
Posted by: outtahere | Sep 8, 2008 9:16:43 AM
geevill should get a bump on her head now that she admitted she's an idiot.
Posted by: Deep Release | Sep 8, 2008 9:17:04 AM
Hey J,
Check out the new McCain/Palin ad. There is a huge list of the things they have done to change the government and Washington.
The ad is fantastic!
Sounds like the Obama supporters are becoming bitter now. Oh how the tables have turned!
Posted by: Josie & Bill | Sep 8, 2008 9:17:47 AM
Hey J,
Check out the new McCain/Palin ad. There is a huge list of the things they have done to change the government and Washington.
The ad is fantastic!
Sounds like the Obama supporters are becoming bitter now. Oh how the tables have turned!
Don't ya think that ad is biased. What has John McCain done? Sarah Palin just became a national name. I don't care what she did in Alaska. She doesn't even know what a VP does for God's sake.
Posted by: J | Sep 8, 2008 9:20:12 AM
Why does Obama believe he's running against Bush? Can't he speak to the issues that Americans want to hear?
Posted by: dl | Sep 8, 2008 9:21:31 AM
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