Thursday, September 4, 2008

Bad news for Obama

By DeWayne Wickham

The race for president is now a dead heat.

According to a CBS News Poll taken between Sept. 1-3, the eight-point lead Barack Obama took over John McCain following the Democratic Party's convention last week has disappeared.

What happened to wipe out Obama's advantage is unclear. But this has got to be troubling for the Obama campaign. The poll was completed before Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin gave her keynote address last night. That speech put the Obama camp on notice that the Republicans' vice presidential nominee is a fiery - and combative - speaker who should not be underestimated.

The CBS poll shouldn't be taken lightly either. It found that while the level of "enthusiasm" for Obama among people who say they will vote for him dropped, from 67 to 55 percent, it has grown among people who say they will cast their ballot for McCain, up from 25 to 35 percent.

This movement could reflect not just a softening of support for Obama, but a voter shift away from the Democratic candidate to McCain, the Republican standard bearer.

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