Many expect a big Obama bump in the polls now that he’s the presumptive nominee. Rasmussen reports a mini-jump in its latest tracking poll released today, as Dean Barnett notes below. The Rasmussen Reports daily Presidential Tracking Poll for Monday shows that Barack Obama attracts 48 percent of the vote while John McCain earns 40 percent. When “leaners” are included, Obama leads 50 percent to 44 percent. Last Tuesday, just before Obama clinched the nomination, the candidates were tied at 46 percent. Rasmussen also says up to 30 percent could still change their minds as the election nears. What’s most interesting, however, about this poll is the movement in likely voter perceptions of the candidates. It shows the number of voters who consider Obama “liberal” up from 47 percent in December to 67 percent in May, a much higher percentage than considered John Kerry “liberal” at the end of the 2004 campaign. According to Rasmussen:
A similar shift occurred for McCain: 67 percent now see him as “conservative,” compared to only 31 percent in December. Sixty-four percent of voters viewed President Bush as conservative at the end of the 2004 campaign. That nearly seven out of 10 likely voters consider Obama “liberal” in May should raise a host of red flags with the Illinois Senator’s high command. The defining has not even begun. Those changing perceptions of him could be one of the reasons why Obama hasn’t received the large “bump” everyone expects, particularly since only 25 percent of Americans – according to the same Rasmussen survey – consider themselves liberal.
