If ever there was a candidate who needed change, it’s Barack Obama. In addition to the Los Angeles Times and Zogby polls showing an Obama slide nationally, the highly respected, bipartisan Battleground poll shows he has lost significant ground. Here’s the ‘glass-half-full’ interpretation of the results, from Democratic pollster Celinda Lake:
For most of the summer, these dynamics combined to afford Obama a narrow, though consistent lead. At this point in the contest, however, after a continued and largely unanswered negative campaign on the part of McCain, the race is a statistical dead heat (47% for McCain to 46% for Obama). Underneath the more modest movement in the overall vote from our last poll, however, is a larger shift among independents that is of particular concern for Obama. In May, Obama led among independents by 14 points; today, McCain is winning these voters by 10 points.
Apart from that cheery finding, Obama should also note his slide in bellwether Missouri (where he now trails McCain by 10) and his 5 point deficit in Ohio — a state that turned dark blue in 2006. Obama’s Ohio slide comes despite the fact the state’s Democratic governor, Ted Strickland, continues to enjoy an extremely high approval rating.
