Obama camp in panic as ‘Xena’ Sarah Palin scythes through support Palinmania has washed away the Democrat’s lead
Palinmania has washed away Obama’s polling leads in several swing states that he had been counting on to win.
A clutch of polls last week showed McCain ahead by five points in Missouri, four in Ohio, four in Virginia and eight in Florida. New Mexico and N e v a d a , t w o t o p O b a m a targets, recorded narrow leads for McCain. Other states that had appeared to be comfortably in the Democratic camp now look precarious. In blue-collar New Jersey, Obama’s lead has shrunk to three points; in latte-sipping Washing-ton, it is down to two.
He is still narrowly ahead in Colorado and Michigan, where Palin has been campaigning energetically, but the ground is shifting beneath his feet. Advisers fear the get-out-the-vote machine that served Obama so well in the primary campaign against Clinton will be overwhelmed by Palin’s legion of female fans. “Are we running a primary campaign in a general election?” the adviser wondered. “Our campaign has an unbelievable ground game. It’s far superior to McCain’s but at the end of the day, people vote on emotion. Do I like you? Do I trust you? Do you care about me?”
A poll by the Associated Press last week showed that white women preferred McCain to Obama by 53% to 40%.
“People still don’t know what Obama stands for. There’s a perceived elitism and something aloof about him. They just don’t connect with him,” the adviser added. “As a person, Palin is very intriguing. She’s attractive and funny and she’s a hell of a speaker. There’s an element of ‘she’s like us’.