A new Rasmussen Reports poll shows an abrupt drop for Democratic Senator Barack Obama in the wake of the continuing controversy over his pastor’s incendiary comments:
The Rasmussen Reports daily Presidential Tracking Poll for Saturday shows Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton essentially even in the race for the Democratic Presidential Nomination. It’s Obama 46% Clinton 45% . This reflects an unusually sharp change from yesterday’s results when Obama led by eight points and reached the 50% level of support for the first time. … Last night’s results were very favorable for Clinton and it remains to be seen whether this marks a lasting change in the race or is merely statistical noise. Single night results are based upon very small samples and are more volatile than the overall tracking poll.
And there’s overall bad news for the Demmies, too. The poll finds that the virtually certain GOP Presidential nominee Senator John McCain would beat both Democrats: McCain 47% Obama 42% and McCain 46% Clinton 42%.
What’s the likely reason for this monster drop in Obama’s poll numbers? Most likely, hate-filled video that surfaced of his Reverend Jeremiah Wright Jr., of the Trinity United Church of Christ. Today, Obama invoked RFK in an effort to distance himself from his pastor. On the other hand, Obama is stressing that, despite his distancing himself from his pastor, he is not abandoning his church — which suggests the issue will be “out there” if he gets the nomination. Look for footage to be replayed…this time in ads bankrolled by the GOP. Other analysts also note that Wright will be a liability for Obama, if he does head the Democratic ticket.
Joe Gandelman is a former fulltime journalist who freelanced in India, Spain, Bangladesh and Cypress writing for publications such as the Christian Science Monitor and Newsweek. He also did radio reports from Madrid for NPR’s All Things Considered. He has worked on two U.S. newspapers and quit the news biz in 1990 to go into entertainment. He also has written for The Week and several online publications, did a column for Cagle Cartoons Syndicate and has appeared on CNN.