The end is near...

According to a TIME article, the two main factors of McCain’s downward slope in the polls were the downfall of the economy, and the presidential debates. By September 14th, the day that Lehman Brothers collapsed, McCain was up in the polls by 2 points. He went tumbling down after the fatal statement that the fundamentals of the economy were strong, and the even more lethal decision to suspend his campaign to go to Washington to help gain support for the bailout plan. His presence did not make a large enough difference, considering that House Republicans killed the bill. He was then forced to vote for a bill loaded with the earmarks which he is so against that he has made the issue a hallmark of his campaign.

The debates showed McCain as a grumpy old man, and in turn showed Obama as an experienced statesman, who will be ready in January to take on the role of President of the United States. In most polls, swing voters said that Obama won all three debates, by margins of as large as 2 to 1. McCain gained supporters in 2000 by having fun and using his “straight talk,” but now since his campaign has him on such a tight leash, he is unable to show his playful side, and all we see is the grumpy side.

McCain’s campaign also depended on more media attention for the attacks that they made against Senator Obama. Instead of the attacks dominating the media, the economic crisis is still the number one issue that people are hearing about.
Finally, Sarah Palin needed to have more time to learn about the issues facing our country today. According to the TIME article, Palin needed to be taught more about the issues, but did not have time because she was obviously a last minute choice. At first, she helped the campaign by drawing crowds to rallies that rivaled the crowds and the momentum at Obama’s rallies. After the Katie Couric interviews, the polls went down, and Saturday Night Live pushed them down further.

I think that McCain still has a chance, but that Senator Obama needs to mess up again for it to happen. The “socialist” accusations about Obama have not been out long enough to see if they will have any effect in the polls, but Obama just needs to continue showing up in the battle ground states and talking about the economy, and the Presidency should be his.