New Pew poll finds Democrats more tuned in to the '08 campaign
A couple of weeks back, we spotlighted what we termed the "passion gap" in the presidential race -- the dramatic difference in the enthusiasm levels among Barack Obama supporters and John McCain backers, as delineated in a L.A. Times/Bloomberg poll.
Now comes a new survey, conducted by the estimable Pew Research Center for the People & the Press, that focuses on much the same -- what it terms "a substantial engagement advantage" that Democrats currently enjoy over Republicans.
And that, the poll says, "may significantly alter the composition of the November electorate."
Our friend Frank James at the Swamp has more of this and other aspects of the new poll.
It's not all good news for Obama.
His lead over McCain among voters is eight percentage points (48% to 40%) -- better than other recent surveys have found but certainly not substantial. And the Pew poll cautions that Obama "has a unity problem. [Hillary] Clinton’s former supporters have moved in Obama’s direction since the primaries ended, but significant numbers remain undecided or say they might vote for McCain in the fall.
To solve that problem, Obama probably needs to avoid the type of memory lapse he suffered Wednesday night at a fundraiser.
-- Don Frederick
Andrew Malcolm's immigrant parents repeatedly stressed the importance of active participation in a democracy. Early lessons included learning the alphabetical list of states by watching televised roll calls of national political conventions. That childhood exposure led to a lifelong fascination with politics, including 40-plus years of covering them and a brief stint practicing them as press secretary to Laura Bush in 1999-2000. A veteran foreign and national correspondent, Malcolm served on the Times Editorial Board and was a Pulitzer finalist in 2004. He is the author of 10 nonfiction books and father of four.
Johanna Neuman is a veteran Washington correspondent for both The Los Angeles Times and USA Today, having covered presidents and politics as far back as Ronald Reagan. A former president of the White House Correspondents Assn., she authored a book on media and foreign policy, “Lights, Camera, Wars.” Most recently she was co-author of the 
Subscribe to this Blog
is this to say that memory lapses - notoriously common as they might be with the preemptively-declared, presumptously-presumptive candidate of that other party, whatchamacallit - neoconned? - are not confined to him alone? what about the collective memory loss of the nation's media - where's the reporting on the message, campaign and movement of the only legitimate and qualified, always focused, true candidate for president of the republican party - candidate for president RON PAUL...
Posted by: dave | July 10, 2008 at 01:28 PM
Republicans don't show wild and crazy excitement for their candidate, they just go out in large numbers and vote for him/her. Anyway, McCain is not a cult leader as others might be. Barack Obama is still being loved and shield by the media. No matter how much flip flop and lack of understanding of the issues he show, the media will ignore it. I see the makeover they are doing on the Obamas, They are often on tv, with their kids, only good things are said about them. Where is Cindy & John McCain, why aren't they on tv ? I want a president who has core values and understands this country', and, show honesty and good leadership. I am a Hillary Clinton supporter, I , and many of her supporters , see Barack Obama as too dishonest and flawed to be president. We will never vote for Obama, but we will join and vote for someone we trust, John NcCain.
Posted by: S.A. | July 10, 2008 at 02:59 PM
Do a story about where John McCain's Campaign funds come from.
Posted by: Jenn | July 10, 2008 at 03:09 PM
It's surprising how small his lead is, when the Democratic Party as a whole enjoys a 20% lead over the Republican Party.
Maybe the only thing he is good at is exuding "change" messages and fund-raising.
Posted by: steve | July 10, 2008 at 05:05 PM
What Suggestions do the LAT's have to solve the economy's mess ???????
Posted by: Richard | July 11, 2008 at 04:20 AM
"Do a story about where John McCain's Campaign funds come from."
If you would care to do some reading, it's pretty much the same as Obama's funds are coming from.
Bundlers with high percentage of the contributions coming from EMPLOYEES of th Companies represented by Lobbyists.
Next you will be saying, "Well McCain does it too". whine whine.
Doesn't matter who does it too, there's no pass in it for Obama.
Grow up and stop thinking like a third grader.
Posted by: RoBoTech | July 13, 2008 at 10:32 AM