John McCain is already acting on improving the lives of Americans, a good prediction of what he will do as president.
SEE THE STRAW POLL, WHERE MCCAIN HAS A 70% APPROVAL RATING OVER OBAMA:
http://news.aol.com/political-machine/straw-poll
HE IS ALSO AHEAD ON THE GALLUP POLL...
Sen. John McCain was talking oil prices today at a campaign stop in Wilkes-Barre, PA, and he credited President Bush with the over $20 a barrel drop in the price of oil since July 11. Oil closed on that day at $147.27 a barrel. On the following Monday, President Bush announced that he was lifting the executive branch ban on drilling for oil in the Outer Continental Shelf. The next day, oil prices dropped greater than $7 a barrel and have continued dropping, finishing today trading at $124.65.
McCain, who has called on Congress to lift its moratorium on offshore drilling, said that Bush’s call for expanded exploration had signaled to the markets that the United States may open up its supplies, causing speculators to bid down the price. The White House was more modest, with Press Secretary Dana Perino accepting credit for the price drop, but hinting that other factors could have been at work as well.
"I don’t know if we fully deserve the credit. We don’t predict what happens in the market. We can’t really tell. Certainly, taking that action would send a signal that at least the executive branch is serious about moving forward and increasing the supply we have in America."
McCain has taken to mentioning gas prices on the campaign trail at every opportunity in hopes of ratcheting up pressure on his opponent, Sen. Barack Obama. The campaign recently released a national television ad focusing on what the campaign terms as Obama’s obstructionism on oil development and its impact on gas prices. It is a smart strategy. Polls show that the public broadly backs McCain’s call for increased drilling, and it shows that McCain is in touch with ordinary people’s frustrations about the high cost of gasoline.
Sen. John McCain was talking oil prices today at a campaign stop in Wilkes-Barre, PA, and he credited President Bush with the over $20 a barrel drop in the price of oil since July 11. Oil closed on that day at $147.27 a barrel. On the following Monday, President Bush announced that he was lifting the executive branch ban on drilling for oil in the Outer Continental Shelf. The next day, oil prices dropped greater than $7 a barrel and have continued dropping, finishing today trading at $124.65.
McCain, who has called on Congress to lift its moratorium on offshore drilling, said that Bush’s call for expanded exploration had signaled to the markets that the United States may open up its supplies, causing speculators to bid down the price. The White House was more modest, with Press Secretary Dana Perino accepting credit for the price drop, but hinting that other factors could have been at work as well.
"I don’t know if we fully deserve the credit. We don’t predict what happens in the market. We can’t really tell. Certainly, taking that action would send a signal that at least the executive branch is serious about moving forward and increasing the supply we have in America."
"Obama The Unknown"
"’Just tell me one thing Barack Obama has done that you admire,’ I asked a prominent Democrat. He paused and then said that he admired Obama’s speech to the Democratic convention in 2004. I agreed. It was a hell of a speech, but it was just a speech. On the other hand, I continued, I could cite four or five actions -- not speeches -- that John McCain has taken that elicit my admiration, even my awe." -- The Washington Post’s Richard Cohen
"Obama The Unknown"
Richard Cohen
The Washington Post
July 29, 2008
"Just tell me one thing Barack Obama has done that you admire," I asked a prominent Democrat. He paused and then said that he admired Obama’s speech to the Democratic convention in 2004. I agreed. It was a hell of a speech, but it was just a speech.
On the other hand, I continued, I could cite four or five actions -- not speeches -- that John McCain has taken that elicit my admiration, even my awe. First, of course, is his decision as a Vietnam prisoner of war to refuse freedom out of concern that he would be exploited for propaganda purposes. To paraphrase what Kipling said about Gunga Din, John McCain is a better man than most.
But I would not stop there. I would include campaign finance reform, which infuriated so many in his own party; opposition to earmarks, which won him no friends; his politically imprudent opposition to the Medicare prescription drug bill (Medicare has about $35 trillion in unfunded obligations); and, last but not least, his very early call for additional troops in Iraq. His was a lonely position -- virtually suicidal for an all-but-certain presidential candidate and no help when his campaign nearly expired last summer. In all these cases, McCain stuck to his guns.
Gallup Poll Shows McCain Ahead of Obama
By Mark Impomeni
Jul 28th 2008 4:30PM
Filed Under: Barack Obama, John McCain, Breaking News, 2008 President, Polls
In a surprising result, the latest Gallup/USA Today poll of likely voters in the presidential race shows Sen. John McCain leading Sen. Barack Obama by four percentage points, 49-45. The shift represents a swing of 10 points in favor of Sen. McCain from last month’s poll, which showed the Republican trailing Obama by 6 points. The poll was conducted over the weekend, on the heels of Sen. Obama’s foreign trip. That trip was designed to show Sen. Obama as a competent manager of foreign policy and national security matters. But controversies marred the ending of the trip and may have contributed to the results of this poll.
While the McCain campaign will certainly be delighted with the results of the survey, several caveats bear mentioning. First, the poll’s results are at variance with Gallup’s daily tracking poll, which shows a 9 point lead for Obama. Second, although it is a Gallup poll, considered the gold standard of presidential polling, it is only one result and will likely change several times throughout the summer. Third, in the same poll, Sen. McCain is shown as trailing Obama among the larger group of registered voters by 3 points. Not all registered voters vote, however, and a lead among likely voters is generally considered by pollsters to be more significant as an indicator of the eventual election outcome.
The Obama campaign can take comfort in some of those same caveats, but the poll’s result has to be very troubling for the Illinois Senator’s effort. The campaign has been talking openly of preparing for a presidential transition and has been chastised recently by reporters for acting too much like a White House in waiting. Besides serving as a dose of reality for a campaign that has perhaps been flying a little too high, the result should spur the Obama campaign to take a serious look at its message. Obama has been primarily basing his appeal on his personal judgment and potential. But voters tend to vote on specifics, and the Obama campaign has been short on the kinds of concrete plans that voters typically look for from presidential candidates. In other words, Obama will have to demonstrate to voters that he is more than just an eloquent speaker to win the election.
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