Poll: McCain's Attacks On Obama Completely Flopped

[Kurt_and_Hunter]

Poll: McCain's Attacks On Obama Completely Flopped
By Greg Sargent - November 3, 2008, 9:53AM

Some interesting numbers from the internals of the new NBC/WSJ poll illustrate as clearly as you could want that every one of McCain's major attack lines has been a complete flop:

* Despite months of attacks on Obama's allegedly sinister background and cultural identity, a solid majority of likely voters, 57%, say that Obama has a background and set of values they can identify with, versus only 39% who say he doesn't. Those numbers are virtually identical to McCain's, which are 57%-38%.

* Asked which would concern them more about an Obama presidency, his lack of experience or the possibility that he would raise taxes, 14% cite taxes and 20% cite inexperience. Forty-eight percent -- more than those two combined -- say that "neither is a concern." This, despite weeks of attacks on Obama as a lightweight and empty suit who wants to hike taxes on ordinary plumbers and hockey moms everywhere.

* Despite all the attacks suggesting that Obama harbors a secret and shadowy agenda that he has yet to reveal, a huge majority of 67% say that they know what Obama and Biden would do if elected.

http://tpmelectioncentral.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/11/poll_mccains_attacks_on_obama.php

[dsomuah]

1. They didn't just flop, they backfired

Obama's number actually rose during McCains most vicious attacks in the first two weeks of October. I don't sweat petty and immature attacks because not only don't they have real electoral effect, they are good for fundraising. Much of the $150 million September haul can be traced to Sarah Palin's attacks on Barack Obama. There was one comment she made about Obama's experience that the campaign raised $12 million off of in September.

[MindMatter]

9. Not sure about that

After all, the polls say that they identify with McCain's values as much as Obama's. Does that mean the average American is OK with character assassination, and that the person conducting such a campaign shares their values?

Probably a lot of truth there.

[JimWis]

2. I sense that people in this country are fed up with negative

campaigning. The world is changing, and the Republicans are still playing the same old out dated crap. They really don't get it, do they.

[Occam Bandage]

3. That's just embarrassing for them. They can't win on issues, and they're apparently just as bad

at attacking his character.

[donco6]

4. After Bush's two terms, I really wondered about . . .

. . . the intelligence of the American people. Now I'm thinking they weren't being unintelligent, they were just scared. And that was going to be McCain's strategy from the beginning - playing that fear card - but it just didn't work out that way. People can only be fooled for so long. And 8 years is too long.

[crossroads]

5. I think Americans woke up to Rethugs lies... they are transparent now!

Rethugs cried wolf too many times these last 8 years! WMDs and the like have not proven to be true! The people have finally become immune to these fear/scare tactics! The GOP error of lies, corruption and deception is over!
Beware Rethugs... America has aroused from its trance like slumber and change is on the way!!:bounce:
CR

[CitizenPatriot]

6. interesting point re fear

if you smell a bad odor for a long time, eventually the olfactory senses stop sending the signal to your brain; they get burnt out, basically. Same concept applies to any emotion- it can't be sustained for long periods of time. It mellows, at the very least.

They should have taken that into account and tried to sell positive, with subversive fear. Instead, they went all blunt and crude. Guess they couldn't escape their true natures.

[marew]

7. Just have to tell you!!! Really cool!

Just had my water heater replaced this AM. The REAL plumber (has a degree in water management type stuff, retired just doing some part time stuff to keep busy) and I were talking, both for Obama, obviously. He has a close friend who is a close friend of one of Obama's law professors. His friend called and asked the professor what kind of student Obama was. Without hesitation, the professor replied Obama was, by far, the smartest student in his class! Why are we not surprised?

[onetwo]

8. America at large got to see Obama in the debates and finally saw that the attacks are BULLSHIT.

Conversely, the more they saw of Palin, the more they saw THROUGH the bullshit.

[FatDave]

10. I think there's a lot of reasons the attacks aren't working.

That people are sick of it all is a large part of it, but I think an equally large part is that for the first time since Bill Clinton, we have a charismatic candidate. Charisma's one of those "know it when you see it" type things, incredibly hard to define, but it makes people want to like you. It's the key ingredient in leadership. Our guy's got it, and theirs doesn't. In fact, if there's an opposite of charisma, that's what McCain has. But anyway, Obama carries with him people's desire to like him, to be his friend. If somebody attacks him, people are eager to defend him. "Hey, that's my friend you're attacking!" Even right-wing tools probably react this way, maybe not consciously, because this is deeply ingrained primate shit. It's there in your brain, whether you acknowledge it or not.

[BoneDaddy]

11. The new republican cologne....Desperation

I believe that even the the most intellectually curious among us can smell their desperation.