Bad new for Obama has alot of Silver linings.

[illinoisprogressive]

First, the bad news. Since receiving an initial bump after officially announcing for president on Feb. 10, Obama has plateaued in the polls. At the end of February, Obama stood at 24.4 percent in the RealClearPolitics Average (an aggregation of all major national surveys available at that time) while his chief rival, Hillary Clinton, was leading at 35.2 percent.

snip -

Now to the good news. For starters, Obama continues to rake in oodles of cash. In the first three months of 2007, Obama raised an astonishing $25 million, just slightly less than Hillary Clinton's vaunted money machine. The second quarter ends in just two weeks and rumors are already circulating that Obama will again come close to matching -- or perhaps even beating -- Clinton's fund-raising total.

More good news: Obama remains extremely likeable. He has the highest favorable rating of any Democratic candidate in the race by far. Better yet, Obama still has room for improvement, since most polls show a decent chunk of people remain either undecided in their opinion of him or haven't heard of him at all.

That stands in stark contrast to Hillary Clinton: Everyone has heard of her, everyone has an opinion about her and many people don't like her. She consistently has the lowest favorable ratings of any candidate in the race, and after so many years at the center of the political stage those attitudes will be extremely difficult to change.

In fact, the best news of all for Obama is his potential "electability." Though Obama hasn't made up ground against Clinton in the most recent national polls, those same surveys show him running 5-10 percent better than Clinton in matchups against the top tier Republicans. Democrats want to win the White House badly, and they'll begin to take notice if Obama continues to demonstrate a better chance of doing it than Clinton.


http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2007/06/obamas_bad_news_has_a_lot_of_s.html

[NYCGirl]

1. Real Clear Politics is a conservative site, FYI. NT

[illinoisprogressive]

2. but, often referenced for stories by democratic blogs.

[draft_mario_cuomo]

3. Obama will become the front-runner after the 2nd Q. The question is what will happen then?

Obama has gotten a Ghouliani-esque free ride with the CMSM. Once he becomes the front-runner the media, as eager as ever for a competitive horse race, will set its guns on Obama. The real question, it seems to me, is what will happen then? How much damage will be done to him?

One advantage HRC has is that there is no new dirt on the Clintons. HRC is also a known quantity. Obama, on the other hand, is largely a blank slate for most of the public. He is similar in this regard to Ghouliani, who was known only for 9-11. As Ghouliani received scrutiny from the media he has fallen substantially in the polls. Obama is as, if not more, susceptible to negative publicity than Ghouliani. The Ghouliani brand is based on 9-11. That can't be taken away. The Obama brand, though, is based on his talk of a "new politics", "unity", and him being perceived as anti-war. If a pillar or two of the Obama brand is shaken it would do immense damage to him.

[Bitwit1234]

4. Sure does have room for improvement

If his campaign does not stop the swift boating he is going to drop like a sinker.

Why do these politicians think they have to throw all that negative crap about the other candidate out there. If they would stick to their achievements and their accomplishments they would garner a more favorable image.

[elocs]

5. There sure is nothing really new about Senator Clinton. Who doesn't know her or about her?

I am undecided, but the only time Senator Clinton will get my vote is in the general election. With Senator Clinton there are really no surprises and you either like her or you don't. It seems that many not only do not like her, they really do not like her.

[Bullet1987]

6. I've said from the beginning...that Obama taking a stand for a certain issue will

help him a lot..especially with the base. Right now, most people feel like he's playing it too safe and not acting like he wants the job. This is the problem for ANY Presidential candidate...they become too controlled. This is why Russ Feingold said he didn't want to run...because he wouldn't be able to say what he felt without being black-balled by the corporate media as some far left liberal. I think Obama's biggest problem is in his lack of aggressiveness. If he'll just become the straight talker he used to be, and take a stand on something...it'll do wonders for him I bet!!!

[TeamJordan23]

7. I think Dems need to decide if they really want Bush/Clinton Dynasty for 28 years of their life...

Assuming Hillary wins and is elected twice. And who knows maybe, Jeb will run in 8 years after Hillary =)

[sandnsea]

8. Obama is building his ground crew

He hasn't even begun to attempt vote switching yet. It doesn't do any good to create a national swell for a candidate if you don't have the ground team to sign them up and turn them out to vote.