GALLUP: Obama Beats McCain on Most Character Ratings (understands problems, cares about people, etc)

[jefferson_dem]

Looks like 'merca hearts elitists...

June 27, 2008
Obama Beats McCain on Most Character Ratings
Obama leads on 7 of 10 characteristics, but McCain wins on leadership
USA Democrats Election 2008 Republicans Americas Northern America
by Lydia Saad

PRINCETON, NJ -- In the June 15-19 USA Today/Gallup poll, Barack Obama leads John McCain among registered voters in a presidential preference test, 48% to 42%. The same poll finds Obama swamping McCain in Americans' perceptions of who has the better grasp of the problems Americans face, while McCain leads Obama by a slight margin as a "strong and decisive leader."



More generally, Obama is the more highly regarded of the two candidates on a number of positive personal and leadership characteristics, ranging from his empathy for average Americans, to his political independence, to his ability to solve the nation's problems. He leads McCain by a significant margin on 7 of 10 characteristics tested in the recent poll; he roughly ties McCain on two, and trails McCain on only one.

Empathy, Independence, and Effectiveness

The two dimensions on which Obama does best relative to McCain -- understanding the problems Americans face in their daily lives and caring about "the needs of people like you" -- both concern his perceived empathy for average Americans. He outscores McCain by more than 20 percentage points on both of these.



Obama also leads by double digits on two dimensions that tap Americans' perceptions of the candidates' political independence: being independent in his thoughts and actions, and standing up to special interests.



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http://www.gallup.com/poll/108418/Obama-Beats-McCain-Most-Character-Ratings.aspx

[caledesi]

1. Fired up. Ready to go! NT

[Hope And Change]

2. Impressive!K & R!

[my2sense]

3. I'm still wating for the REAL GOP

candidate to appear - if they are serious about competing. McCain seems to be the "throw away" candidate.

[damntexdem]

4. And the GOP is going to try to paint Obama as "elitist" and "out of touch."

Bring it on!

[Spazito]

6. That was where my thoughts went as well...

It is clear by those poll numbers the repubs attempted smear re "elitist" and "out of touch" is going to be an epic FAIL as it should be.

[On the Road]

5. To Put It Away for Sure,

he needs a Clinton moment in one of those town hall debates.

The one in 1992 when a questioner charged that Bush Sr. didn't understand the problems of regular people and Bush just kind of froze up and said "I don't think that's fair...." Clinton then walked up to edge, looked at the woman, and said in that Clintonian way "I have been a governor of one of the poorest states in the nation. I talk with people who have your problems every day, and here's what I'm going to do when I get to Washington...."

That was the election right there AFAIC. There's an excellent chance for that to repeat itself this year.