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The McCain Surge

5:02 PM, Feb 27, 2008 • By MICHAEL GOLDFARB
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Stolen directly from Geraghty, the latest Rasmussen numbers:

  • McCain now leads Obama 46% to 43% and Clinton 48% to 43%.
  • Obama is viewed favorably by 51% and unfavorably by 46%. McCain’s numbers are 55% favorable, 42% unfavorable. Clinton earns positive reviews from 47% of Likely Voters nationwide and negative assessments from 52%.
  • McCain is trusted more by 55% of voters when it comes to National Security issues. Obama is trusted more by just 30% on this point. Just half (51%) of Democrats express more trust in Obama than McCain on national security. Unaffiliated voters prefer McCain by a two-to-one margin.
  • On Iraq, McCain has a much smaller advantage—49% trust McCain while 39% prefer Obama.
  • When it comes to the economy, 45% prefer McCain while 39% trust Obama more.

The general election is a long time away, but there's something going on here. Rasmussen explains "McCain has consistently held a modest lead over Clinton but he moved ahead of Obama only after publication of the controversial New York Times article last week." Captain Ed delves into those numbers--66 percent of respondents said the piece was a deliberate attempt to "hurt the McCain campaign." One wonders what Marilyn Thompson would make of all this.

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