In the Washington Times, S.A. Miller notes that the Democrats’ awful week–everything from Eliot Spitzer to Jeremiah Wright–has quickly been reflected in polling on the Presidential race:
Polls show that the presumptive Republican nominee, Sen. John McCain of Arizona, surged in the past week in hypothetical matchups with either Democrat.
In the four-day rolling survey by Rasmussen Reports, the senator from Arizona gained six percentage points on both Mrs. Clinton and Mr. Obama between Sunday and yesterday. In Gallup’s daily tracking survey, Mr. McCain trailed both Democrats by a statistically insignificant two percentage points on Tuesday; by Friday, even those slight leads had been erased.
In a survey by Zogby International released yesterday, Mr. McCain bested Mrs. Clinton by six percentage points (45 percent to 39 percent) and Mr. Obama by five points (44 percent to 39 percent).
Of course, that volatility shows, as much as anything, how little weight can be put on polls at this stage of the race. At a minimum, though, it’s more confirmation that McCain gives the Republicans an opportunity to be competitive in what otherwise shapes up as a bad year. And it’s a reminder that politicians are always hostage to events, many of which they can neither foresee nor control.
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