Gallup Poll Shows John McCain Lead, No Obama Bounce With Joe Biden Pick
by Steven Ertelt
LifeNews.com Editor
August 26, 2008
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) — A New Gallup poll shows pro-abortion presidential candidate Barack Obama received no bounce from choosing pro-abortion Senator Joe Biden as his running mate. In fact, John McCain now holds a lead in the survey for the first time in August as Democrats are in Denver for their national convention.
The daily Gallup tracking poll from August 23 to 25, the first three-day period falling entirely after Obama’s Saturday morning vice presidential announcement, shows 46% of national registered voters backing McCain and 44 percent supporting Obama.
This is the first time since Obama clinched the Democratic nomination in early June that McCain has held any kind of advantage over Obama in Gallup Poll Daily tracking.
In fact, the poll shows Obama losing a 46-44 percent advantage over McCain immediately before he picked Biden as his running mate.
That Obama lost support nationally instead of getting a bounce from his selection is contrary to historical trends that show a small bounce following a vice-presidential announcement.
Gallup notes a four percentage point bounce for John Kerry in 2004 after selecting John Edwards, a 5-point bounce for Al Gore in 2000, and a 3-point bounce for George W. Bush in 2000.
Meanwhile, a Rasmussen Reports poll also found little post-Biden bounce for Obama as both he and McCain receive 44 percent apiece in the poll. With "leaners" added to the mix, the candidates are tied at 46 percent.
However, with voters leaning towards one candidate included, Obama had a 1-2 percentage point lead in the days leading up to the Biden pick and a 2-4 percentage point lead without including leaning voters.
The Rasmussen poll also finds the Biden pick failed to unite Democrats behind his candidacy as just 78 percent of Democrats back Obama while 85 percent of Republicans are behind McCain.
"Obama’s support has declined in each of the last three individual nights of polling," Rasmussen notes. "This may be either statistical noise or a reaction to the selection of Biden."
McCain is viewed favorably by 57 percent of Americans while 53 percent view Obama positively.
A third national poll, conducted by CNN, finds the race tied at 47 percent each.
Biden‘s pro-abortion track record in the Senate mirrors Obama’s.
He received a pro-life voting record of 0 percent from the National Right to Life Committee for 2007-2008.
Before that, Biden compiled records of 0 percent, 16 percent, 0 percent, and 22 percent with the pro-life group in previous Congressional sessions. His support for a ban on partial-birth abortions represented one of the only times he voted with the pro-life side — with Biden voting repeatedly to force taxpayers to fund abortions at home and abroad.
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