Obama Crushing McCain In Newsweek Poll

Wow, that was fast.

Back on June 11th I predicted that at some point, we'd see a national poll showing Obama 10-15% ahead of McCain. I didn't expect to see it until August, perhaps not even until after the DNC convention.

But lo and behold, check out this new Newsweek poll:

Obama: 51%
McCain: 36%

In the previous NEWSWEEK Poll, completed in late May when Clinton was still fighting him hard for the Democratic nomination, Obama managed no better than a 46 percent tie with McCain. But as pollster Larry Hugick points out, that may have had a lot to do with all the mutual mudslinging going on between the two Democrats. By contrast, in recent weeks Clinton has not only endorsed Obama but has made plans to campaign with him. "They were in a pitched battle, and that's going to impact things. Now that we've gotten away from that period, this is the kind of bounce they've been talking about," said Hugick.

As we've predicted many times, Obama's stance vs. McCain was always being dampened by the divisive primary against Hillary Clinton. Lots of Hillary voters said they would vote for McCain, as did some Obama supporters. The same thing was happening during the Republican primary, back when half of the Republicans hated McCain.

Now that the primary is over and Obama and Clinton are united against McCain, these numbers are finally getting real. That's why I said, back in March, that McCain needed to develop a good 10-15 point lead if he wanted a strong chance in this election.

McCain never built a lead, and it is coming back to bite him. Which means one thing: the Republican smear machine is the only chance they have left. Hillary Clinton had the kitchen sink. Republicans are bringing the toilet bowl.