A new ABC News/Washington Post poll indicates that:
*90% (!!!) of registered voters believe the country's headed in the wrong direction, while just 8% believe it's headed in the right direction. Wow.
*George W. Bush has a job approval rating of just 23% and "has fallen below Nixon's lowest."
*"Powered chiefly by the public's economic concerns, Obama leads John McCain by 10 points among likely voters, 53-43 percent."
*Obama leads by an even greater margin, 54%-41%, among registered voters.
*The #1 issue cited by poll respondents is overwhelmingly the economy (53%), followed by health care (7%), Iraq (6%), ethics and honesty in government (6%), terrorism/national security (5%), and everything else in the 1% or 2% range. In short, "It's the economy, stupid!"
*John McCain's "unfavorable" ratings have increased in the past few weeks (as the "Tour de Hate '08" has revved up), from 36% on 9/7 to 45% on 10/11.
*Meanwhile, despite the McCain campaign's barrage of attacks on Barack Obama's "character," the "unfavorable" figures for Obama have actually DECLINED, from 36% on 9/7 to 33% on 10/11. So much for THAT strategy! (perhaps there's a correlation here: 68% say Obama is addressing the issues, compared to just 35% for McCain).
*An "enthusiasm gap" remains, with 61% of Obama supporters "very enthusiastic" about their candidate, compared to just 38% "very enthusiastic" among McCain supporters. In addition, McCain's "very enthusiastic" numbers have actually fallen over the past few weeks, from 46% on 9/7 to just 38% now.
*Half of registered voters are "uncomfortable" that "McCain would take office at age 72," while just 9% are "uncomfortable" that "Obama would be the first African-American president."
*Finally, this is fascinating: "no presidential candidate has come back from an October deficit this large in pre-election polls dating to 1936."
With 22 days to go, this race is certainly not over...but it's getting there, according to the state and national polls. Now, let's finish the job by turning Virginia Obama (and Warner) "blue!"