McCain-Palin Pulling Away: The Story Behind The Numbers

By now, those who follow politics closely will have noticed that the McCain-Palin ticket has now surged ahead in the electoral college 227-207 and has established a three-point lead in the Rasmussen presidential tracking poll for the third straight day. Equally telling, McCain has roared back from an 18-point deficit and has now pulled one point ahead when voters are asked whom they think will win. The sense of "inevitability" surrounding The One is fading fast.

But perhaps the most interesting news is that McCain is rated as a "better leader" than Obama by 49%-39% of voters and is preferred 55%-40% on the issue of national security. With the U.S. heading towards confrontation with both Russia and Iran, the "leadership" and "national security" issues will only loom larger in the minds of voters. But even if the Democrats can succeed in keeping the focus on the sputtering economy, the data show that McCain is preferred 49%-45% on that issue as well. By all indication, the Democrats seem to be panicking, most obviously seen in their boneheaded decision to attack McCain for not being proficient at email, even though the reason for that is the injuries he suffered while taking torture in Vietnam.

All in all, this is fantastic news for the McCain-Palin ticket. The swing states are trending in favor of the Republicans, and even former Democratic strongholds like New Jersey seem very much in play.