Bitter Pill, But For Whom?

In case you were wondering how long bitter-gate would stick to Obama, his national poll numbers have already bounced back (data below.) Don't get your hopes up though. Rasmussen's daily tracking numbers are a good leading indicator, but only get to be statistically significant if taken in three day chunks.

Mostly, though, what was interesting is how McCain and Clinton responded. McCain's camp issued a statement that his comments showed that he's out of touch. Hillary went on TV and said this personally over and over again. She also put out a commercial repeating what he said. McCain's actions ensured Obama's comments stayed in the press without making McCain look bad. Hillary's actions made her look desperate and intentionally petty. A week from now, people will remember that Obama, a usually gifted speaker, said the wrong thing accidentally, but that Hillary's reaction was deliberately petty.

Personally, I think the comment helps Obama. While and unfortunate choice of words, the press continuously played a looop about the depressed economy. Americans vote for Democrats when they are worried about their jobs ... Period. The more they worry, the more they vote democrat. Kerry proved the opposite is also true. Americans vote Republican when they are worried about their security. The more Kerry talked about the middle east, the more he reminded Americans about their safety. The fact that Bush was a terrible hawk was irrelevant. A bad hawk makes people feel safer than a good dove. The same will be true for Barack.

I may not like the fact that Barack called my angry feelings about the economy bitter, but now that I am thinking about the economy, what choice do I have? I can vote for him, Joe Free Trade or Mrs. NAFTA.

Date	Clinton	Obama
04/14	44	48
04/13	46	45
04/12	44	46
04/11	44	47
04/10	41	48
04/09	41	50
04/08	40	51
04/07	41	51
04/06	42	50
04/05	41	51
04/04	42	48
04/03	43	46
04/02	45	44
04/01	45	46
03/31	43	46
03/30	42	47
03/29	42	48