As we all huddle around our televisions to watch the German masses cheer, as we prepare to read yet another magazine cover story featuring Obama’s awesome good-lookingness, as we remind ourselves once again that this is a once-in-a-generation change election, a couple points to remember:
1. The American news media has a coverage problem, with this fact as the most quantifiable symptom:
The Tyndall Report, a news coverage monitoring service that has the broadcast networks as clients, reports that three newscasts by the traditional networks — which have a combined audience of more than 20 million people — spent 114 minutes covering Obama since June; they spent 48 minutes covering McCain.
UPDATE: More here.
2. The American people have not (yet) been sold on this guy, who has a modest six point lead in the latest WSJ/NBC poll:
There are plenty of signs that Obama hasn’t yet closed the deal; if anything, he’s simply grabbing on to the reverse Bush coattails at the moment. A majority (55%) think he would be the riskier choice for president, less than half of respondents say he doesn’t share their values and background, and McCain clobbers him on experience and commander-in-chief questions. This election, in fact, has become a referendum on Obama: 51% say they are focusing more on what kind of president Obama would be, versus just 27% who say they are focusing more on McCain.
More…
The Arizona Republican senator has an 11-percentage-point advantage over Obama when voters were asked which candidate’s background and set of values they identify with more—58% said that candidate was McCain, while 47% said Obama. In contrast, 34% said McCain does not represent their values, while 43% said Obama does not.
UPDATE: More here.