We keep hearing about how the Palin pick has energized and inspired women voters. But the NYT/CBS poll says that Obama actually picked up more support among women than McCain did since before the Democratic convention.
According to this poll, support for Obama among white women has risen from 37 to 47 percent since before the convention, while for McCain, that support has gone only from 44 to 45 percent. In other words, since Palin came on board, Obama has gone from a 7 percent deficit to a 2-point lead over McCain among white women, and from a 7-point to a 16-point lead among women overall.
There are other troubling numbers for Republicans about Palin in this poll, particularly the 75 percent of respondents who said McCain picked her to help him win rather than on the basis of her qualifications. On the other hand, this race remains close. Palin has apparently energized McCain's GOP base, and helped him among evangelicals. McCain also continues to be seen as being a potentially stronger commander in chief than Obama.
Nevertheless, I'm starting to believe in the common sense of the American public once again. The Palin pick was a desperation move, and one that does not appear to have been the universal success I think the McCain campaign was starting to believe it was.
