At the highest rate so far, 53% of Americans rate the economy of poor. Gallup reports, “that it one point higher than we’ve seen on the current economy ever.” From their tracking, Obama has held a 3 point lead over John McCain. Obama’s numbers peaked over McCain last week when the Wall Street collapses began to hit the news and have faltered only slightly.
Now that John McCain has suspended his campaign to deal with the economic bailout plans, he may be able to sway public perception. This could be a game changer. The possibility exists that McCain comes off looking like a Maverick, not a politician playing games. Obama could lose trust if he is seen trying to dance around the issues and not help with the financial crisis. Good campaign move or not, more than half of Americans see our economy as poor. As the candidates strategize and campaign (or in the case of John McCain, show up at work and work on the bailout legislation), know that many pessimistic voters are watching how they handle the situation.
The tracking numbers for the next few days will be very interesting- whether or not there is a debate in Mississippi.
