Barack Obama holds a significant lead over John McCain in the final days of Campaign 2008. McCain on His Record, Tax Cuts & Immigration, Controversial Minister Leaves Obama Campaign, McCain's Free Ride Will Cost Dems in Fall, Dems Risk Losing a Generation With Clinton. By Wednesday, November 19, McCain led President-elect Obama by 1,445,813–1,441,910 votes, or approximately 0.14% of the total popular vote in Missouri. The Pew Research Center’s final pre-election poll of 2,587 likely voters, conducted Oct. 29-Nov. 1, finds 49% supporting or leaning to Obama, compared with 42% for McCain; minor party candidates draw 2%, and 7% are undecided. According to Gallup polls conducted worldwide from May to October 2008, 7% of the people in the 73 countries polled supported McCain, compared to 24% who supported Obama. - Jonathan Martin, The Politico, - Don't Discount Clinton's Strength in Ohio - John Fortier, The Politico, - Michelle Obama: Alienated in the U.S.A. - Evan Thomas, Newsweek, - The Dems' Iraq Paralysis - Abe Greenwald, Contentions, - Talent, Not Race, Explains Obama's Success - Joe Klein, Time, - Obama's Pastor Problem - Brian Ross, Good Morning America, - The Party Won't Overrule Obama Delegate Win - Peter Brown, Politico, - Why the Democrats Won't Fracture - Mort Kondracke, Roll Call, - Spitzer and the Law Are At Fault - The Economist, - It's the War Economy, Stupid! Do Voters Want a More Isolationist Foreign Policy? It last did so during the Great Depression in the 1930-1932 time frame. ... whose poll numbers had plummeted by 2006, made no appearances for McCain during the campaign. Nonetheless, voters who hang up on campaign robo-calls tend to treat them as only a minor annoyance. Most (about 70% of those polled) either had no opinion or offered no opinion at all. Among likely voters, 36% favor Obama strongly, while 13% say they support him only moderately. In the poll for August 18 to August 24 support for McCain among Democrats peaked at 14%. Still, somewhat more voters age 18 to 29 say they have received mail about one or more of the candidates than say they have received emails about the candidates or campaigns from groups or political organizations (33%). In mid-October, slightly more Obama supporters (19%) than McCain supporters (12%) said they donated to a candidate. - Lisa Miller, Newsweek, - Pastor Calls Into Question Obama's Judgment - Peter Wehner, Nat'l Review, - The Dangers of Pitting Race Against Gender - Gary Younge, The Guardian, - White Male Vote Will Be Critical for Dems - Dan Balz, Washington Post, - The Growing Democratic Racial Divide - Robert Novak, Chicago Sun-Times, - The Fiscal Nightmare of 2009 - Marc Ambinder, The Atlantic, - Obama: How Does He Respond? Has The Media Been Fair to Obama's Church? The last polls have straggled in, and show little sign of mercy for John McCain. It resulted in a clear-cut victory for the Democrats. [3] Near the end of September, however, when the financial crisis of 2007–2008 became a more potent election issue, Obama proceeded to take the lead in most of the polls. Independent voters are more likely than Democrats or Republicans to say they hang up on robo-calls, and are about as likely as Democrats to say these calls make them angry. About Pew Research Center Pew Research Center is a nonpartisan fact tank that informs the public about the issues, attitudes and trends shaping the world. Only one of them changed party hands: Democrat Jay Nixon won the Missouri gubernatorial election, replacing Republican Matt Blunt, who decided to retire instead of seeking a second term. In the contested battleground states, 76% now say they have received campaign mailings, also up 14 points from mid-October. - Mark Murray, NBC News, - White Suspicion, Black 'Luck' - Gregory Rodriguez, Los Angeles Times, - The Iraq Question McCain Must Answer - Peter Feaver, Weekly Standard, - Church Accuses Media of 'Crucifixion' - L. Lerer & M. Allen, The Politico, - Pastor's Remarks Spark Debate - Thomas Edsall, Huffington Post, - Obama's Campaign Has Been Fatally Damaged - Paul Burka, Texas Monthly, - Ready to End the War in Iraq - Senator Hillary Clinton, GW University, - Obama, Kristol & Newsmax - Michael Crowley, The New Republic, - Dems Need to Resolve Race Sooner Rather Than Later - Mike Cohen, WSJ, - What Do the Democrats Do Now? Aside from Obama’s six-point edge among independents (45%-39%), he is nearly even with McCain among white non-Hispanic Catholics (47% McCain, 45% Obama), suburban voters (47%-43%), and white women (47%-44%). - The Nation, - Obama's Minister of Hate - New York Post, - Wright and Ferraro Are Just Distractions - Chicago Tribune, - NRCC Audits Forged, Nearly $1M Missing - Reid Wilson, RealClearPolitics, - Obama's Iraq Inconsistencies - Michael Gerson, Washington Post, - Do Voters Want a More Isolationist Foreign Policy? - Jonathan Chait, The New Republic, - The Risks and Rewards of Obama - Ronald Brownstein, National Journal, - What Will Obama Cost the Nation? Obama amassed 365 votes in the Electoral College by carrying 28 states, against McCain’s 173 votes, gathered from 22 states. - Ross Kaminsky, Human Events, - Someone's Going to Feel Cheated - Gloria Borger, US News & World Report, - Dems Can't Stay Silent on Iraq - Arianna Huffington, Huffington Post, - Why McCain Might Win - Michael Hirsh, Newsweek, - The SNL Effect - Howard Kurtz, Washington Post, - The Democrats' Veep Calculus - Kimberley Strassel, Wall Street Journal, - Why McCain Should Pick Jindal - James Lucier, American Spectator, - Addressing the Wright Problem - Ross Douthat, The Atlantic, - McCain on His Record, Tax Cuts & Immigration - Hannity & Colmes, - Democrats Need to Stop This Silliness - James Carville, Financial Times, - Playing by Obama's Rules - Pat Buchanan, Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, - Sorry, Hillary: You've Crossed the Line - Charles Pluckhahn, Seattle Times, - The Pastor Questions Aren't Going Away - Victor Davis Hanson, NRO, - Is Obama's Explanation Good Enough? To complete the subscription process, please click the link in the email we just sent you. Both candidates hold sizable leads among their core constituent groups, including winning about nine-in-ten votes among their own partisans (90% of Democrats are voting for Obama, 89% of Republicans for McCain). The total of 131 million votes cast in the election represented more than 43 percent of the U.S. population at the time, the highest share of any presidential election in U.S. history.