Political statement

From TPM Muckraker tonight (I still think McFogey is going to win) but at least this gives me passing pleasure:

Polls: McCain Seen As Negative Candidate; Number Who Think He's "Honest" Drops
By Greg Sargent - September 25, 2008, 5:24PM
If two new polls are any indication, all the lying and adver-sleazements coming out of the McCain campaign could be starting to take a toll on his maverick straight-talker image.

Some advance numbers from a new New York Times poll tell the story.

Fifty-three percent say McCain is attacking the other candidate, versus only 35% who say that Obama is the attacker. Meanwhile. only 38% say McCain is explaining what he would do as president, while 56% say that about Obama.

Obama is also winning among independents on these questions: Forty-four percent of them say McCain is attacking Obama, while only 36% of them say Obama's attacking.

Separately, Steve Benen has a nice catch from the new Washington Post poll. Obama has a double digit lead on the question of which candidate is seen as "more honest and trustworthy," 47%-36%. Interestingly, this is quite a shift: The two candidates were roughly tied on this question in July and August.

The McCain campaign gambled that it could take the campaign to unprecedented heights of dishonesty, no matter what the press said about them, without it dragging him off the pedestal he's been placed on by a decade or more of glowing media coverage. Maybe not so much. We'll see.