After all the planning, after all the logistics, after all the money that went into the main event at invesco field, the surge that was supposed to go to Barack Obama… didn’t.

UTICA, New York – Republican John McCain’s surprise announcement Friday of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin as his running mate – some 16 hours after Democrat Barack Obama’s historic speech accepting his party’s presidential nomination – has possibly stunted any Obama convention bump, the latest Zogby Interactive flash poll of the race shows.

Most of us were expecting to have spent the weekend having to answer the question: How does McCain stop the Obama juggernaut? There should have been an announcement out by now about the DVD release of his historical speech, and for an extra $10 (proceeds to support Obama for President) you could get the commemorative program, with a photograph of Barack on the stage, suitable for framing.

But after all the drama that was minimized by the DNC, it was a girl after all that derailed the O Train.

The latest nationwide survey, begun Friday afternoon after the McCain announcement of Palin as running mate and completed mid-afternoon today, shows McCain/Palin at 47%, compared to 45% support for Obama/Biden.

In other words, the race is a dead heat.

The interactive online Zogby survey shows that both Obama and McCain have solidified the support among their own parties – Obama won 86% support of Democrats and McCain 89% of Republicans in a two-way head-to-head poll question not including the running mates. When Biden and Palin are added to the mix, Obama’s Democratic support remains at 86%, while McCain’s increases to 92%.

After the McCain “Veep” announcement on Friday, Palin was almost immediately hailed as a strong conservative, and those voters have rallied to the GOP ticket, the survey shows. Republicans gather in St. Paul, Minnesota this week to officially nominate McCain and Palin as their presidential ticket.

Overall, 52% said the selection of Palin as the GOP vice presidential nominee helps the Republican ticket, compared to 29% who said it hurt. Another 10% said it made no difference, while 10% were unsure. Among independent voters, 52% said it helps, while 26% said it would hurt. Among women, 48% said it would help, while 29% said it would hurt the GOP ticket. Among Republicans, the choice was a big hit – as 87% said it would help, and just 3% said it would hurt.

And, of course, the criticisms came almost immediately from the Obama campaign. One would think, knowing the hubris of these people, if Sarah Palin was a weak choice they’d be reveling in it. But it’s clear that the Palin selection struck yet another nerve within the Obama hierarchy.

McCain picked a woman while Obama picked yet another “old white guy”. Obama pushed Hillary’s supporters back, while McCain offered them shelter. Obama’s not looking all that smart, and some are calling McCain a genius.

This is literally a long no-bump weekend for Barack Obama.

This entry was posted on Sunday, August 31st, 2008 at 9:00 am and is filed under Election 2008, Politics. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.