Obama Loses Ground Overall and With Independents in National Newsweek Poll

I guess Obama's suddenly politics-as-usual campaign honchos, who've engineered a new "let's become like every other spineless Dem" strategy for their candidate over the past few weeks, have caused Obama to lose ground nationally, not gain it. According to the latest Newsweek poll, Obama is now beating McCain by only 3 points at 44-41%, down from the 15-point lead he held in last month's Newsweek survey, when he was up 51-36%. And keep in mind, Obama's numbers have gone down during a period when McCain's campaign has been stumbling, unraveling and producing negative news almost every day. Let's just hope the Newsweek poll is an anomaly or wrong.

But if it's on target, Obama's so-called "centrist" back-tracking on the Iraq war, a woman's right to choose, the death penality, guns, NAFTA and -- most of all -- FISA, have appealed to "moderates" and independents so strongly that his numbers are ... shooting downward. Even worse, many of the young people and activists of all ages who have strongly supported him online and on the ground seem to be backing away and losing passion and trust for Obama. His small donors on the web are reportedly lagging. Grumbling is heard everywhere in the much maligned Dem base, from the netroots to the local Dem rank and file. As Newsweek reports:

In the new poll, 53 percent of voters (and 50 percent of former Hillary Clinton supporters) believe that Obama has changed his position on key issues in order to gain political advantage.

More seriously, some Obama supporters worry that the spectacle of their candidate eagerly embracing his old rival, Hillary Clinton, and traveling the country courting big donors at lavish fund-raisers, may have done lasting damage to his image as an arbiter of a new kind of politics. This is a major concern since Obama's outsider credentials, have, in the past, played a large part in his appeal to moderate, swing voters. In the new poll, McCain leads Obama among independents 41 percent to 34 percent, with 25 percent favoring neither candidate. In June's NEWSWEEK Poll, Obama bested McCain among independent voters, 48 percent to 36 percent.

And what has he gotten in return for dissing his most ardent supporters? Nothing. The GOP and the pundits keep doing what they always do -- bashing Dems whether their criticisms are based on reality or not. The independents he's supposedly trying to attract are evidently starting to see him as just another expedient politician unwilling to stand up for what he believes in. By trying to please the mythic and poorly defined "middle" -- and embracing the "conventional wisdom" that's been proven anything but wise in the past -- Obama is managing to deflate a lot of the passion and excitement that was the strength of his campaign.

I certainly don't like to be highly critical about our presumed Dem nominee at this stage of the game. But what choice do I have? I can't tell you how many people I've spoken with who have said that, while they'll still probably vote for Obama, at this point they don't intend to volunteer for his campaign or donate any more money. What a lost opportunity for Obama and for progress. What did it gain him to vote with all of the Party's most Republican-lite Senators -- and on the opposite side of the Party's most popular and respected Senators -- on FISA? Absolutely nothing except distain from those who understand what was at stake in the battle.

I hope he and his campaign get the message and get back on track quickly and forcefully. In order to win, he needs widespread and enthusiastic participation by the Dem base, young voters, new voters and independents. These are the very people he's recently been seen to be dismissing and patronizing while he panders to some ill-defined group of voters who don't seem to be out there for him. Wake up Obama, before it's too late.

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