Obama Hammered by Massive Erosion in Public Opinion

Barack Obama's slide into oblivion is picking up, as public opinion data continues to track the Illinois Senator's abject inability to sustain the Obamania sensationalism from the primary season.

Gallup tracking has the presidential race essentially tied, but the Los Angeles Times comes right and declares Obama's collapsing fortunes:

Barack Obama's public image has eroded this summer amid a daily onslaught of attacks from Republican rival John McCain, leaving the race for the White House statistically tied, according to a Los Angeles Times/Bloomberg poll released today.

Far more voters say McCain has the right experience to be president, the poll found. More than a third have questions about Obama's patriotism.

The survey also illustrates some of the campaign's racial undercurrents as the Illinois senator strives to become the first African American president. Most voters say they know at least some people who feel uneasy about electing a black president; 17% say the country is not ready to do so.

The Times' survey does indicates some difficulties for the GOP.

Recall, though, that a late-July Wall Street Journal survey found tremendous voter unease with Obama on questions of experience and values - and notably, Obama held a 6 percentage-point lead at that time. Since then, we've seen a series of Obama setbacks, for example, on the nature of evil, the human right to life, and on lapses of honesty and integrity.

Such problems have hammered Obama's favorables in public opinion:

Obama's favorable rating has sunk to 48% from 59% since the last Times/Bloomberg poll in June. At the same time, his negative rating has risen to 35% from 27%.

By comparison, McCain's ratings have hardly budged during the same period: 46% of voters have a positive feeling about him; 38% give him negative ratings.

Ultimately, the public widely regards John McCain as more experienced for the presidency.

Obama's collapse in public opinion has triggered a new scale of GOP demonization on the left, which is a sure indication of the dramatic turnaround in Democratic Party fortunes in the election.