BlogWonks

According to the latest Rasmussen poll, the Obamassiah’s bounce is gone, and Obama is now polling the same as prior to the start of the convention.

The Rasmussen Reports daily Presidential Tracking Poll for Sunday—the day before the Republican National Convention is scheduled to begin—shows Barack Obama ahead of John McCain by three percentage points both with and without leaners. That’s exactly the same edge Obama enjoyed a week ago on the eve of the Democratic National Convention.

But wait. It gets much, much  worse from there.

There have been significant changes in perception of John McCain in the two days of polling since he named Alaska Governor Sarah Palin as his running mate. Since then, 49% of Republicans voice a Very Favorable opinion of McCain. That’s up six percentage points from 43% just before the announcement. Also, 64% of unaffiliated voters now give positive reviews to McCain, up ten points since naming his running mate.

There has been little change in perceptions of Obama since his Thursday night speech and the Palin announcement (see trends and other recent demographic observations).

Palin herself made a good first impression and is now viewed favorably by 53% of voters nationwide. Her counterpart, Joe Biden, is viewed favorably by 48%. While Palin has made a good first impression, the more significant numbers will come a week from now after the nation has a chance to learn more about her.

No wonder the Democrats are getting scared. They  keep attacking Sarah Palin, but she keeps   polling  better than their own candidate. But, the real problem here for the Dems is how much better independent voters feel about McCain since he made his VP selection.  Obviously, picking Palin is playing extremely well with the very people that are going to decide this election.