Soccer Dad

Beyond the palin pick

There's a new National Journal poll out and the question is how much Gov. Palin helps the Republican ticket.

Unsurprisingly the left-of-center (loc) and right-of-center (roc) bloggers saw things much differently.

The loc bloggers are split as to whether she helps or hurts the ticket. However the roc bloggers are nearly unanimous that she helps and most (though not me) thinks she helps a lot. Here's the complete answer I e-mailed explaining why I think she helped a little:

The buzz has certainly dominated political talk today, pushing the Obama acceptance off the radar. But I'm starting to see more and more comments from women for whom McCain's choice has either swayed them or sealed the deal. I see excitement among many conservative pundits. I have to think that the choice of Palin will at least help McCain a little. Still, today's tracking polls still showed Obama gaining more ground.

But then given how close the race has been so far, McCain's pick doesn't have to help more than a little.

And the latest Gallup tracking poll that includes Friday night (after the Palin) pick shows Sen. Obama continuing with an 8 point lead. In other words, at least the first poll doesn't show that the pick put a dent in Sen. Obama's post convention "bounce."

(h/t memeorandum)

(Zogby shows different results. A reader e-mails Instapundit explaining why he thinks Gallup and Rasmussen aren't showing the results of the pick yet.)

One thing's undeniable, campaign donations picked up for McCain on Friday.

Sen. John McCain has taken in $7 million in contributions since announcing Gov. Sarah Palin as his running mate, a top campaign aide said today.

The money bounce may owe to Palin's appeal with conservative donors, many of whom said privately they had planned on sitting out the campaign this year. The money comes in just under the wire -- after McCain accepts the GOP nomination Thursday, he will accept public funds and no longer be permitted to raise private money for the campaign.