The Obama campaign has got to be worried tonight. Not only has the bounce they gained from the Democratic convention vanished but, according to at least one poll, John McCain and his running mate Sarah Palin have taken a significant lead:
The Republican National Convention has given John McCain and his party a significant boost, a USA TODAY/Gallup Poll taken over the weekend shows, as running mate Sarah Palin helps close an "enthusiasm gap" that has dogged the GOP all year.
McCain leads Democrat Barack Obama by 50%-46% among registered voters, the Republican’s biggest advantage since January and a turnaround from the USA TODAY poll taken just before the convention opened in St. Paul. Then, he lagged by 7 percentage points.
And the numbers are even worse when the sample is limited to likely voters, often a more accurate measure:
In the new poll, taken Friday through Sunday, McCain leads Obama by 54%-44% among those seen as most likely to vote. The survey of 1,022 adults, including 959 registered voters, has a margin of error of +/— 3 points for both samples.
A ten-point lead for the Republicans — in the summer, when they are normally behind. To quote the great Pepe Le Pew, "le wow!" While McCain himself gave a good speech (especially the last third), I can only attribute this shift to a strongly favorable reaction to the addition of Governor Palin to the ticket. Her speech was terrific and it was seen by over 37,000,000 people, not many fewer than watched Obama accept his nomination, and huge for a vice-presidential nominee. It’s clear that large numbers of voters not only loved the speech, but have identified with her as "one of us."
Even worse for the Prophet Barack, Palin’s reception was clearly helped by the public’s revulsion against and rejection of the savage smear campaign launched against her by blatantly partisan members of the mainstream media, attacks that guaranteed more people would watch just to see this woman the news programs were all talking about. Take the average American’s wariness of elites, combine it with their identification with Palin as some sort of "every woman," and you have the formula for a resentful and massive anti-MSM backlash that has clearly hurt the media’s preferred candidate. With this kind of help, Obama is probably wondering how he can throw the MSM under the bus.
So, in honor of the mainstream media’s mindnumbingly dumb serial character assassinations that have only served to expose their corruption, harm their candidate, and make millions sympathetic toward the other side, we* at Public Secrets are happy to award the MSM with the coveted General Russel L. Honore Commemorative Stuck on Stupid Award for September, 2008.
And, if McCain-Palin wins in November, the MSM is almost a lock to take the overall prize for the whole year, too.
Good job, guys. 
*(Well, me and the fish.)
LINKS: More at Hot Air.
(hat tip: Weekly Standard)
Posted by Phineas Fahrquar 
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