Taking Roll

For all the hand-wringing and speculation about McCain's troubles w/ disaffected conservatives, he's actually doing better among his base than Obama. In the latest Pew poll McCain gets the support of 87% of GOPers while 83% of Dems are voting for Obama.

--And HRC-backers are still not ready to get on board w/ Obama. Just 72% of them say they're voting for Obama, while 15% say they'll vote for McCain.

--This makes HRC's convention presence (as well as those of her disaffected supporters) all the more important. Even so, will getting a roll-call shout out do anything more than provide "catharsis" for HRC loyalists? Handing over her delegates is nice symbolism - but will it really serve a practical purpose for those Dems who need to be convinced that Obama's up to the job? Will a "Man From Hope"-like video be enough to soothe their concerns? Or are they holding out until they see how he performs against McCain in the debates?

--Among Penn's so-called "Invisible Americans" Obama remains far behind McCain. Obama's getting just 34% of white high school-educated voters - 8 pts. below Kerry's '04 performance. Any wonder then that the Obama camp just released two ads that heavily emphasize the phrase "middle class"?