As the Republicans and Sen. John McCain use every bit of evidence available to paint Sen. Barack Obama as arrogant, a new CNN poll shows just 37 percent of voters feel the same way.
What's more, about one-third think McCain is arrogant too.
I don't write much about polls here, and prefer to keep an eye on the excellent Real Clear Politics aggregate that has Obama at + 2.4 points.
But every once in awhile something jumps out
The CNN poll based on 941 voters shows Obama leading McCain 51-44 -- with the Democrat gaining one point and the Republican losing one point since the poll was taken last month.
If third-party candidates are added, it's Obama 46 to McCain 42 while Ralph Nader pulls 6 percent and Bob Barr gets 3 percent.
Both Obama and McCain are in low 60s for approval ratings.
The arrogance question showed 37 percent said Obama is arrogant, while 63 percent said he is not. The same question about McCain yielded a nearly identical 34 percent saying he is arrogant to 66 percent who say he is not.
But this will warm Republican hearts: Asked if Obama "is acting as if he has already won the election," 44 percent of those surveyed agreed, 56 percent said no.
Not surprisingly, the McCain numbers for this are totally the opposite, since he remains the underdog. 19 percent said yes, 81 percent said no.
The poll showed 40 percent of voters think McCain is "attacking Barack Obama unfairly" and just 22 percent felt Obama was going after McCain unfairly.
While we're on the presumptuous question, here's my two cents.
I haven't been to a single event for a Republican or Democrat where the person was not introduced as "The next president of the United States" or "the next governor of Virginia" or "the next mayor of San Jose," regardless of how right or wrong the prediction was.
Heck, as you can see in this video below, even Speaker Nancy Pelosi bestowed kindness on Sen. Chris Dodd at the Iowa Jefferson Jackson Dinner by declaring he -- and every other Democrat on stage -- was "the next president of the United States."
It's standard practice to sound confident, though Obama does run the risk of seeming too confident.
"Victory is only one month away," McCain declared on Dec. 11, 2007 in an email to supporters. Presumptuous? Hardly -- he was trying to raise money.
When was the last time you heard a politician say, "I doubt we'll win, but support me anyway."
— Christina Bellantoni, national political reporter, The Washington Times
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