Polls

Clinton has been making quite a fuss about the national polls showing her faring better than Obama against McCain. Bill even went so far as to suggest that the media are "covering up" this reality (because as we all know, the media have been against the Clintons from the beginning). Here's how their latest campaign email begins:

Have you seen the general election polls lately? They consistently show that we'll beat John McCain in November. In a national head-to-head match and in the critical swing states, the numbers show I'm the best candidate to take back the White House for Democrats.

First off, it is so maddening that Clinton thinks the nomination should be decided not by the primary elections occurring right now, but by a hypothetical election that has not yet occurred. If these national polls were trending the other way, you know exactly what she'd be saying: "the pundits want the polls to decide this race. But we know better, because I'm a fighter. I never give up. Giving up is not what I do, in fact, I prefer to fight, etc etc."

Secondly, if polls six months out were accurate, wouldn't Hillary be winning the primaries overwhelmingly? The reason she fares better in national polls against McCain is that she's been a household name for fifteen years. Much of America will be getting their first real introduction to Obama when he speaks at the Democratic convention in August. I feel confident that this will give him a much bigger-than-usual post-convention bump. He's a far better speaker than either of his opponents.