Here’s the latest AP headline on the 2008 race:
They base this on a recent poll conducted for the AP…
WASHINGTON (AP) — Now more than ever, it’s the old guy against the agent of change.
Ask people to blurt out their first words about the two presidential candidates and one in five say “change” or “outsider” for Barack Obama and “old” for John McCain, according to an Associated Press-Yahoo! News poll released Monday. Those are not only the top responses for each man but the ones used most often since January, when fewer than one in 10 volunteered those descriptions.
…Let’s go to the actual poll…
Here are the top three answers for each candidate.
McCain: Old, 19%; Military service, 9%; Record/qualifications, 8%
Obama: Outsider/change, 20%; Lack of experience, 13%; Dishonest, 9%
Maybe the headline should be, “Old and qualified war hero vs. dishonest and inexperienced outsider.”
Also of note, 3 percent of those polled said the first thing that came to mind to describe Obama was “Muslim,” which might explain why he’s spending so much time fighting that particular impression.