John McCain is more popular among Republicans than Barack Obama is popular among Democrats, according to polling data cited in Fred Barnes? most recent column for The Weekly Standard.
But that news is not as it good as it might appear for McCain:
In a Wall Street Journal/NBC survey last month, John McCain fared better with Republican voters (84 percent to 8 percent) than Barack Obama did with Democrats (78 percent to 12 percent). McCain was also stronger than Obama among independent voters (46 percent to 35 percent).
These are terrific numbers for McCain. But they aren’t enough. In the overall match-up, McCain trailed Obama (43 percent to 46 percent). The explanation for this seeming paradox is quite simple: The Republican base has shrunk. In 2008, there are fewer Republicans.
Barnes will share his political knowledge one week from today at a John Locke Foundation Headliner luncheon in Raleigh.
