A Nation Divided

Presumptive Republican Presidential candidate Senator John McCain and presumptive Democratic Presidential candidate Senator Barack Obama are neck-and-neck as the season draws us into Party Conventions, debates, and soon, Election Day.

Researchers continue their scramble to analyze political stance and opinion an candidates scramble to mobilize support. A recent Reuters/Zogby poll indicates that McCain is leading Obama 47 percent to 41 percent. A LA Times/Bloomberg poll indicates that Obama's lead from the past few months has dropped, where the Pew Research Center pegged Obama at 46 percent to McCain's 43 percent, a shift from Obama's one 48 percent lead against McCain's 40 percent. With the fluctuation of political opinion, only one thing is certain: American are still largely, fairly equally, divided in choosing their leader.

This data come at the heels of Senator McCain's rounds of aggressive ads and the positive reviews about this talk at the Saddleback Forum last weekend. Additionally, it picks up on the preparation for the Party Conventions within the next few weeks and speculation about "veeps".


One of the major criticisms about the media's coverage of the election process was its imbalanced focus on Senator Obama, sometimes advantageous for Senator McCain who could slip past the sidelines unnoticed, though other times at his expense, for example when people are more interested in Obama's VP selection than McCain's. As Politico reads Obama's tea leaves and NY Times reports a tight-lipped McCain when it comes to prospects, both candidates work to sharpen their messages in preparation for the last leg of the race.

The selection of a running mate could very well be the deciding facto for either of the candidates, as they each seek to unite this divided nation in their favor. With options like Hillary Clinton and Joe Binden for Obama, and Mike Huckabee and Charlie Crist for McCain, among many others, the choice is not an easy one. We won't have to wait much longer, though, as they have both resolved to announce their VPs soon (and strategically, right after one another!), in what is likely to be another media frenzy that will simultaneously influence and be influenced by opinion polls.

Let's just that one of them truly an provide the unification this nation so desperately needs.