Obama Gains in Polls as Financial Crisis Shifts Focus

By Kristin Jensen and Kim Chipman

Sept. 19 (Bloomberg) -- As global investors lost more than $3 trillion in market value this week, Barack Obama saw his own stock gaining among American voters.

The crisis rocking financial markets has upended the U.S. presidential campaign, taking the focus off Republican presidential nominee John McCain and moving the debate to Obama's turf: the economy. The Democrat blamed both McCain and President George W. Bush for the turmoil, calling for more regulation and casting himself as the agent of change.

McCain escalated his own rhetoric, vowing to oust the head of the Securities and Exchange Commission and attacking Wall Street and ``an outdated patchwork quilt of regulatory oversight.'' Still, national polls this week showed Obama rising.

``Clearly, Obama is gaining,'' said Jim Pinkerton, a Republican strategist. McCain has to distance himself from the Bush administration to avoid being pinned to the crisis, Pinkerton said. ``When consumer confidence falls, it's not good for the perceived incumbent.''

The Sept. 15-17 Gallup Poll Daily tracking update showed Obama with a 48 percent to 44 percent lead over McCain among registered voters, ``marking the first time that Obama has held a statistically significant lead in two weeks,'' the polling and research organization said yesterday. Obama had a 5-point lead over McCain, according to a CBS News/New York Times poll conducted Sept. 12-16 and posted on the CBS Web site on Sept. 17. McCain had a 2 percentage-point lead among registered voters in a CBS News poll released on Sept. 8, just after the Republican National Convention, CBS said.

Obama's earlier lead had evaporated as McCain announced his vice presidential pick of Alaska Governor Sarah Palin and the Republicans held their national convention in St. Paul, Minnesota, early this month.

An Opening?

Sensing a chance to regain his lost momentum, Obama has told crowds they should look at the way McCain is handling the market tremors, citing his Republican rival's Sept. 15 comments that ``the fundamentals of our economy are strong.'' Yesterday, Obama used McCain's call for SEC Chairman Christopher Cox's firing to tie his rival to the Republican establishment.

``Here's what I say: In 47 days, you can fire the whole trickle-down, on-your-own, look-the-other-way crowd in Washington who have led us down this disastrous path,'' he told a crowd of 9,500 in Espanola, New Mexico. ``Get rid of this philosophy, get rid of the do-nothing approach to our economic problems and put somebody in there who is going to fight for you.''

That message underlined how Obama is trying to use the growing anxiety to promote his call for change, said Michael Dimock, associate research director at Washington's Pew Research Center for the People & the Press.

``Reminding people of how worried they are about the economy increases the value of the change mantra that Obama has been focusing on,'' Dimock said.

Shifting Campaign

Obama yesterday sent a note to supporters, using Wall Street's woes to urge them to donate. Two days earlier, the Illinois senator told backers at a Beverly Hills fundraiser that he was convinced he would triumph over McCain.

``In the last couple of days suddenly the entire campaign has shifted,'' said Obama, 47. ``Sadly, the fact of the financial crisis has suddenly focused people's attention and it's reminded people of what's at stake.''

McCain, 72, tried to turn those words against Obama.

``My friends, that is the kind of me-first, country-second politics that are broken in Washington,'' the Arizona senator said yesterday in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. ``My opponent sees an economic crisis as a political opportunity instead of a time to lead.''

Still, McCain's fumbles this week may have cost him.

He was first to appear on television, speaking at a Monday morning rally and releasing an advertisement touting his ability to handle an emergency as Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. filed for bankruptcy and the markets absorbed news that Bank of America Corp. would take over Merrill Lynch & Co.

Economic Fundamentals

Then he said the fundamentals of the economy were strong.

Obama jumped on the words later, saying: ``Senator McCain, what economy are you talking about? What's more fundamental than the ability to find a job that pays the bills and that can raise a family?''

The next day, as the focus shifted to the plight of American International Group Inc., McCain said taxpayers shouldn't bail out the company -- then a day later, after the government put together an $85 billion takeover of AIG, said the rescue was unavoidable.

Obama's words throughout the week were more consistent. He blamed regulators and came up with new lines of attack. On Wednesday, after McCain linked Obama to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, Obama mocked McCain's pledge to take on the ``old-boys' network,'' pointing out that some of McCain's top advisers had worked as corporate lobbyists.

``The old boys' network?'' Obama said in Elko, Nevada. ``In the McCain campaign, that's called a staff meeting.''

To contact the reporters on this story: Hans Nichols in Wisconsin, at hnichols2@bloomberg.net; Kim Chipman in Nevada at kchipman@bloomberg.net;