Newsweek Poll Shows Obama's Lead Down To Three Points, Others Show Lead As High As Eight

I missed this when it came out this weekend. Obama's run to the center has almost completely erased his lead over John McCain according to Newsweek. Other polls show Obama's lead shrinking, but still as high as eight points.

A month after emerging victorious from the bruising Democratic nominating contest, some of Barack Obama's glow may be fading. In the latest NEWSWEEK Poll, the Illinois senator leads Republican nominee John McCain by just 3 percentage points, 44 percent to 41 percent. The statistical dead heat is a marked change from last month's NEWSWEEK Poll, where Obama led McCain by 15 points, 51 percent to 36 percent.

Obama's rapid drop comes at a strategically challenging moment for the Democratic candidate. Having vanquished Hillary Clinton in early June, Obama quickly went about repositioning himself for a general-election audience--an unpleasant task for any nominee emerging from the pander-heavy primary contests and particularly for a candidate who'd slogged through a vigorous primary challenge in most every contest from January until June. Obama's reversal on FISA legislation, his support of faith-based initiatives and his decision to opt out of the campaign public-financing system left him open to charges he was a flip-flopper. In the new poll, 53 percent of voters (and 50 percent of former Hillary Clinton supporters) believe that Obama has changed his position on key issues in order to gain political advantage.

On June 20th, the Newsweek headline was: Obama Opens Up 15-Point Lead. Other poll results: CBS/New York Times poll shows Obama up by six. The ABC/Washington Post poll shows Obama up by eight.