The View From Here . . .

By Bob Morgan, Jr.

Is John McCain turning the corner?

After being buried in the media with coverage of Senator Barack Obama's whirlwind foreign policy tour, Mr. McCain appears to be gaining some traction in recent days.

The Arizona senator made a bit of a splash with an advertising campaign that, oddly enough, included Paris Hilton and Britney Spears. Mr. Obama was portrayed in the ads as a somewhat out of touch "celebrity" (hence the references to Ms. Hilton and Ms. Spears) who may not be ready to lead. The campaign, which actually inspired a surprisingly witty video response from Ms. Hilton, got considerable buzz and punctured a bit of Mr. Obama's almost reverential media image.

Mr. Obama also did not help his cause by a remark predicting that President Bush or Senator McCain were going to say that Mr. Obama "doesn't look like all those other presidents on those dollar bills". Mr. McCain's campaign accused the Obama forces of "playing the race card from the bottom of the deck" and the Obama campaign did not offer a particularly convincing explanation for the Illinois senator's remark.

Meanwhile, while emphasizing his foreign policy experience and credentials, Mr. McCain also has found himself on the right side, at least in political terms, of a key domestic issue, energy production.

The recent spike in gasoline price has caused many people to favor a change in American policy toward the drilling of offshore oil, a step that Congressional Democrats have long resisted. The public has moved very much to the pro-drilling side, a position generally supported by Mr. McCain and the Republicans. For example, a Rasmussen Reports poll shows that 64 percent of respondents favor offshore drilling, while just 22 percent are opposed. 44 percent believe that drilling is the single best way to lower oil prices. Little wonder that Senator Obama has had to modify his position a bit, while his Democratic allies in Congress are furiously resisting Republican efforts to bring drilling legislation to a vote.

On the foreign policy front, the Russian incursion in Georgia also provided an opportunity for Mr. McCain to demonstrate his understanding of issues abroad. When the invasion was announced, both candidates issued statements, but only Mr. McCain made it clear that he blamed Russia for the worsening situation while emphasizing that Russia would suffer from a long term deterioration of relations with the United States and Europe if it persisted. Mr. Obama, who initially issued an evenhanded statement seeking an end to hostilities, later moved closer to Mr. McCain's position.

But of course the bottom line is whether this somewhat improved news background is improving Mr. McCain's standings with voters. The evidence is cloudy. Mr. Obama certainly lost whatever bounce he initially gained from his foreign trip, but he still remains ahead in most polls, with the Real Clear Politics current average of polls favoring Mr. Obama by 4.8 points. Some solace for Mr. McCain may come from two polls surveying likely voters rather than just registered voters. The Rasmussen tracking poll of likely voters currently has Senator Obama up by just two points. In addition, a Gallup survey of likely voters actually had Mr. McCain in the lead. Still, Mr. McCain may have gained a little ground but it is still a very difficult fight.