Must Be Election Season

You know it's getting closer to election season when the negatives go up or the favorability ratings go down.

The Pew Center's numbers, seen at the right, show that what people know about the two likely party nominees, and what they know isn't all positive. Flip these and the negatives get higher and higher.

Interesting. Pew notes that McCain's negatives are political and Obama's negatives are personal. In other words, independents are suspicious of McCain't political stances, and they are suspicious of Obama's personal beliefs. This is telling, since elections are often about either competence or character. We don't know yet which is the dominant frame, but the battle will focus there.

Pull up an adult beverage, get a comfy chair, because this Fall is gonna be fun.