NooooBama!

Bloomberg Article

Sept. 10 (Bloomberg) -- Democrats are beginning to worry about losing the presidential election.
After months of leading in voter enthusiasm, fundraising and most surveys, Barack Obama lost momentum to John McCain after the Republican convention last week. McCain has gotten a boost from his pick of Alaska Governor Sarah Palin as his running mate and has surged ahead of Obama in some national polls, while running even in others.
Arizona Senator McCain, 72, is drawing larger crowds to his rallies than ever before. Illinois Senator Obama's campaign, meanwhile, may struggle to keep up the record fundraising pace it has maintained all year. The campaign's ``novelty has worn off,'' said Representative Bill Pascrell, a New Jersey Democrat. The Obama campaign ``seems to have lost its speed, its response time.'' Republicans used their St. Paul, Minnesota, convention to focus attention on McCain's personal character and leadership qualities, and highlight his independence from President George W. Bush. The message was reinforced by the selection of Palin, who was presented as a reformer who fought oil companies and took on her party in Alaska.
`Best Week'

This has allowed the Republicans to have ``their best week in four years,'' said Representative Artur Davis, an Alabama Democrat. ``McCain is the one Republican who could have been competitive this year because John McCain does his own brand independent of George Bush.''
With Palin, 44, joining him on the stump, McCain came out of his party's convention ``with an energized base,'' said House Democratic Caucus Chairman Rahm Emanuel of Illinois.
In recent days, McCain and Palin have appeared before crowds ranging from 3,000 to 10,000 or more. Yesterday, about 6,000 turned out to see the Republican ticket in Lebanon, Ohio. Prior to the convention, McCain typically appeared at town-hall meetings -- his preferred venue for campaigning -- of about 300 attendees.

McCain's choice of Palin ``allowed the McCain campaign to change the narrative away from McCain being an extension of Bush,'' said Democratic strategist Jenny Backus.
The McCain campaign said donations have been pouring in since the convention, allowing the Republican to narrow, if not eliminate, Obama's longstanding financial advantage. This week, a fundraiser in Chicago, Obama's hometown, yielded $5 million.

Virginian's for McCain/Palin!!