Each week, the Spinnaker will be keeping you up-to-date on the 2008 presidential election: who’s leading in the latest polls and where they stand on key political issues.

The Gallup Daily Poll tracking has Sen. Obama with a nine-point lead over Sen. McCain in likely voters polled between Oct. 4-6. This is the biggest lead Obama has had since he accepted the presidential nomination on the Democrats’ ticket.

DEMOCRAT
Barack Obama
51%

REPUBLICAN
John McCain
42%

Election notes
• Both campaigns went negative in the last month of the election – McCain campaign attacked Obama on his association with domestic terrorist William Ayers, while Obam ties McCain to the Keating 5 scandal with the release of an Internet film titled “Keating Economics.”

• Senators Biden, Obama and McCain all voted for the $850 billion bailout of Wall Street proposed by Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson and President Bush.

• Sen. Biden and Gov. Palin sparred Oct. 2 in St. Louis, Mo., in their first and only vice-presidential debate.

• Libertarian Presidential candidate Bob Barr released a press statement deriding the Bush administration: “The Bush administration once again misled Americans into believing extreme danger was imminent and extraordinary U.S. Government intervention was required to save our country. We’ve gone from threats of mushroom clouds and alleged vials of anthrax to threats of massive unemployment and no credit for student loans.”

Presidential Election countdown
27 days until the election Nov. 4.

Compiled by James Cannon II.