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Obama Could Lose on Substance

Double-digit lead may evaporate as media tires of cool trivia

By Kevin Spak, Newser Staff

Posted Jun 28, 2008 5:03 PM CDT

(Newser) – Barack Obama’s double-digit lead over John McCain may end up a mirage, writes Paul West in the Chicago Tribune, because many voters still don’t know much about the senator's politics. The media has focused largely on trivia, leaving wide swaths of the electorate unsure where Obama stands. “I just know ‘vote for change,’” says one undecided voter. “I don't know what change.”

Journalists have spent little ink on Obama's lack of ideas, and devotion to Democratic orthodoxy, West writes. Obama's camp has promised policy speeches this year, but he may tow the party line depending on the polls. "Summertime leads in presidential contests can vanish," writes West: Remember Michael Dukakis, who held a commanding 17-point lead in late July, 10 years ago.

Barack Obama speaks at an economic competitiveness summit at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, Pa., Thursday, June 26, 2008. (AP Photo)

Barack Obama waves as his Secret Service vehicle departs a hotel in Washington, Thursday, June 26, 2008, after meeting with former rival, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y., and donors. (AP Photo)

Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., waves to the media as he leaves the Democratic National Committee headquarters Thursday, June 26, 2008. (AP Photo)

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Obama Could Lose on Substance

Double-digit lead may evaporate as media tires of cool trivia

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