McCain's Convention Bounce Vaults Him Over Obama

Gov. Palin and convention bounce give McCain 4 point edge in Gallup poll.

ByABC News
September 8, 2008, 7:45 AM

WASHINGTON Sept. 8, 2008— -- Republican presidential candidate John McCain jumped slightly ahead of rival Democrat Barack Obama among U.S. voters according to a new poll, benefiting from his party's convention and a rousing speech by his vice presidential pick Sarah Palin.

Palin, a social conservative who opposes abortion even in case of rape or incest, electrified the party's base at last week's Republican National Convention with a sarcastic, slashing speech that took on Obama. She still faces a major test this week when she gives her first nationally televised interview since McCain chose her as his running mate, instantly elevating the little-known politician to national status.

McCain's rise was expected, since candidates almost always receive a bounce in the polls after their conventions.

The latest The USA Today-Gallup Poll released Sunday shows the Republican moved ahead of Obama 50 percent to 46 percent, suggesting at the very least that McCain has wiped out the seven-point lead Obama received following the Democratic convention a week earlier. The latest poll had a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.

Also Sunday, McCain's aides said Palin would sit for a television interview. The announcement caps weeks of intense press scrutiny of Palin, who has been accused of having little international experience and exaggerating her reformer credentials.

McCain's campaign has lashed out at coverage of Palin and her family, while Democrats have questioned why the candidate has not been put directly before reporters to answer questions.

McCain campaign manager Rick Davis earlier complained that the media has focused too much on 44-year-old Palin's personal life. Many of those stories came after McCain's campaign announced that Palin's unwed 17-year-old daughter was pregnant.

"Why would we want to throw Sarah Palin into a cycle of piranhas called the news media that have nothing better to ask questions about than her personal life and her children?" Davis said on "Fox News." "So until at which point in time we feel like the news media is going to treat her with some level of respect and deference, I think it would be foolhardy to put her out into that kind of environment."