Hoping to Counter the 'Palin Effect,' Obama Focuses on Education

LEBANON, Va., Sept. 9, 2008— -- With recent polls showing a 20-point swing among white women voters to John McCain, Barack Obama is looking to regain the advantage and win over some of those women who may have switched their support because of the so-called "Palin Effect."

Obama, when asked by ABC News about the apparent swing, said that despite the excitement he believes issues will ultimately beat out personality.

"I think that what we're going to have to do is see how things settle out over the next few weeks when people start examining who is actually going to deliver on the issues that people care about," Obama said. "You know, who's got an education plan that is going to improve the prospects for our children?"

He said his concrete proposals for issues such as education will help him attract women voters, so he spoke of his education reform plans today in the battleground state of Ohio.

Campaigning in Dayton today, Obama said that the old ways of approaching education reform have not worked and that the debates in Washington have crippled progress.

"It's been Democrat vs. Republican, vouchers vs. the status quo, more money vs. more reform," Obama said at Stebbins High School. "There's bickering, but there's no understanding that both sides have good ideas that we'll need to implement if we hope to make the changes our children need."

Reaching Across the Aisle

Obama's education approach includes traditional Democratic positions, including a $500 million investment in new technology for schools, and more Republican ones -- such as merit pay and performance standards for teachers and $400 million for charter schools.

Education has been an area where Obama feels he can cast himself as reaching across the aisle to take on his own party. In an interview Sunday with ABC News' George Stephanopoulos, Obama admitted education is an area on which he sometimes separates from the Democrats, noting that some of his education proposals are "not popular with my party."

But Obama today urged Democrats to be open minded on education reform.

"Democrats have to realize that fixing No Child Left Behind is not enough to prepare our children for a global economy," he said. "We need a new vision for a 21st century education -- one where we aren't just supporting existing schools, but spurring innovation; where we're not just investing more money, but demanding more reform."

Teachers unions have generally opposed merit pay, with some leaders worrying that it would create a competitive environment among teachers and discourage them from sharing ideas.

When Obama brought up merit pay during a speech to the National Education Association in July, it was met with loud boos from the audience.

Obama Portrays McCain as a 'Do Nothing' on Education

To what degree Obama would initiate any reform that would truly offend the teachers unions is questionable, but education is an area where McCain has historically shown little interest or willingness to think outside his party box.

In his speech today, Obama claimed that McCain "has not done one thing to truly improve the quality of public education in our country."

"After three decades of indifference on education, do you really believe that John McCain is going to make a difference now?" Obama asked the audience.

The Obama campaign continued to hammer McCain on education and released a new ad portraying McCain as an obstacle to education reform.

"John McCain voted to cut education funding. Against accountability standards. He even proposed abolishing the Department of Education. And John McCain's economic plan gives 200 billion more to special interests while taking money away from public schools," the narrator says.

Luring Women Voters Back

Obama hopes his more moderate position on this issue will attract independents. A recent ABC News/Washington Post poll ranked education as Obama's best issue and found that voters preferred Obama over McCain on education issues 52 percent to 37 percent.

The Obama camp also hopes that focusing on education will help him regain the advantage with women flocking to the McCain-Palin ticket. According to Monday's ABC News/Washington Post poll, white women have moved from 50 percent to 42 percent in Obama's favor before the conventions to 53 percent to 41 percent for McCain now -- a 20-point shift.

But Obama didn't put too much stock in the numbers, expressing skepticism about the poll.

"You know, I just think that the notion that people are swinging back and forth in the span of a few weeks, or a few days, this wildly, generally isn't borne out," Obama said. "These are the same polls that had me 20 down last summer that have swung wildly through this process."

Obama admits that Sarah Palin, McCain's running mate and the governor of Alaska, has attracted a lot of attention and, among conservatives, excitement -- but he didn't think gender played a role.

"There is no doubt that Gov. Palin attracted a lot of attention this week," Obama said. "She's been on the minds of all of you, and as a consequence has been before the American people constantly throughout the week, and has brought excitement to the Republican Party, there is no doubt about that."

ABC News' Jennifer Duck, Avery Miller, and Julia Hoppock contributed to this report.