Obama’s Pastor Problem More Damaging than McCain-Bush?

Gallup has released a survey showing that at this point in the race, Obama’s association with Wright may be potentially more damaging to his candidacy than McCain’s continued embrace of Bush. The reason, as the survey details (below), is that the association with Wright actually hurts McCain among some Democrat leaners (19% say less likely to vote for Obama), whereas McCain’s strong alliance with Bush has less of an impact among Republican leaners (10% less likely to vote for McCain).

In political advertising and messaging, you can expect both campaigns along with independent expenditure groups to play on these associations, making for powerful emotional imagery.