Hmm ... Some Bad Poll News About to Drop on The Messiah? Update: Obama Lead Disappears

These guys are doing the big tease here, making us wait until 5 pm Eastern time today, but you don't need to be a political savant to read between the lines. Ever since Obama's disastrous Saddleback performance I've been waiting for some shift in the numbers, and maybe this is it.

Which White House contender had the better summer?

A new Los Angeles Times/Bloomberg poll of registered voters across the country leaves little doubt about the answer.

We can't reveal the precise figures yet; for that, check back at LATimes.com about 2 p.m. PDT (5 p.m. EDT). Suffice to say that the results will not alter the perception that -- given a seemingly sunny political climate for Democrats -- Barack Obama is under-performing nationally.

Uh oh. Panic time?

Maybe not. McCain still has some obstacles, apparently.

For John McCain, the poll underscores that the more voters focus on domestic issues, the greater the challenge to his hopes of winning the presidency.

And he and his aides might be a bit surprised by the findings when voters are asked whether they view Obama as "too arrogant and presumptuous" and whether McCain could be considered "too hot-tempered."

This should be interesting.

Well, if anything, attention may soon shift from Obama directly onto his forthcoming VP pick, and many signs point to Joe Biden, who we noted was the favorite last week.

Meanwhile, today's Gallup poll is back to a one-point edge for Obama.

Update: The numbers are out and The Messiah is in trouble.

Naturally, they blame it on "attacks" from McCain rather than looking at the real problem: the empty suit they foisted on the public.

Barack Obama's public image has eroded this summer amid a daily onslaught of attacks from Republican rival John McCain, leaving the race for the White House statistically tied, according to a Los Angeles Times/Bloomberg poll released today.

Far more voters say McCain has the right experience to be president, the poll found. More than a third have questions about Obama's patriotism.

Daily onslaught of attacks? I guess they'll ignore the daily onslaught of attacks on McCain from 98% of the media and blogosphere.

Still, the poll found that McCain faces serious obstacles. Voters favor Obama on the economy, the issue they rank as most important. McCain's supporters remain less enthusiastic than those of his rival. And independents, a crucial swing bloc, are leaning toward Obama.

Also, the Republican Party's dismal standing under President Bush remains a drag on McCain's candidacy: 75% of voters say the country is seriously on the wrong track.

Overall, Obama holds a narrow edge over the Arizona senator, 45% to 43%, which falls within the poll's margin of sampling error of plus or minus 3 percentage points. In June, Obama was ahead by 12 points. Other polls at that time showed him with a narrower lead.

More striking than the head-to-head matchup, however, is the drop in Obama's favorable rating in the run-up to his selection of a running mate and the Democratic National Convention next week in Denver.

Obama's favorable rating has sunk to 48% from 59% since the last Times/Bloomberg poll in June. At the same time, his negative rating has risen to 35% from 27%.

By comparison, McCain's ratings have hardly budged during the same period: 46% of voters have a positive feeling about him; 38% give him negative ratings.

"All the negative attacks from the McCain campaign seem to have been paying off," said Times Poll Director Susan Pinkus, who oversaw the survey.

That's called exposing Obama's record, or lack thereof.

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