Karl Rove, in last week’s Wall Street Journal:
This week also brought a reminder that Sen. Obama hasn’t closed the sale. The Washington Post/ABC poll found 45% of voters still don’t think he’s qualified to be president, about the same number who doubted his qualifications in March.
This is seven points more than George W. Bush’s highest reading in 2000 and the worst since Michael Dukakis’s 56% unqualified rating in 1988. It explains why Mr. Obama has ignored Democratic giddiness and done two things to keep victory from slipping away.
The Washington Post‘s Jon Cohen, today:
Obama-experience – 56 percent of voters said Obama has the kind of experience it takes to be an effective president, 42 percent said he does not. Those numbers match his best of the campaign, and are a touch better than the split on Bush’s experience on the eve of the 2000 election (52 percent said he had enough experience to be a good president, 44 percent said not).
Emphasis mine, obviously. Voters have fewer doubts about Obama’s experience today than they did about George W. Bush on the eve of the 2000 election.
Also, those of you who can do subtraction will find a little white lie in Rove’s account. One more for the road, eh?