Formidable rival

The Democrats seem to stand a good chance to beat Republicans in this presidential election and that boosts Obama's odds against his Republican opponent McCain in the general election.

Though voters now prefer Democratic policy positions on most major issues, Obama has only a 0.7-percent lead over McCain in the RealClear Politics average of polls.

His favor ability ratings among independents has dropped from 63 percent to 49 percent since late February.

Furthermore, although Obama has spent months to court working-class voters, his efforts don't seem to pay off yet.

Voters agree with Obama's position on Iraq, but they put more trust in McCain's ability to handle the concrete issue, according to the polls of Pew Research Center.

At the moment, Obama's main strategy against McCain is to define the latter as Republican President George W. Bush's heir, but that doesn't prove very persuasive as many voters view the definition as inaccurate.

In fact, McCain is at odds with Bush on many issues, ranging from the torture of terrorist suspects to global warming, though he has to stick with the president on his very unpopular Iraq policy.

Analysts said if Obama wants an overwhelming victory over McCain, a formidable rival in many sense, he must quickly readjust his strategy and adapt himself to the forthcoming new battles.

(Xinhua News Agency June 5, 2008)