What would be the WSJ's definition of "closing the deal"? A 15- point lead in the polls? Certainly that would be nice for Obama... but it can't be expected. McCain is a strong candidate.
Taking the position that this should be a run-away election for the Democrats, I would say they were looking for a solid 5-10% lead heading into their own convention, rather than being statistically tied with McCain.
Ok. A 5-10 point lead heading in, plus a 5-10 point lead from the convention, translates into a 10-20 point lead. At this point in 2004, Bush had a 3 point lead. Remember that Obama is running against a guy with a lot of advantages- he's a well known Senator, he has 26 years of experience in Washington (although this could also be a disadvantage), he's not unlikable, and he's a war hero; and he's running against a first term Senator. If you had showed this matchup 4 or 8 years ago it's McCain who should have been landsliding. Why can't McCain close the deal?
Btw... the WSJ has twice the circulation of the NYTimes. So much for the media being in the bag for one candidate.
