Barack to the Future: Polls Say Obama's Slipping?

Baseball great Satchel Paige famously said: "Don't look back. Something might be gaining on you." Barack Obama says he's moving forward, but Hillary Clinton is still gaining on him.

A new Pew Research Center poll found that Obama's lead over Clinton among Democratic voters has disappeared:

The tightening Democratic race reflects a modest but consistent decline in Obama's personal image rather than improved impressions of Clinton. Fewer Democrats ascribe positive qualities to Obama than did so a month ago, with white working-class Democrats, in particular, expressing more skeptical views of the Illinois senator.

Similarly, a CNN/Opinion Research Corporation survey shows Obama is losing support. CNN Senior Political Analyst Bill Schneider said:

The bigger problem appears to be Obama's string of losses to Clinton in big states like Pennsylvania and Ohio. Those losses have not driven up Clinton's support. But they may have created doubts about Obama's ability to win.

So Obama is ignoring black voters as he pursues white working-class voters. He is expected to win North Carolina, but he must demonstrate strength among white voters to quell growing doubts about his electability. Sightings of Obama in black communities are also rare in Indiana.

While Obama will receive the overwhelming support of black voters, he needs a high black turnout in both states to maintain his lead in the popular vote. BV member Greg Jones of Blacks4Barack recently commented:

In Pa. 92% of all black voters voted for Obama. That's powerful! Only one problem....not enough registered black voters actually voted!!!!

Obama was expected to win Philadelphia in a landslide. Instead, he won the City of Brotherly Love with 65 percent of the vote. As Time magazine reports:

Indeed, some locals are pointing to the way Obama conducted his campaign in Pennsylvania as an object lesson. At one point, the Illinois Senator was asked about his lack of activity in Philadelphia's black neighborhoods and told the Philadelphia Daily News, "I'm a big believer in going to places where you're weak, not where you're strong, and reaching out to people you might not otherwise expect to vote for you." Days later, after Obama failed to carry Philadelphia by a large enough margin to compensate for losses elsewhere in the state, the newspaper ran a story with the headline, "Did Obama blow the election by blowing off Philly?"