Poll Indicates Peoples' Opinion of Candidates May Effect Votes

A startling reality has begun to dawn on this Presidential race as Commonwealth Media polls have consistently returned indications that a voter's opinion of a candidate may very well influence their decisions on election day.

"This is an alarming turn of events," political analyst Peter O. Vert told CM reporter Charles Stewart over a telephone interview earlier today, "it shows that key political issues such as race and campaign financing are falling to the wayside in favor of people's interest in a particular candidate. It's what I refer to as a failure of democracy." Mr. Vert's fears were echoed by Kunicinch campaign contributer Jeremy Stalwell, who was attending a rally for the relatively unknown Democratic presidential candidate in the electronics section of one of San Diego's Best Buys.

"Have we forgotten what campaigns are all about?" he lamented to reporters.

The new surveys commenced by the Commonwealth Media show that a staggering majority of voters, roughly 89% with an 11% margin of error, have stated that their own opinion of a candidate could very strongly influence their decision on who should become the next President, rating consistently higher than political endorsements from talk show hosts, campaign contributions, and even physical appearance.

The revelation shows a fundamental shift in the way campaigns need to be run in order to win the race in 2008 - but with the Iowa Primaries only a month away, it may be too late for several candidates who mistook public reaction to opinions of candidates.

"We acknowledge that this means that we're going to have to shift the way our campaign is run," Eric Steveman, a 28 year old campaign adviser to John Edwards, said on his blog, "it's a strange new world, but it's high time we realize that America is changing."

Many have blamed the unpopular President Bush for this change in campaign focus, accusing his many government programs, especially the USA Patriot Act, following 9/11 for changing the way Americans look at democracy. Accused of harnessing the terrorist attacks, some have accused the president of frightening the country out of its core, democratic values.

"It's because of the perpetual state of fear we live in," wrote Naomi Coyote, a popular liberal writer and former ardent supporter of ex-President Bill Clinton, "we are becoming numb, forgetting what this country was founded on. Just a brief look at European history demonstrates very clearly that this is just the next step in desensitizing us to our freedoms, and forcing us to embrace the cold, hard iron-jack boot of fascist oppression."

Other groups have accused the change in public opinion on values on Corporate monopolies and consumerism - indicating that a widespread focus on "what you want, the way you want it" leads citizens to believe that candidates can be chosen "just like a happy meal," says Peter Vert.

"Quite frankly we just don't live in that type of society," he said, "and hopefully it's just a kind of voting adolescence, an unfortunate side effect of the YouTube generation that we can just grow out of."

But he also acknowledges that the damage may very well already have been done with the primaries so near.