CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. - Polls indicate Barack Obama has a good chance to become the next president, but an evening with a group of independent voters suggests he has a considerable ways to go.
Members of a focus group Monday night in a county that voted Republican in 2000 and Democratic in 2004 were evenly split between Sen. John McCain, the all-but-certain GOP nominee, and Obama, his likely November foe.
Most probable Obama voters cited his theme of change. But many seemed ambivalent about him personally and expressed concern about his experience and background. Some agreed with Obama critics that it was hard to know his values because of his friendship with the Rev. Jeremiah Wright.
"Obama's catch-phrase is change, but he also changed his mind about Rev. Wright," said Bob James, 51, a restaurant manager. "After he saw public opinion was changing about Wright, he turned against him."
But James said he favors Obama because he would bring "change from the same old, same old. He represents the closest thing to change that I can see."
Less certain about her vote in a Mc-Cain-Obama race was Susan Shaible, 49, a UPS truck loader and the group's strongest supporter of Sen. Hillary Clinton, Obama's Democratic rival.
During the two-hour discussion that Democratic pollster Peter Hart moderated for the University of Pennsylvania's Annenberg Public Policy Center, Shaible vacillated between undecided and Obama.
A self-styled liberal who leans Democratic, she expressed concern about Obama's limited experience.
"If he waited a little longer, I'd feel better about him," she said. But she added, "I'm tired of white men. I think it's time for a change. It's time to put a Democrat in there."
By contrast, probable McCain voters seemed more certain of their choice and the reasons, primarily his national security background.
"The president's first and biggest responsibility is national security," said Josh Williams, 24, a college student enrolled in Air Force ROTC. "That's the most important thing to me." Dolores Tingley, 53, a law firm marketing director, cited McCain's "military experience" but said she would favor Clinton over him because of her position on health care.
Participants were independents who had not voted in primaries. Many were more aware of controversies swirling around Obama than some facts about him.
Six of the 12 said they thought Obama was Muslim, even after an extensive discussion about the flap over Wright's controversial views. Obama, for the record, is a Christian.
Several questioned his Americanism, citing his refusal to wear a U.S. flag lapel pin. A majority agreed that his comment that residents of smalltown American are bitter and cling to religion and guns showed he was out of touch with their values.
Asked what Obama needed to prove in the campaign, law firm receptionist Melinda Denisenko, 39, said, "He needs to prove that he's for America, that he'll stick with us and not try to appease others beyond our borders." The discussion went beyond the presidential race. The politician who drew the most positive comments was former Virginia Gov. Mark Warner, a Democrat now running for a Senate seat.
Most expressed a negative view of President Bush and the current state of the country. Only two said they would vote him a third term, if they could.
About half expressed concern Mc-Cain would be too closely aligned with the Bush agenda. But the two main concerns were his vow to stay in Iraq and possibly increase U.S. troop presence there and his opposition to the Supreme Court decision legalizing abortion.
The session was a vivid reminder that, for all the attention accorded the primaries; most Americans do not vote in them and may not have focused yet on the race.
Carl P. Leubsdorf is Washington bureau chief of the Dallas Morning News. Readers may write to him at the Dallas Morning News Washington bureau, 1325 G Street NW, Suite 250, Washington, D.C. 20005, or via e-mail at: cleubsdorfdallasnews.com.
Perspective, Pages 100 on 05/18/2008