Where's the Bump

I'm convinced that the more voters get to know Barack, the less inclined they'll be to support him. This seems to be the case with his overseas tour. Despite four days of dominating news coverage even more than he usually does, the portrayal of Barack as a statesman is hurting his image as a leader of international affairs. A few days ago, 41% of likely voters felt Barack lacked the experience to be president.

While Obama has been on an overseas tour, 45% of voters say the Democratic hopeful is too inexperienced to be President. That’s up four percentage points from a week ago.

That according to the Rasmussen poll, which also shows that McCain is favored on national security, 48%-41%.

How much has Barack's tour helped him in overall support? The latest Gallup poll of registered voters shows Barack's lead dropping from 6% to 4%. In the new Rasmussen poll, he's jumped to a two point lead, up from 1%.

The Rasmussen Reports daily Presidential Tracking Poll for Wednesday shows Barack Obama attracting 45% of the vote while John McCain earns 42%. When "leaners" are included, it’s Obama 47% and McCain 45% (see recent daily results). McCain is viewed favorably by 56% of voters, Obama by 54%. Tracking Polls are released at 9:30 a.m. Eastern Time each day.

Will Barack's big speech in front of thousands of screaming German fans this week help, or hurt? We'll see.

The big news from Gallup Poll Daily tracking is the continuing stability of this race. Many observers (and based on its reaction, the McCain campaign itself) have hypothesized that Obama could have the chance of making a major breakthrough in voter sentiment as a result of the streaming video and photos and news coverage of the Illinois senator with U.S. troops, military commanders, and foreign leaders. As of Tuesday night's interviewing, however, this has not materialized.