McCain showing signs of post-convention bounce

Republican presidential nominee John McCain had his best head-to-head showing in polls since May on Sunday as new numbers showed he has either tied or jumped ahead of his Democratic rival.

The new poll numbers are the first based mostly on interviews conducted after the conclusion of last week's Republican National Convention in St. Paul.
 
{mosads}In the Gallup daily tracking poll, McCain has edged ahead of Barack Obama 48 percent to 45 percent after trailing the Illinois senator by 7 percentage points immediately following the Democratic National Convention.
 
The Rasmussen daily tracking poll shows McCain and Obama each at 46 percent, following Obama's post convention high of 48 percent to 43 percent on Wednesday.
 
Despite the up and down news for GOP vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin since bursting onto the national stage a week ago, pollster John Zogby credits the Alaska governor's presence with part of McCain's resurgence.
 
"Clearly, Palin is helping the McCain ticket. She has high favorability numbers, and has unified the Republican Party," Zogby said, pointing to an improved showing for the GOP ticket among conservatives and rural voters.  
 
The Zogby poll currently shows McCain leading by 4.4 percent.
 
Obama still holds a slim lead over McCain in the latest RealClearPolitics average, though the Arizona senator has closed ground after trailing the Democratic presidential nominee by 6.4 percent a week ago.

While these tracking polls show the hint of a post-convention bounce, the full picture will not be available until Monday. That is when Gallup and other organizations will include only post-convention information in their tracking data.