Politics

A Ray of Hope

Why today was a good day for Barack Obama.

President Obama poses with the WNBA champion the Minnesota Lynx during an event to honor the team at the White House on Tuesday.

Photo by Mark Wilson/Getty Images

Every day until the election, Slate will offer up one reason to be optimistic for your candidate.

Really, Democrats? Do you really need to be more optimistic about Barack Obama’s chances than you were last night? Well, fine—here’s one thing you might have missed.

49 Days to go:

Today’s Good News for Obama: Check the new Pew poll, the first to ask voters what they really thought of Mitt Romney’s response to last week’s foreign attacks on U.S. diplomats. It confirms that Romney’s late-night decision to blame Obama’s weakness and “sympathies” with flag-burners effectively took the heat off the president. By a 19-point margin, 45-26, “adults” (not registered or likely voters) say they disapproved of Romney’s response. The GOP candidate effectively lost a week, on an issue he doesn’t win anyway.

See Barack Obama’s good news from Day 50.

See today’s good news for Mitt Romney.