Obama Surges to 8 Point Lead in Gallup Tracking

AOL News and Gallup are reporting that Barack Obama has taken an eight point lead over John McCain in Saturday's Gallup Tracking Poll. The results are the first bellwether of McCain's success in convincing Americans that suspending his campaign and trying to postpone Friday's debate was more than a political stunt. It also includes one full day of results following the debate.

The poll is based on a three day rolling average, so it is remotely possible that Obama had an even bigger lead Friday, but it doesn't seem likely. Although McCain performed well in the debate, he did not score anything close to a clear victory. Many observers felt that his almost open contempt for Obama made him seem un-presidential.

This result appears to vindicate, to some degree, the ABC/WaPo poll from earlier this week that saw Obama with a nine-point lead among likely voters, a poll which identifies broader trends than tracking polls.

If this trend continues in advance of Thursday's vice presidential debate, McCain could soon be looking at a double-digit deficit. In that case, expect to see the campaign rooting around in it's bag of tricks for another "Hail Mary."

Perhaps McCain will perform a "citizen's arrest" of Obama, or announce that he is, in fact, "Iron Man."

Unless this poll turns out to be a blip, McCain has two smart plays here. He can hope for a game-changing knockout by Palin on Thursday (hope they bone up on Joe Trippi's advice), Or, he can have Palin announce that she's dropping out, and have a massive pick ready to replace her. She can even cite the intense media attacks as her reason for doing so, shoring up "Paliniacs" for McCain.

Either way, the McCain campaign hasn't exactly shown the steely nerves of a jewel thief thus far, so if his numbers continue to tank, expect some fireworks.