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New York, October 24, 2008: With less than two weeks left until election day, the media coverage has become increasingly focused on the polls with a large share of positive statements going to Obama. But with Obama stepping off the campaign trail for two days to visit the grandmother who largely raised him, there is room for McCain to assert himself on key issues like the economy and taxation.

"The media is favoring Obama when it comes to the polls and predictions, and this helps to give him momentum," says Roland Schatz, President of Media Tenor International. "But when issues are discussed he faces negative ratings. On the economy he still has the advantage, because he is rated less negatively than McCain, but on taxation, international issues and leadership McCain has the edge.”

The question is whether McCain can turn these topics to his advantage in the time remaining. “Taxation is the topic most likely to work for McCain right now,” Schatz notes. “It addresses people´s fears about the state of the economy and the McCain campaign has been effective at attacking Obama on this issue.”

Obama taking a two day break from the campaign to address family matters may also help McCain. “While Obama not being actively in the spotlight is a risk this close to election day, there are ways in which it could help him,” Schatz says, noting that the situation with his grandmother´s health gives Obama an opportunity to elicit sympathy and also emphasize the American and caucasian parts of his heritage. “On the other hand,” Schatz adds, “it gives McCain two days in which to take the control of the media agenda, which is what he needs to do to stay competitive.”

For the third time, International Media analysis company Media Tenor is offering a detailed analysis of the U.S. presidential campaign. TV news coverage of the leading Presidential contenders is scrutinized at a detailed level. “The methodology was developed 15 years ago and has been successfully used not only to analyze the 2000 and 2004 U.S. Presidential campaigns, but also for International politics,” Schatz explains. Media Tenor´s Presidential Campaign Watch focuses not only on candidate standings, but also on topics and sources, while adding an international perspective.

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