This was not a good week for Obama. In fact, it’s safe to call it an awful week for the Democratic candidate. Practically the only thing separating this week from a total knockout for McCain is that the Republican challenger seemed to forget his gloves in the locker room.

Simply put: it wasn’t good for either candidate, though Obama fared worse. Although he retains a statistical lead, Obama has alienated many progressives within his coalition over his support for the recent FISA bill - federal legislation that oversees the government’s wiretapping efforts; and today the Illinois senator was forced to play defense over McCain and media-perpetuated allegations that he had switched positions on Iraq.

McCain for his part on Wednesday initiated a major shake-up of his campaign organization, as 2004 Bush vet Steve Schmidt took over day-to-day operations. While the McCain campaign today cited “incredible progress,” the shake-up is seen by most political observers as an acknowledgment that, according to Sam Stein of the Huffington Post, the “campaign has sputtered.”

Obama continues to hold a lead, however, with Thursday polling by Gallup and Rasmussen placing him ahead of McCain by 4-5 percentage points nationwide.