National Journal Online has been asking leading bloggers questions about the elections for a couple of days now. The NJO normally asks two or three questions each day, sometimes only one, which are send to various bloggers, after which they publish the results of the poll on their website.

The latest batch of questions was published earlier Monday. The question: “What portion – if any – of the Republican convention program should be devoted to tearing down Barack Obama and the Democratic brand.”

Since I am one of those who are asked questions by NJO daily, I take a frequent look at the website to see what the opinions among bloggers are. Today’s poll was exceptionally interesting, in my opinion, because it deals with a subject most of us feel passionate about and because the results themselves are quite interesting material to talk about as well.

NJO divides the answers in two categories; those given by left of center bloggers and by right of center bloggers. In this particular case the answers of the two sides to a strategic question are completely different (PoliGazette is listed as right of center; they don’t have ‘center’).

The possible answers to the question what part of the convention should be devoted to tearing down Obama and Democrats in general were:

1. More than half

2. About a half

3. About a third

4. About a quarter

5. Hardly any

Of the 19 left of center bloggers 12 said they believe Republicans should spend more than half of their time at the convention on destroying Barack Obama’s image. If Republicans would do that they would cry foul, of course, but they tactically believe this is the only way McCain may win.

Among the left of center bloggers who responded are Steve Clemons, Chris Bowers, Steve Benen and John Aravosis.

The results on the other side are quite different. Only 10 out of a total number of 22 right of center bloggers asked say more or almost half of the Republican convention should be spend on destroying Obama. The majority, 12 bloggers, believe a third or less is wise.

Some of the comments made by right of center bloggers (the comments remain anonymous) in which they explain their choice make clear why the results show such a big difference between the two sides:

“Obama is an incredibly weak candidate. A few sharp, precision jabs on key issues where he is the most vulnerable … should be enough.”

“The GOP needs to articulate an agenda that is different from Bush in the areas where he is unpopular and promise to fix areas where McCain and his congressional colleagues let down the public and the right. At the same time, Dems have signaled a greater willingness to attack this year, so it’s important GOP doesn’t leave charges unanswered.”

“I really think McCain has to limit the negativity,” another blogger writes. “Last night, McCain offered Obama a gracious congratulations. In response, Obama’s campaign manager, David Plouffe, answered with a petulant complaint that McCain ought to be that gracious all the time. That was followed this morning with the graceless ‘mayor of 9000′ comment. If this continues and the Obama campaign maintains its petty nastiness, it will continue to erode the candidate’s aura of being an avatar of a new kind of politics.”

In other words, some time should be spend to this subject, but most believe McCain should focus on his own strengths and on making himself different from Bush than anything else. Many right of center bloggers also believe that Obama has his own weaknesses which are obvious to anyone without Republicans pointing them out time and again.

Left of center bloggers, on the other hand, believe that McCain’s “only possibility” to win is to attack, nay destroy, a candidate they consider strong. Negativity may not be what they like, but it works, they argue.