Scandalous Republicans, now scandalous Democrats. You guys in Ohio just can't win.

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Carolina Politics Online

Sam

There might be a glimmer of hope, Robert Owens.

I know the man personally (not to mention I ask him every once in a while for some legal advice dealing with Banking and Real Estate.) and donated the max I could to his campaign on day one.

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Pioneers are walking all around singing songs about Lenin and they should be shot for it.

Handlebars

"If you are looking for the guilty, you need only look into a mirror"- V

It is inaccurate to say that I hate everything. I am strongly in favor of common sense, common honesty, and common decency. This makes me forever ineligible for public office.
H. L. Mencken

come on you know you wanna play football..

Beagán agus a rá go maith.

Economic Left/Right: 3.75
Social Libertarian/Authoritarian: -2.87

In a related development, Karl Rove, on FNC last night, had some good news and some bad news (as for which is which, it depends upon one's preference in the presidential race). For those of us who support Sen. McCain, the good news is that Sen. Obama, in order to win, must (a) win all the states won by John Kerry in 2004 (some of which were very close); and (b) add Iowa, New Mexico, and Colorado to the total; and (c) pick up two more electoral votes elsewhere (although that last part should be the easiest; after all, even the least populous states have three electoral votes). Put that way, it sounds like a rather daunting task.

On the other hand, Rove cautions that Sen. Obama must still be regarded as having the advantage; because if all the too-close-to-call states were assigned to the candidate toward which they are currently leaning, Sen. Obama would win by a hair, 273 electoral voted to 265. (That is still not quite as close as in 2000, when the total was 271 to 266, with one elector casting a "conscience" vote for Joe Lieberman.)

And the recent financial meltdown has worked against the Republican candidate--at least in the short term. Over the past few days, the Palin bounce has subsided a bit, and has been replaced by what I call an ABAR effect ("Anyone But A Republican" for president). Whether that will last will probably be determined, in part, by what happens over the next 47 days with major American financial institutions; and also, of course, with voters' perceptions as regarding the upcoming debates.

McCain's slight lead didn't last long.

RealClearPolitics - Opinion, News, Analysis, Videos and Polls

Neither has Obama's.

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Pioneers are walking all around singing songs about Lenin and they should be shot for it.

Handlebars

"If you are looking for the guilty, you need only look into a mirror"- V

It is inaccurate to say that I hate everything. I am strongly in favor of common sense, common honesty, and common decency. This makes me forever ineligible for public office.
H. L. Mencken

come on you know you wanna play football..

Beagán agus a rá go maith.

Economic Left/Right: 3.75
Social Libertarian/Authoritarian: -2.87

Update: A new poll by Rasmussen in five swing states shows the following:

Pennsylvania. Sen. Obama has pulled back ahead here, according to Rasmussen, 48%-45%. This is still close. But by comporting to the usual results in a presidential election, this poll may suggest what is likely to happen in November. And Sen. Biden, from Delaware (which is almost a suburb of Philadelphia) further enhances the Democrats' chances here.

Virginia. Sen. McCain has moved back ahead here, by a sliver, 50%-48%. I believe it is most likely that this will eventually fall into the GOP column; but northern Virginia, around DC, should make it very close. As with Pennsylvania, it remains up in the air.

Ohio. Sen. McCain is now up in Ohio, 50%-46%. The four-point margin is one point greater than it was last week. Still, this is anyone's contest. And for Sen. McCain, it is a must; Sen. Obama, on the other hand, could cobble together the requisite 270 electoral votes without the Buckeye State.

Florida. Sen. McCain remains ahead by five points in the Sunshine State, 51%-46%. Sarah Palin's rally near Orlando yesterday, where she attracted a crowd of almost 60,000 people, may be emblamatic of the Republicans' popularity in this retirement haven. In the end, I think the McCain/Palin ticket will probably prevail here. But it still must be considered a battleground state.

Michigan. If I remember correctly, Sen. Obama is up here by a rather impressive 51%-44%. It is possible that the former mayor of Detroit, Kwame Kilpatrick, may not drag down the Democratic ticket in the Wolverine State as much as I had suspected. At any rate, the Democrat must be favored to win here.

Sen. Obama--probably on the strength of the looming financial crisis--has now crept ahead of Sen. McCain in some key swing states, according to Scott Rasmussen. In Pennsylvania, "crept" may be the wrong verb; Sen. Obama now leads there by a hefty eight-point spread, 50%-42%.

It is much closer in Ohio, with Sen. McCain up by a mere 48%-47%; but that still represents a two-point swing in Sen. Obama's favor over the past week. It is equally close in Colorado, with the Illinois senator up by a bare 49%-48%; but again, that shows movement in the Democrat's direction. And in Virginia--which is really much more essential to the electoral math for Sen. McCain than it is for Sen. Obama--the latter is now up, 50%-47%.

Florida is tied at 47% each. But even that can only be interpreted as good news for Sen. Obama, who trailed by five points in the Sunshine State just a week ago.

Sen. Obama now has a significant, seven-point lead in Florida. It may be that the independents along the I-40 Corridor are breaking strongly in favor of the Illinois senator.

Of the battleground states, it now appears that Sen. McCain leads only in Ohio--and by a scant 48%-47% there, which is well within the margin of error. And some of the former tossup states now appear to be returning to their usual blue form. (The McCain campaign has reportedly given up on Michigan, and pulled up stakes there.)