Obama has made some big strides since last week. He is up about an entire point from +3.3 last week. The Gallup/Rasmussen average is +5.5, the highest it has been in quite a few weeks. Other big news is that Virginia is the bluest it has been since the beginning of the race. North Carolina is much closer than it has ever been too. New Hampshire has moved closer to red, however.
The Poll of Polls:
| RCP Average | 09/21 - 09/27 | -- | 47.9 | 43.6 | Obama +4.3 |
| Rasmussen Tracking | 09/25 - 09/27 | 3000 LV | 50 | 44 | Obama +6 |
| Gallup Tracking | 09/24 - 09/26 | 2759 RV | 49 | 44 | Obama +5 |
| Hotline/FD Tracking | 09/24 - 09/26 | 914 RV | 48 | 43 | Obama +5 |
| GW/Battleground Tracking | 09/21 - 09/25 | 1000 LV | 46 | 48 | McCain +2 |
| CBS News/NY Times | 09/21 - 09/24 | LV | 48 | 43 | Obama +5 |
| FOX News | 09/22 - 09/23 | 900 RV | 45 | 39 | Obama +6 |
| Marist | 09/22 - 09/23 | 689 LV | 49 | 44 | Obama +5 |
The electoral matchup:
| Electoral College | Obama | McCain | Spread |
| RCP Electoral Count | 228 | 163 | Obama +65 |
| No Toss Up States | 286 | 252 | Obama +34 |
The battleground states:
We had two bags of grass, seventy-five pellets of mescaline, five sheets of high-powered blotter acid, a salt shaker half full of cocaine, a whole galaxy of multi-colored uppers, downers, screamers, laughers…Also a quart of tequila, a quart of rum, a case of beer, a pint of raw ether and two dozen amyls. The only thing that really worried me was the ether. There is nothing in the world more helpless and irresponsible and depraved than a man in the depths of an ether binge. –Raoul Duke
It is hard to shed anything but crocodile tears over White House speechwriter Patrick Buchanan's tragic analysis of the Nixon debacle. "It's like Sisyphus," he said. "We rolled the rock all the way up the mountain...and it rolled right back down on us...." Neither Sisyphus nor the commander of the Light Brigade nor Pat Buchanan had the time or any real inclination to question what they were doing...a martyr, to the bitter end, to a "flawed" cause and a narrow, atavistic concept of conservative politics that has done more damage to itself and the country in less than six years than its liberal enemies could have done in two or three decades. -Hunter S. Thompson








Toss Up
Leaning