The Atlantic will tell us how it all went wrong.
From The Trail…
Just when you thought everyone had moved on… former advisers to Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton are in a tizzy over an upcoming piece in the Atlantic Monthly that chronicles the inner workings of the now-defunct campaign. Of particular concern are nearly 200 internal memos [...]

For those who miss those halcyon days when Hillary Clinton was impeding Barack Obama’s journey to the White House – the drama may not be over yet. In a move that should surprise no one who’s followed the uninhibited ambition of the Clintons, Hillary Clinton has been caught telling a California reception that she thinks [...]

The numbers remain stable today, and with the Olympics starting tomorrow, expect very little movement until they’ve over.

Do note how McCain hasn’t gone over 44% in well over a month. Even when he ties with Obama it’s because Obama falls, not necessarily because McCain is gaining.
The details…
These results, based on Aug. 4-6 polling, are essentially [...]

With leaners
Obama - 47%
McCain - 46%
Without leaners
Obama - 44%
McCain - 43%
Obama maintains the slim lead he regained yesterday, and Rasmussen shares how much attention people are paying to the election…
If the race for the White House remains close, the final decision may be rest in the hands of voters who are not yet paying attention [...]

My guess is this is just a head fake from Rudy to throw off the Dems, but if McCain did pick somebody like Joe Lieberman it would be game changing.
From CNN:
Rudy Giuliani, former presidential candidate turned John McCain supporter, said Thursday that a Democrat could conceivably occupy the number 2 spot on the Republican presidential [...]

He lost two from yesterday, and now Gallup and Rasmussen are telling us pretty much the same story…that Obama is slightly ahead of McCain, and the Arizona Senator simply can’t break through that 44% mark. Still, the independent vote definitely seems like it’s still in play.

Gallup takes a look at the road ahead…
Looking ahead, [...]

With leaners
Obama - 47%
McCain - 46%
Without leaners
Obama - 45%
McCain - 43%
Obama regains a very slim lead today as the race continues to stay close.
And because people have wondered, Rasmussen shares their polling methods…
Like all polling firms, Rasmussen Reports weights its data to reflect the population at large. Among other targets, Rasmussen Reports weights data [...]

Looks like the Commission on Presidential Debates has made their decisions, and no surprises here…
First presidential debate
Friday, September 26
The University of Mississippi, Oxford, Miss.
Jim Lehrer
Executive Editor and Anchor, The NewsHour, PBS
Vice presidential debate
Thursday, October 2
Washington University in St. Louis, Mo.
Gwen Ifill
Senior Correspondent, The NewsHour, and Moderator and Managing Editor, Washington Week, PBS
Second presidential debate (town [...]

He gained one since yesterday, but both Rasmussen and Zogby (not a daily) show McCain with a statistically insignificant lead.

Gallup shares what the road ahead may look like:
If indeed the race has settled back to “the norm” for the time being, it could represent the calm before the storm.
With vice presidential running mate [...]

Sure, his office put out a tepid endorsement about a month ago, but this latest non-answer of whether Obama is ready to be President is classic Clinton doublespeak.
From NY Daily News:
WASHINGTON - Bill Clinton regrets some things he said - and didn’t say - on the campaign trail. But there’s one thing he still can’t [...]

First Gordon Smith runs ads making it seem like him and Obama are two sides of a bi-partisan coin, and now another Oregon conservative is jumping ship.
From The Scorecard:
[Joel] Haugen, a businessman and Army veteran, is running an uphill campaign in a district Wu has held onto against good Republican challengers. So instead of [...]

With leaners
McCain - 47%
Obama - 46%
Without leaners
Obama - 44%
McCain - 44%
McCain maintains his statistically insignificant lead today, as Zogby is showing something similar.
Perhaps it has something to do with this energy issue?
Forty-six percent (46%) of voters trust McCain more than Obama on energy issues while Obama is trusted more by 42%. Two months ago, [...]

After a definite tightening at the end of last week, Obama has regained a lead beyond the margin of error in the last 3 days of polling.

The details…:
The three percentage point advantage for Obama matches the average since early June, when Obama clinched the number of delegates needed to head to the Democratic convention [...]

With leaners
McCain - 47%
Obama - 46%
Without leaners
Obama - 44%
McCain - 44%
McCain has finally taken a statistically insignificant lead, and as Rasmussen points out, this is the first time he has done this since Obama secured the nomination.
The reason? Independents…
A week ago today, Obama had a three-percentage point lead and the candidates were even among unaffiliated [...]

It’s close as close can be, and I have to think that McCain’s attacks, while cheesy and desperate, have hurt Obama some among Independents.

The details…
The results, based on a three-day rolling average of interviews conducted July 30-Aug. 1, show Obama and McCain each receiving 44% of the vote among registered voters. The candidates were [...]

Rasmussen breaks down the demos…

Among men, 34% are Democrats, 33% Republican, and 33% Independent.
44% of women are Democrats, and just 30% claim the GOP. 26% are Independents.
41% of government employees are Dems, 31% are Republicans and 28% are Independents.
Among entrepreneurs, 36% are Republican, 34% Democrat, and 30% are Independents.

Rasmussen also shares that people in [...]

With leaners
Obama - 47%
McCain - 46%
Without leaners
Obama - 44%
McCain - 43%
No movement today, but…of note…
While the race has been very close for much of the past few weeks, McCain has never held the lead for even a single day in the two weeks since Obama clinched the nomination
The 5 day w/leaners:
08/02/2008: McCain - [...]

McCain finally ties up the race, as 12% of registered voters claim they’re undecided.

The details:
Obama and McCain were closely matched in each of the three nights of interviewing included in today’s result, with neither candidate ahead by more than three percentage points. This suggests that the recent surge in voter support for Obama has truly [...]

With leaners
Obama - 47%
McCain - 46%
Without leaners
Obama - 45%
McCain - 43%
A slight tightening today, and the candidates are essentially tied with less than 100 days to go until the election.
What’s on voters’ minds? Well…
As with everything in a political election season, there is a partisan divide on priorities. Among Democrats, 53% say the economy is [...]

I just did a few posts about the recent Quinnipiac polls for Florida, Ohio and Pennsylvania, and that got me thinking about the overall electoral college outlook. After all, whoever gets to 270 first is what really matters.
So here’s what Pollster is showing…an easy Obama win…

Same story from Electoral-College.com…

So the question now is how can [...]