Obama - 49%
McCain - 47%
Last month it was Obama/McCain, 49/42, so this newest poll represents a five point gain for McCain as undecideds seem to be moving exclusively to him.
As expected, massive gaps in support between men and women…
Gender: Female (51% of voters)
Obama - 58%
McCain - 36%
Gender: Male (49% of voters)
McCain - 58%
Obama - 40%
The [...]

Today, we take a look back at this week in the election and also have an in-depth discussion about the Obama Campaign’s general election strategy.
[Listen Online] or [Download]
[Subscribe to 2008Central.net's Presidential Election Podcast]
Feel free to email us questions/suggestions for our next podcast (you can also email an audio file of your question and we’ll include [...]

Maybe yet another reason why Obama would want to pick Webb? I’ll explain why after the excerpt.
From The Hill:
Webb wants his home state to have the right to explore for energy off Virginia’s coast. His staff insists his proposal pertains only to natural gas, and not oil, and that it is completely in line with [...]

Public Policy Polling finds more signs that Virginia is in play this cycle. This is after Bush took it by nearly 7 points in 2004.
Obama - 47%
McCain - 45%
Some key findings:

Obama leads by 10 points among women.

McCain leads by 9 points among men.

Obama leads by 35 points among African Americans, but PPP thinks that margin [...]

Obama: 45%
McCain: 44%
This is technically a tie, but this is also the first time Obama has any lead in any head-to-head polling against McCain in Virginia…at least that I can remember. If anybody has seen other polls where he leads, please share them.
Last month, Obama only trailed by 3, and the month before that he [...]

The popular former Democratic governor of Virginia signals he wants to make a name for himself in the Senate instead, and that makes a lot of sense for his long term presidential prospects.
From Wash Post:
U.S. Senate candidate Mark R. Warner took himself out of the running as a potential vice presidential candidate this year, telling [...]

As far as chatter goes, the talk around Webb as VP has cooled a bit since it was first raised, but since Obama essentially started his campaign in Virginia yesterday, I think it’s appropriate to raise the question again.
So how does Webb stack up against the rest of the field? How do you think he [...]

If you’re a long time reader of this blog, you’ll know I’m a big Mark Warner fan. He was doing the unity thing as governor of Virginia before it became a national meme, but he wisely read the tea leaves and stepped aside in the presidential race after he saw signs in late 2006 that [...]

A former Republican turned Democrat who could put Virginia in play? Plus massive foreign policy credibility? Plus, like Obama, not a lot of time spent “inside the beltway”?
Marc Ambinder agrees, and notes the release of Webb’s book tomorrow:
“A Time To Fight: Reclaiming a Just And Fair America” is Webb’s most explicitly political to date, and [...]

This time it’s Vernon Watkins of Cali…
“The election is over, everybody knows that. Obama has won,” said Vernon Watkins, one of the two Californians.
Also, Joe Johnson of Virginia has apparently endorsed, but there are scant details about this anywhere.
Post-Pennsylvania delegate pickups:
Obama - 40
Clinton - 12.5
Total superdelegates:
Clinton - 273.5
Obama - 269
However, the AP reports that [...]

Forgot to post this. After his scare in Virginia, he easily beat Huck in the other two contests.
Now to return Huck’s call about that VP position…

Ben Smith notes…
With 92 percent reporting in Virginia, Obama is now 102,000 votes ahead of all Republicans combined.
Indeed.
Additionally, if you add up Hillary and McCain’s vote totals, he would lead that too.

And the campaign breathes a BIG sigh of relief…
Conservative voter turnout was high in Virginia, helping Huckabee there, exit polls showed.
Evangelical voters made up more than 40 percent of the electorate and were breaking for Huckabee nearly 3 to 1 over McCain, exit polls showed.
In 2000, 55 percent of Virginia GOP voters identified themselves as [...]

[Re-published from 2008Central.net. This liveblog on Donklephant will be updated periodically. For the latest please visit the active liveblog at 2008Central.net]
Today (02/12/08), Barack Obama is having a rally in Madison, Wisconsin. Doors opened at 6:15 CST and Obama is scheduled to speak at 8:15 CST (just in time to opine on the results of [...]

TPM talks about how this is hurting McCain…
It also seems like we may be seeing another example of synergy between the two races in Virginia. Independents and Republicans seem to have participated pretty heavily in the Democratic primary, and they went overwhelmingly for Obama. (The reverse happened in New Hampshire.) Those were voters McCain needed [...]

One word: conservatives….
Nearly seven in 10 voters in Virginia’s Republican primary called themselves conservatives. Mike Huckabee won half of their votes, including two-thirds of those who called themselves “very conservative.” Four in 10 Virginia Republican voters were born-again evangelical Christians, and they strongly supported Huckabee over John McCain. Huckabee won the votes of two-thirds of [...]

These voters have been Hillary’s firewall, and it looks like they could be leaving her in these redder states…
Women: Obama 58%, Hillary 42%
Whites: Hillary 51%, Obama 48%
Seniors (another key Hillary constituency): Obama 53%, Hillary 47%
Late-deciders: Hillary 52%, Obama 48%
Young voters: Obama 80%, Hillary 20%
Independents: Obama 66%, Hillary 33%
Note those late deciders. Looks like they just [...]

If Huck can pull this out, McCain is going to have to retool his “cake walk” strategy.
And this might be the reason why McCain is having trouble today…
Several older folks cast their ballots for Mr. Obama, including retired couple Don and Peggy Fredericksen.
“We voted for Obama and we’re Republican!” Mr. Fredericksen said. “Obama is the [...]

CNN just called it for him right after the polls closed.
Looks like the good night has started…

He could have another big night.
From Drudge…
EXIT POLLS SHOW 2:1 OBAMA LEAD OVER HILLARY IN VA AND MD, 3:1 IN DC… DEVELOPING…
Also turnout is high, despite bad weather…
In Maryland, turnout was anticipated to be about 40 percent, which is above normal according to Ross Goldstein, deputy administrator for the state’s Board of Elections. [...]
Virginia election [...]