In Chuck Todd we trust; all others must bring data. And right now,
we're in something of a holding pattern waiting to see the next turn
in the race. Obama's momentum has possibly stalled out, but probably
has not yet begun to reverse itself. It's also possible that Obama's
momentum was on the verge of
reversing itself before Wednesday night's debate, but that the debate
was enough to hold McCain off or perhaps even shift things further in
Obama's direction. Furthermore, it's possible that the numbers will
simply flatline until November 4 as Obama runs out McCain's clock (with
no more major events on the campaign calendar, this may in fact be the
most likely possibility). We will probably know a lot more about this
race by Sunday or Monday, once the impacts of the debate are fully
accounted for.
At the state level, we have some interesting numbers on both sides. SurveyUSA
is the first pollster in a couple weeks to give McCain in Florida; they
have him ahead there 49-47. On the other hand, SurveyUSA has yet to
show Obama with a lead in Florida all year, so this may not be as
newsworthy as it seems at first glance.
Obama, meanwhile, had a very good day in the Rasmussen
polling in Colorado, Nevada and particularly Missouri. As Chuck Todd
said on MSNBC a moment ago, Obama may have something of a firewall in
Colorado and perhaps Nevada between his strength among Hispanics and
the fact that this is probably the weakest region of the country for
McCain's ground game. Missouri, meanwhile, has been working itself up
the tipping point state list, as Obama's numbers has been improving
recently in what we call the "Highlands" region spanning the Ozarks and
Appalachians. At a gut level, I think Missouri is one of Obama's
tougher states, but remember that Claire McCaskill closed strongly
there in 2006, and that Obama closed strongly there on Super Tuesday.
Oh -- and another poll
shows a dead heat in North Dakota. Our model remains a bit skeptical as
Obama has not gained particularly much ground elsewhere in the Prairie
region, but it's probably time for both the public pollsters and the
campaigns to get out in the field and take the state's temperature.
--Nate Silver