U.S. Election Getting Close

...In More Ways Than One

October 29. 2008

Barack Obama (Democrat)

As Election Day 2008 draws closer in America, according to reports, the race for the presidency is narrowing as well, with Republican, John McCain gaining on Democrat, Barack Obama in the polls.

John McCain (Republican)

Obama has maintained a comfortable lead in the polls for weeks, but I don’t trust what the polls are saying for a number of reasons. Not to mention the results vary wildly.

How can he be up 9 points in one poll and 2 points in another, in separate preliminary tallies on the same day. The numbers are very uneven.

Sarah Palin (Republican)

No one should ease up or give up until everything is tallied upon completion of the election. I would like to wish the nation’s voters the best at the polls.

Polls show race tightening, but what does it mean?

Obama lead slips by more than a point over 24 hours in average of surveys

Last update: 4:39 p.m. EDT Oct. 29, 2008 - LOS ANGELES (MarketWatch) - Two averages of polls released Wednesday show a substantial drop in Sen. Barack Obama's lead over Sen. John McCain for the presidency, but there appears to be some question over how much stock can be put in the numbers.

Both the RealClearPolitics.com and the Pollster.com averages show Obama's lead slipping from more than 7% to right at the 6% mark. On Tuesday, Real Clear had a 7.2% gap while Pollster's was 7.6%.

Is this sizable shift a one-day anomaly, or an indication of things to come heading into the weekend?

While the move is somewhat puzzling to pollsters, it can be easily explained away as the usual tightening that occurs when last-minute undecided voters start to declare their allegiances. Most are expected to go into the McCain camp after giving Obama some serious consideration.

http://www.marketwatch.com